fark stories

2010-08-22T13:35:00.026-04:00

Killarney - Grace, Nellie, Murray

Sunset on Grace Lake

Day 0 Pinewood Motor Inn Espanola
Julie arrived on Monday July 19th and we set off for Espanola on Tuesday morning of July 20th. We had both honda civics loaded up with camping gear for the 6 of us. Julie, Ian and Alison and Jackie, Sarah and Alan. We had a pleasant drive up to Espanola, although it is quite long from Waterloo ... about 6 hours. Upon arrival we met the Walsh's, Megan is my new sister-in-law and David and Marg are her parents. They were recently in North Bay while Marg was in a Dragon Boat challenge so their drive wasn't as long as ours. We had a wonderful meal at the Pinewood Motor Inn before packing our gear up to get ready to leave early the next morning.

Evening at Pinewood Motor Inn

Day 1 Journey to Grace Lake
We awoke at around 7 am for a wonderful breakfast at the Pinewood Motor Inn. This was the last meal that we would be served for a few days so we enjoyed it very much. We gathered our gear and set off south on Hwy 6 to Widgawa Lodge. This was going to be our put in location for Grace Lake. Most of the members of our group were experienced canoeists. Alison and Sarah have canoed on a number of these family canoe trips. However this was the first canoe trip for Ian Mills. My nephew and Julie's son. I was hoping he would be okay with a couple of hour canoe trip to get to the portage into Grace Lake.

We quickly loaded up the gear and set off down the little river that leaves Widgawa lodge and empties into Charlton Lake. We had a nice tail wind so before long we were passing the little village of Willisville which has a small marina and then we were onto Frood Lake. Frood Lake had a number of pretty sections that were full of lilly pads. Frood is a beautiful gateway to Killarney. After canoeing for 2 hours we made it to the portage point into Grace Lake by about noon. So we decided to have lunch in order to build up our strength for the 1 3/4 km portage. We met a couple who was coming the other way. They had been camping on Grace Lake and mentioned that there was noone left when they left which was a good sign and meant that we had a good shot at getting site 179 (my favourite on Grace).

Loading canoes at Dock's at Widgawa Lodge

Tatoo Tuesday

After lunch we started the portage, pretty gruelling but with the number of adults and Megan's exuberance at portaging again after a long hiatus we managed to complete the portage relatively quickly. I was excited to have the Walsh's and Julie see Grace Lake which is the most beautiful of the Killarney lakes from my experience.

We arrived on Grace and quickly set off for site 179 which was completely vacant.

We unloaded our gear and quickly set off to explore the quartzite bluffs above our campsite. From previous years we'd discovered that these hills are some of the best wild blueberries you can imagine. This year was no exception. The blueberries were out in full force. Those that basked in the sunlight were very sweet whereas the ones that were in the shade were tart but bursting with flavour. Alison and I picked 2 containers full and returned with them for desert.

Group shot while blueberry picking above Grace Lake

More blueberry picking

Day 2 Rest day on Grace Lake

The second day we enjoyed a relaxing day of more blueberry picking and exploring around the lake. In front of our site was a beautiful island which the kids easily swam out to and basked in the sunlight on the rocky point of the island. Ian and Julie set up the fishing rod and Ian spent a good part of his day fishing but unfortunately didn't manage to catch any dinner for us.

Ian catching dinner?

Grace Lake campsite 179

Megan taught us all how to right a canoe from the water which looked so easy. She got under the canoe and did a whip kick and righted the canoe with little to no water in it. It looked very easy but I'm sure in panic mode of attempting to do this in a real situation, it would be much more difficult.

Swimming to the island

After a day full of activities, I fed the group a recipe that Jacques Barrette had given me. It was mango curie vegetable sauce on top of couscous. Couscous is an awesome starch for camping. It was well received by the group.

Tents on Grace

Moonrise on Grace Lake

Day 3 Off to Nellie

We awoke to a wonderful breakfast courtesy of the Walshes which was crepes and nice fillings. Julie had her usual early morning swim. As much as Julie loves Alberta she can't get enough of the swimming in Ontario's pristine lakes. We were regretting the departure from Grace Lake and not really looking forward to the huge portage into Nellie Lake. We packed up our gear and said good-bye to this beautiful campsite while also looking forward to seeing Nellie Lake.

Albertan goes for a swim

On our portage into Nellie we met 2 older women who had just stayed on Nellie. They were doing the same route as we were doing only in reverse. They comforted us by saying that the reverse route was much worse than the way we were going. This made me feel a bit better since David had read the opposite in a book by Hap Wilson.

The portage was tough but luckily not too many hills to climb. Jackie incredibly lugged the "dreaded" CCM bag the full 2.2 kilometers. This was filled to the brim with cooking pots and pans and other heavy items. She certainly doesn't wimp out when it comes to portaging the gear. David and Marg as well were very capable portagers. Megan wouldn't let me take a second canoe. We happily made it through this portage which would be our longest of the trip. We camped out at site 142 which is a beautiful site on a point which separates Carmichael Lake from Nellie Lake. As much as we wanted to stay at this site it was probably not big enough for our 3 tents so we moved on to site 144.

Nellie Lake is known for its incredibly clear water with a visibility of 60 feet. It gives it a rather eerie shipwreck like feeling when looking down to the bottom of the water. The 2 women on the portage mentioned something about one of the campsites on Nellie having a series of signals below the water. On a shelf about 20 feet below the water the people who had camped there had placed white rocks on the bottom signifying the years that they had camped there ... 06,08,10. We canoed to this campsite and found the signals below the water. Megan spotted the lumninescent numbers shining up from the bottom of the lake. It was quite a thing to see.

At campsite 144 we had a great time. David showed us his skill at frisbee by managing to catch a spinning ring on his head. The Walshes made dinner which was another fantastic meal (can't remember what it was though). I attempted to put a tarp up but was put to shame by David's tarping skills and I decided to take mine down and keep David's as the tarp for shelter. We managed to rope up the barrels in a perfect spot off a tree limb about 15 feet off the ground. No bears would crack open our food supplies! This site was the nicest so far in terms of accomodating all 3 tents. Even David with his sleep-apnea couldn't be heard in the evening.

Leaving Nellie Lake Campsite 144

Day 4 Nellie to Murray

We had a wonderful stay at the Nellie Lake campsite but unfortunately the sun didn't come out for most of our time there so we were unable to capture the raw beauty of the clear lake on film (hence the lack of Nellie photos). We ate a nice breakfast and ventured on for our next adventure... the portage to Murray Lake. Murray Lake I'd heard was the most Muskokian of the lakes that we were visiting. I'd also heard that the portage was a killer.

For this portage and most of the portages on the trip, I rigged up the paddles under the front seat and thwart. It gives the portager the ability to bring his/her hands closer to the shoulder while controlling the canoe. Julie enjoyed this as well. We did this again for the Murray portage. This portage was our most challenging. We started off marching up a hill and when we arrived at the top we were alerted by Jackie to some very slippery rocks which were difficult to navigate with a canoe on our shoulders. Then towards the end of the portage the descent was very difficult. You had to avoid having the canoe touch the group while descending the steep bank. At one point I was trying to wedge my canoe in a poorly place V tree and managed to topple over. The canoe hammered the side of my head. While lying still to catch my bearings, my daughter Sarah came back from having unloaded her packs and saw her father pinned under the canoe. It was quite a sight and I think she was quite worried about her poor father who was actually pretty good but just catching his breath.

