The Characters:
Kate and Phoenix
- Kate is a beautiful, strong and gentle lady that works for the Federal Justice office of the Northwest Territories and is a much qualified Search and Rescue volunteer
- Phoenix is a 23 month old German shepherd cross that is in training to become a search and rescue dog. He's so smart, and I got to help Kate with his training, by hiding objects for him to search for and by being the "victim" he needed to find. He will be tested in September 2020, to become a qualified service dog
- Lynne is the grateful adventurer
The Setting:
Great Slave Lake, North Arm
See the north arm? We went along the north shore starting in Frank Channel back to Yellowknife. The route was approximately 130 km. Great Slave Lake is the fourth largest lake in Canada after Superior, Huron, and Great Bear. It is massive, huge, gigantic, magnificent.
Kate and I were connected by Mike and we became immediately connected and grateful to have found each other. We both felt that our canoe trip together, our meeting, and all the things we experienced together as a touch of the miraculous. What an honour it is to be able to call her my friend.We became excellent companions and got to know each other in our ten days together.
Day 1:
We started out early on the 9th, putting the canoe in at a forest fire crew camp on the Frank Channel (way up on the arm), being dropped off by Kate's friend Chris who also kept track of us with fancy technology, and gave us his own roasted coffee beans--man that coffee was good!
It was a drizzling rain, so we were already a bit wet by the time we loaded up the canoe, got our life jackets on, piled in and began. Shortly after we started, the winds began to pick up, Phoenix moved from one side to another and I realized that I wasn't used to having a dog participating in the rocking of the canoe. The wind continued to get stronger, it blew and blew (60+km) and made huge swells, bashing the canoe around and threatening to sink us! I was scared, as I struggled to manage the huge swells in a tipping boat as we sped forward, using all our strength, maneuvering our paddles deep into the swells to keep the canoe in balance over shifting, dangerous water. At about 10:30, we pulled onto an island, and in getting out of the canoe, I slipped on the silt on the rocks, falling flat onto my bum into the cold water, getting wet to the waist. We hauled all the gear onto the rocks on the shore, when Kate yelled over the howling of the wind, "We have to set our tents up NOW! We need shelter!" We quickly put up our tents in the windy drizzle, just in time for the rain to join the wind, pelting the tops of our tents. We each took oatmeal cookies into our tents and spent the next few hours shivering to get warm and beat hypothermia.
That was the first morning.
(This is the point in the story when my friend Barb B. is going to check on her hair dryer to ensure that it's still working, Donna has made a cup of coffee and has curled up with a blanket, and Denny is livid because of what we put Phoenix through) I understand. if you stop here.
If you feel that you can bear to go on......................
Day 2 - 7:
Nothing like Day 1 happened again. We experienced choppy water with large swells, calm water in drizzle, calm water in sun. Small waves to big waves in sun and cloud cover--and any other variation you can think of weather wise. One wonderful morning we woke to be completely surrounded by fog. We couldn't see anything around us, and it took until afternoon for the fog to lift. It was magical.
We got into a routine of boiling water, making coffee, paddling, taking a break, paddling again. We laughed, we enjoyed silence, we occasionally paused in the canoe just listening to the sounds around us and gaping at the breathtaking beauty of this northern wilderness. Our biceps, then triceps, and then traps got sore and then strong. We worked our core muscles. We felt powerful. To say I experienced pure joy is an understatement and wholly inadequate in describing the all-encompassing experience of being in the dance with Mother Nature in all Her moods and when receiving her gifts. I was filled with gratitude for the majesty of this gigantic lake, and the sharing of the experience with gentle Kate. I've been to heaven, and it wouldn't be a bad place to spend eternity.
I 
By the end of our trip, Phoenix was hanging out more with me at the front of the canoe, kind of showing his love for me. Kate said that was because I was in the "bow wow" and she was in the "stern". Get it! So true!
We made good time and our 10 day trip was completed in 7. We happily paddled into Yellowknife, but sorry it was over. We helped in a Search and Rescue exercise on Saturday and Sunday, where planes had to find us as we canoed in the Prelude Lake area.
On Monday, I visited to Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly as it was in session. The meeting was formally conducted. Because the territorial government works with consensus, the respectful way each of the members communicated with each other was uplifting. Perhaps the rest of Canada will take a hint.
I've spent Tuesday in Edmonton with my sweet cousin Craig, his wife Stephanie and his children, Sophie and Jacob. What a pleasure to be with them!
Just us, the birds, fish and weather :)
ReplyDeleteI still have a big grin on my face whenever I think of it.
DeleteLogan enjoyed reading about your adventures. I will read them to the other two when they are done having a mud pie picnic with friends.
ReplyDeletePlease let Logan know that I now experience night time. Even in the Northwest Territories, the sun now sets for the night.
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