Distance: 66 km
Location: Latitude:64.28446, Longitude:-103.52542 at 07/25/2014 14:52:10 PDT
Map link: Click here
We were up early and on the water by 6am. There was no current for the first 20 km, so despite being on the Thelon "river" it was really like paddling down a long, narrow lake. We started to get a bit worried about the effort required to cover the remaining 600 km of our journey. We were working hard to average 6 km per hour. On the positive side, though, the surface was like a mill pond and the reflections were fantastic.
After 20 km the current started to pick up a bit and we enjoyed watching the banks pass by at a greater speed and the river bed pass beneath the hull of the canoe in a kaleidoscope of colorful rocks and pebbles. We saw a grizzly bear on river right. It stood up on its hind legs to get a better smell of us, and then turned and ran off. Can't blame it, really. We'd been sweating in these bug suits all day, every day, for almost 2 weeks. We also enjoyed frequent sightings of peregrine falcons, bald eagles, arctic terns, swans, and canada geese.
We stopped to camp high above the river on river right. The wind dropped and the black flies came out in force. It was another sweltering, hot, calm evening. Since it was so hot we decided to sleep in our Hex 3 mesh tent. The view from bed was fantastic and the mesh kept the swarms of black flies at bay. Other than the occasional bird and the constant hum of the black flies it continues to be absolutely silent. Still no sign of humans apart from us.
