August 20th, 2019
Coppermine River
We elected to sleep in again and woke up at 6:15 AM to another cold morning. During breakfast another wolf began howling from just over the ridge and a whole pack responded. The howls, while a little spooky, really set the tone of adventure. We pushed off and made quick miles down the river, paddling under the large rolling hills. At a distance, we saw a small group of caribou along the shore and a few minutes later we approached another group trying to cross the river. As we drew near, they reversed course and made for the opposite bank, allowing us to get very close. A few miles later, we came upon another few caribou, and just in front of us was a wolverine swimming across the river. Both the wolverine and the caribou ran off into the bushes.
As the day progressed it became windier with a few scattered showers. Zach developed a quick bout of severe pain in his foot probably due to some ischemia from the tight dry pants.
We paddled until about 5:30 PM having made about 43 miles.
-PB