That’s MY Chocolate - CROWDUCK FALLS - Day Sixty Six

CROWDUCK FALLS - Day Sixty Six

After being forced to stop early yesterday, we were up and on the water with the sunrise today. But Brynley apparently needed an extra jolt to wake-up, as she slipped off the wet rock while loading the boat and fell straight into the river. Luckily I heard her yelps just in time, and scrambled down to grab her hand just as she was about to drift out of reach while holding the canoe.

We had heard that Tetu was a beautiful lake. We wouldn't know, the rain was so thick, it all became white. It came down is such quantity it became impossible to hear or see much else. Only the nearest points were visible, but the pink rock we saw was very pretty indeed. About four feet up from the water the rock colour changes and plants grow - this must be where the waters flood when the dam is opened. Thoroughly drenched from the rains, I made the real error of the day proclaiming, “Well at least its flat.” A monster wind tore across the flat lake out of nowhere. So we were on land. Again. Freezing, wet, and marooned, we set up a tent and crawled in, though the inside wasn’t much drier. Making a small raft of dryness on our thermarests, we decide it is definitely a day for chocolate. Erik pulls out the two remaining chocolate bars… which he informed me are both his, as I ate mine days ago. The thought of not being able to devour the chocolate bars right in front of me was too much to handle, and before Erik had a chance to say he was joking, I burst into tears.

While the wind never faded, the rain moved on and at 4pm, after a nice bowl of chicken coconut curry, we decided to push onwards. Thinking we may only make it another 1km, we surprised ourselves and stayed on the water until the sun had set, arriving at Crowduck Falls under the most spectacular lighting and colourful clouds. As we crossed into Manitoba, we were surrounded by big cliffs, towering forests, and slanted pink slabs of rock. We were able to run a “falls” and we got to see over 10 bald eagles in a single evening.

After paddling a short winding river, Crowduck Falls was really more of a dribble of water down a steep rock face. Our arrival was marked with beautiful pink clouds and the best peanut butter and jam wrap ever. I found my sleeping bag was drenched but, hey, we only have two nights left on the trail!