Aug.29: Fort Simpson and home

In the morning, we loaded the canoes and gear onto a van and trailer and set off for the Fort Simpson guide compound. I rode in the front passenger seat with Eric Menicoche, a member of the First Nations council as well as a good storyteller. He told me several Dene legends and when I begged for more, he asked me for one instead. "We trade stories," he told me. "I give, then you give." Caught by surprise, I was about to back out but then remembered that my mother used to tell me Japanese legends at bedtime when I was much younger. So Eric and I traded stories for a couple of easy hours...in exchange for Dene stories, I gave him ones from Japan. :-) We dropped off Karen by her truck along the way - she would join us for dinner in Yellowknife - then took a ferry across the Liard on the H.M. Lafferty (another relation of Carl the Park Warden).

At the Fort Simpson compound, we transferred our personal gear back to our regular luggage. No more yellow drybags! I'll almost miss those. :-)

After saying good-bye to Eric, we had lunch at the Nahanni Inn; most of us opted for the "Nahanni sandwich special" which contained caribou, tomato, lettuce, and mayo. While we were eating, Eric surprised me by stopping by with a book he offered to lend me. It was a collection of Dene legends (When The World Was New: Stories of the Sahtu Dene by George Blondin, Outcrop Publishing, 1990). I was surprised by his trust in someone he had only met a few hours ago; he told me to just mail the book back when I've finished with it. I'm hoping to find a collection of Japanese legends (or perhaps Ontario) to include in the package when I return Eric's book.

After picking up some frozen caribou sausage for Ginny from Bannockland and checking out the Fort Simpson Visitor Centre, Dave drove us to the Yellowknife airport. We arrived five minutes after our plane was scheduled to leave. Fortunately our group made up the bulk of the passengers on this flight, so they waited for us. :-) It was tough saying good-bye to Dave. Many tears. Jeff and I want to go on Dave's Baja sea kayaking trip someday, however, so hopefully we'll see him again.

When we reached Yellowknife, a shuttle took us to the hotel. More hot showers and baths! Some of the grime seemed to be permanently ground into our skin, however, no matter how hard we scrubbed; Jeff O., who had been on similar trips before, warned us that it might take a few weeks for it to wear off completely.

We had dinner at the Wild Cat Cafe, supposedly the oldest building in Yellowknife, and were joined by Karen and her daughter Katie. It was odd to see some of the men clean-shaven again, and makeup on some of the women. Everyone looked so clean! Jeff had muskox for dinner; I had blackened red snapper. Al had left the Adventure Cups behind for us, and Duane had cleaned them all out the previous night. We took these out and used them instead of the restaurant wine glasses, toasting each other and those who had already left us (Dave, Al, Lin), one last time.

I found it surprisingly difficult to say good-bye to this special group of people, many of whom were total strangers only weeks ago. I also find myself missing the wildness and beauty of the Nahanni much more than I expected. From time to time I still have dreams of floating with the canoes down the river in the middle of the night, full moon hazy through a gauze of cloud, cold breeze caressing my cheek.