50 THE LOG OF THE 



would have gotten badly hurt except I had so many clothes on. 

 After lunch Bart amused himself for a while by sliding on a large 

 snow bank. 



There was no question about it. Woody could collect everything 

 there was in a few hours. He had planned to stay a week up there 

 with Oily while we made our section of the coast. One could only 

 live in this country with a primus stove. Although it says on the 

 can that the beans are "equally good cold or hot" and "suitable for 

 camping parties and outings" after six meals we voted them better 

 hot. We could use none of our dehydrated food except the fruit 

 which has to be eaten slowly. 



After lunch Woody continued collecting and made five miles 

 more back into the country. On the southern slope, and in very 

 protected places a few very small plants managed to grow. A birch 

 would consist, for example, of two leaves and about an inch of 

 stem. While alone he saw a stag caribou about 150 yards off. 



Terry and 1 went back to camp and made up two packs. It was 

 necessary to begin lugging this stuff down again and the tent was 

 too full with six anyway. From three until four it rained and snowed 

 and from four until eight it rained and misted. We went down the 

 hill mostly on our behind and reached the lake at about 5 :30. We 

 had hoped that Bob and John would be fishing, but there was no 

 sign of them. There was nothing to do but pick out an open spot 

 where the Rics would not be as thick and make camp. This time we 

 had wood and a hot meal. By dark we were all dry and our pile of 

 twigs completely burned. We had one poncho, two oiler coats, and 

 two blankets. If I had been smaller our camp would have been most 

 comfortable. As it was we woke up about every 2 hours and had to 

 rearrange our covers. After dark it completely cleared off. As we lay 

 on our backs with nothing but the sky for a roof, we got the full 

 thrill of the northern lights. The two perpendicular sides of the fjord 

 showed up boldly against the stars. 



