Rocks, Rapids & Some Rough Stuff: Berens River Solo part 3
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- čas přidán 7. 01. 2020
- The Berens wilderness odyssey continues. Starting at a wonderful high camp on a rocky bluff, I continue through rugged terrain, taking in many falls and rapids. I run some, line some and carry on others. It makes for a demanding few days over a strecth I come to call the "assault course section" of the river.
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Hi Paul, I just listened to your podcast with Les Hiddins, my Uncle Hylton, or Frutti as we called him was in Vietnam at the same time as Les as a forward scout. Being from Asia, Hylton probably knew a few more more words of the local language than Les, in fact, my Uncle Hylton said he knew Les.
When Hylton returned from Vietnam he became an accomplished cook, cooking Malaysian street food at the local pub and then on to being a restaurant owner with his wife, my Aunty Pat.
Hylton and Pat ended up living in Canungra in Qld, an army town that hosted the jungle warfare training grounds for Australia, and he stayed involved at a distance.
Hylton was an accomplished bushman and also had a business giving tours and teaching people to live from the land in SE Qld in the Lamington National Park and surrounds. He was also recognised for his work in the study of grass trees, or Blackboys as they were known before political correctness came about and earned an honorary doctorate in biology for his efforts.
Anyway, the reason for my mini novel is to say thanks for interviewing people such as Les, my Uncle will never get the chance as he is succumbing to Alzheimer's disease and non-communicative. It is quite special to hear people who are getting on in their age, like Les, talk about their knowledge and pass it on.
Thank you.
Wow you got a ton of footage! I know recording video while still trying to do all the work on a trip can be a pain in the arse, but we appreciate it. Cheers.
Thanks. Glad you appreciate it!
Anyone who think that you are a dumb Brit is clearly uninformed or they are boastful and incompetent... This is a wonderful adventure. Again I thank you for bringing us along with you. I'm sure that on the next episode you will get to slow down somewhat and enjoy it a bit more. I too get very frustrated with the rubbish left behind by people. Not everyone has respect for nature.
I love the bit near the end where you are deciding on the ferry, lining, portage option. Love the finger pointed the route out. Great to see the intimacy of the decision making. Good interesting stuff to watch and listen to. Love the lining compilation at the end.
Thank you Paul for all your efforts filming and editing this to share with us. I really enjoyed this. Absolutely beautiful, in spite of some people not respecting the gift this place obviously is.
Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Paul this has been fantastic. Wondering when we might see part 4?
My favorite series of the new year by far the scenery, solitude, and free canoeing tips can’t be beat, really all the tips and instructions are worth a lot, thanks again for taking us along with you
Wow amazing Paul. Great footage, love the thought process discussion.
Cheers Paul, Fascinating to see the challenges you encounter, and how you go about tackling them - and so therapeutic to watch this on a busy commuter train!! Very much looking forward to part 4.
The Northern water ways are so beautiful! Loving this series Paul!
They are indeed. I'm glad you are enjoying my journey along one of these lovely waterways. All the best, Paul
Great that you are giving us, almost your inner voice in these trip vids. I've done a ton of these kind of trips and it's nice to see trip vids with lovely cinematography etc, but you have captured what we actually are thinking when we are on this kind of journey. Very refreshing for me.
Really enjoying your adventure. What’s strange is to see you get a little frustrated. And still finding mess that far out in the wilderness.
We all get a little frustrated from time to time :-)
Great work as usual Paul, really enjoyed following this series. Impressive work to coordinate such a good amount of film alongside all the paddling and campcraft. Will look forward to seeing your final video!
Very nice article,, good to have your thought process at portages and rapids
Nice to see someone lighting their fire sensibly without trying to prove they're some kind of prehistoric master stick rubber.
Great series of videos Paul, Really appreciate you taking the timeout of your trip to bring us along with you, and also for explaining some of the thoughts behind the decisions you've made.
I think it helps to show the mental strength and resilience required to undertake such a trip, especially solo.
Keep up the great work.
