Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Day 14/2 - Trenton baby

We are sitting at lock 2 and 1km to the last lock in the trent severn waterway, 2.9k after that to the end of the trent severn waterway itself, also the point where I break the 400k mark on this little adventure. Short hop skip and a jump (about 3000 paddle strokes) across the bay of quinte, down murray canal, across the gap to the park in lake ontario and that's all folks.

Yesterday started off a little slow, I was up at 6 but my travel buddy slept in to about 8, teenagers, sigh. We had breakfast and just relaxed, took out time packing up camp and finally set off at 10:30. Absolutely gorgeous day and sun was out the entire trip, not a hint of rain nor a cloud in the sky. Wind on the other hand was back in full force.

Took kyle about a half hour to wake up and had to coax him along a little, that first hour or so is always the worst. He said he was glad the wind was with us again, I didn't have the heart to tell him yeah, but only for the next 2km then we are straight into it for the rest of the day.

Now at this point I was pretty sure no more lakes until trenton, wrong, opened up to an 8km lake that didn't appear on my tiny little map. She was tough going, wind howling and 1-2 foot whitecaps all the way, kyle is an expert now and I don't worry about him crossing. I ask anyway and he says he can't even feel the waves, minnow works just as good as the coffin, same kayak so it should.

We try and find shelter closer to shore but the weed beds are thick and get in the way of paddling, we go back out to the main channel and the wind. About 3/4 of the way there is a swimming dock offshore and we stop for a good rest. We finally make it across and get protection from the wind in the channel to the next lock.

About 1/2km to the lock there is a convenience store and I pull up and leave kyle tending the boats while I get us a chocolate bar sweet. As I'm coming back I see a cruiser coming down the channel almost on plane and throwing a big wave, can't make it in time to prevent, kyle from swamping a little, he was smart enough to let go of my kayak. Now I'm mad. Tell kyle to take his time and I'm going to go have a quick chat, I race to the lock ahead of him.

I politely ask the lockmaster if he minds that I have words with the people in the boat and he says, be my guest. Brilliant! The guy on the boat, driver, stays silent and I have a conversation with the wife in broken english, I tell her after 400km and 14 days they are the most inconsiderate boaters I have encountered, she said but we here doing the 10k max, I politely explain that the purpose is not speed but wake size to protect the shoreline and 14 year olds sitting in a rock lined 60 foot wide canal holding an empty kayak afloat. Husband wakes up and asks his wife what the problem is, she explains and he shrugs his shoulders. Well..... I smack the side of his expensive boat with my trusty paddle and wouldn't you know it, his english improves, go figure. At this point I thank my father, god bless him, for it is from him that I learned the 7 words you can't say on television, but in french.

Kyle paddles in and I say have a nice day, they went nice and slow to the next lock but we didn't have any nice weather conversations from that point on. As expected. It's now 1:30 and a few short locks to get through.

We get within 2km to our stop for the night and when we come out of glen miller lock the wind hits us like my paddle on buddies boat. Strongest wind so far and it's a tough paddle to say the least, we are both tired and just want to get out. At a few points kyle was moving backwards and still paddling forwards, I'm not moving at all. He finally chirps up, "I don't like wind", I concur. We finally get across and it's now just after 4.

One thing I won't miss about this trip is the lack of exit points for kayaks, this one is the worst. We figure our only bet is the rock lined 2 foot shoreline about 100 yards down, also lined with poison ivy, I could use the stuff as toilet paper but like his father, kyle breaks out from the stuff. We manage to get everything including kayaks out and over to camp. Much easier with two people that's for sure.

We are now on a mission, we were told there was a mcdonalds and tims just across from the lock, at the back of the lock there is a big hill you have to walk down and just as kyle says that's a big hill I, I slip and tumble down, great.

Normally you would walk under the 401 and up the road, there is construction so we have to walk about 2k in the ditch of the 401 and over the overpass. We are now in trenton proper. .

We see mcdonalds and have a big meal with all the fixings. I get two extra large coffee, one for walk back and one for at camp. As we get to the construction site kyle decides to tightrope walk the hay bails and slips, I dive to prevent the fall, with no success, my second cup of coffee is now on the ground, I turn around and ask kyle if he is ok.

We get back to camp and relax, I head off to the washroom and when I get back, no kyle, hmmm he says hi, I look up and he is on the third branch of this massive willow tree beside our tent, wtf, I explain we don't need a trip to emerg, wait till I cross the finish line, then if you want to, climb all the trees you find. Kyle crashes around 9.

Rain sets in around 11 and we get thunder and lightning, I'm the only one who hears it.

Looks overcast today and they are calling for rain, let's get this show on the road, breakfast, pack and paddle, then sleep.

2 comments:

  1. OMG..remember hearing those words from time to time, surely you didn't use them all...lol...looking forward to hearing more about your trip when you arrive home tonight...

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  2. We just found your blog!
    We look forward to reading back about your adventures along the trip.
    (Swift Staff)

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