PADDLER 72
PADDLER 72
FOUR WALLS
The place was alive . After a long downwinder , we made it to the end of the lake . Hail and icy rain fell . Just before committing to the coast , we spotted a shack . It had half its roof missing but was good enough to sleep in if we put up a tarp . It was nice to have four walls around us .
The following morning , the weather had not improved ; we were both pretty used to high winds and rain , so not even questioning the conditions , we were happy to get on the water . We were going to the coast by a short 800-metre river connecting the lake to the sea . The sea was rough , but we made good ground out of the bay . The day ’ s goal was to get to a bay right below Grand Campo , Nevada ; we had two different routes .
There is one exposed coastal route and one inland portage route . We opted for the more exposed route . The sea conditions were quite good , followed by condors while paddling underneath huge vertical cliffs . However , as soon as we exited the exposed side , the weather worsened . The mountains and cliffs around us were getting barer , not due to weather but because of glacier erosion , and soon enough , we were surrounded by tongues of ice cascading down to meet the sea .
We found what looked like a solid campsite next to a river and a beach covered in large blocks of ice deposited by the tide . The booming sounds of the glacier were almost constant . It was a beautiful spot . With the coming forecast predicting winds of 100 kilometres per hour , we planned to stay at this camp for two nights .
STEEP GLACIER
With the excitement of the booming glaciers , we returned to our kayaks after setting up camp and exploring the bay . At one point , I got out onto a large rock about 200m away from the 60m face of the steep glacier . As I returned to my kayak , a large piece of ice fell . I had to make a mad dash away from the rocks and surrounding minivan-size ice blocks before the wave came .
We visited another glacier the next day , but the weather conditions were bad ; it was a short 5km to the glacier . The heavy downpour created landslides that concerned us about paddling next to the shoreline . Glaciers can be pretty difficult to kayak around , as they influence the winds , and it can become very unpredictable . Gusts of wind would drop straight off the top of the glacier , so there was no way of knowing when the wind might hit us .
The wind eventually came in , forcing us to retreat to our camp , where we stayed until a bathroom trip behind our camp revealed a stream starting to form , flowing straight toward our camp . We then decided to move camp to a less-than-ideal spot so we wouldn ’ t get flooded . By the time we remade camp , we were both soaked through . The wind sent the top of my tent into my face all night until at about 03:00 , when everything went silent .
The next day , we aimed for another glacier near the shack , which we had stayed in three nights prior and where we aimed to be by the end of the day . We opted for the portage on the way back , which was fun . It ’ s always a bit of a risk doing a portage you have little to no information about , but it worked