day 12 / km471. N 61˚51 W 121˚20, 122m. 2:20pm-12am.

day 13 / km 482. N 61˚54 W 121˚30, 111m. 9pm-12am.

after spotting our first two black bears of the trip, we arrived in fort simpson at midnight and met the mackenzie/deh cho under the midnight sun. the next day we spent time at what we considered our second homes on the trip – visitor info centres (wifi and bathrooms with running water!). we were to start the trip with 3 barrels full of food but decided last minute to ship two ahead past the rapids. the folks at the info centre were swell – letting us ship them there and holding them for 2 weeks – and charlie hope of hopes ventures was our faithful barrel transport service. to save our backs, sylvia at the visitor centre called a taxi for us – a bit of an ordeal since she’d never had to call one before because the town is so tiny! it worked out in the end and 15$ got us a pick-up truck taxi with a newfoundland ex-pat. he regaled us with stories of his life as he drove us from the info centre to the campground to pick up the gear we’d left there during the day, then to the willows where we’d stashed the canoe and some gear, and then on to the edge of the sand bar.

on the way out of town we passed mike and cole on shore, our first fellow canoers! we continued on knowing we’d see them again.