Hudson's Hope, British Columbia, Canada
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
This time we did manage to get up and going early so that we would have lots of time on the lake. It was just after 10 by the time we were pushing off from the dock with our canoe nicely loaded with fishing gear, the cooler full of food and drinks, our nice padded seats, and warm clothing in plastic bags in case the weather got ugly. Hard to imagine as there was not even a ripple on the water. It was like paddling across a perfect mirror. So different to be away from land and in no time we had our paddling rhythm down and were humming along the shore. Fish were jumping all over so we both stuck our lines in. Not much luck so we decided to cut across the lake to explore a cleft in the hill that might lead up to a river. Not the case, just a dead end, but it was very pretty and we beached there for breakfast. It was getting hot fast and I was glad I had worn a hat. We zig-zagged across the lake once more, enjoying the echo off the cliffs as we passed. Hello (helloooo), woo woo (wooowooo), yabadee (yabadeee). Why is it that only nutty inane sounds come to mind when confronted with echos
. Meanwhile it is getting hotter and the lake has begun to feel bigger and things are farther, such that we are quickly modifying our initial goals of paddling all the way to the end, and are now quite happy instead to search out a place for a swim and a cold drink, and maybe even stay for lunch, and perhaps go no further at all. Who will care. We soon sighted a flat shelf big enough to beach the canoe and to spread out our towels. Life vests make great pillows. The water was pretty chilly but in I went for a quick skinny dip, then there was lots of time to warm up in the sun and enjoy our coolers. We had a sample pack of 4 varieties and of course had to try them all. We had the world to ourselves, with only a pair of eagles (goldens or immature baldies) circling above and some lovely butterflies sunning beside us. We lost track of time, interrupted only by full bladders. Such a perfect way to pass the afternoon. Strangely, without really discussing it, we both just felt like it was time to go, and we were soon paddling back across the lake with our fishing lines out once more. Can't say we had quite the same zip in our stroke this time, and with me in the back there was some misunderstanding about terminology on giving directions, just one of those misunderstandings between if 2 o'clock is object based, or subject based, and I just couldn't seem to get it right. Still, it had been a wonderful go with the flow kind of day and we were amazed when we got back to the van at how late it was. We'd been gone over 6 hours and actually were feeling a little cranky. Too much sun and fresh air, maybe we were just tired from all the paddling, but really I felt quite wobbly. It seemed like the canoe had doubled its weight and was being very uncooperative about getting back on top of the van, and then we still had to return it back to the lodge which round trip took about another hour. We were well ready to land back in our campsite and just ignore each other. It was good to just putter and get ready for leaving the next day, have a late supper by the fire, and then neither of us could stay awake a minute longer.