At the end of the Murray portage we met a group from camp Eco. Out for a 10 day Killarney trip. They weren't too well organized however. The tripper, a smoker, lead the way but a while later we heard some of the campers ask for some help and directions. They had attempted to ascend the portage route beside the water fall rather than on the trail and were thoroughly exhausted.

Upon arriving at Murray we explored the 3 available sites and settled on the only one which would accomodate 3 tents (148). We had a fine meal considering it was our last and had a beautiful evening of swimming and had some family photos in the sunset. We were incredibly amazed at how alive Murray Lake was relative to the acid lake peacefulness of Nellie lake. We were treated to raw nature as we watched a hog snake devour a salamander called a Mud Puppy. This was morbidly fascinating. The mud puppy was about twice the size of the snake's jaws initially but we watched the snake's jaws unhinge to accomodate the much bigger mud puppy. We also saw the mud puppy do a macabre dance as the snake must have been hitting various nerves as he proceeded steadily down the body of the mud puppy. After watching the snake eat the mud puppy we were greeted by a snapping turtle which poked its head out of the water as if to say "Happy Birthday Ian". Oh yes... it was Ian's 6 the birthday. He was quite happy to have all these things occur on his birthday.

Hog snake devours Mud Puppy

Snapper greets Ian for his birthday

On top of these activities, Megan managed to bake an awesome cake. Creating a hearth out of the fireplace she patiently baked the cake using one of my camping frying pans.

Happy 6th bday Ian

Ian holds birthday cake

Sparklers for Ian's birthday (Can you tell Meg was a counselor)

We watched the sunset on Murray. After having a cloudy day the sun poked its head out of the clouds to give us a brilliant sun soaked hill view as seen in the photo below.

Sun-soaked hill tops on Murray Lake

The final night on Murray was spent with some sadness and happiness. Sadness that this was our last day in Killarney and happiness with our accomplishments. This was the longest portage trip of David and Marg's lifetime. Jackie and Julie had also not portaged this much so it was a very physical trip but thoroughly enjoying. Hopefully Jackie doesn't have to continue to take IBU for too long after the holidays!

Day 5 Murray to take out

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunrise on Murray. Megan was eager to try some white water canoeing and was hoping that the marked water fall at the end of Murray was runnable which it wasn't ... thank-god or else I would have had to do it with her.

Sunrise on Murray

Misty Murray

Murray to Howry Creek

We had a small portage at the end of Murray and then had a great canoe through Howry Creek. This creek meanders its way into Charlton Lake.

Howry Creek into Charlton Lake

We had to manouever over a few beaver dams which was a lot of fun. The beavers were quite busy on Howry Creek. There were at least 2 beaver dams. The damns were very strong and we could easily step on them without getting our feet wet. We lugged the fully loaded canoes over the dams which really wasn't as hard as it looks.

Lugging loaded canoes over beaver dams of Howry Creek

We continued on into Charlton Lake which was a sea of lilly pads. This was a bit annoying to paddle through but quite a beautiful site to see.

Charlton lilly pads

Lilly pad Sarah

We continued down Charlton all the while looking for a suitable spot to have a final swim before exiting our journey in Killarney. We found a beautiful island without cottages on it for our lunch spot and a nice point for swimming.

Pine tree on Charlton

The last swim

Lilly pad lake Charlton

We had a final canoe into the Widgawa river. We unloaded the canoes and said our good-byes. It was a wonderful trip! A great way to get to know your in-laws. Both families are very compatible. I hope we'll be able to do another canoe trip such as this. So until next year over and out!

For a full set of photos click on the following link

2010 Killarney

2009-06-14T21:34:00.018-04:00

Algonquin Trip May 24 Weekend 2009

Canoeing on Rock Lake

Rock Wall on Rock Lake

Day 0 Rock Lake
We drove up late after work on Thursday and arrived at Rock Lake at around 11:00. Andy's truck was on empty as we drove into the campsite. This was problematic as there was no gas station within 30 k of where we were. However we put this behind us and setup camp at Rock Lake. It was a beautiful cold night about -2 and clear. There was a full moon out and it glittered off of Rock Lake.

Day 1 Journey to Welcome Lake
Brad cooked us up a nice breakfast the next morning on the small 1 person camping pot set that Eric brought along for the 4 of us :). We sifted through our gear determined to only take what we absolutely needed. Eric suggested we share a tube of tooth paste which I promptly forgot and so we were left without toothpaste for the entire 4 day trip.

Put in on Little Madawaska River

We put in at little Madawaska River (not the white water one). This meandering river flows into Rock Lake. The weather to rise to a beautiful 18 degrees. We paddled past the pristine rock walls of Rock Lake, everyone enjoyed their first paddle of 2009. Brad and I had travelled on Rock lake many times before and were pretty familiar with the route so we were easily able to find the first portage to Penn Lake. For this trip we had to do a large number of long portages so we decided to practice doing the portage in one trip. This meant carrying a big pack on the front and on the back which the guy with the canoe had to take a pack on their back.

Brad studying his Rocks on Rock Lake

After the portage we entered Penn Lake. This is a familiar lake to Brad and I since we had canoed here to camp with the kids twice before. We paddled past some of our favourite campsites until we go to the Galligeo River. This is more like a marsh with a small channel nestled in the middle of it. The challenge is to find your way through to the portage location. Because the water was higher in the springtime we had no problem getting through the stream. The portage was beside the Galligeo Falls. These were the same falls that Sarah had dunked her head in while we were here previously. Had she done it this time around, she would have been swept into the falls as the flow of water was much greater than it had been prevously. We had lunch at the top of the falls.

Portage at Penn Lake

Favourite Penn Lake Campsite

After lunch we portaged to Welcome Lake. This was a killer 2.5 km portage. We packed our gear up so that we could make it in 1 trip. Eric and Bradley (beavertail) were loaded up with canoes and 1 pack each while Andy and I did the double pack. This was quite a challenge. To top it off, there was huge amounts of deadfall trees blocking the path. Eric and Brad managed to manouvre with the canoes around the deadfall and managed to portage the canoes the whole way to Welcome Lake which was quite a feat but I'm sure it crushed their C9 vertebrae.

At Welcome Lake we were so hot from the portaging that we disrobed and went for a swim in the frigid but refreshing water. This was enough to scare the other portagers away from the beautiful beach area. We all managed to get under for a brief second before getting out of the water and drying off.

Welcome Lake Beach Campsite

We then paddled to a beautiful beach site on Welcome Lake where Eric setup his tunes and we sat and talked out on a nice granite table rock that split 2 sandy beaches.

Listening to tunes on Welcome Lake Rock

Day 2 Welcome to Frank Lake

We awoke the next morning to rain. We got in the canoes and paddled through Harry Lake. From Harry we passed through a beautiful river brimming with Speckled Brook trout. We were canoeing against the current so we could see them all swimming beneath us as we canoed by. This brought out the angler in Brad and we vowed to return after setting up camp on Frank Lake. We paddled through Rence Lake to Frank where we had the only campsite on the lake. This was beautiful but just large enough for 2 tents and pretty exposed to the wind which howled through the site. After setting up camp Brad and I headed back to the river with Brad's fishing rod to try to catch dinner. On arriving at Rence river, Brad cast his rod in 3 times and then nailed a beautiful Speckled trout. The problem was bringing it into the boat as we had no net. Brad attempted to bring the trout into the boat without the net but of course the fish was too heavy and broke the line. After that we spent 3 more hours without any single nibble. We headed back to Frank Lake without dinner :(.

