By: Tom
Sarah and I have had a busy week with the help of the patient folks at NARWAL and Arctic Sunwest Charters.
After several email and phone communications Sarah and I agreed on an itinerary. We will be flying up to Yellowknife on August 18. On August 20 we will be flown to the East Arm of Great Slave Lake with our boats and gear. We'll get picked up and flown back to Yellowknife on September 3 and fly back to Chicago on September 5.
That plan gives us a full day in Yellowknife before our flight to the East Arm. This will give us a chance to unpack the boxes we plan to send on ahead. We will also go shopping for stove fuel (apparently can't be shipped), food, the local bug dope, and last minute odds and ends. It will also give us a chance to rest. Our flight from Chicago is scheduled to arrive in Yellowknife at 11 p.m.
Likewise, we're scheduling a full day in Yellowknife before our return trip. This provides a cushion in case Arctic Sunwest can't pick us up on the scheduled day due to weather conditions or mechanical problems. Hopefully, we can use that day to dry out our gear before packing it up for shipping back to Chicago and for celebrating a successful trip.
In between we will have 13 full paddling days plus the two days of transport to and from Yellowknife and the East Arm. Neither Sarah nor I have camped out of our kayaks for that long a period so we are looking forward to the logistical challenge of packing enough food and gear to tide us over. As I'll outline in an upcoming post, the end of August marks the transition from summer to fall, so we will be facing a wider range of weather conditions than we might have encountered had we opted for an earlier trip.
We're counting on fewer bugs by going later in the season, when air temperatures are lower. In routine correspondence and web reading I've seen too many references to bugs and insanity to want to be up there during the height of bug season.
We had a bit of drama after we had locked in our schedule. Arctic Sunwest said that it had a 16 foot limit on the kayaks it can carry. The kayaks we were planning on renting from NARWAL are over that limit. The Seayak is 16'1" and Kodiak is 17'. The thought of finding alternative boats and finding ourselves trying to do a two-week unsupported trip using fat, short and slow "rec" boats was enough to make me reconsider the trip. Fortunately, Cathy Allooloo from NARWAL interceded and Sunwest rechecked its length limit for kayaks. It is now 17 feet.
I'm now searching for flights to Yellowknife from Chicago and will book soon. The B&B and boat reservations forms are in the mail to NARWAL already.
The Great Slave Lake, located in Canada's Northwest Territories, is the ninth largest lake in the world by area and the deepest in North America. The East Arm of the lake will be part of a new Canadian national park called Thaydene Nene. Two Chicago kayakers, Sarah Hartman and Tom Bamonte, plan a two-week paddle on the East Arm in August 2011. This blog is a record of their trip and a resource for others who wish to explore the area.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Laying the Foundation
By: Tom
Sarah and I are steadily working to get to a position where we've locked in trip dates and are ready to make reservations.
On Wednesday Sarah tried out a Prijon Seayak at the local pool session. The Seayak has a reputation as a tough and somewhat slow boat. It is a bit over 16 feet long and 24 inches wide. The outfitter has a Seayak available for her and a Prijon Kodiak available for me. I learned to paddle in a Kodiak. It was the first kayak I bought and I still paddle it on occasion. I've done two week-long kayaking camping trips in Lake Superior in my Kodiak and it performed superbly. I'm quite fond of the Kodiak in particular and the Prijon line in general.
Sarah remained to be persuaded. The first Seayak Sarah tried was a new model. She hated it. The edge of the cockpit seemed to come up almost to her armpits and it was apparent that the boat did not become her. Kayak Dave, the pool session organizer, then had her try out an earlier version of the Seayak. Sarah bonded with this boat. It fit her much better and she immediately displayed much more confidence in the boat. Before long she was working on rolls and sharp, crisp turns. Hopefully, our outfitter will have an old model Seayak. Otherwise, Sarah may be scouring Yellowknife for a suitable kayak.
The next day we met for lunch. She pulled out her chart and I pulled out the topos. We agreed on a tentative plan that will have us spending time in both Christie Bay and McLeod Bay as well as doing an interesting portage out of Wildbread Bay to access Christie Bay. The route will give us plenty of options and a varied land and water environment.
