Day 47

June 24th, 2019

Churchill River

We awoke at 3:30 AM – gobbled down some granola, told some funny jokes, and WAZZAM! A fully-grown black bear in our campsite 75 yards away.  She moseyed on down the shore without a care in the world, in the opposite direction of our breakfast circle. We talked some bear theory afterwards and discussed our plans to defend ourselves.  We got into the boats, paddled up the river a ways and did some longer stretches till our morning nut break.  

By 10 AM, we had reached a beaver stream that cut through a peninsula we believed we needed to go around.  We were unsure, however, that the stream would be wide enough all the way through to the lake. We sent up the drone on a little scouting mission where we discerned the feasibility of canoeing through it.  The area where we launched the drone from was located right next to an expansive marsh that contained several vociferous birds – many of which I had heard for the first time this trip! One of them sounds like C3PO.  

The current through the stream was strong and was very windy.  We completed the shortcut in an hour. Lunch was held on a beaver lodge next to moose tracks.  Paul vouched for postponing lunch for 30 minutes because he wanted to get to the area where “the topo meets the river.”  It would be there that the group would find some flat rocks to stand on, he said.  

We saw some bald eagles, and I counted 40 pelicans on the water in a group. 

Dinner was prepared by Bram, mash and pemmican gravy with a dash of chili powder, oil is added for flavor. 

Currently hyper windy.  White stallions across the lake.

-Zach

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