Day 7

Our last morning in camp–we got up a little later and packed our belongings for the last time. The morning was clear, warm and dry, but Bruno told us early on that the weather was not expected to hold, and if we wanted to leave the river today, we had to get packed up and ready
because the plane would be there in an hour. If we missed it, we would be there with no plans, until at least the next day. That got everyone moving, and even the campers who had been the
slowest every day packed up quickly.

As I was gathering up my belongings, I noticed that sometime in the late night or early morning Roy’s hat had been washed out and placed on a big stick of driftwood by the fire to dry. It was dry and looked like brand new, and before long he was wearing it again. The hat’s adventure was over.

Today the helicopters were out in force again, this time flying very low over our camp, back and
forth.

After the plane arrived, we gathered around on the beach and Bruno talked to us about the
expedition and said the when the trip was planned, the only thing he knew we should expect was the unexpected. It had been quite a time. Nicholas and some of the experienced outdoorsmen
said it was the worst portage they had ever experienced.

We canoed out to the plane, although some of the guys rolled up their pants legs and waded.
The plane took off on the water, and circled back around over our camp twice before we flew
away. The guides on the ground had stripped off their clothing when we flew over them for the
last time and were all three standing on the beach, totally naked, waving at us from (fortunately) far below.

We were all quiet on the trip back to seaplane port at Havre Saint-Pierre, and when we arrived
there, the sun was still shining, and it was a perfect day. We headed back to the B&B where we had stayed before the trip. I unpacked my clothes which were still ranging from damp to wet and got into the shower without looking in the mirror. I would have frightened myself.

Alex, Hugo and Jessica cleaned up at our place, and after sharing some pizza, said good-bye
because they had to drive to Sept-Îles to catch their plane. Roy, Christian, Anne-Marie, Daniel and I drove to a local bar/kayaking club, which is kind of like a surf club in warmer places. There was a bar area and an area where they sold and maintained kayaks. The club employees were having a cookout outside, and it had gotten cold and dark by the time we left. We went there to meet with local people both who opposed the dams and who supported them.