Best Wishes
David
I have really enjoyed the Berens River trip. Such unique content, truly inspirational.
very enjoyable going alone can be fraut with danger but it looks like youve taken every precaution to stay safe .incredible scenery and great the way you explain everythink in detail feels like everyones there with you [i wish ] thanks for sharing paul
Very good again. I can perfectly understand you getting peed off with the mess. I get annoyed almost every time I go out these days in the England. Must be more frustrating in the wilderness. You had every right to rant a lot more Paul. 🏕🚣♀️
Thank you for your understanding of my desire the let off a bit of steam :-)
What a gorgeous trip!!! Great share, Paul.
Loving the videos Paul. Keep them coming!!
Thanks Alan!
Brilliant! Looks like you are having a great time!
I've been loving this series, thank you so much for sharing this with us!
My absolute pleasure Will. I'm so glad you've enjoyed these videos.
Hello Paul, thank you for sharing this beautifally filmed outdoor adventure. You do a great job of filming and narrating. All the best to you in the new Year. Take care.
🤗
Thank you for making this video.
I miss these days more than I can explain. Thankyou for these videos.
You are very welcome Dave.
Hey Happy Chappy! Really outstanding footage. Man there were some hairy portages. I have totally enjoyed this series Paul thanks so much for sharing it.
Really enjoyed this series.
Wow another great installment loved the rant ! Can not wait to see the next one. Thank you for sharing
Thank you Sara. Episode 4 is in the pipeline...
I really needed this today. Thanks.
Loving it, many thanks for making and sharing.
I'm so glad you are loving these videos Marcus. Thanks for your feedback.
Quite the adventure Paul. Thanks for taking the time and effort to film it for us.
Another great video Paul. Looking forward to the next one. Thank you.
Thank you. Episode 4 is on its way soon...
That was a great adventure, and for me many familiar places happily recalled. Thanks for sharing, I enjoyed traveling with you mate...Cheers
Just an outstanding account of your trip and thinking along the way Paul. Thank you. Looking forward to the finale!
Cheers Neil! :-)
Really enjoying this series, thanks for your hard work.
You are very welcome. Thanks for watching.
Another nice video. That scene with the sun going down while looking for a campsite is all too familiar!
:-)
Really enjoying this little series, mate 👍
Paul, I'm loving this series and following along with on-line maps. You're making it really hard to wait till spring to get on the water again. It's currently -38F and the rivers are frozen pretty solid. Keep them coming and thanks again for sharing these.
What an awesome trip, Looking forward to the next installment.
Nate
I am really impressed with the discipline you show in making sure that you pocket your knife and firesteel before you add tinder to the fire, I must remember to make sure I do that in the future.
Thanks Ira. The details matter and I'm glad you noticed this. Warm regards, Paul
Hi Paul! Thanks again for taking us with you on this fantastic trip. Looking forward to part 4. ATB André
Thank you Andre.
Good video and wonderful scenery! Thanks again for your time and efforts to bring us into the wilderness with you!
Thank you!
Fantastic adventure !!
Canadian Wilderness....the best.
Paul continue the journey and stay safe. We are all students of the majestic wilderness.
So appreciate all that you do:)
Thank you Shannon.
Hello from Honduras! great video havnt watched it all yet but no doubt, this is the kind of videos i look forward to, thanks Mr. Kirtley
Greetings! Thanks for watching Ross. All the best, Paul
my weekly watching at the moment is your wonderful episodes and the vikings series. thanks once again
I'm glad this is worthy of your time. Thanks for watching. Fourth and final episode coming soon.
Really enjoying the series, especially your thought process for the rapids and portages. Bring on the final episode.
Thanks for your feedback. I'm grateful to you for letting me know you enjoyed the commentary on my decision making. Episode 4 is on its way. All the best, Paul
I’m a forest firefighter in Manitoba and we fought that fire for 10 days back in 2018. Just below lower conjuring falls river left we cut a helipad and a campsite for our crew. I believe the site you stayed on was built by a separate crew.