Rence Lake just after Speckled Trout River

When we arrived back, Eric and Andy had setup an amazing tarp which was perfect for blocking the wind. We had a nice meal and went to sleep. That night it got quite cold as it dropped to -5.

Andy Fischer "Tarp Master"

We woke the next morning and set off to Louisa. We had a 1.7 km portage which Andy and I did and Brad and Eric took the packs. We made it to Lake Louisa where the wind was howling at aroun 50-60 kms. We got out on the lake and the waves were challenging to canoe with but thankfully they were at our back. When we got out into the open, we had to make a point to point crossing. This was difficult with the waves at our back. Brad and I made the point to point crossing as did Andy and Eric with the wind at our backs. We continued on until we found a campsite that was sheltered from the wind. Because the water was so cold and the wind was so strong, I was more nervous on this lake than I'd been on any of our white water trips.

Sunrise on Lake Louisa

We found a beautiful site on Louisa and setup camp there. We then went on a hike up the hill from the campsite and saw some evidence of Algonquin clearcutting which is a shame.

Clearcutting in Algonquin

Day 3 Louisa Lake to Rock Lake

Nirvana

The next morning we awoke to another frigid but beautiful morning. The water was like glass and the sun was out and steam was rising off Lake Louisa. We journeyed to the portage which was our longest yet. It was 2.7 km distance portage. Thankfully we'd eaten our food. Eric and Brad ... the work horses ... took the canoes again and we did the portage in one trip. This was another challenging portage. We got to Rock Lake and then continued on to our car.

Rippling Water

We loaded up Andy's truck and then prayed for gas fumes to take us to the closest gas station. We saw a moose along the way and thankfully made it to the gas station at canoe lake.

All in all it was a wonderful experience.

Group shot after Louisa to Rock portage

2008-06-01T21:56:00.009-04:00

Petawawa River Trip

Day 1 Lake Travers to Crooked Chute

The Petawawa River starts at Butt Lake in northern Algonquin Park and flows east, emptying into the Ottawa River at the Town of Petawawa. The river is 187 kilometers (116 mi) in length with numerous challenging rapids and beautiful views.

The river's name comes from the Algonquian language, meaning "where one hears a noise like this", which refers to its many rapids. From the late 1800s until the 1960s, the river was used for log driving of the timber from the forested areas surrounding the river.

This year's crew welcomed a few new members to the group. The first was Jeff Duffield, a childhood friend of Andy's who traveled back from Calgary to join Andy in his canoe. Two other new members joined us. These were Chris Goldrick who worked at the CBC with Steve and Juan Van Heerden, a Bombardier private jet pilot from Montreal who had recently emigrated to Canada from South Africa where he had flown throughout Africa.

Chris Goldrick

Steve Fischer

With this group the trip promised to be an interesting one and it did not disappoint. Andy, Jimmy, Jeff and I had a relatively uneventful drive up on the Thursday May 22nd. We got to Lake Travers at around 12 midnight and proceeded to look for the Ottawa contingent with no luck and so we pitched our tents on a point near the ruins of an old farm house. It was pretty chilly and I got nestled into my Mummy bag pretty quickly. I slept like a baby until the next morning when Steve dropped by at around 8 am to wake us up.

We were looking forward to a wonderful breakfast since Steve and Jacques were on the hook for breakfast. Instead we were offered some hard boiled eggs and black coffee. This didn't bother us as we were itching to get on the river and to be honest Steve really didn't have enough time to put his culinary skills to the test. At this point we met Chris and Juan and heard about their fishing excitement from the previous evening. Juan was fishing near the camp when he thought he'd snagged his line. Instead he realized that he'd hooked a biggy and after a good fight he pulled in the biggest pike he'd ever seen. Juan who had never been to Algonquinn before was suitably impressed with the quality of the Canadian wildlife.

Juan catches a pike

Andy and Jeff Portaging

We packed up our gear and headed out by about 9:30 as the weather started to warm up a bit from the chilly 0c it was during the evening. It was quite a paddle to the first set of rapids and we seemed to be battling a cross current for a good part of the 8K that it took to get to Big Thompson Rapids. Big Thompson rapids is a class III in high water.

Scouting Big Thompson Rapids

By the time we reached Big Thompson Rapids and were scouting it, Juan and Chris had already succeeded without dumping. This made Juan very happy as this was his first white water canoeing experience. He'd had some white water experience in Africa when he went white water rafting and managed to break his leg when he got his foot caught in between 2 rocks when the raft he was in capsized. My nerves were somewhat on edge as they always are when we start the first serious rapid of the trip. We scouted for a while and portaged the majority of our gear and then headed down the rapid while Juan took some pics from the shoreline. The rapid is long but not super treacherous and after about 250M of fun rapids we all made it through.

Steve and Jacques running Big Thompson Rapids

Alan and Jim running Big Thompson Rapids

Next we came to the sister of Big Thompson Rapids known as Little Thompson Rapids. Don't let the name fool you on this one. It is named little because it is shorter than the Big Thompson rapids but the waves were more ferocious. It was also rated a class III. On this one we had the opportunity to watch a pair of canoeists who were just ahead of us. They were 2 cops from Oshawa. We stood on a point overlooking the rapids as they attempted it. They made it most the way through this rapid before the canoe went side ways and they went swimming. They weren't wearing wet suits but other than that there were no other repercussions to them going in such as exposed rocks. Due to the high water, the chances of us getting rolled around in the rapids were non-existant so this gave us all the courage to try this tough rapid.

Andy and Jeff went first and made it through the rapid before attempting to eddy out with a full canoe. This was their only mistake. As the canoe spun around the water sloshed to one side of the canoe and over they went. Next came Juan and Chris, they suffered a similar fate to Andy and Jeff. Steve and Jacques tried next and they made it through. Lastly Jimmy and I came down and we also made it through with a boat full of water. After the rapids where some succeed and others don't there was the usual trading of insults. Jimmy indicated that he and I would be giving lessons after dinner for those that wanted to join.

Andy and Jeff Go For a Swim

Next rapid up was Crooked Chute. This is a nasty class 5 rapid in high water. Steve indicated that there were 3 separate take outs prior to the chute. Each takeout offering a trade off between increasing the level of risk and decreasing the amount of sweat on the portage. We assessed the risk of getting to the 3rd and final takeout before heading over the chute. The river was moving fast and if you didn't manage to get out at the 3rd takeout you likely would be running (or swimming) the chute. The approach to the 3rd takeout was tricky because you had to keep your stern to the shore in order to avoid being pushed out into the faster flowing water. Then had to execute a perfectly timed eddy out. We had picked up some gear and portaged it to takeout 3. At this point I see Juan and Chris coming down the shoreline with Steve sprinting down the trail beside them. Steve had advised Chris and Juan that he was going for the 3rd takeout and so they decided to go for this one. Steve the caretaker of the group had wanted to make sure that they didn't have any troubles getting out at the 3rd takeout remembering what had happened on the Coulange just 2 years earlier. Chris and Juan managed to eddy out at the 3rd takeout but it did look tricky.

