The following morning at 6:30 Chris started moving around and after a few minutes announced he was going to take the Pungo down the Chute.

We had decided the day before, after the group had surveyed the white water while it was still light, that we were not comfortable with any of the three kids taking the single kayak down the river. Chris would run the Pungo down and then if the kids wanted to go with us in the double kayaks we would consider it (depending on how Chris and the Pungo fared on his solo trip!)

So Chris and I got dressed and went out to the kayaks. It was still raining but was not the downpour of the previous night. After handing me his sweater and rain jacket, Chris grinned at me (his grin is one of the nicest things about him!) and put his life jacket on and pushed off. I ran around the point and down to the bottom of the Chute to watch him and to take a video.

As you will see in the following video, the Chute is roughly 30-40 feet of whitewater (class II). The more challenging part was turning the boat at the bottom to head down the river. Failure to execute your turn meant…not turning! We weren’t sure what would happen, but we had been advised at the orientation that making the turn was the important part. For Chris’ test run he turned to his left to get out of the river and back to the campsite.

Pretty cocky, huh?

So based on how rainy it was I decided I wasn’t too keen to dump my kayak and have to re-dry myself so I opted to walk the portage trail with Stephen, who just didn’t want to go down the rapids. The girls wanted to go so Chris took them down in the doubles. Simmie wasn’t too keen on going down the rapids portion of the chute so Pawan and Chris took the Pandoh’s canoe down unloaded and they pulled left to load up gear and Simmie. Linda was also not keen on getting wet again, so she and Mike portaged their canoe.

Here’s Helen and Chris coming down. Listen for Stephen changing his mind (Katie had previously offered to let him go down in her place but he declined after repeatedly pestering her about taking her place).

Stephen was in quite a funk after this! Ever the thrill seeker, he was a man with regrets on this morning!

We took video of Katie on her camera but she can’t find it! The search will have resume after Fall Fair.

Next is Chris and Pawan. Due to a miscommunication/shift of weight Chris and Pawan didn’t actually get the canoe to turn left and I was so shocked I dropped my hand (which had the camera in it). The tree was o.k. Pawan was o.k. (he shot forward in his seat) and the canoe was o.k. Chris too. The video after this one is Simmie and Pawan trying to inch along the edge of the river to get past the big swirl in the middle, only to be sucked right away into it. An incurable backseat driver, you can hear me shouting directions at them (I just really didn’t want to see anyone have to dry out later!)

As I seem to be having trouble uploading videos, I’ll post more next time and continue on with the adventure which includes more video, a seemingly sudden increase in traffic on the river/lakes/portages during the next 15 kms or so, navigating the Cariboo River (a fast flowing, silt laden river) and our short brush with sunshine…