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Northern News Services
Yellowknife (July 13/01) - Greg Loftus is a kidney recipient who spent three weeks paddling the Mackenzie River to raise money for the Kidney Foundation. T his is his story:
 Greg Loftus (left) and Vashti Thompson soon after they finished their three-week journey down the Mackenzie River. - Phil Duffy/NNSL photo |
Paddle For Parts is the second event in what was started as a three-part mission to raise organ and tissue donation awareness and a little cash for the Kidney Foundation. This began with the Peddle for Parts in May of 2000 where Correy Elliot and myself rode to Edmonton on our bicycles over a 12-day period.
We were very pleased with the results, having managed to raise $1,680 dollars in only three days of fund-raising. With the great response from Yellowknifers, I decided to move to step two, which brings us to the second thousand mile journey -- paddling the Mackenzie River -- from Fort Providence to Inuvik.
Having decided on the trip and method of travel -- sea kayaks -- I began the planning of the trip. I had hoped to start with four fund-raising paddlers, but due to time commitments and other factors, two would have to do.
I contacted Vashti Thompson of Valleyview, Alta., and asked is she would like to come out and play. Much to my surprise, a week later, I received a call from Vashti telling me to "count me in". Now, having arranged for a most charming kayaking partner, I began planning for the upcoming trip.
We bought the maps from Terry at Tiget the Map Place. Terry was most helpful. Many thanks.
I sent the maps to Vashti, who made copies of small laminated books for the journey.
I took the time to way-point the entire route into my old but faithful GPS unit and was satisfied that we would arrive in the right stop at hopefully the right time.
Being devoted fans of camping and hiking, we owned all of the necessary equipment to make the trip. My next step was fuelling the paddlers for the trip.
I contacted Margaret Woodley from the Yellowknife Direct Charge Co-op and asked for partial sponsorship. Many thanks for the "Yes" vote from the board.
Local support appreciated
Next, we contacted Canadian North and with much assistance from Petrina McDaniel, we again received sponsorship that made the entire trip closer to being a done deal.
With much help from Northern News Services, we had advertisements and posters. Yes! We were going. The Kidney Foundation of Northern Alberta and the NWT set up a Web site. We were world- wide and going strong.
Visit the Web site at anytime, www.kidney.ab.ca, click on the Paddle for Parts icon and you will be in for a pleasant surprise.
Spring went by and Vashti arrived on my doorstep on the second of June. We spent the second and third doing trial runs with loaded kayaks and on June 4, we headed for Fort Providence.
My neighbour Ollie decided to act as the return driver, so we loaded Vashti's truck and left.
We arrived at Fort Providence and filed our Wilderness Trip Report with the RCMP by hanging it in their door as no one was home.
The current on the Mackenzie River at the Providence boat ramp was pretty stiff and there was a fair amount of ice streaming down. It took a couple of hours to load and check everything. As Ollie documented us for history's sake, we shoved off.
The ice flow crossing went easier than I had thought. We were travelling a little faster than the ice and could manoeuvre around it. We made the opposite shore, which is the North shore of a very large island, turned downstream and were off to Mills Lake.
We paddled until midnight or so, as we had a late start and found ourselves twenty or so miles from where we had started. This was enough for one day.
We spent the next four and a half days with warm weather, head winds and a lack of current that can be discouraging to say the least.
Mills Lake, Head of the Line, Jean Marie River and Fort Simpson cover the first 160 miles of the trip. Once past Head of the Line, where the river begins to narrow and the current increases, you can encounter a variety of conditions dependent on wind direction and water levels.
The biggest problem Vash and I found was the lack of flood plain which made camping spots few and far between. Steep banks thick with bush and at times current speed made camp site selection a matter of -- there's no where else -- rather than choice.
Next week, we'll bring you more from our journey, including our visit to Fort Simpson.
