When you get to a certain age, you just can’t do some of the crazy things you did when you were younger.
I’m not sure about “can’t.” It’s more about choosing to take fewer risks. You know. Once you’ve done it, and you have time to think about it, you just have to wonder what possessed you to have done it in the first place.
Exploring far north Canadian rivers is one of those things.
Places in the far north are truly unique. They are totally untouched by humans. In fact reaching headwaters is a challenge like no other. These rivers can be dangerous, quick, mean, unpredictable and unforgiving.
And because of all of that they also can be a special place. Some hold the best fishing on earth. Northern rivers can be dotted with small pools and inlets that hold gigantic fish. By gigantic I mean lake trout of 30 pounds and more. In these rivers the backs of northern pike can span 10 inches across at what would be their shoulders.
It has taken more years than I can count for me to garner the courage to climb Pike River. The difficulty is that there are five sets of rapids, each becoming increasingly severe as you go up the river. Even the normal guide boat is too large and its keel runs too deep to miss the hidden boulders as you drive through the raging waters. You need a smaller boat with a smaller motor, which in and of itself makes the trip more dangerous.
These areas have been seen by native peoples who have hunted and trapped there. The Pike River itself would seem to be an exception. It’s desolate, difficult to traverse as the river is fed by hundreds of tributaries, and its upper reaches are protected by a number of raging rapids.
I wanted to be the first human being to travel to the top of the fifth set of rapids where I was sure there would be monster northern pike that had never seen a boat or a lure or felt the tension of a tight line.
I finally convinced a guide to take me. My best friend and spouse, Maxine, agreed to go with us. Little did she conceive of the danger and the beauty that was before us.
We left after breakfast and traveled the nearly two hours by boat to the bottom of the first set of rapids. Along the way we encountered white wolf, beaver, moose, bear and more bald eagles than we could count. The eagle nests along this section of the river are huge and could hold a small car. The areas beneath the nests are littered with bones and other remains of animals and fish taken by the eagles for food.
At the top of the first set of rapids I fought and landed a 46-inch northern pike, and many in the 40- to 42-inch category.
We moved on through the second set of rapids. Again the northern pike were hungry and biting.
At the third set of rapids, we were white knuckled. The boat had hit a number of rocks and the propeller was damaged. We pulled to the side of the river where the guide used pliers and a hammer to straighten the propeller as best he could. Again we caught trophy fish.
The fourth set of rapids was breathtaking. Much like the third set, but much swifter as the river was narrower and forced the water into a channel. It took everything that the motor had to move against the current. At the end of a quarter mile or so stretch, the rapids subsided and the river opened up again. The pools were loaded with northern pike ready to strike whatever we threw to them.
It is difficult to say that catching large fish could get tiring, but there were so many trophy-sized fish in this stretch of the river that they were all beginning to look the same.
So we pushed on to the fifth and most dangerous set of rapids. None of us were happy about pushing on, yet, here we were. At least a four-hour boat ride from camp, alone in the wilderness, heavy and frigid water, bear country and more. We had made it through four sets of rapids, why not one more? So we agreed to go for it.
It was the most frightening thing any of us had ever done. We crawled through the rapids as our motor raced on high against the raging currents.
When we arrived at the top of the fifth, it was beyond any of our imaginations. The water was deep and cold. It was clear to the bottom which graduated from 20 feet to more than 50. There was a large beaver house on one side of the river, and rocks that resembled Stonehenge standing on end throughout the river. There was marble strewn around the edges of the river bed. The glaciers of eons ago had left unworldly images.
Then we noticed that the water appeared to be boiling with the deep currents. Max decided to stay put in her boat chair. I was not unhappy about her decision. I went to my knees and cast into the water. It was better than our dreams. The fishing was spectacular. I caught one after another after another of the largest northern pike any of us had ever experienced. Many were in the 50-inch category. None had likely ever seen a human being.
I wanted to stay. But we couldn’t. What goes up the river must come back down. We had five sets of rapids to navigate to get home, and, although this far north at this time of year it never gets dark, night becomes dusk and it throws shadows on the water that make navigating rapids that much more difficult.
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As Max and I think back about what we did and the treacherous position in which we put ourselves, we look at each other and ask why.
The only answer I’ve ever been able to put forth is the calling of our human spirit.
We were more alive that day than perhaps anytime during our lives.
And, yes, there is a sixth set of rapids.
Bill Gindlesperger is a central Pennsylvanian, Dickinson College graduate, Pennsylvania System Of Higher Education (PASSHE) Governor, Shippensburg University Trustee, and Chairman of eLynxx Solutions. The firm provides enterprise-level cloud-software for communicating, specifying, approving, procuring, producing, reporting and activities necessary to obtaining direct mail, packaging, promo, marketing and all other printing. He is a board member, campaign advisor, successful entrepreneur, published author and commentator. He can be reached at[email protected].
