We headed back up the highway looking for a campsite; we'd taken note of some good ones on the way in. The colours were gorgeous with the sun setting, but the sun was also lighting up the dust, making driving difficult. We camped right on the beach of one of the larger rivers, another of those dream campsites.

We had a nasty shock when we found we had no propane pressure even though the gauge still read two thirds. This meant no stove or furnace, so we had to use alternatives. We cooked in the microwave though we had to run the generator to get 110 volts. We ran the camper's engine periodically to keep us warm. This meant getting up every couple of hours as it was a cool night.

Saturday October 1st

In the morning we were surrounded by frost and the puddles were covered in ice, and it was still cold in the dawn's sunlight. The camping spot looked even more beautiful with the colours lit by the sun. Unfortunately it didn't last and we drove into rain, a bit warmer, but it still felt like an English December. We stopped at a quarry to make tea (still using the microwave!) and Sandie found a treasure trove of rose quartz amongst redblueberry bushes and sivery white lichen.

We made it back to Churchill Falls in time for lunch and drove down to the river where the water comes out of the power station. They obviously do a good job of stabilizing the flow as you'd never have guessed that the water coming out of the tunnels had just crashed a thousand feet down a tunnel and gone through a turbine. On the way back up we saw an odd-looking area of shacks and small gardens. Then I realized what it was: English-style "allotments" where people could grow their own food, probably good therapy for those that work underground.

Back up in town we filled up with gas and got directions to the actual falls. They turned out to be just downstream of where we'd camped on the Churchill River on Tuesday. There were no signs but I think the trail repairers were trying to hide the trail until they'd finished it. It was a mess of mud and water and sheer drops, but it was worth the effort as I had a good view of the falls, nearly 300 feet high and almost as wide, and the enormous canyon the river had carved. Today the falls only have a small amount of water, but they must have been a fantastic sight when the river was full of water, before it was diverted into the power plant.

By now it was raining steadily and we took a side road down towards Twin Falls, now hidden by another dam. This road got us far enough off the highway to find a peaceful camp site, perched on a bridge approach above a brook. The bridge was long gone so there wouldn't be any traffic! With the brook and the rain it was a damp spot, but at least the rain meant that it was unlikely to freeze that night.