Andy and Jeff also managed to pull in at takeout 3 with no mishaps. Then Steve and Jacques pulled in a little earlier than takeout 3 just in case they missed they didn't want to have no other option. Jimmy and I decided to follow Steve and Jacques lead. Next came the Crooked Chute portage. This was a long one. As we were portaging our gear I was reminded of the last time that we'd done the Petawawa in 2003. We had a campsite up on the bluff above the Crooked Chute. I remember it being sooo cold when I woke up the next morning the remaining tea from the night before was frozen solid. As we portaged the canoe and gear to the end I noticed Steve, Jacques, Juan and Chris with their canoes parked about 100 M before the end of Crooked Chute. I couldn't believe that they were planning to do it. This part of the rapid while doable was still very treacherous.

Chris and Juan attempted this one but went in very early on. They were in a precarious position of having the canoe upstream of them. Since canoes move faster in rapids than people, Chris and Juan had to avoid the canoe at all costs. At the same time they were getting hammered against some sharp rocks. After a rough ride, both Chris and Juan were luckily not injured. Jimmy and I picked up Juan after he'd finished rolling down the rapids. He was pretty shaken up with some bruises. If not for his wetsuit he would have had more cuts and bumps. We paddled with our gear and Juan to our campsite where Chris had gotten back into the canoe after the rapid and paddled over to a campsite at the bottom of the Crooked Chute. He was okay as well. This disuaded Jacques and Steve from trying this part of the Crooked Chute.

We setup camp that at about 4:30 that evening. Jacques prepared an Indian Chicken dish with rice for dinner and we all enjoyed this very much.

Jacques Resting

Day 2 Rollaway rapids to 5 mile rapids

The next morning we awoke to a wonderful breakfast of some rolled up feta cheese pancakes made by Andy and Jeff. We packed up our bags and headed on our way.

First up was Rollaway rapids. Beside this rapid is a memorial for Blair Fraser who was a MacLeans writer who drowned on this rapid in May 1968. The rapid is rated class IV with a class II down the middle if you can find it. It looked pretty treacherous to us. Chris had made it through this rapid on a previous canoe trip running part of the rapid backwards. This year with the water levels higher, it looked pretty difficult so we all portaged it.

Bottom of Rollaway Rapids

Next up were the upper and lower Natch Rapids. The upper Natch is rated a Class 3 and the lower Natch is a Class 2. The Natch portages are very rough so we didn't want to portage the whole way. The first part of the Upper Natch was a ledge which looked pretty tricky. Jeff and Andy managed to run this one perfectly. Chris and Juan ran it as well but dumped and went swimming and managed to get out before hitting the second part of the Upper Natch. We studied the second part of the upper Natch. There was a large rock that we had to keep just to the left of and avoid some rather turbulent water on the right side. We all made it through the second part of the upper Natch rapid.

At this point we stopped at a beautiful campsite before the lower Natch rapids for lunch. The river meandered through some steep rock banks and we had our lunch at a campsite overlooking the water.

Parking For Lunch

Lunch At Lower Natch Rapids

The lower Natch Rapid’s ledge ended up being nothing to speak of, we had swifts harder than this. We got waved right through by Steve and Chris so we ran it fully loaded.

Juan and Chris Conquer the Natch Rapids

The landscape at the bottom Natch Rapids is breathtaking, 100m cliffs loomed ahead of us as we wound though this twisting portion of the river, absolutely spectacular. I think the rapids get their name from the cliffs which are known as the Natch. As we were looking at the cliffs Andy suggested we climb it. I figured this would be an exercise in futility but in true Fischer Fashion Steve and Andy managed to find a route up to the top of the Natch. This involved clambering up some very steep portions on all fours.

The Natch From Canoe

Andy Climbing the Natch

On Top of the Natch

View From the Natch

Another View From the Natch

We were rewarded for our efforts when we got to the top. From the top was a panoramic view of the river. Especially from the top of the rock wall where there was a boulder overhanging the cliff itself. As we got closer to the tip of this boulder my morbid fear of heights seemed to kick in. Jacques and I stayed well back of the boulder while both Fischers looked out over the edge. The video below is from the top of the Natch.

For the trip down, we were lucky enough to find a path that must have come from a campsite just before the Natch. This path made it much easier to get back down to the bottom.

We continued from here through Schooner rapids which were fun and a long stretch of very runnable rapids. We stopped at a beautiful campsite about 2.5 miles into 5 mile rapids. After setting up camp, Jim heated up his beef stew and we all had a well-deserved meal.

Jim's Stew

Sunset At 5 Mile Rapids

After dinner we played a Jeff Duffield drinking game where the penalty for missing was to drink some Tequila straight. We finished the bottle in record time and then someone brought out a second bottle. This could have gone on all evening but thankfully Chris diverted the group towards having a sauna. The idea was to prop a tarp up with a paddle and have 3 guys get under the tarp while the others brought in a hot rock from the fire. Steam was generated by pooring water on the hot rock. After thoroughly heating up we ran out into the nearby river for a shockingly cold swim. This got the body just tingling and managed to soothe some of the bug bites that we'd aquired. Thanks for the idea Chris!

Heating Rocks For The Sauna

The Sauna

Campsites At 5 Mile Rapids

Day 3 - 5 mile rapids to takeout at McManus Lake

We awoke the next morning bright and early. We had to make it to McManus Lake takeout in time to shuttle the cars and get Jeff to the airport by 6:30 pm. It was a beautiful morning after a nice cold evening for sleeping. We had a brief breakfast and were on our way. The first part of the paddling was about 2.5 miles of the remainder of the 5 mile rapids. We paddled fairly steadily towards McManus Lake. I kept thinking that I'd seen our campsite from 2003. It was marked by the foliage which had been destroyed shortly before 2003 by a tornado. The paddle seemed to take much longer than I thought it would to get to McManus lake. It turned out that this was because we'd overshot the takeout point.

We ended up getting out at the Petawawa military area and realizing our mistake. So we got in the canoes to paddle back. This time we had to go upstream which was a real challenge in some parts. We ended up making it to the proper takeout location. Juan prepared lunch as a few of the group shuttled cars. It was an incredible weekend weather-wise and even bug-wise. We had warm days and cool nights which seem to freeze the bugs. I can't wait for next year's trip already!

The Last Supper

Tall Pines on the Petawawa

Water Cascades over Rock

Trillium

Alan's Petawawa photos

Juan's Facebook Album

2007-11-17T14:05:00.000-05:00

FALL CANOEING 2007: Paul Fischer and George Maserkevitch

Months before, I was tweeked by George Maserkavitch with a casual comment that he was looking forward to a sabbatical and a chance to do some fall canoeing when the leaves were showing their colors and the bugs were not around. Would I be interested? About the end of August, after he had returned from a trip to Tibet and China in connection with his passion for martial arts I found out it was no casual remark. He actually meant it.

I hadn’t done this kind of canoe camping for about five years and I’me no spring chicken. Could I handle it and carry my weight? But this did’nt phase George in the least. Also when you can go with a guy like George how could I refuse? So I said yes with some trepidation.

The next question was where to go. George suggested Quetico where the fishing is good and there are bald eagles to eat the leftovers. I mentioned the Rideau Canal or Obabica Lake in the Temagami area. He came back with “lets do both the Rideau and the Obabika”. We agreed. All we needed was a starting date which became Monday Sept. 17th.

THE REWARDING RIDEAU

The Rideau Canal caught my attention when we were visiting son Steve and family for a few days at a cottage they had rented on Wolff Island on the July 1st weekend. The Whig Standard had an interesting supplement about the canal on the occasion of its 175th anniversary and its being declared a world heritage site, which I shared with George. We really did’nt know what to expect. However it did mention the fishing was good, which perked George’s interest.

