Just a quick update from the Field. Our Destination Torngat mission is really picking up steam after finishing the 450 mile wrong George River Canoe Rout in Nunuvik Canada, and we are now about to head into Torngat national park. Along the way our Snap Dragon spray decks have allowed us to comfortably paddle hundreds of miles of flat water and at the same make some pretty hair-raising first descents all with the most durable and well made paddle available. I have included an update about the most recent portion of our mission and also sent you an invite to a drop-box where images are available for blog and social media purposes. There are obviously some great ones of the spray decks in use!
Please check out Destination Torngat – An Adventure Northward to check out our inovative realtime conglomeration of positioning and social media. If you think you might be interested in participating in terms of promoting the expedition through the site and having access to podcasts, map embeds, and a Snap Dragon logo and link on the site let me or the site creator Jon Burrill know ASAP.
Thanks for your continued support and I hope you are having a great trade show!
Cheers
Ben Stookesberry
The End of the George
Hello,
Since I last wrote you all it’s been an epic 10 days on the bottom portion of the George River Canoe route. We had literally spent the first two weeks of the paddle simply as an approach to the Labrador Peninsula and the Torngat Mountains. Finally off the 70 mile long Indian House lake and more than 250 miles into the journey, the mighty George River picked up speed and headed north through the eastern side of the Torngat Mountains. It is here that we set our sights on exploring a few of the Lower Georges tributaries.
Nutillilik
About 100 miles from the Mouth of the River, we stopped in at Historic Pyramid fishing camp and received information about a steep waterfall strewn tributary called the Nutillilk River and a falls at the confluence. Camp proprietor Peter May has spent his entire life on the lower stretches of the George and has already explored many of the Georges tributaries for there world famous trout, Char, and Salmon fisheries. Currently Peter holds the rivers record for largest Brook trout at a whopping 11 lbs. True to Peters beta, boomer pulled out a few fish out of the turquoise swirling waters at the confluence of the Nutillilik and the George.
Upstream of the George, the Nutillilik is an incredible sight dropping over massive azure waterfalls dropping out of a glacially sculpted hanging valley and this is where the long boats really started to show there worth. In addition to transporting our 3 weeks worth of gear and supplies the 350 odd miles to the creek, these boats and especially the Jackson Kayak Karma UL is made to be an extremely versatile boat making the transition from touring mode to whitewater mode by simply setting camp and unloading the boats to make them light and responsive as possible in the extremely steep Natillilik.
After spending just a few hours descending the bottom 2 miles of the creek, we repacked our boats and recharged our camera and communications equipment in perfect sub-artic summer weather with our Goal-Zero Nomad 7 solar panels and rejoined the George for an arduous but spectacular evening paddle. With the river now picking up speed in it’s descent to Ungava Bay now just 80 miles north we covered 25 miles in just 4 hours paddling through thick clouds of Mosquitos and and a northern sunset that lingered for hours. We were moving fast to take advantage of our final days on the George and to add a exploratory twist to this legendary canoe rout. Instead of continuing down the George, we stopped at 66 miles above the Ungava bay and the mouth of the river to hike into a river running nearly parallel to the George called the Ford River. Like the George the Ford is a huge river that drains a significant portion of the Labrador plateau. But unlike the George the Ford has never been navigated because of it’s remoteness and the precipitous drop over the last 25 miles of the river where it flows into the George.
Ford River First Descent
Despite being relatively close to the George by the standards of this vast wilderness, we were faced with carrying our boats 8 miles over a mountain pass and through an untested rout. To make this possible with our hundred odd pounds of gear, Erik Boomer offered to be the gear boat and transport our access food and supplies downstream on the George to the Confluence, while Pedro Oliva and I attempted the challenging rout into the George via the Delorme GPS system. We would simply not have been light enough for the arduous hike in had Boomer not “taken one for the team,” and having knee surgery just 3 months ago, it was the right call for boomer to stay in his boat and off the side of the mountain.
Between the George and the Ford we climbed nearly 2000 feet up and out of the George and descended half of that back down to the Ford. In deteriorating weather and nearly blank terrain high in the Mountains between the two rivers visibility went down to 50 feet and we literally navigated by Delorme GPS through a key hole in the terrain and a spectacular mountain pass that was our gateway to the Ford. Finally on the river Pedro and I were treated to a rarity in first descents finding this huge crystal clear river that was extremely runnable in terms of it’s incredibly steep whitewater and open enough to make some portages where the whole river slid incredibly down the side of a 3000 foot long granite slope. Somehow calling the Ford spectacular is an understatement and it is easy to see why the Ford along with the entire bottom 100 miles of the George will become Canada’s newest national park in 2015.
Through incredibly hot conditions at the beginning of the Canoe rout, to driving rain on the 70 mile long Indian House lake to the arduous hiking and clouds of Mosquitios over mountain passes, our Kokatat technical river gear (Gortex drysuit and PFDs) in concert with our Eddie Bauer, clothing, camp, and sleeping accommodations made this incredibly challenging trip possible if not incredibly enjoyable: The open-aire accommodation of the Stargazer tents at times when even the most toxic deet wouldn’t keep the skeeters and flies at bay; the Dry-Down sleeping bags that relofted and stayed warm and dry even after being packed and unpacked in heavy rain; and the light-wieght lauyering system to stay dry and warm on and off the riverfust to mention a few area’s where our EB gear really shined.
The Mouth of the George and Kangiqsuallujjuac
Now roughly 450 miles later we have finished our first of it’s kind out on the George in just 18 days and are finally at the doorstep for the main attraction of this Destination Torngat expedition. Here at the farflung Innuet Village of Kangiqsuallujjuac we are only hours away from boarding a float plane for the 70 mile transport to Nachvak Lake where are attempt to make the first descent of the Nachvak River flowing to the North Atlantic Ocean off the other-side of the Labrador peninsula. In addition to being framed by the highest peaks in Eastern North America and showcasing some of the highest costal rock faces in the world, the Nachvak has been in the sights of Kayaker’s for at least a decade since canadian Kayaker Joel Kowalski spotted the waterfall strewn waterway on Google earth flowing through the legendary Torngat moonscape that is populated only by wolves, Caribou, and polar bears.
Despite being an integral part of the logistics for this expedition, we are saying goodbye and good luck to Erik Boomer as he is he is off to Baffin Island to take part in a first rafting descent that will aid in important fisheries research. Luckily we have benefited from his knowledge and experience(and kayaking fishing) though George river and even more importantly we have spent the last few days training and preparing for the very real risk of an unsavory polar bear encounter. Replacing Boomer is a Kangiqsuallujjuac native named Jobe that will carry our main Bear Deterrent; and Chris Korbulic and Ben Marr to round out the kayak team along with Pedro Oliva and I.
I am incredibly excited to continue to share our final 3 weeks of our Destination Torngat mission with you and the folks at home. I am hearing from Jon Burrill that Destination Torngat – An Adventure Northward continues to attract more and more people everyday that are becoming interested in the expedition and this amazing platform that Jon has created. Please stay in touch with Jon as we continue to send more Satgrams from the field via Delorme Inreach positioning and text, and Satellite audion and uploads from Nachvak Fjord. Please continue to tag all instagram and Twitter blasts about the expedition with #destinationtorngat. And there is now a new folder of images available in the destination_torngat folder titled “end of the George” on drop box. Please note that the photos are divided into folders to indicate where they were taken i.e. George River, Natililik waterfalls, Ford River First D, or Kangiqsuallujjuac. If you have any questions or need access to the Drop Box please contact Jon Burrill.