Ah interesting. Thanks for the info.
Very enjoyable Paul. A wonderful journey you’re having there.
Looking forward to the next episode where it sounds like you’ll be having a few more relaxed days.
Cheers Lee. Yes, I was able to ease off a little in terms of distance/daily effort towards the end.
I miss you Paul. You my friend are gorgeous!💚🕊🙏🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🌲🍀
As always great video. Thanks from Poland :-)
Hello Paul
It is a great series and it is not too far where I lives once, looking forward for the last part
My wife's hooked and keeps asking when part 4 will be out :-)
Appreciate you putting in the effort to share, filming looks like a lot of extra work.
Great video, great series.. you can never have too much coffee..
True words John.
Very well done, truly enjoyed.... Cheers
Thanks Jim.
Great episode, so much great nature footage and again a lot of interesting tips and advice here and there. I also can't understand those trash infested campsites so far away from anywhere.. it is quite sad, especially since maybe no one was there for years. One person left that thrash there after a day, maybe two, he spent in nature, yet he marked that campsite with trash for years and years preventing others to enjoy the pristine nature. But to end on a more positive note, great video and beautifull scenery for the most part :D Thanks for bringing this to us.
Hello again, thanks for your comments. I'm happy you are appreciating the nature footage as well as the tips, advice, etc that comes through. Yes it is a shame about the trash and you make a very good point that a moment of laziness means years of mess for others. Plastic and metal trash does not degrade quickly. Some people are too accustomed to having their mess being cleaned up after them in towns, etc. Also some people are just lazy and ignorant. But I am glad you like the videos regardless of the few blights on the wilderness. Warm regards, Paul
loving the trail , and enjoying the indecision of where to camp, just willing you to have some sugar and get pitched.
brilliant trip many thanks for sharing all this great content and plant id on the way :)
Cheers Rob. Q1 ATAROF coming soon...
Paul Kirtley the Happy Chappy!!
Another great episode Paul.
I still get amazed at how just a small amount of rubbish can spoil such vast area.
Fantastic that you are documenting your adventures by way of video CZcams videos( I also do that). Best of luck and keep up the excellent work! I look forward to seeing more.
Great!!! Thank You :) Regards from Poland
You are welcome. Greetings!
I really enjoyed your adventures and I would have liked to be there too to collect the garbage and give back a little to nature all that it gives us good and beautiful.
"Something changed with how the wind's blowing around" 28:40 - It's called thermals when the sun goes down and the air cools. Cold air flows downhill, warm air glides uphill. The strength of the thermals overpowers the wind at sundown. The wind will suddenly stop and it will become super calm out for 30min.
Good God, some of these portages are staggering!
great video Paul
Thank you sir.
Thank you for taking us along on this beautiful trek . I for one hate signs of life being tin cans and plastic cutlery . I wait with eagerness your next insitefullness part 3
Thank you.
I'd forgotten about the mini (yet very valid) rant in this one 🤣
my first ever whitewater river trip had me reading Hap's guide like my life depended on it. Every time I would get to a set that the guide had me super nervous about, as it stated the need for advanced paddling skills I had not yet developed, I was almost always comically relieved that you could easy run most of them by pointing and shooting. I have since learned to treat Hap's guides as more of a navigation guide and less of a rapids guide. Not that his information is not useful, but it just rarely matches my reality.
Love the effing and jeffing you f@#kin LEGEND! 😂👌 and effortless fire lighting!
Haha cheers. We're all human ;-)
Another fantastic episode Paul. Is it me or are they getting longer....🤔😂. It's been really interesting seeing how you work things through, taking things into account before coming to a decision. Hearing your thoughts on things and and seeing you rant a little has been very entertaining as well! You now look like you're settled into the rhythm of your journey, with some hard graft along the way and the best bit was hearing that there's gonna be a forth episode! Awesome!! 👍
Thanks for your positive words about this series and I'm glad you are excited about the fourth and final episode (which is in the pipeline). Thanks in particular for your feedback on me sharing my thoughts and working through things, thinking out loud. Glad you appreciated this aspect (as well as the rant :-) ). Warm regards, Paul
great trip, great footage, nice one. bit too much yap about Hap, but hey...:)
Awesome video!!! Good thing you scouted the river and did NOT go through those rapids!!!!
