Aug.22: Sunblood Mountain

The next day, some of us opted to climb Sunblood Mountain while the others stayed back at camp. The hike was about 16 km with the mountain itself being about 1000 m high, and parts of it were fairly rigorous (translation: we sweated buckets). After paddling across the river and securing our canoes on the other side, we hiked up to the scree slopes on the south shoulder of the mountain. The trail got very steep at times, but Dave (our trail leader) took it slow. I found that taking very small, steady steps helped. "You shouldn't be sweating," Dave called from out front, "You shouldn't be breathing hard." We all immediately tried to muffle our gasping breaths as we grabbed at nearby trees and large rocks to help us scramble up the slope. It was a long hike; we left the Virginia Falls campsite at 10:30 am, and didn't get back until nine hours later.

The view at the top was absolutely spectacular, definitely work the effort! We had lunch near a stone cairn at the top, and then a few of us continued hiking to the next ridge while the others went back down. The wind was warm but fierce; I nearly lost my hat and sunglasses at one point when they were both whipped off my head. When the six of us (Dave, Karen, Frebis, Duane, Jeff and me) reached the other ridge, we lay down on the sun-warmed lichen and mosses and took a snooze. I was fascinated by the colours and differing textures of the vegetation at the top of the mountain...Jeff mocked me from taking pictures of it, saying that I would be throwing out those photos when I got back. Here's a partial list (with help from Duane, who works in the plant agricultural divison at the University of Guelph):

• unknown species of gentian
• dwarf blueberries
• arctic willow
• reindeer moss
• bear berry
• alpine cranberry
• small ferns (red)
• dwarf birch
• wind-blown spruce
• club moss
• unidentified compositae

The hike and the time we spent at the top of the mountain was one of my trip highlights, and the Sunblood Mountain hike itself was definitely the best hike I've ever had; I strongly recommend it for anyone doing the trip. Be sure to bring tons of water, though...I went through my entire bottle before we reached the summit. When we got to the top, I was desperately thirsty...and then Duane and Frebis (bless their hearts) pulled out an entire jug of juice that they had been carrying in their packs for use of the entire group! I was immensely grateful to them for that.

I found the hike down the mountain almost as difficult as the one going up. Because we were constantly making our way down steep slopes, our toes were constantly being pressed against the front of our hiking boots, and there was a lot of pressure put on our knees as we looked for sturdy footing. My knees were killing me by the time we got a third of the way down the mountain. The trail looked a lot steeper going down than it had coming up, and I found myself thinking in amazement, "How on earth could I have climbed THIS??"

Frebis and I ended up walking in front. Remembering the numerous warnings about not surprising bears, we kept up a steady conversation, occasionally interrupting ourselves to yell out, "GO AWAY, BEARS! GO AWAY BEARS!" Needless to say, the bears stayed away. Frebis and I were also working on our song. On the last night we were all together, our group had agreed to each write a poem, story, or song to perform in front of the others. Lin and I had already written a "theme song" for our half of the group (the Wolves). It was the first time I had tried to write anything without a guitar or manuscript paper handy, but still fun. :-) Anyway, I wrote a longer piece of music for Frebis and I to perform (later on we recruited Lin to sing a harmony part), and she helped write the lyrics.

By the time we got back to the campsite, it was 7:30 pm. Dinner was nearly ready, and the campsite looked spotless. The others had spent the day reorganizing gear, taking showers, relaxing around the campsite. They had also set out basins of hot water for us to use for washing up and for soaking our feet, for which we were deeply grateful. After dinner, we enjoyed a dessert of S'Mores. All you camping types will already be familiar with this favourite...chocolate pieces and marshmallow sandwiched between two pieces of graham cracker and heated over the fire until the chocolate melted. Yummmm.

Before everyone went to bed, we sat around the campfire and discussed the rapids, which we would be facing for the first time the next day when we entered Fourth Canyon. It was decided that some of us (me, Ginny, and Frebis) would ride in a contraption we nicknamed the "cata-canoe"...two canoes secured together by sturdy pieces of wood tied across the gunwhales. The cata-canoe was more stable than a regular solo canoe, and Karen would captain our vessel, giving us tips on how to navigate the rapids. This arrangement helped quell my fears, and I began to look forward to the rapids the next day instead of dreading them.