Leaving early Monday morning we arrived at Kingston mid morning, took the hwy 401 exit at hwy 15, and very quickly pulled in at the locks at Kingston Mills. It was exciting to see the beauty and historic atmosphere of the place. There are lovely sweeping lawns to enhance the four locks here as well as the solid stone buildings and a very busy railroad bridge overhead on the busy Montreal Toronto line. Of course George engaged the lock master in a conversation about the fishing prospects and the best kind of lures to use. This was followed by asking to no avail for what we could do to get my car up to Newboro, our destination. Undaunted George managed to persuade an elderly gentleman who happened to be walking by to do us the favour (for a price), but not till after lunch with the result that we did’nt get our paddles into the water until 2PM.

We passed through Colonel By lake and on through the river Styx which is more like a lake and arrived at the Lower Brewer lock about 5PM closing time. Although the wind had been at our back as it was to be during most of the trip as the prevailing wind is to the NW (a good reason to start at the Kingston end) and we had planned to go on to Upper Brewers locks, this was such a delightful spot we decided to camp there on the lawn beside the dock on the upper end. There was an interesting little one lane swing bridge manually operated over top of the lock, as well as a lockmaster’s house and dam. The thick planks on the bridge tended to rattle like thunder when cars passed over it during the night. After the portage, I made a meal of saurkraut and sausage, while George did some fishing. I mistakenly brought along an extra supply of kraut which Gretel wanted to keep back, but which came in handy raw during the balance of the trip.

Our first campsite with the evening sunlight was stunningly beautiful and we shared it with a young couple from Germany on their honeymoon and their rented camper. I persuaded them to go for a paddle in the sunset, took a picture and sent it to them later on, a very nice happenstance meeting.

Next morning after a breakfast of bacon and eggs we continued on to Upper Brewers . There are two locks and George graciously gave me a pole to try fishing while he did most of the portaging. Much to my surprise I latched on to a good sized bass that jumped and dove. However I lost him when he went under the dock for which I take full responsibility due to lack of experience. It was quite warm so George went snorkeling to cool off and have a look at the fish.

We continued on a long paddle through Cranberry lake to the interesting Brass Point Bridge, the only swing bridge with a bridgemaster and his house on the canal. I should also mention that this whole slack water canal system was built by backbreaking manual labour by Colonel By and his Royal engineers in only six years from 1826-1832. Most of the army of labourers were either French Canadians or recent immigrants from Ireland and stone masons from Scotland. It is estimated there were about a thousand deaths due to disease and workplace accidents, and about 500 of those were from malaria, although they did’nt know it at the time. It had likely been brought in by officers who had served in India and spread by hordes of mosquitoes in the swampy land. They tried to remedy it by denuding the countryside to allow the wind to blow the stench from the swamps away thinking it was to blame. The whole enterprise, which was one of the biggest for its time was for the purpose of defending Canada from the Americans by providing an alternate route between Ottawa and Kingston instead of the St. Lawrence. Although never used for the purpose for which it was built, it did open up the area to development, served for a while as a commercial transportation route until the railway put it out of business and now as a world class recreational waterway.

Because it was off season we pretty well had this beautiful waterway to ourselves, and because it is operated and maintained by Parks Canada, everything was in tip top shape. Think camping on manicured lawns with picnic tables, washrooms, picturesque landscaping for only 5.95 per person per night. We were also both wonderfully impressed that the whole route retains a natural beauty and ruggedness that pleasantly surprised us. We seemed to be almost the only canoeists, but we would highly recommend it.

After Brass Point Bridge there is a long stretch of paddling through Whitefish lake so we enjoyed pulling in at a marina for a coffee and were encouraged to take a side trip and visit Morton’s Bay on the way to Jones Falls where we tried some fishing along a beautiful rocky cliff without any luck.

We had heard that the four locks at Jones Falls are the show piece. of the Rideau and we soon had to agree. There is a lengthy portage up hill along beautifully groomed lawns and well-kept paths. Here I must admit that George made three trips while I only did one with my aching body and he didn’t seem to mind it at all. The camping beside the fourth lock was especially picturesque including a perfect dock for the canoe. After a 20 + KM paddle and a delicious meal of pork and beans, it was great to get my aching body into the sack early for a good night’s sleep.

After breakfast a sturdy, energetic and cheerful man showed up with a fishing pole in his hand. He turned out to be the lockmaster. George immediately got into quite a technical conversation about fishing, but eventually we were told we had to pay a fee for camping, which was news to us. However we were happy to pay the 4.95 fee, and then to top it off he offered and we accepted a very nice sized bass which he had on a chain hanging from the dock. We were also very happy to accept an invitation to a private tour of the blacksmith shop that was the main one used during the construction of the canal. It had only two windows opposite each other so that long pieces of steel could stick out the windows while they worked on them. Also they did’nt want much light in the shop so they could see the color of the hot metal for bending and shaping. He also opened up the “defensible” lockmaster’s house up on the top of the hill overlooking the route of the canal. . .

Just around the corner to the right from the locks we pulled in to look at the amazing dam at Jones falls. It is a sixty-foot high arch dam and is something like 300 feet wide and one of the largest for its time. The stones were cut in such a way that when the water was let in behind it the stones automatically tightened up from the pressure. A couple of penstocks have been added in order to generate hydro electricity.

We then proceeded into the large Sand Lake, and on towards Davis Lock. At this point we seemed to have lost sight of the channel markers and so we managed to hail a fisherman who was passing by. In response to our question about the whereabouts of Davis Lock he pointed way across the lake at a white boat house and told us in his Yankee accent that we would find it a little to the left. Unbelievably when we got there and pulled in at the dock we found that there was no Davis Lock, but instead the name on the cottage was David Lock. Go Figure. We continued to the left and eventually got to the lock station. It is a very isolated but beautiful spot to stop and fry up the bass that George had expertly filleted for lunch. Sitting on comfortable lawn chairs we watched our first boat going through the locks amazed at the perfectly working crank our friendly lockmaster used to do it.

A couple of things we couldn’t help noticing along the way was the predominance of Americans. They apparently own at least half the properties along the Rideau. Also very noticeable was the abundance of Zebra muscles everywhere we went. They are changing the ecology by probably eliminating some of the feed chain on which the fish and other species depend.

From Davis lock we entered the good sized Opinicon Lake. As we approached Chaffey’s lock we tried some fishing but without any luck. This also is a very attractive place with spacious lawns for camping, Chaffey’s Mill which was confiscated by Colonel By for the Canal, the lockmaster’s house museum, and another swing bridge. We decided to take a break from cooking supper and have dinner at the Opinicon Lodge, run by an octogenarian woman from Ohio whose family has operated it for several generations, and therefore is well known and has a reputation as being rather quaint as for example only cash or cheque can be used for payment. No alcoholic beverages are served, but we noticed that there were wine bottles on the tables for a contingent of Priests from the diocese of Kingston who apparently come there annually

Chaffey’s is an interesting community with a number of stores and places to stay, a liquor store, a marina, and a small tour boat business that looked inviting for possible future visits. And very important, a world class bass fishing hole. George got me doing some Chi after breakfast the next morning before taking off into Indian Lake on the last day of our trip on the Rideau.

