We are in The Pas, Manitoba today having paddled 40 hours over he past 4 days with two back to back 12 hour days. The last day was from Cumberland House, SK to The Pas, Man. 120 km of
long winding Sask River. We have endured snow at the start at Rocky Mountain House, strong tails winds, extremely strong head winds and yesterday, our first thunder storm. It has been very cold and then at times almost too warm. We are happy to see the last of this river as it has become tedious and muddier as it moves east.
Hospitality along the way and our reception has been outstanding. We have been hosted by First Nations peoples, Ukranian people, Hutterite peoples and every thing and everyone in between. Perhpas we have had a bit too much stew and bannock!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
DTB Update May 15
Today is May 15. When we left Rocky Mountain House 5 days ago, there was snow on the ground and the temp was -4 in the morning. We got through the first couple of days and were able to park the canoes high up on the 5' river- bank ice. The water was cold and the head winds colder. It has been some time since we paddled wearing long underwear and wore ski hats to bed.
We have gone through the communities of Rocky Mountain House, Drayton Valley, a great stop at the St. Joseph's School of Alberta, Devon and then on through to Fort Saskatchewan. While at Devon, an informal sprint was held. We had to paddle up river about 200 meters then down 500 meters and back up to the start/finish line. We, the old guys from 1967, battled it out with the team of young paddlers from Cumberland House. (At the Flin Flon Gold Rush Canoe Derby, Gib and I raced against the father of John LaLaliberte, Cumberland House, who had a couple of his sons in his canoe!). We were behind at the first turn but made a great second turn and nipped them at the finish. After the sprint, Bob from our team, never having seen us in action, met us on the road to our camp. He took our picture and said the six of us looked like the "Right Stuff" photo.
We are now east of Fort Saskatchewan, camped at Victoria Settlement and heading east again tomorrow. The weather now is 10 degrees in the morning and 25 in the PM with strong winds. Luckily the winds have been tail winds. Always the best!
We have gone through the communities of Rocky Mountain House, Drayton Valley, a great stop at the St. Joseph's School of Alberta, Devon and then on through to Fort Saskatchewan. While at Devon, an informal sprint was held. We had to paddle up river about 200 meters then down 500 meters and back up to the start/finish line. We, the old guys from 1967, battled it out with the team of young paddlers from Cumberland House. (At the Flin Flon Gold Rush Canoe Derby, Gib and I raced against the father of John LaLaliberte, Cumberland House, who had a couple of his sons in his canoe!). We were behind at the first turn but made a great second turn and nipped them at the finish. After the sprint, Bob from our team, never having seen us in action, met us on the road to our camp. He took our picture and said the six of us looked like the "Right Stuff" photo.
We are now east of Fort Saskatchewan, camped at Victoria Settlement and heading east again tomorrow. The weather now is 10 degrees in the morning and 25 in the PM with strong winds. Luckily the winds have been tail winds. Always the best!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Puking Snow
2008 DTB
May 8, 2008
Kick off day!
Everyone was to meet at the Village Green Mall, Vernon, BC at 9 AM. Surprisingly, everyone made it. However, most of us started a lot earlier. Gib had his gear packed and piled up in my yard before 6:30 AM and we unhooked the canoe trailer from the Suburban and went up to Stews house and picked up the bunk house. Stew brought the School Bus/Motor Home down to my house and we hooked on the canoes. That sure is a long load!
Lea from the Vernon Daily Courier was on hand, took her pics, a few statements and we were on our way. Life was good until we hit the BC/Alberta border. We knew something was up when the big trucks we were meeting were pulled over on the other side of the road and were chipping ice off their radiators. We had heard that the Banff/Jasper highway and the David Thompson Highway to RMH had a lot of wet snow on it and a phone call to Vic in RMH confirmed our worst fears. RMH already had 6"of snow on the ground and it was snowing heavily. We were advised to take number 1 to Calgary then 22 north to RMH the next day. It started to snow just east of Banff and life got a bit tense. The bus and canoes, although slow on the hills, seemed to go along alright. The Suburban and the bunk house, with a good load, was OK until the last big hill before the Cochrane turnoff. We were down to one lane by this time and the snow flakes were as big as horse turds. Luckily, some a- hole truckers were passing everyone and this squeezed some water out of the slush on the road and we were able to make the grade, so to speak. Lots of pucker marks in the car seats as everyone had faith in Bob the Lawyer's driving but we were all tempted to give unwanted advice at the wrong time. We made it to Cochrane by 8 PM, pulled over and some of the team zipped into a couple of the hotels for showers and a bed and some slept in the Bus. What a day!
May 8, 2008
Kick off day!
Everyone was to meet at the Village Green Mall, Vernon, BC at 9 AM. Surprisingly, everyone made it. However, most of us started a lot earlier. Gib had his gear packed and piled up in my yard before 6:30 AM and we unhooked the canoe trailer from the Suburban and went up to Stews house and picked up the bunk house. Stew brought the School Bus/Motor Home down to my house and we hooked on the canoes. That sure is a long load!
Lea from the Vernon Daily Courier was on hand, took her pics, a few statements and we were on our way. Life was good until we hit the BC/Alberta border. We knew something was up when the big trucks we were meeting were pulled over on the other side of the road and were chipping ice off their radiators. We had heard that the Banff/Jasper highway and the David Thompson Highway to RMH had a lot of wet snow on it and a phone call to Vic in RMH confirmed our worst fears. RMH already had 6"of snow on the ground and it was snowing heavily. We were advised to take number 1 to Calgary then 22 north to RMH the next day. It started to snow just east of Banff and life got a bit tense. The bus and canoes, although slow on the hills, seemed to go along alright. The Suburban and the bunk house, with a good load, was OK until the last big hill before the Cochrane turnoff. We were down to one lane by this time and the snow flakes were as big as horse turds. Luckily, some a- hole truckers were passing everyone and this squeezed some water out of the slush on the road and we were able to make the grade, so to speak. Lots of pucker marks in the car seats as everyone had faith in Bob the Lawyer's driving but we were all tempted to give unwanted advice at the wrong time. We made it to Cochrane by 8 PM, pulled over and some of the team zipped into a couple of the hotels for showers and a bed and some slept in the Bus. What a day!
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