(End of Stage 2) Day 11 Monday June 6 – Sand Cabin Bay to Sullivan Point

May 25, 2016

• Wake Up Time: 3:00 am


• Departure Time: 4:30 am


• Distance Paddled: 22 kms (Total: 258)


• Total Paddling Time: 4 hrs 9 mins


• Weather Conditions: Very Good

I got a really good night's sleep last night (unlike the previous night). Got up feeling really good and ready for the day. The lake was like a sheet of ice with no breeze at all. This would turn out to be the best paddling day yet.

We got up, packed up, had breakfast very quickly and got out on the water at 4:30. After about half an hour we got to an area that was absolutely spectacular. So I stopped paddling and started taking pictures towards the south. Meanwhile, Arnie and Maria were ahead of me close to shore. As I was taking pictures, looking in the opposite direction of where Arnie and Maria were, I heard a huge splashing sound coming from where they were, right off the shore.

My first thought was that it might be a bear jumping into the water near them. I looked over at the them and the shoreline but couldn't see anything at first. Then, it hit me. I saw a moose (cow) and her small calf in the water but very close to shore just in front of Arnie and Maria. I could see that Arnie had his camera out and taking pictures. So I started paddling towards them. Unfortunately some of these pictures didn't turn out very clear.

Initially I thought the calf was in trouble. It looked like it was stuck in some dead trees in the water. The mother stepped out of the lake and started trotting a little ways up the shore to get her and her calf away from us. But the calf was a little too slow. So the mother looked back at the calf and made a sound that got the calf out of the water and running into the bush. It was as if the mother told the calf to go and hide.

After the calf ran into the bush and out of sight, the mother then ran off along the shore through the trees to divert our attention to her. Let me tell you, there is nothing like seeing a massive animal like this moving through the bush at a great speed. Small trees were being crashed out of the way with a loud stomping sound. This animal moved through dense forest with ease. So we started to paddle along the shore, following her to re-assure her that we weren't going to harm her calf. But this moose disappeared so fast, it was all over in an instant. What a sight it was to see this.

Shortly after this, we paddled up to a major inlet off Eutsuk Lake called Pandosy Bay. All I can say is WOW! The water being like a sheet of ice and the ice capped mountains of Tweedsmuir reflecting on the water was out of this world. It was hard to tell where the water line ended and the landscape started. Natural beauty in perfect wide screen high definition. No cable company could deliver the quality of screen resolution we were getting here at this moment. We simply just stopped paddling and sat in our boats in the middle of the lake floating in awe. This was a rare moment of silence to be sure. The kind of moment you just dream about. Try to imagine the most pristine vision of nature in your mind. Close your eyes right now and take a minute to do that.

Now multiply that times ten.

... and you get Padosy Bay. This country is beautiful all around but this part of the trip was like icing on the cake (or icing on the mountain so to speak).

We finally arrived at our campsite for the day at Sullivan Point. This campsite was absolutely beautiful. I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But it just seemed like every camp site was better than the last. When I got there I was quite thirsty and wanted to filter some water into my water bottle but started having trouble with my MSR water filter pump. I ended playing around with this for about fifteen minutes (i.e. taking it apart and putting it back together again) until I figured out that a small valve in the pump chamber was clogged. So I took it out, cleaned it and re-assembled the pump and was back in business. Got some fresh water.

After that I got into a little conversation with Arnie about our day of paddling and how magnificent it was. He said: "It almost makes you forget the three days of hardship with the portaging. Doesn't it?". So I said: “Portage? What portage?” He replied: “Exactly”. The pain of those three days had withered away just like that.

A little later on, it was so nice and warm by the beach that I decided to go for an afternoon nap. A very good nap it was. Felt really good after that. We then sat down together and had a nice game of cards. Arnie and Maria taught me a new game called "up and down" (kind of like our trip). It was fun.

Had a nice dinner (spaghetti with a nice meat sauce and garlic bread - fine dining again) and off to bed we went at 7 pm. With 3 am wake times, this was not too early by any means, even though it didn't get completely dark until after 11 pm. We never did see the sunsets at night. Too funny.

I have to say that the dinners that Maria prepared were incredible. Five Star dining. I was never hungry on any of the days throughout this entire journey.