Sat 10/03-2012 Day 194

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My camp on th epath in the middle of the bush - with the kayak...

Pos: here
Loc: on the portage between Laguna San Rafael and Rio Negro
Acc: tent
Dist: 42,4 km
Start: 8:30 End: 20:15

A wonderful morning at the sea! Calm, dry, sandy…but the fine sand will stick everywhere for a while. I’m really some one who loves to keep the gear and tent sand free, but it is simply not working all the time. But who cares! This is the sea! 🙂

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No snow on this mountain at the entry of the river - just clouds...

I got a small wave right into the face on launching, Good Morning, Freya! As I turned into the entrance of the river mouth, the waves for sure fully disappeared, but I had to land there yesterday, as the pic of the whale vertebra was really worth it!

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Glacier San Quintin at sun rise

The bay before the actual river starts is quite shallow, and has a lot of treacherous sand banks. No problem for me, but a whale seemed to have not enough depth here! I found one about three km into the entrance, stranded on the sand. Not sure if he died here, or if he got washed in to the bay after dying. I assume the first, they are getting sometimes lost in a maze of channels.

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What is he doing up here???
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Poor guy...
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The view from the tail of the dead whale
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The skin of the whale starts to peel off
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The eye and mouth of the dead whale

He was reasonable fresh, mostly all still in one pieces, and quite impressive to look at with a size of about 12 meter! Just the skin started to peel off here and there, like leather, and a hole on one side was picked by some birds. Herons? I saw a few beautiful white ones wading in the shallows. They will have quite some food for a while, if they like whale meat…

I actually wanted to have breakfast in that corner, but rather preferred to eat it some where else…

I had four GPS points from Peter on Google Earth to find the exit to the portage on the river, and when I looked at the pic, I thought as well this must be enough!

It was no problem to find the entrance. But to find the next GPS point *was* a real problem! Paddling upstream was not as easy as it looked on the satellite image. I really rather should have talked to people who have already found their way and taken their GPS points…but somehow I simply missed it out, somehow I’m too stubborn to do that, somehow I may be too proud to ask and somehow I just want to find my own way via the satellite image.

I thought simply staying at the northern side going east must work out, and the next GPS point was just there, at about Latitude=-46.759150, Longitude=-74.232731. But this shallow delta with it’s treacherous sand banks, especially an low tide, was nothing you could easily navigate when you are sitting low in your kayak. Even getting out for a better over view, you don’t see much more. No hill or high tree or whatever to climb.

Simply means, I was running about 10 times onto sand banks, and eventually probably found myself too much south in the delta. I should have had more GPS points to stay at the northern edge. Or, what I assumed later, the southern way may have been even easier.

After cussing at myself for a while paddling into seemingly dead ends which became more and more shallow, being decorated with dead trees all over in the water, I tried to reach Peter to ask him how to cover just the 1,6 km to the next GPS point with open water. But unfortunately he was not at the computer anywhere and on the road…

I kept on searching, and eventually pulled out my laptop to have another look at the satellite image. I could have drawn it freehand by now…

I couldn’t make out where I was as I couldn’t put my position on the image, but it showed all smaller streams going east eventually merged into the main one again going north east. Regarding my distance to my GPS point, I was probably some where just in the middle of the delta.

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I had to find my way through this old flooded forest

I now decided to simply paddle “through the dead forest”, which was just about possible with my kayak. The water depth was enough, just navigating through the trees was a bit funny. Fortunately, the current was nothing here, and so no risk to get squeezed in between logs or such nasty things on fast flowing rivers with logs, horizontal or vertical ones.

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A possible campsite on a sandy river bank

This was eventually working, though scary! I found the main stream going north east, but probably lost about an hour searching here. My GPS point I left behind me to the left on the other stream. But I knew I was in the right place now, and finding the third point was no problem. I even enjoyed taking the smaller northern river arm, and merged easily with the main arm again to find the point number four.

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The river was calm and dark

This point I found only after a small detour in one arm to the right, which was changing water color from deep black to muddy. This can’t be right here! I had to turn around anyway as the river am was leading through a maze of dead logs with stronger current. Not the right arm!

I took the left one, and correctly stayed in the slow flowing, deep dark river. Not sure from where on it was called “Black River”, probably from here! I was glad I took enough crystal clear fresh water, not relying on this water to drink…

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The two kayakers from Italy I met on the river

I was just enjoying the peace and complete silence, paddling slow taking pictures on the way, when I got a shiver all over my body – weren’t there people talking German??? I really thought I clearly heard a sentence, listened again, but nothing more…was I going crazy here, all by myself?

No, I was sure I heard words, there must be people coming down the river! I soon saw two yellow kayaks with two guys, not Germans, but Italians! I haven’t met kayakers on the water since Buenos Aires, but here and now!!!  And I haven’t talked to people since the Navy station or on the phone…

The two guys were planning to paddle from a small village 13 days further north out of the river, a bit along the beach into the other river leading to the other big glacier lagoon of the Ventisquero San Quintin, and doing another portage back to this river and back to where they came from . Not sure if entering the river leading to the San Quintin glacier will work for them from what I saw, but maybe. Or they were prepared to walk along the beach with their inflatable folding kayaks, loaded up to the deck with huge packs. It looked like just poking one of them would capsize the overloaded vessel…

They admitted they are not really “kayakers”, but rather climbers, and now doing a different sort of adventure. Well…one of them at least recognized me eventually as “the woman having paddled around Australia”, and they seemed to be quite surprised to meet me here and to hear about my new trip.

