Alumni Newsletter Update: Zach Arem

Here is a wonderful summary of our adventure down the George River written for the Pathfinder Alumni Newsletter by Zach Arem.

After many months of preparations and 26 days of canoe tripping we are back in civilization. The George River is one of the most breathtaking places any of us have ever been. It was not easy getting there, but well worth the effort.

We headed east and north on July 12, and after 25 hours of driving, we finally made it to Labrador City. From there we met our driver and continued another two hours east to our put in on the Ossokmanuan Reservoir. Things couldn’t have started better for us, but we knew the type of country we were in. It didn’ttake long for us to realize how challenging things were going to be after the first couple of days.

Through heavy wind and rain, shallow waters, freezing cold temperatures, dangerous open water crossings, and a labyrinth of islands, we eventually finished the first phase of our trip on the inland ocean known as the Joey Smallwood Reservoir.

Though the sun came out, things didn’t get much easier as we crossed the height of land and entered the headwater lakes of the George. The shallow waters continued, and our bodies were spent. We were almost 2 full days behind schedule, but we were determined to make it up.

Once on the Upper George, we started to pick up some ground. Though there were many technical rapids and difficult portages, we started to gain an appreciation for the lure of the river. Low laying bogs, lakes, and black spruce forests turned into a big flowing river lined by rolling mountains and tundra.

As we finished the Upper George and entered the 90 kilometer long Indian House Lake, the scenery became even more magnificent. Open faced mountains and cliffs littered with cascading creeks, spectacular views, bears, and residual snow became a constant.

After 8 hard days of waking up at 4:00am and endless paddling, we reached the Lower George and were finally back on schedule.

There aren’t many words to describe the Lower George. If you have an opportunity to look at our pictures that will give you some perspective, but that still won’t do it justice. The Lower George is absolutely stunning. It is by far the greatest stretch of river any of us have ever done. We spent seven straight days, and over 200 kilometers, navigating clean continuous C1-C4 rapids, hiking unbelievable terrain, viewing wildlife around every bend, and enjoying a wilderness truly untouched by man.

The Lower George culminates with a 2 kilometer long rapid known as Helen Falls. It’s here that the river takes another turn into tidal Ungava Bay and the Arctic Ocean.

Just as it started, our journey also ended with many challenges. We battled tides almost washing our campsite away and swamping our canoes, freezing temperatures, and a sketchy 2 kilometer open water river crossing. Not to be deterred, we continued to push until we eventually made it to the Inuit village of Kangiqsualujjuaq.

After 2 flights and another 25 hour drive back to Lakefield, we finally made it home safely and without any mishaps.

The first 10 days was some of the hardest canoe tripping any of us have ever done, but there is no doubt that we would do it all again in a heart beat. In all we saw 20 bears, 12 bald eagles, 3 nights of northern lights, 2 caribou, 1 wolf, and no wolverines or polar bears (thank the lord). We also drove nearly 5000 miles between two cars, flew 500 miles, paddled 785 kilometers, and most importantly lived our dream of canoe tripping in the arctic.

As a final note, the six of us would like to send a special thank you to our KickStarter supporters. None of this would have been possible without our family and friends in the Pathfinder community. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.

There will be a more extensive trip report in the months to come. In the mean time, feel free to look at our pictures on Facebook and follow the progress of the photo book on our blog at http://lureoflabrador.blogspot.com/.