Like your comment on the hair! Honestly, one of my favorite pieces of kit is a comb. It's a psychological thing, but it helps me feel put together when out on a trip.
:-)
And yes, the little things make a big difference.
Great series of vids paul 👌
I think the seclusion of the water system has contributed to the amount of rubbish you have found.
People follow rules with a sense of compliance over commitment almost every single time.
They think they will get away with it so they just leave it.
don't leave us hanging. we need to know about this dam coffee pot Man!!!!
no fishing! its a disgrace ....hahahaha good man always a pleasure :)
Hi Paul: Really interesting series. Nearly 80 years in Canada & that's the first time I've heard them referred to as "mosies' Sounds very British.. My view on rapids is to be cautious when alone. Amazing how mush inherent beauty is just waiting for us. Thanks Brian 79
Hi Brian. Glad you enjoyed the British colloquialism :-) And yes there is beauty all around, once you take the time to look (as you well know, clearly). Thanks for watching and for your comments. Warm regards, Paul
Your correct there are pigs that litter the bush with their garbage! We have it in Northern Saskatchewan as well.
I'm grateful there are not more who behave so badly.
@@PaulKirtley : it's how they grow up (their attitude) ! No respect for Creation (or anything else for that matter) . It's a sad reflection on our social state. Taught values I mean.
Really interesting watch. Nothing wrong with a massive coffee pot although I would be tempted to drink coffee and watch the world go by. ATB Sel
Yes, it is a good way to pass the time, especially in beautiful wilderness surroundings :-)
Looks great buddy can't wait to hoke through your uploads and learn other skills I am not sure about or weak on so I can keep Upskilling
Thanks and welcome to my channel. I hope you find my vids informative.
Very enjoyable to watch, thank you for sharing (and for recording while there, more importantly). The weather is awesome so far, well, apart from the wind during the first days..)
I'll take a tail wind any time! Always good to be cautious. Just like using power tools, you always take precautions, I know too many carpenters with missing finger or nasty scars. The truck track is result of a timber harvest I presume. Many of the river around my home are cut and left with only buffer strip, one contributing factor to the lower and warmer water temps, this results in fish species reductions and a major contribution to the loss of brook trout habitat. Oh, I have no problem camping just about any where, this is done with much respect and little to no evidence of a camp site. It will be interesting to hear your take in the next episode.
Oh that's pretty cool Manitoba huh yep that's very cool
This really is fantastic content Paul. Shame about the litter in those camps though. 🤘
More difficult for you, but that means more opportunities to learn for us.
Great stuff, Paul, thanks for all the time taken in recording/editing and uploading. For breakfast, you need some carbs, as you probably know. Protein is great, but carbs/fats give the energy. Great footage, look forward to the next!
Steve H.
Hi Steve, I'm glad you liked this. With respect to carbs, remember your body stores glycogen for delivery into your metabolism. This style of paddling is largely steady state (no explosive anaerobic activity), so the carbs last a long time in facilitating mainly fat burning. When I used to cycle race, I needed a lot more carbs than I do on a canoe trip. This being said, there were plenty of carbs in the potatoes, wraps, pasta that I was eating (some of which was for breakfast). There were carbs in every meal. On a trip like this, I'm also concerned to have sufficient protein to enable repair of muscles and any other tweaks. Protein is harder to come by in dehydrated meals than carbs (they all contain rice, pasta, beans or lentils), so I like to take some meat and some eggs. Eggs also keep me from being hungry for much longer than cereal breakfasts. I hope this helps explain the rationale for my food choices. Thanks for your interest. Warm regards, Paul
Agree : eggs are best for me ! 😎 keeping all food stuffs sealed for odors is the best way to prevent predators coming into camp . I don't like predators when I am alone and unarmed .