We stopped chatting after 15 min already, as I wanted to get my portage done today! It was about 4 pm. I was asking them how it went, and “not too bad” was the answer, but you’ll have to work a bit. I was asking about the precise way point of them entering the river, but asking them if it would be in this tiny side river, or from the big river, I found I was all right with the way points I had from Google Earth.

I should better have gotten the precise exit point…I found the turn off into the small side river with my way point, and someone had also marked it with a blue cloth high in the bushes.

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The mirror image Black River

The paddle up to the turn off was one dead calm black water mass with no current to feel and no breeze going. It was like paddling on a mirror, beautiful, as all shore lines I could see double! But I felt like being drunk, and almost disorientated where the river made turns or had small bays. You could not really see ahead where to go correctly! A few times I was not sure if I paddled into a dead bay or if I was still on the river, especially     where it made a large S-bent to the south and where it went through a bit of a dead forest of logs still standing vertically into the sky.

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Am I drunk to see double?

But I was constantly nearing my turn off point, and must have been right. I entered the tiny side river at the blue cloth and found the sharp bent with another GPS point, and then paddled 50 m short to what I had marked as the river exit point from Google Earth. The obviously visible start of the path was about 150 meters later. I couldn’t paddle any further any way!

But I saw no traces like bent down grass from the two guys just having left the portage 2 hours ago, which I thought was great luck! I started to walk to ward the GPS point marking the start of the path. Walking was easier said than done here, as it had still a lot of water in holes and soaking wet areas. I took my sat phone, GPS and paddle as a hiking pole, marked my boat position and carefully found my way through this swamp.

And then it happened…I stepped with fortunately one leg only into a really swamp hole which looked like a solid mud spot! A swamp hole of about one meter straight out of the horror album…I was stuck to the knee with the right leg, and worked hard for ten minutes to get my leg out again…well, maybe it was one minute only, but it felt like an eternity.

I thought of my options…I could leave my sandal and my bootie plus neoprene sock inside in the hole, if I only could get my leg out again with the dry suit…I could even cut off the dry suit…no, no knife handy…or jump out of the suit…no not possible to get the leg out in any way. So I was pulling harder, almost desperate…calling for help with my sat phone would have been the last option.

I eventually got it out again with a tremendous effort, and was quite shocked about having found a “real” swamp…both legs in, and I may have been lost. I fortunately had still my sandal and socks on, though hanging lose on my foot. Not again!!!

I carefully walked further, and soon found the traces of the guys and the obvious path! thank goodness! I followed their traces back to the river, and saw I paddled 50 meters too *far*, and had to turn another 20 meters into an even more shallow, grassy river arm.

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The exit on the last bit of a tiny river to find the path start

I crossed the fifty meters to my kayak, made my way with some effort to that point, and was happy I knew I was now on the right path! But now the real work started…

It was 5.30 pm, and I was still sure I’ll make it to the lagoon…fortunately no rain at all all day, though it was forecast.
I unloaded two heavy bags, but soon noticed I rather take only one at a time, plus my paddle as a hiking pole. Ok…I made the first trip about 50 meters up to a reasonable dry spot, dropped the first bag, came back with the second, unloaded a third one, and then dragged the kayak to that place…I was knackered already.

Another leg of maybe 100 meters to another dry spot I made in the same way.

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The path becomes obvious to be seen

Fortunately, this seems to have been the worst part, and now the path became more dry and easy to follow. I made another maybe 300 meters to what was looking like an inviting dry camp site, and as it was already 7.30 pm, I decided to call it a day here! This spot seemed to have been used a s a camp on the way by some other people, as a few straight logs were lying in the bush for a putting up a tarp. I camped right on the dry path, and felt too tired to even write my update! I had to have a tiny shower, so sweaty I was! It felt silly to see the kayak in the middle of a forest…

Just when I was all set, the rain started…not much, but it was raining all night, until now this new Sunday morning when I finished the update from last day. I will go now and make the rest of this horrible portage!  And if I’ll be reaching only the lagoon for today…

4 comments on “Sat 10/03-2012 Day 194

Jörg Hofferbert

Oh, it´s a very hard work you do, but the way to the parque national laguna san rafael is a prime natural phenomenon and now the the best way to the canal moraleda. First i thougt you go to the west > golfo tres montes > and arround the penisula de taitao.

Always attention to your legs. You know, in german we say: “Immer eine Handbreit Wasser unterm Kiel” (always a handvolume under the keel)

Pedro Castro

Hi Freya,
Maritime people in Valparaiso would be happy to host you to celebrate your incredible sea adventure achievements. A party would be held in your honor.
I am not sure if you like these celebrations…!!! If not inconvenient for you, could you send your ETA in Valparaiso / Viña del Mar when reaching this area on your way north.

PS A marvelous kayak experience as seen through your eyes and trip log. Thanks

Pedro

Meike

Viel Glück für heute. Hoffe,dass du gut zur Laguna kommst. Was für ein Abenteuer, und dann triffst du in der Wildniss 2Italiener. Die Welt ist doch klein. Nun wünsche ich dir viel Erfolg saludos

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