The bear spray is bought, the paddles wrapped and my hiking pack filled to the brim. I spent the weekend picking up the last of the essentials; some chocolate chips and marshmallows for fireside treats, a tetrapac of wine and some firecracker pepperettes. These should round out our freeze dried selection of foods quite nicely.
We are giving ourselves 5 days to make the approximate 200 km trek. If all goes well we should be able to get from Deline on Great Bear Lake(our starting point) to about half way up the Great Bear River. Plans are to stop the first night just above the rapids. This will give us a chance to scout them out and see what we have to deal with the following day. From that p.oint on Trent with the help of some locals has mapped out a few other good spots to stop as we make our way past Tulita and to Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River
Peonies at the market on Saturday. Aren't they beautiful!
On top of shopping and packing, I also managed to get a good swim in on Sunday. After doing the grouse grind in the morning I had a light breakfast and then took a short nap before heading out to the pool to put in 3000 m. My goal, which I accomplished, was to swim the entire distance without any significant breaks. I took 4 short stops to clear my goggles and have a swig of water totaling no more than 20-30 seconds each. I'm feeling prepared for my first race on Canada Day. The distance will be no challenge, I just need to focus on setting an aggressive pace and not settling too much as I have a tendency to be a little lazy and not push myself. Basically what I need to do is find someone to set a good pace for me to follow and then to build for my finish as I know I have the power to pick it up and go when I need to. Hopefully the 10 days away from the pool won't hurt me too much...at least with the paddling I will still be using a lot of the same muscles.
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