We ate lunch at an unoccupied island where George found a nice fishing lure and a bobber that he presented to me as a trophy for the fish that got away. At Newboro we were again impressed with the facilities and another great campsite. The weather was an unbelievable 28 C and we asked ourselves, “What did we do to deserve this?” The energetic George did a lot of snorkeling around the docks. He then asked me to get some rice ready because he was sure he could catch enough blue gill catfish for supper. Which is what happened. What a great way to end our summer on the Rideau on the 21st of September.

There was a perfect example of a blockhouse on the hill at Newboro, another community with stores, restaurants, gift shops and interesting buildings. Blockhouses were constructed to a definite pattern, 24 ft by 24. From up here the water flows south to the St Lawrence, and north to the Ottawa. It was an important position of defense since if attacked it could severely damage the whole system if destroyed. The upper story of the Blockhouse overhung so the twenty soldiers housed there could fire their rifles through slits at the invaders below. There are only four blockhouses in the system although Colonel By wanted about twenty of them. And by the way he got in trouble with the British Parliament for going over budget by about 500 percent However it was very difficult for his engineers to make any kind of accurate estimate of the cost of such an enterprise.

George has been a great conversationalist and shared a treasure trove of fishing lore along the way. His kind consideration and positive outlook was very much appreciated by me.

We picked up the car from the parking lot and headed for Waterloo on Friday getting home in good time and very thankful for a great experience on the rewarding Rideau.

TEMAGAMI/OBABIKA

After a brief stopover back at Waterloo, George and I left for Temagami early Monday morning eating breakfast in Barrie at 7 and arriving at Temagami about noon. Both of us had canoed in the area before and were keen to get on the water. But first let me share a bit of background on the area.

Temagami is a descriptive Indian name that means “deep water by the shore”. It is an extensive area of natural rugged scenery and numerous lakes and rivers covering about 10000sq mi. It is the largest and most extensive network of trails and canoe routes in Canada. It is a watershed bounded by three rivers, the Montreal, the Sturgeon and the Ottawa. It is home to the Temagami Indians for at least 6000 years, a band of the Algonguin tribe composed of 12 family groups, who for the most part have been treated as squatters on their own land. They believed strongly in magic, myth, and the manitous of good and evil spirits. Their social life was based on the principles of equality and conservation and they practiced democracy by electing their chief.

There was no white settlement in the area until the 1850’s and the establishment of a HB Co. post. Travel into the area was solely by canoe via the Ottawa and Matabitchuan rivers. The RR arrived in 1902 opening up the clay belt around New Liskeard to agriculture. It was designated a forest preserve and so it wasn’t until the twenties when that was changed to allow vast stands of old growth pines to be cut down. There are still a few scattered small stands of 300-year-old pines on Temagami Island and in the Lady Evelyn area to the north. Mining also took place since the late 1800’s for gold, silver and iron ore. Ive seen the remains of a very rich abandoned copper mine on the south end of Temagami Island accessible from the mining road canoe access point south of Temagami.

The Temagami and Gowganda area was also the main stamping ground for the famous Archie Belaney also known as Grey Owl. He legitimately married a native woman who was considered the belle of Temagami. Her name was Angele and she was the one who taught him the ways of the Indians, their values, customs, and hunting, fishing and trapping skills that enabled him to transform himself as a credible Indian inspite of his English upbringing. So she was the one who made him what he was, and though he eventually abandoned her and their children, she never spoke of him judgmentally nor revealed his true identity even though he had several other illegitimate wives in the area. As our native woman guide told us at the Grey Owl display in Temagami, there has never been “anyone else who could do what he did.”

Because of the astonishing beauty, excellent fishing and hunting and myriad of canoe routes that go back thousands of years, Temagami soon became a mecca for the outdoor adventurer. Many well-known camps devoted to the art of canoeing and wilderness camping were established, such as the Camp Wanapitie and the Keewaydin Camp of which more will be said later.

The traditional canoe routes of the Teme augama Anishinabay Bear Island band were called Nastawaganama. The name for the portage trails was called Onigum. And Bob-ka-nah is the name for the winter trails for snowshoeing and sleds. This is the kind of thing that for me gives Temagami some of its mystique and romance for canoeing. The trails and portages and magnificent campsites remain as they have been for many centuries and command one’s deepest respect. They maintained the onigum and marked them with blazes on the trees. Break up and freeze up were dangerous times for these people. Bob-ka-nah often followed the geological fault lines. We are indebted to the native peoples of Temagami for the largest concentrated and interconnected system of canoe routes in Canada. The Lady Evelyn smooth water-canoeing park drains into the Montreal River and thence into the Ottawa Obabika and environs; Temagami and Anima Nipissing take the Sturgeon River route to Lake Nippissing and down the French River to Georgian Bay. There are many beautiful sandy beaches on the large lakes and although there is a predominance of evergreens, there is a sprinkling of hardwoods, aspen and birches to add some color in the fall. Rugged cliffs and shorelines and prominent rock knob uplands such as Maple and Devil mountains add to the beauty of the area.

There are recently several park areas designated, and so you should check at the information center or one of the outfitters to register and pay the fee. The fishing is good and they are fine and healthy specimens but you should check the regulations for the area. The prevailing winds are from the SW. The mean temperature from May to September is 60F, and the mean rainfall is 3 inches per month. October can bring very uncertain weather, and November some nasty storms. I think it is essential to have a topo map. You need to hang up your food out of reach of bears. Although there is very little visible evidence, there was a major fire in the Obabika area in 1977. Usually there is an abundance of blue berries in the area, but none this year because of the extreme dryness.

TO CONTINUE

We used the old Red Squirrel road off Highway 11 10km north of Temagami planning to access Ferguson Bay of the N Arm of Lake Tegamani from Camp Wanapitie where we had arranged to park the car. At KM26 there is a very inconspicuous sign that directs you to turn left towards the camp. After awhile you arrive at the end of the road and are required to do a 1km hike to the camp. Although it seemed to be deserted, we eventually found the owner Bruce Hodgins, his wife and a young woman employee in the kitchen attached to the dining room. It so happens that I had attended Waterloo college with Bruce in the early 50’s and had an authors signing for him at WLU bookstore when his very thorough text called the Temagami Experience came out. It seems that whoever took my message didn’t pass it on, and so our presence was a complete surprise and it took a while for Bruce to connect. We wandered over to an impressive wooden building, which was called the great hall and had a brief visit and used their services to register and pay a fee of $30 dollars to make use of the park. We then decided to go back to the car and continue to a marked access to Temagami Lake, which required taking a very rough off road that could be a problem in wet weather. From the parking lot at the end of the road it was portage of about 300 or so M to a lovely beach for the beginning of our Temagami trip on Ferguson Bay.

We Finally got on the lake at about 3PM and had a hard paddle against a stiff wind for a couple of hours heading for the portage into the N Arm of Lake Temagami. We tried fishing without luck and had a difficult time finding a campsite until we pulled in to the south end of an island at what seemed to be an unmarked site but which turned out to be very adequate. We had a lovely evening and sunset.

Very soon after breakfast we came to the portage, a very steep one and rocky path for 825 M during which I encountered a proud male roughed grouse and a couple of mink chasing each other. My duck headed walking stick, which I brought along, came in very handy as it did many times throughout the trip. As usual George did the heavy work and we made our way through to the North Arm of Lake Temagami and a scenic trip to Sharp Rock Inlet where we had another portage, but an easy 100M or so. It was along side a jack ladder, a remnant of the logging era and brought us to Diamond Lake.

