km 1398, july 30. 9m, N 67˚26 W 131˚13. 2:30pm-11:15pm.

journal excerpt:

oh my it’s beautyfull here. i had time to sit with my tea and look at the mountains this morning and it was just lovely. i don’t want this to end. the living this life of no power lines, nothing obstructing your view of mountains, water, sky, trees. nothing in the way. this has been my life for 5 and a half weeks. not long, but so long. next time (i would paddle this river again) i would take more rest days and spend time in gorgeous places for longer. i wonder if the magic would be there the 2nd time around. if i would expect things to be the same. hard not to sometimes you know? we stopped for a poo (both of us) and a caribou came up over the ridge towards us. it was so huge i thought it was a moose at first and tried to scare it off, still traumatized from all of our moose encounters on the liard. caribou are curious mysterious creatures. after that we stopped at thunder river where flint was traditionally gathered by the dene and inuvialuit. it’s an exquisite spot – cliffs of pink and orange. and the river valley is incredible, lush, majestic. we had a drifting lunch at 8pm in the sun, gorgeous, calm and peaceful.

after deciding not to camp on a wide sandy beach with fresh bear tracks we found a huge sand bar that doesn’t exist on the map. towering cliffs all around, dry northern desert sagebrush, slopes. a m a z i n g. so tired. we flagged down will shortly after midnight. he was in the right channel and now he’s camped with us. i dropped my point and shoot camera in the river today. oops. hopefully it dries out and works again.

vast sky stretches taut/horizon a thin line cups/endless flow to sea

header photo by emma.