It is a bit old-fashioned in the day of Google Earth and GPS units to be fiddling around with hard copy charts and maps. Yet, it is great to pat down a map and have the whole sweep of possibilities laid out before you. We measured and discussed and reached a good realization that neither of us has any goal (e.g., minimum mileage) or destination (e.g., Fort Reliance at the end of the East Arm) of overriding importance. This absence of burning ambition is important from a risk management perspective because it means we (hopefully) will be a bit less inclined to take undue paddling risks.
I learned my lesson in Georgian Bay when it comes to letting ambition override good common sense. I have no desire to repeat the experience in the GSL. Yet, I doubt that anyone will think we are lollygaggers. I expect that we will cover a fair number of miles and push ourselves a bit to explore the new (to us) GSL environment. It is a bit strange for me--and I speak only for myself--to be planning a trip where the primary goal is to be in the place rather than meet some arbitrary goal--e.g., complete a circumnavigation or cover X miles of coastline.
Sarah wants to take an ACA Instructors Certification Exam that has been scheduled for Labor Day. We had tentatively hoped to end our GSL adventure that same weekend. Either the ICE will be rescheduled or we will move up our trip. Pushing up the dates means warmer weather, more daylight. . . and more bugs.
Hopefully, the issue of dates will be resolved soon. We'll then reach out to our outfitter and local airline to lock in boats, lodging and flights to and from the East Arm. We can then turn our attention to planning how to live and paddle safely and well for two weeks on wilderness water.
Sarah and I are steadily working to get to a position where we've locked in trip dates and are ready to make reservations.
On Wednesday Sarah tried out a Prijon Seayak at the local pool session. The Seayak has a reputation as a tough and somewhat slow boat. It is a bit over 16 feet long and 24 inches wide. The outfitter has a Seayak available for her and a Prijon Kodiak available for me. I learned to paddle in a Kodiak. It was the first kayak I bought and I still paddle it on occasion. I've done two week-long kayaking camping trips in Lake Superior in my Kodiak and it performed superbly. I'm quite fond of the Kodiak in particular and the Prijon line in general.
Sarah remained to be persuaded. The first Seayak Sarah tried was a new model. She hated it. The edge of the cockpit seemed to come up almost to her armpits and it was apparent that the boat did not become her. Kayak Dave, the pool session organizer, then had her try out an earlier version of the Seayak. Sarah bonded with this boat. It fit her much better and she immediately displayed much more confidence in the boat. Before long she was working on rolls and sharp, crisp turns. Hopefully, our outfitter will have an old model Seayak. Otherwise, Sarah may be scouring Yellowknife for a suitable kayak.
The next day we met for lunch. She pulled out her chart and I pulled out the topos. We agreed on a tentative plan that will have us spending time in both Christie Bay and McLeod Bay as well as doing an interesting portage out of Wildbread Bay to access Christie Bay. The route will give us plenty of options and a varied land and water environment.
It is a bit old-fashioned in the day of Google Earth and GPS units to be fiddling around with hard copy charts and maps. Yet, it is great to pat down a map and have the whole sweep of possibilities laid out before you. We measured and discussed and reached a good realization that neither of us has any goal (e.g., minimum mileage) or destination (e.g., Fort Reliance at the end of the East Arm) of overriding importance. This absence of burning ambition is important from a risk management perspective because it means we (hopefully) will be a bit less inclined to take undue paddling risks.
I learned my lesson in Georgian Bay when it comes to letting ambition override good common sense. I have no desire to repeat the experience in the GSL. Yet, I doubt that anyone will think we are lollygaggers. I expect that we will cover a fair number of miles and push ourselves a bit to explore the new (to us) GSL environment. It is a bit strange for me--and I speak only for myself--to be planning a trip where the primary goal is to be in the place rather than meet some arbitrary goal--e.g., complete a circumnavigation or cover X miles of coastline.
