Our day in a Float Plane: part II

I'm back with part two. Are you sitting comfortably? Good. Then I shall begin. Now where was I? Ah we were just coming up to Virginia  Falls, about to see up-close what was one of the seven wonders of the world.

Our guide Pam had entertained us so well on our Nahanni National Park walk that I had almost forgotten the main reason we were there. We continued on the trail as it narrowed and lost it's carefully built wooden walkway. It seemed somehow fitting to approach the falls scrambling over rocks in the trail, slipping on the mud and dodging the odd branch: there was a bigger sense of adventure. The trees obscured our view but I could hear the rumble of the water as it crashed over the edge. At last we rounded the corner and saw a bench at the view point. I still couldn't see much but as I moved as close to the edge as I dared the true, terrifying beauty of the falls became apparent.

There is a a thin plate of rock that rises, sharply vertical, out of the edge of the falls. The water tumbles either side of it, white and frothy. Like a riot crowd, it is wild and uncontrolable. The sheer volume of water that rushes, thunderous, past that slab of rock is enourmous. The noise makes you heart skip with extra beats, makes your lungs rattle slightly as you breath. Close your eyes and it could be a jet taking off. It is the noise of raw power.

The water plummets down in white, candyfloss mist and some of it hits a ledge that is hidden from view. It shoots back up before drifting down again. The water that runs past the far side of the rock is slower and there is less of it. I looked and saw an entire tree balanced precariously on a spit of rock as the water poured down either side of it.



The falls themselves with the huge thin rock in the middle



The strange thing is that, turn your head to the right and look downstream, and the water is flat and thick like treacle as it meanders on it way. There is none of the urgency of the falls, only the sun sparkling lethargically on the surface of the river as it turns the corner. I turned my head left and right, left and right and tried to get the whole thing in view-the rush and the calm-but it wouldn't fit in my scope of vision. It seemed a meaningful thing, as if the falls were just too wonderous a thing for me to be able to bend what I could see into something I could understand.



The river continues as if the falls had never happened



What I am struggling with in this blog is how to describe the water. It's amazing how the same substance can take on so many different characteristics yet still remain the same. In the space of a few hundred meters, as the river runs, it can take on a different sound, a different texture and different pattern of movement and then just as quickly it can change back.

It has taken me way too long to write this bit. I kept on deleting everything to re-write it and now I'm running out of time so I should probably move on.

After we had visited the falls we took off again, this time for our detour to Rabbit Kettle lake. Flying over lakes and rivers and past moutains we never got bored of the scenery that was on offer. It wasn't a long flight to the lake and soon I saw a cabin below us and we circled and came in to land. We were greeted by a lady called Beth who also worked for the national Park like Pam. She and her collegue, Justin were posted there for ten days. All park employees are apparently employed on a rotational basis so they spend a certain amount of time in each place with in the park and a certain amount of time is alloted as days off.
Rabbit Kettle lake was a beautiful place to be posted for ten days. As soon as we stepped off the plane I noticed three different colours of butterflies flapping about. Yellow and blue and orange. An eagle soared overhead, riding the currents of air that swirled him round. The view from their window was beautiful. There were mountains in the distance and lake was a soft blue colour. So used to the silt and scum of the Mackenzie River, I was amazed to see such clear water. It was like looking through blue topaz: you could see with clarity right to the bottom but everything took on a pure, blue tint. I wanted to jump in there and then but restrained myself because, I reasoned, I would be incredibly chilly.

Yellow butterflies as we came off the plane

We were invited in to their cabin, which was very cosy, and served delicious french coffee. We also ate our lunch here: a feast of sandwiches and fruit and homemade cookies provided by Mackenzie Rest Inn. For a surprise visit we were warmly welcomed and it was a lovely detour, much appreciated.

From there we flew on to Glacier Lake. I know that the falls were once one of the seven wonders of the world and yes, they were truly magnificent  but Glacier Lake was my favourite part of the tour. I just thought it was the most spectacular flight I have ever taken or indeed will ever take.

The view of Rabbit Kettle Lake from the cabin window

The approach to where we actually ground the float plane ashore was long - the entire length of the lake. I was sitting upfront next to the pilot and I craned my neck to see as we landed. We were flying towards an enormous slate mountain, sheer and stately grey against the white of the blocks of cloud. The mountains on either side were green and seemed to frame it with their richness of colour. We flew along the lake directly towards it through a corridor of steep green hills. Once landed it dwarfed us, standing cold and proud. The beach we landed on was a slate beach. There were lots of smooth, flat black stones; perfect for skimming. We sat on the black beach and had a skimming contest. Dad won with something stupid like 16 bounces. Running my hands through the fine, black sand I was surprised at how warm it was: it still held the heat of the mid-day sun now long gone behind the clouds. It felt beautifully soft.



The slate mountain framed in green. I am standing where the glacier meltwater stream comes out



A close up: because it was really something to see



The lake itself is fed by glacier meltwater that runs off the mountains. The stream ran by the little beach we were on. The water was perfectly clear. No tint to it at all. If Rabbit Kettle was like blue topaz then Glacier Lake was like looking at liquid diamonds. It ran over black stones shallow and bubbling happily. The Lake itself was a milky beige colour. Where the two waters met there was the most extraordinary colour change. A bright, thin triangle of turquoise reached into the lake. I have never seen anything like it before the difference in colour was so stark and so bright as if someone had painted it there. I plunged my hand into the seam of the waters and felt the tingle of icy glacier water. It is so sharp, like no cold you will ever feel. It is fresh and cuts right to your bones. Even when you take your hand out the cold lingers on for some minutes afterwards.

The colour change in the water seemed too perfect to be real. Unfortunately the camera did not do it justice. In reality the colours were bolder and the sections more defined but you get the idea

We left Rabbit Kettle Lake with the intention of heading towards a place called Little Doctor Lake to complete our tour. We flew over more mountains back the way we had come. It was about a forty five minute flight and we got some beautiful pictures of all the different types of mountain:

There were ones that looked like they were on different planets

Ones that looked like the ones at home

And ones that still had snow on them

As we were flying over these mountains the sky to our left began to darken. The weather which had remained so good for us was finally closing in. The storm moved across in front of us and I could see the pale haze where the rain was falling heavily from the swollen clouds. It got bumpy with the turbulent air from the storm and soon we were surrounded on both sides by rain but the channel we were flying through remained clear.

This is what I could see out my window. It was the same but darker on the other side

Dave made the decision not to land at Little Doctor Lake as, even if we did manage to land, we might not have managed to take off again so we headed back to Fort Simpson. I have to say I didn't mind that much because what we had seen that day had been wonderful and we'd had the bonus of Rabbit Kettle Lake. All in all it was a fantastic trip that we had all enjoyed immensely. I don't think we'll forget it; It really was the trip of a life time.

We landed at the float plane dock in Fort Simpson just as the weather hit. The wind was blowing so strongly that we had trouble docking as the wind blew the plane further out. We jumped out and said thankyou to Dave for an amazing day and hurried up the road to the shelter of the Mackenzie Rest Inn. And that was the end of our float plane tour. I can't believe I've finally got that up after just over three weeks. It took me long enough didn't it. Anyway, I hope my descriptions pay tribute to the beautiful places we went to even though I don't think any amount of words or pictures can truly capture the spirit of what we saw. Just think, Dave gets to do that every day...Dad is very jealous indeed!

Thankyou to everyone who follows the blog. I looked at the stats for the first time yesterday and was amazed to discover that we have had almost 1500 page views since we started it. So nice to know that people are keeping in touch and we really appreciate it. See you soon,
Hannah