It has been said that every park seems to have its jewel and possibly that is why they called it Diamond Lake. We continued paddling against a head wind, saw an eagle (a good sign) and stopped at an island for lunch, explored and enjoyed the scenery, and also did some fishing without luck. By about 5.30 or so we pulled in at a beautiful site, and while George persisted in doing some more fishing I got a meal ready with the last can of pork and beans. We built a campfire and enjoyed a very quiet and beautiful evening.

After breakfast we made our way through some islands trolling for fish and marveling at the rugged landscape, the islands and bays until we arrived at the group of seven-type rocky end of Diamond Lake and weaved our way to the rough landing at the next portage. It was over some rough terrain for about 450M until we arrived at an old logging road and a tiny lake if my memory is correct and another 450 M when we arrived at the narrow arm of Wakimika Lake. Again my good friend George did the lifting and I was feeling guilty, but not because he complained. “It’s all training for the next step in my martial arts program,” he says.

When we got into Wakimika we began trolling for fish and to my amazement I soon had something big on my line. When it surfaced near the canoe we recognized a healthy good sized Pike, and I was able to reel it in for George to net. I honestly felt grateful to the fish for letting me catch it. My past experience at fishing has not been very successful. It was near noon so we stopped at a picturesque island; George filleted it and cooked it for a superb fish shore dinner. Somehow he does it such a way that there isn’t a bone in it. The remains were placed on a rock for some lucky seagulls.

At the south end of Wakimika you have to look pretty sharply to find the entrance to the winding picturesque Wakimika River. We hit it right away to the right of some lightly colored reeds. We had to push a bit over some sand bars and do a couple of lift over of some beaver dams, one of which was about 4ft high constructed by these clever animals between the abutments of an old abandoned bridge. It was a somewhat lengthy paddle through marshlands until we came through grasses and shallow waters to get into the big Obabika Lake.

Here for the first time we did see some other canoeists over on the other shore as we traveled down the right side of the lake trolling and fishing along the way. We passed many long and inviting sandy beaches. Late afternoon we pulled in at a great campsite at a point on the far side of a bay. We had dinner and were grateful for another fine day.

Next morning we took off to explore some of the south end of Obabika before tackling the portage to Obabika inlet. George wanted to do some fishing around some of the rugged interesting islands. There was one outcropping that was whitewashed with seagull poop and is apparently a noisy rookery in the summer time. Before long we had a nice black bass, which we kept for lunch, then another dandy big one that jumped and dove until landed in the net. It was too big for just the two of us so we let it go. A couple more were caught and released.

By noon we arrived back at the portage to Obabika Inlet and once again enjoyed a delicious shore lunch of very fresh fish. While George took the first load over the 625m portage I was to get some rice ready and was dumbfounded when he was back in 20 minutes before I even got started. The end of this portage was a very muddy launch and it was hot and humid as we paddled through a marshy area.

From here we made our way toward Devil’s Bay which involved another portage of 825m followed by another long paddle as we made our way to Seal Rock Point and an excellent camp site recommended to us by Mark at Bent’s cameras of Waterloo. We were blessed with a warm beautiful evening with a full moon to boot and a great view towards Devil’s mountain

Friday, day five started out with a light rain as we paddled across to a large island by the name of Keewaydin where there is a camp by the same name. As we approached we decided to investigate. I became quite excited as I recalled stories by my friend Doug Shaw of Walkerton about a Temagami camp that he attended for a number of years. He spoke about the rigorous routine and tough discipline and about the use of tumplines to portage their heavy loads. Shortly after docking and a brief walk around the impressive buildings and facilities we were met by a young man by the name of Jason Piqueau who made us feel welcome and who just happened to be the full time caretaker. When I told him about Doug’s stories he said this must be the place. They run a very traditional camp using nothing but cedar strip canoes, tumplines for portaging them and the wanigans and they have been in the business since 1893, the longest of any camp in North America. Although most of the clientele are from the USA, Canadians are also welcome. Jason also spoke about his Algonkian heritage through his grandmother and as we enjoyed some gorp and coffee on one of the cabin porches he articulated some of his thoughts on the difference between Indian and white cultures. As I recall it seemed basically to boil down to money for which they have no appreciation in their tradition while for whites it is the be all and end all He prefers to work for his own sustenance and for the common good without being enslaved to anyone else. (My son Joel is inclined to agree him being self-employed.) That is at least partly what I thought he was saying. Jason lives there on this beautiful island year around with his wife and two small children. The children go to school in New Liskeard two days a week in addition to being home schooled. I gather he is a follower of the Roman Catholic tradition. We talked a bit about our men’s group and our study of Markus Borg. Both of us enjoyed our happenchance meeting with Jason very much.

Of course George got some information on where we might be able to catch some Walleye and we set off for some islands near by. It was just off Devil’s point and we tried but without luck. We then went down the wrong bay thinking it was Ferguson bay, backtracked and got back on course. Along the way we caught another bass, which we enjoyed with our supper later on. After a good paddle we pulled in at another beautiful campsite with a difficult landing on the south side of Pickerel bay. Both of us slipped on the rocks and got wet feet. From here we could see Franklin Island and Camp Wanapitie .

Next morning after a good brisk paddle of about an hour we arrived back at the lovely sand beach from which we had started. We made the treck back to the car, loaded up and headed out the rough road to the Red Squirrel and back to Temagami about noon where we spent a little time at a Gey Owl display in two rail cars at the Temagami station. I picked up a decal for the canoe and we headed for home. We both agreed it had been a great trip and how fortunate we are for this kind of wilderness experience.

2007-06-10T08:13:00.000-04:00

Dumoine River Trip

This year we decided to head back to the Dumoine River for our annual canoe trip. We'd been to the Dumoine back in 2001 during Jim's first year whitewater canoeing so it was time to try this beautiful river again. The river has numerous challenging class 2 and class 3 rapids but your chances of a mishap are not as high if you make a mistake and given last year's challenges on the Coulange we were interested in tackling something a little more forgiving.

Jim and I drove up Wednesday May 30th night to Driftwood Park minus Andy who was staying home in order to have arthroscopic knee surgery. Just as we got into Driftwood we noticed it looked as though they'd had a bad storm. As always Steve left directions on the park office door and we managed to find them at a beautiful spot right on the beach overlooking the Ottawa river. When we got there Steve asked how the driving was through the bad storm they'd had. Luckily, we'd missed the whole thing on the drive up.

View From Driftwood Campsite

As soon as they had arrived up at Driftwood Steve started putting up his tent and then they saw the bad weather coming in over the Ottawa river. Steve managed to finish putting up his tent and they decided to head for the car and watch the storm come in. They decided it was a good thing they made it to the car as the storm was pretty violent bending trees and actually tossing a canoe across the road near their site. Steve feared for his tent which managed to weather the storm okay but took a fairly good pounding in the process.

Jim and I were introduced to the 2 new canoe trippers Charles Hodgson and Steve Todd both from Ottawa. Steve T. was a cub scout leader with Steve F. and had displayed some fantastic camping skills on one of their beaver trips so when Steve F. asked Steve T. if he'd done white water canoeing before and Steve T. indicated that he had, it seemed like a match made in heaven. Steve T. had been whitewater canoeing many time and regaled us with some harrowing stories of mishaps. Steve T. brought along his partner Charles Hodgson who had been his partner on many previous white water trips and also had much white water canoeing experience.

