Paddling the Jarvis

We recently had the pleasure of a visit from Bill and Jess, traveling across Canada in their VW campervan, Stan. I'm not sure if I loved them or their van more.... Bill Mitchell is an old uni buddy of Shea's. During their visit we had a chance to paddle the Jarvis River which flows into the Kaskawalsh (take a left) which meets the Dezdeash (take another left and go UPSTREAM) which will take you back to the highway. 

The weather wasn't too bad (though Jess may disagree - she wasn't a big fan of the winds) and we got to paddle on rivers that flow straight out from under glaciers. We saw a bear (three metres away; Mum said she's "not happy, Camille!"), two river mink, beavers, golden eagle, morganza duck with 14 ducklings and one night, as we were hiking a mountain, we heard a pack of wolves howling quite close by. 

 

Those beavers caused us a bit of grief as they live to jam up the river with their dams. See how the river here seems to flow straight into a pile of dead tree's? It actually does...we had to carry our boats over that jam....

...only to find another awaiting us metres downstream....

..through it all, though, I remain a glamour-puss...

..o'kay fine, that's not in the same part. Yes, I was a bit tense through all the log jams and beaver dams. Yes, Shea did a lot of the work even though he was in the bow....

We paddled for four days (you could do it in three but, in typical Shea and Camille style, we weren't paddling on the first day until 9pm). Day 1 and 2 were the Jarvis which was a bit technical avoiding getting swept onto all those tree's that look like they're about to fall into the river. I maintain that a lot of our challenge resulted from Shea's inability to differentiate left from right. "Right, Camille!" he would call, as the river diverged into two; one forking into a messy, shallow rivulet and the other  into a wide, smooth flowing river, "Right?" I'd quaver, paddling furiously toward the shallow jungle that looked more rocks than water. "Right!" he'd bellow, frantically correcting my direction to said right and instead driving us left. Shea maintains that I should follow the commonsensical course instead of his directions. I, obedient spouse and following-to-the-letter-of-the-law student, remain confused.

As the Jarvis flowed into the Kaskawalsh, it opened up into this glacial valley where the stream became braided and the vista became awesome.The wind funneled up the valley making our summer seem a joke. I'm attired in a dry-suit. It seals with water-proof zips and gaskets at the neck and wrists that are tight rubber to again ensure no water gets inside. The attractive black flap on my rear end is for my frequent trips to the bush-loo. I maintain it's the fear instilled by Shea's confusing captaincy that makes me need to go so often. Shea maintains I have a lack of control.

On the Kaskawalsh we wind-ferried our way down the valley until we hit the Dezdeash which we needed to travel upstream on, until we reached the truck. Fortunately the wind made it possible to sail our canoes.

 

Surprisingly hard work on your forearms. The blade of the paddle is dug into my thighs which resulted in minor bruises. Yes, Dad, you could set up a more stable and less draining sail but, by this stage, we'd been paddling for five hours and were getting cold and keen to be off the river.

Captain Shea hard at work while sailing!

Midnight on our hike to enable us to see up the Kaskawalsh (behind us) to catch a glimpse of the Kaskawalsh Glacier. You can just see the Jarvis flowing in from the right. We then traveled downstream to the left. 

What a great trip.. I'll go again if anyone is keen?