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Canoeing Camping and Cuttlefish Canoodling
My 21 Day Monster Canadian Canoe Trip
I don’t know if it’s the lack of food, the heat, sun or a combination of all three, but my mind is playing tricks on me. I’m only three days into a 21-day canoe trip in Canada and I had to take a longer break then planned. It’s to be my longest solo trip yet and this isn’t the best start.
Since halfway through my first day, I’ve been feeling something randomly bumping the bottom of my canoe . . . often getting close to tipping me over! It’s right near the end of the Sockeye Salmons journey upstream to the Adams River to lay their eggs. But I haven’t seen too many still swimming at this point. Even if there were a bunch, they wouldn’t be hitting my canoe bottom that hard.
Finding a flatter spot along the river, I pop up my tent and settle in for the night. I was extra careful to not leave any food unsealed, so I shouldn’t be attracting any bears. Yet here I am hiding in my tent just before sunrise to the sounds of something large along the rivers edge.
I stay as quiet and as motionless as possible as the noises continue. Just never a snarl, snort or growl to be heard. If it is a bear . . . its a very calm and quiet one. Finally an audible noise beyond physical movement . . . but nothing like I’ve ever heard!
