Itinerary

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Description/Expeditions

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Pushing off from shore and feeling the paddle bite into the first stroke will be a great relief. The anxiety of organizing will be replaced by anticipation for the beauties and challenges we will meet on our journey.  We’ll have no more worries about what we left behind – if something is forgotten, we will just do without.

That said, we may do what is called a “Hudson Bay Start”. That means we may travel only a short way before setting up camp, which will give us the opportunity to notice any major omissions in our gear while we’re still close enough to go back—though I’ve never had to (knock on wood). 

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The De Pas runs through a beautiful river valley of classic Boreal Forest and increasingly interesting topography—which, of course, means that it has many rapids, several of which will be large and powerful.  The deck covers, which protect equipment in our canoes against water, will come into use at this point.

Rapids are graded for severity on a scale from R I (less severe) to R VI (very severe), and any rapid with a rating of R VI on this river will be portaged.  Crew member Kalon Baughan, a former (and still highly competitive) US National Downriver Whitewater Canoe Champion, will be the “whitewater boss” – no one will run a rapid if Kalon forbids it, and he will determine the safest routes for those we do run. 

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The George (Mushuau-shipu to the Innu) is very wide at this point, forming what is called Indian House Lake. We will only be on it for a few miles as we paddle towards our major portage.

In what is a convenient safety measure, our outfitter, Adventure Tunilik, has a base camp near the confluence of the De Pas and George rivers.  If we are having any major problems at this point, assistance will be available. My past two expeditions on the George started a few miles north on Indian House Lake, so some I am familiar with the terrain here.  For Rod and Kalon, it will all be new.  

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The portage out of the George River Valley is going to be very difficult. Carrying the boats, cameras, painting gear, camping equipment and food will require three loads each. The round trip per load is 12 miles, which means at least 36 miles of walking.

We hope to follow the traditional Innu route, though finding signs to that effect will be unlikely other than the fact that the Innu dealt with the same physical constraints we will: heavy loads, rough terrain and tired legs and lungs. This is also where we will leave the forest behind for many miles. The elevation gain is all in the first two miles of the portage as we climb up onto the Tundra Highlands section of the journey.

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We will rest and recover on an esker campsite on the north shore of this lake and await our resupply plane.  Artist Cole Johnson will join the expedition at this point and we will continue about thirty miles to the eastern end of Mistinibi Lake, where we hope to rendezvous with archaeological surveyor Tony Jenkinson.

The heaviest and most problematic supplies are food items, and those will be split in half prior to our departure.  The second half will arrive with Cole.  Two new tandem canoes will also arrive by plane. Not having to carry these canoes through Le Grand Portage will have been an enormous advantage.

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At this point we will return to boreal forest after a pond-hopping portage.  The Kogaluk will offer welcomed protection from the weather as it is in the bottom of a 1,500 foot canyon.  We will be using a portage I worked out on the topographic maps that is close to the exact route Dr. Loring used in 1979 and that William Cabot used in 1910.

We are working out routes that have to our knowledge not been paddled more than once or twice in nearly 100 years, or at least not since the Innu abandoned the area in the 1950`s and 1960`s and moved to coastal towns.

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After Cabot Lake, the Kogaluk flows fast with no rapids to a set of falls above the coast. At this point we will reach Voisey Bay, where we will be protected by islands during the 30-mile paddle to Nain.

An enormous nickel mine has opened on Voisey Bay since Dr. Loring (Smithsonian anthropologist and archaeologist) paddled this route in 1979. The wilderness character of our journey may be interrupted here.

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At Nain we will catch the Northern Ranger that sails every Wednesday south to Goose Bay, servicing the small fishing communities of the Labrador coast.

Nain is a town of both Innu and Inuit, though I believe mostly Inuit. It is the most northern municipality in Labrador. We are looking forward to beautiful scenery during our two-day cruise back to Goose Bay along the rugged Labrador coast – with showers and no paddling! This should be a highlight of the trip, and a wonderful compliment to the train journey to Schefferville at the beginning.

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In Goose Bay, we will have some meetings with prospective Innu crewmembers for 2010.  Even before the trip is over, we will be laying the groundwork for next year!

Cole, Kalon, Rod and I will take Rod's truck back to Labrador City, pick up Cole's truck and continue on to Montreal. We should arrive on October 4 unless we miss the boat, in which case we will arrive October 11.

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