The river we rafted was the Snake Indian. This river has one of the most picturesque falls in all of the park. It is not visited by many people as for most it is a two day walk either from the north end of the park or from the center of the park.
We started out Friday at Rock Lake south of the Willmore wilderness. Here the horses were packed with our equipment and we walked. It is about 15 KM to the Willow Creek horse camp which is a km from the start of the raft trip. The walk in was great a good temperature and only a light pack. There is a river crossing about half way and the water was not too high so the crossing was safe and fairly easy. Although really cold. The rest of the walk was smooth and the weather was good.
The night was awesome some of the people on the trip I had not seen in 20 to 30 years. We spent a night around the fire and watching the spectacular sunset.
Day two started out easy with some breakfast and breaking camp. The horses were loaded up with the stuff we were not bringing on the river. The horses headed out to Rock Lake and we headed over to the raft. We had a safety briefing, the two safety Kayaks put in the river and we were off and running. The first day float was warm with clear blue sky's and some good white water. We stopped for a shore lunch and got to our second camp at Seldom Inn, just above the Snake Indian Falls, a short time later.
After a short rest in the sun we portaged most of the equipment to below the falls, although this was alot of work and the hill to the start point of the second day of rafting was along way down, we had fun doing this.
After supper we sat and talked around the fire till about midnight and it was still not that dark. A great night was had.
The next morning we had breakfast and broke camp and portaged the rest of the equipment to where the boats were. We were up and on the river by 11:30. This day was incredible, the geology on the sides of the river are unique to say the least. Folds with shale, coal and glacial deposits all down the banks for most of the day. The white water was much higher and the rapid runs were longer than the previous day. It was exciting. The highlight of the day was a large S turn with heavy water followed by a 1/2 km float down a narrow opening with high steep walls on both sides of the run. This run is something I will do again.
After that a short run to the takeout point at Celestine Lake Bridge. We portaged the equipment up to the waiting van and had a celebratory beer. The nature on the trip was seconded to none and the people I was with were the highlight.
A great weekend and I am starting to plan for next year.
No comments:
Post a Comment