Che-Mun's last list of the millenium - Part II

The last list - Part I

By MICHAEL PEAKE Che-Mun Editor
 14. Most Overrated Canoeing Accessory
 GPS - If you need one of these on a river you need more help than a satellite can give.

The rocky Hepburn River, which flows into the upper Coppermine, was a navigational challenge.

 
 15. Most Underrated Canoe Accessory
 Coleman oven. Fresh bread and cinnamon rolls a must-have! (When we remember to take it!)
 
 16. Canoeing's great characters
 Mina Hubbard and Dillon Wallace. Imagine writing a book about your canoe race to Ungava Bay and not mentioning your rival was camping nearby.
 Don Starkell and Victoria Jason. The most discordant paddling pair since the above tandem.
 
 17. Canoeing Heroes

This portage enroute to Klotz Lake in northern Ungava belongs in a Greek myth. Large, loose rocks - don't drop your keys!

 The Voyageurs. Enough said.
 Bill Mason. Ten years on, Mason's legend is still strong, a stamp in his honour, a great legacy of books and films and two kids still out there doing it, will ensure that for some time to come.
 Eric Morse. Though part of The Voyageurs, Eric also broke his own ground with landmark northern trips while in his sixties. His legacy, intertwined with his comrades, lives to begin a new century.
 
 18. Most Meaningful Canoeing Spots
 Hornby's cabin--Thelon River. To read Edgar Christian's journal of their demise while sitting beside the cabin is one of the most moving moments of northern paddling.
 Bloody Falls--Coppermine River. Whether or not the July 1771 massacre that Samuel Hearne described happened as he said, this is still a special spot. Was actually named by Franklin who passed by 50 years later - to the day.
 Morse Cairn--Hanbury River. Though just a pile of rocks at Helen Falls, this cairn made famous by Eric Morse, has been a historic sign-in for Barrenland travellers.
 
 19. Most scenic spots (besides Virginia and Wilberforce Falls)
 Dickson Canyon on the Hanbury.
 Conjuring House Falls on the Missinaibi River.
 Junction of the Kendall and Coppermine rivers.
 
 20. Scariest rapids that you might run - or foolishly did

The scariest storm we've ever seen. 18 hours of nylon-shredding wind. Geoff Peake grabs some canoe holders.

 Rocky Defile on the Coppermine. Several paddlers have died on this run. Keep hard right - it's tougher than it sounds. The scout from the high left side is quite a dramatic sight.
 Thelon Canyon. Keeping hard left is easy until you come to the end of the cliff face. Then start dancing.
 
 21. Scariest falls that you imagined running - or almost did
 1. Conjuring House Falls, Missinaibi River. We saw it in the first week of June and it was cookin'. It's easy to tell how high the water level is, Conjuring House serves as a handy yardstick.
 2. Grade V unnamed crusher on the lower Povungnituk where our eddy-in 6 feet from the brink almost dumped us into it. We later found several dead caribou near the bottom of our portage.
 
 22. Most Memorable Maelstrom
 Aug 8, 1988. This one's easy. Shortly after confirming we were indeed on Flaherty's Povungnituk River as we had intended to prove, our headwind disappeared and the start of the biggest storm we'd ever seen began. Heavy winds all night and switching around until hitting 70+ mph in the early morning. Hiding our shredded tents under the canoes which were held down by rocks was a highlight. And that mystical date- 8-8-8-8.
 
 23. Most sworn-at rivers

Carrying the groceries along a portage trail on the Rupert River system doesn't inspire natives as to your river experience.

 The Hepburn, a shallow, slippery-rock-strewn mother flowing into the upper Coppermine. It looks inviting to passing Coppermine paddlers. A few miles up, it isn't so pleasant.
 Sandy Creek. Flowing into the Dease above Great Bear Lake, this historic connecting route, named by Hanbury after a trip companion, was shallow and sandy which meant many miles of heavy dragging.
 
 24. Worst wipeouts
 1981. House Rapids on Rupert. Last rapid, three miles from Waskaganish (Rupert House): a shallow, rocky and seat-breaking experience. After cleaning up I accidentally left my waterproof camera there which I had to retrieve in the cold rain the next day from the comfort of my tent in Rupert House. (Much to the amusement of certain other individuals).
 1989. Also a Last Rapid, this time on the Churchill River a few miles before the historic Frog Portage into the Sturgeon-Weir River. This was where my partner Peter Scott had dumped with his father, Angus, a decade previously. As we lined up for the ledge, which was capped by a large foaming white wave, Peter said, "We have a 90% chance of dumping" He was right.
 
 25. Dumbest Moments
 Too many to mention but how about way back in 1982. While doing a portage to save a lot of lake paddling at the very start of the Rupert River in central Quebec. We had just put in from Baie-de-Poste on Lake Mistassini and had some last minute grocery items still loose - as we were not expecting to portage that day. Michael Peake was holding the paper sack of groceries when a Cree local who was walking the other way took aside one of our paddlers and asked where we were going. When he heard it was the town of Rupert House some 400 miles away, he looked towards Michael and said quietly, "You guys ever done this before?"
 
 26. Worst Planning for a Trip
 1. 1995. A key article of research was lacking for a crucial part of the Hide-Away Canoe Club's 50 day Arctic Land Expedition which began at Camsell Portage on Lake Athabasca and headed north to Tazin Lake. The Tazin River drains Tazin Lake except for the fact there is - and has been for several years - a large concrete dam blocking all drainage from that lake. The river was four inches deep which included three inches of algae.
 2. Measuring the mileage for our 1986 Across Ungava trip via the Leaf River with our mileage string and finding out during the trip it was the wrong string which added 50 miles to our already time-pressed sked! We ended up having to do the Leaf in five days (200 miles.) We bought our Chief Guide a new string after that trip.
 

Sean Peake (upper right) takes in Conjuring House Falls in high water, a scary and hypnotic treat on the Missinaibi River.

  This article first appeared in Che-Mun Outfit 99