Bloodvein River, Canada
Day 12: The End
by Nikki Aldridge
The final day.
Not quite as planned given that we had already reached the get-out a day early but hey…
We woke up to the sound of rain on the tents. Thunderstorms had been forecast to come in at 6 am and stay all day. They got the 6 am part spot on but by the time we emerged from our tents, the rain had stopped. We were able to pack up and have breakfast in the dry.
We were in no rush this morning, given that we were being collected at 10 am and only had about 2km to paddle back upstream. So naturally, everyone was on the water ready to go by 8 am! It may have helped that we had done a lot of organising and packing away of the dry kit the day before.
We said goodbye to our last camp site and launched into a headwind to paddle upstream to the get-out bridge. Martin turned on the GPS recorder and spotted a text from Albert, our supplier/driver… he had locked the keys in the van and was going to be late! We therefore decided there was no point racing to the get-out, but it was too late for Ian and Graham who seemingly were on a mission this morning and were well out of earshot.
Before long, the wind dropped and we were able to enjoy a leisurely paddle back upstream. By the time we caught up to the others, they were already out of their boat and unloading kit.
We then proceeded to set up a tarp in the car park beside the bridge, get out our camping chairs (a luxury item worth the weight) and kindles and wait.
Fortunately, the rain held off and a few hours later Albert arrived with his tail tucked between his legs…
We greeted him with equal apprehension as we told him about his canoe and its ambition to become an unpiloted thrill-seeker (see the Day 4 post), and the subsequent damage. Luckily, he took it well, with a shrug he said “these things happen”. As recompense, we presented him with the additional paddle we had found on Day 9.