Amazing looking trip. Great video, great explanations. I'm amazed at how one rapid can be a massive falls and the next one can be dry. How is that possible? Does the river often have multiple channels and you sometimes picked the dry one?
Cant believe the amount of rubbish you are finding other than that great video looking forward to seeing your next part atvb Jimmy 😎😎
Yes, it was unbelievable Jimmy, particularly in the middle of the river. Thankfully, it was isolated to a couple of offending camps. Cheers, Paul
Hi Paul again a lovely video, lot of sunburn? And indeed I am wondering why you carry such a big coffepot, think you have a lot of friends….. gr Cees
More wind burn! I had sunscreen on the whole time....
Loving this trip Paul, I see you didn’t have a tripod which would of meant some filming whilst paddling, obviously there’s the weight penalty I assume. Really nice area shame about the rubbish in places, hope you had fun on this trip did you go swimming or fishing at all?
Hi Martin, I'm glad you are enjoying these. I did have a lightweight carbon fibre tripod with me. I used it for fixed shots and timelapses. I did do some swimming and I did a little fishing but not as much as I had planned. I had wanted to do a lot more trolling as I covered distance but the windy conditions meant I had to stick more to the shoreline which meant more potential snagging in the shallow water, so less fishing :-(
I never thought I would see the day that Paul Kirtley would use a BIC lighter to light his Birch bark. 😲
I was just thinking today hope that their were more videos of your trip..
Testing new head torch to see how long it runs before I have to rely on it.
To bad you have time restraints on your trip, I cant do a canoe unless it has an outrigger I just dont have the balance for it.
I was going to ask about if you did any fishing you answered that one still waiting to see a moose on your trip.
He’s dope!
Hi Paul, great video/film and excellent commentary and views, i am interested in your comments as to why you dont like barrels, i am doing the GGCT again this year and thought about barrels.. also the barrel you are using is it a 30 Ltr or 60 Ltr
Great stuff Paul. I’m wondering why you didn’t do any fishing.
Well my main intention with fishing was to troll as I paddled the lakes and flat sections. The wind pushed me into the sides more than I wanted, having to hug the shoreline. This put me into shallow water and snag territory.
Thanks again Paul for another interesting record of your trip. Just a question on your choice of shelter. I've watched other videos of people doing multi day canoe trips and they seem to favour a tarp and bivvi, or hammock. I just wondered why you'd gone for the tent option. I would have thought a tarp and hammock would have given you more options when the ground wasn't flat, or covered with brash and burnt trees. I'm not trying to second guess you, I have no experience of canoe trips at all, but the working out of the logistics is interesting to me, and I wondered about your thought process. Thanks again.
Hi Ste, well for starters I'm not a great fan of hammocks. I like to sleep flat, on a relatively firm surface. As you know I spend a lot of time outdoors each year and while hammocks are OK for a while (I like them in the tropics or when I really don't want to be sleeping on the ground for reasons of creepy crawlies, etc), after a while it's not good for my back, my kidneys, etc. I prefer a flat surface. So tarp and tent is my preference. Tent is weather proof on its own if necessary and it provides 100% protection from biting insects. Tarp gives extra space when its raining. You'll see more of that in episode 4. Hope this helps explain my rationale. Warm regards, Paul
Hi Paul going offtrack a bit do u still use crusader cup and zebra billy for typical bush rafting and what size billy you recommend cud I see lot of 12 & 14 cm being used before I buy? Thx
This reminds me of watching
Robert Perkins, into the great solitude, are you familiar with it? Excellent work!
Hi Linda, not as familiar as I should be. I need to revisit... Thanks for the prompt :-) And thanks for your positive words.
@@PaulKirtley omg, thankyou for your efforts to bring us along! It is definitely therapeutic for my soul to see the beautiful wilderness thru your lens! Thankyoux1000!
You are very welcome Linda.
@@PaulKirtley i am so happy to have found you. I really appreciate your attention to safety!💜