Sarah wants to take an ACA Instructors Certification Exam that has been scheduled for Labor Day. We had tentatively hoped to end our GSL adventure that same weekend. Either the ICE will be rescheduled or we will move up our trip. Pushing up the dates means warmer weather, more daylight. . . and more bugs.
Hopefully, the issue of dates will be resolved soon. We'll then reach out to our outfitter and local airline to lock in boats, lodging and flights to and from the East Arm. We can then turn our attention to planning how to live and paddle safely and well for two weeks on wilderness water.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Heading to the Arctic?
By: Tom
Sarah and I are not actively publicizing our Great Slave Lake trip. After all, we're only in the planning stages. No plane tickets have been purchased and no reservations have been made. Our imaginations have been fired up, however.
I do talk about the trip to family members and acquaintances on occasion. When I mention to people that I plan to be paddling next summer on the GSL in the Northwest Territories I often get the response that "Oh, you're going to the Arctic." Well, not exactly.
The Arctic is generally defined as consisting of "regions around the North Pole," which is not real specific. The cartographers have drawn the Arctic Circle on the globe at 66 degrees 33' north of the equator. This line marks the northernmost point where the sun is visible on the winter solstice (and southernmost point at which the midnight sun in visible during the summer solstice. Everywhere north of the line is the cartographer's Arctic.
This one-size-fits all approach does not account for differences in temperature and vegetation. Another way to define the Arctic is to place it wherever the summer high temperatures fall below 50 degree Fahrenheit.
This temperature-based definition transforms the Arctic into almost an oval-shaped area.
Another approach is to use the tree line as the marker for what is the Arctic. The regions in the north where the land is too harsh to support trees make up the Arctic.
Sarah and I are not actively publicizing our Great Slave Lake trip. After all, we're only in the planning stages. No plane tickets have been purchased and no reservations have been made. Our imaginations have been fired up, however.
I do talk about the trip to family members and acquaintances on occasion. When I mention to people that I plan to be paddling next summer on the GSL in the Northwest Territories I often get the response that "Oh, you're going to the Arctic." Well, not exactly.
The Arctic is generally defined as consisting of "regions around the North Pole," which is not real specific. The cartographers have drawn the Arctic Circle on the globe at 66 degrees 33' north of the equator. This line marks the northernmost point where the sun is visible on the winter solstice (and southernmost point at which the midnight sun in visible during the summer solstice. Everywhere north of the line is the cartographer's Arctic.
This one-size-fits all approach does not account for differences in temperature and vegetation. Another way to define the Arctic is to place it wherever the summer high temperatures fall below 50 degree Fahrenheit.
This temperature-based definition transforms the Arctic into almost an oval-shaped area.
Another approach is to use the tree line as the marker for what is the Arctic. The regions in the north where the land is too harsh to support trees make up the Arctic.
There are some subtle differences between the Arctic as defined by the temperature and tree line approaches.
As this map shows, the GSL lies just outside the tree line, which means that we aren't going to the Arctic this trip. (GSL is the lake at the bottom of the map.)
One of the appeals of paddling in McLeod Bay, at the far eastern/northern extreme of the East Arm of GSL, is its close proximity to the tree line. I'm looking forward to exploring observing how trees get fewer and small as we get closer to the tree line.
While I've crossed tree lines on numerous mountains, there is something special, even a little ominous, about a tree line that marks the entrance to thousands of square miles of tree-less barrens. The great presence of that land just miles from where we will be paddling will keep my imagination bubbling.
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Introduction/Overview
By: Tom
Sarah Hartman and I are two Chicago area paddlers. We've paddled together a few times, including a little jaunt across Lake Michigan in early September, and know each other by reputation in the small Chicago kayaking community. We share one big paddling goal in 2011, namely, to successfully accomplish a two-week unsupported paddle on the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake ("GSL") in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
The purpose of this blog is to chronicle our preparations, assemble information that might be of interest to others considering a paddling trip to the GSL and document the trip itself. Hopefully, others can learn from our experiences.
I became interested in the GSL when Greg Loftus, a paddler from Yellowknife, NWT and the owner of Tundrsails (see links) contacted me early in 2010. Greg was kind enough to provide a few pictures and some background information about GSL paddling, which were published in the blog of the Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association.
Through Greg and my own research I learned that the GSL is an extremely intriguing paddling destination. GSL is one of the ten largest lakes in the world, bigger than some of the Great Lakes. It was formed when the continental glacier came off the hard Canadian Shield and scooped out a deep depression in the softer rock to the south. GSL is the deepest lake in North America, over 2000 feet deep in some spots. It is perched in an area where the boreal forest is transitioning to the tundra. The lake has a varied shore, monster fish, and plenty of paddling challenges.
The GSL area is rich in human history. GSL and the big Mackenzie River which it feeds have long served as a key means of transportation and a source of food for many generations of people. The history of relations between the aboriginal tribes and more recent arrivals is challenging to say the least. Deposits of gold, diamonds and other minerals make the area a tempting but tough target for mining companies. I simply don't know enough at this point to say anything about history/culture/politics of the area other than that things are complicated.
We plan to paddle the East Arm of GSL. This is the most remote sector of the lake. With the single exception of Lutselk'e there are no settlements in the East Arm. McLeod Bay, the easternmost bay in the East Arm where we will be doing most of our paddling, apparently has nothing but a few camps along its roughly 165 miles of shoreline.
We have a lot of work to do to plan and prepare for this trip. Neither of us are uber-paddlers or campers with extensive Arctic experience, but we have done a fair amount of kayak camping in the Great Lakes. We thus have a lot to learn in order to ensure that we have mitigated and prepared for the physical and psychological challenges of this trip. We'll use this blog to share what we're thinking, what we're doing and what we've learned along the way.
Sarah Hartman and I are two Chicago area paddlers. We've paddled together a few times, including a little jaunt across Lake Michigan in early September, and know each other by reputation in the small Chicago kayaking community. We share one big paddling goal in 2011, namely, to successfully accomplish a two-week unsupported paddle on the East Arm of the Great Slave Lake ("GSL") in the Northwest Territories of Canada.
The purpose of this blog is to chronicle our preparations, assemble information that might be of interest to others considering a paddling trip to the GSL and document the trip itself. Hopefully, others can learn from our experiences.
I became interested in the GSL when Greg Loftus, a paddler from Yellowknife, NWT and the owner of Tundrsails (see links) contacted me early in 2010. Greg was kind enough to provide a few pictures and some background information about GSL paddling, which were published in the blog of the Chicago Area Sea Kayakers Association.
Through Greg and my own research I learned that the GSL is an extremely intriguing paddling destination. GSL is one of the ten largest lakes in the world, bigger than some of the Great Lakes. It was formed when the continental glacier came off the hard Canadian Shield and scooped out a deep depression in the softer rock to the south. GSL is the deepest lake in North America, over 2000 feet deep in some spots. It is perched in an area where the boreal forest is transitioning to the tundra. The lake has a varied shore, monster fish, and plenty of paddling challenges.
The GSL area is rich in human history. GSL and the big Mackenzie River which it feeds have long served as a key means of transportation and a source of food for many generations of people. The history of relations between the aboriginal tribes and more recent arrivals is challenging to say the least. Deposits of gold, diamonds and other minerals make the area a tempting but tough target for mining companies. I simply don't know enough at this point to say anything about history/culture/politics of the area other than that things are complicated.
We plan to paddle the East Arm of GSL. This is the most remote sector of the lake. With the single exception of Lutselk'e there are no settlements in the East Arm. McLeod Bay, the easternmost bay in the East Arm where we will be doing most of our paddling, apparently has nothing but a few camps along its roughly 165 miles of shoreline.
We have a lot of work to do to plan and prepare for this trip. Neither of us are uber-paddlers or campers with extensive Arctic experience, but we have done a fair amount of kayak camping in the Great Lakes. We thus have a lot to learn in order to ensure that we have mitigated and prepared for the physical and psychological challenges of this trip. We'll use this blog to share what we're thinking, what we're doing and what we've learned along the way.
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