Steve T. and Charles Getting Gear Ready

Getting another tandem canoe group for our trips is very important in case we have an accident where we lose a canoe as we almost did last year plus Charles is known for having an excellent Wannigan :). More important is the fact that you get along and work as a team. Steve T. and Charles fit in really well with the group.

The next morning we awoke bright and early at 6 am to a porridge breakfast and coffee made by Steve F. who is usually one of the first up to make sure everyone starts their day off right. We began weeding out the duplicate items. I even convinced Jim to go with only 2 pairs of socks which I regretted for the rest of the trip.

Day 1 - Getting Acclimatized Again

After breakfast and preparing our gear, we met a friend of Jacques who was going to shuttle us up the Dumoine this year. We picked up Jim and my canoe up at the Air Swisha base. This base will shuttle you up the Dumoine in a float plane. We'd done this previously but this year we were going to try the shuttle in a van.

Once the van was all loaded we ventured into the logging roads to get up to our drop off point which was just above Lac Benoit. Thankfully Steve T. had his GPS with him as we attempted to find our way to the dropoff point. This is not easy as logging roads aren't well marked.

The road was very bumpy and thankfully we hadn't attempted to do this in our cars as they would have bottomed out. Especially my Honda Civic! We arrived at the dropoff spot which was Bridge rapids. This is a nice Class 2 rapids that travels beneath a railway bridge. It is an excellent rapid to practice your skills on before venturing into tougher rapids downstream. We had chosen this spot wisely as just up the river is Triple Play, a nasty mixture of C3-C4 rapids which would have been quite a challenging start to the trip.

Even with the Bridge rapids, my experience from last year was still fresh in my memory and hence I was fairly uncomfortable to begin with. The adrenalin began surging through my veins at the site and sound of this rapid. We surveyed the rapid from the bridge and it wasn't too bad. The flow was fairly fast but there were no major obstacles to avoid. We loaded up the boats with the gear and then all of us did this rapid with no problems. Thankfully as having a spill this early on would have been an ominous start to the trip.

Bridge Rapids C2

After Bridge rapids we played in some C1 rapids practicing our eddying and other techniques before getting to Lac Benoit. We canoed across Lac Benoit and saw the float plane bringing in another group. We were thankful for the shuttle since the float plane could only take 2 people at a time. This would have meant the good part of a day shuttling up the group since it would have been 3 trips.

Below Lac Benoit we had a C1 and then all managed to get through a C2 rapid called "Tight 'Round the Bend". The main danger to this was the set of falls after a fairly calm finish so we were thankful not to dump on this one. We portaged the falls and got to the next rapid "Canoe Eater" close to the end of the day.

Lookout From End of Canoe Eater Rapids

"Canoe Eater" is an ominous sounding C3 rapid. After taking one look at the boulders in this rapid we decided that we didn't want to walk the rest of the way out so we portaged the rapid and we set up camp at a nice site at the bottom of this rapid.

Try This At Your Peril

At the end of the day, we attempted a swim in the cold but wonderfully refreshing river. It was nice to let the body go numb after being bug bait for a good part of the day. The water is beautifully clean and after swimming we felt very rejuvenated.

Day 2 - Lots Of Fun Rapids

We started the next day with a wonderful breakfast of authentic bannoc cooked up in Charles fabulous camping wok which was produced from the wannigan. We got going at around 8:30 am and immediately confronted with rapids with ominous sounding names such as "The Sleeper", "The Snake", and "Thread The Needle". Each of these were C2 rapids with lots of technical challenges. With my new-found training from the previous year, Jim and I practiced giving more control to the bow person and this enabled us to miss some of the more dangerous aspects of these rapids. We still had a few mistakes, on rapid "Double Choice" we missed the recommended path through 2 boulders and thankfully were able to take a second route through closer to the middle using an active paddling approach which means we paddled faster than the rapid flow and this kept us in control.

Steve T. and Charles proficiently paddled through each of these rapids using techniques such as backferrying to get out of harms way in a very controlled fashion. Something Jimmy and I can learn from.

Towards the end of the day we did a mandatory portage around "Little Steel Falls" and then put in at the bottom of this rapid and continued on through "S" rapids which as its name sounds was quite tricky and finished the day off running a series of swifts that finished a challenging but thoroughly enjoyable day. Finally I was starting to get my gumption back!!

Jim with Little Steel Falls In The Background

We bypassed a campsite called "Hobbit Campsite" and continued on and found a fantastic campsite on a peninsula. The route to the campsite ascended up a steep bank to a plateau at the top with spots along the plateau for 4-5 tents single file. This was easily the most picturesque campsite of the trip.

Steve and Jacques Surveying The Campsite

Tough Getting the Gear Up The Steep Bank

View From The Top

The only problem with this campsite was that there wasn't a lot of wood so Jim volunteered to canoe over to the campsite just across the strait and pick up their wood. Steve F. also noticed a nice grill so he scooted over and picked it up. No sooner had we depleted the site of its provisions when a tired crew of canoeists pulled in at this campsite. Needless to say we kept pretty quiet as we enjoyed our nice fire-cooked meal on a stable grill.

Before dinner a few of us went for a refreshing swim in the bay beside our peninsula. Because the bay was sheltered the water was much warmer. Then we went to explore some scenic chutes that were tucked away in the forest in a creek that was a short canoe paddle from the campsite. It was a pretty set of chutes and well worth getting a little wet by climbing through the forest.

After a thoroughly enjoyable meal of Jacques' Thai Green Chicken Steve T. brought out an orange bag. I'd seen him portaging the bag and figured that it was an elaborate fishing pole of some sort. Instead of pulling out a fishing pole, he pulled out an acoustic guitar. He then proceeded to tune it. He explained that he'd gotten it for $10 at a garage sale. While tuning it he managed to separate the string bridge from the body of the guitar which had been previously glued together by its previous owner. I thought this was the end but not for this group. Steve T. asked if anyone had a screw driver and drill and to my surprise Jacques produced both. They then proceeded to repair the guitar by bolting the bridge into the body of the guitar.

Steve T. Repairing the Guitar While Jim is Drying his Good Pair of Socks

After a couple of hours Steve T. and Jacques had repaired the guitar. Then out came the song sheets much to the chagrin of the guys in the campsite on the island across from ours. Jim Kerr picked up one of Jacques harmonica's and we belted out campfire songs. Including a lively rendition of "The Blackfly" by Charles. Jacques who surprised us all with his amazing guitar playing and singing did a beautiful rendition of Claude Dubois' "Labrador" song.

Day 3 - Big Steel

After a pea meal bacon and egg breakfast we headed off the next morning through some flat water paddling. That was until we got to "Big Steel" rapids. This is a challenging C3 rapid. Most of us decided to take a pass on this one. It looked like it was very tough technically as you had to pick your way through a boulder garden at the top and then get through some haystack waves without swamping the boat. Steve T. and Charles decided to run it so the rest of us portaged the gear and waited below prepared for the worsed with throw bags and Steve F and Jim ready in the canoe in case of a mishap. Well Steve T. and Charles manouevered through "Big Steel" in fine fashion eddying out at the bottom of the C3 to wild applause from the shoreline as we were happy not have to stage a river rescue. At the bottom of "Big Steel" we all put our boats in to finish off the remaining rapids which were C1 and C2.

We ate a floating lunch which was very comfortable after our portage at "Big Steel". The bugs were nasty on the portage and we were happy to bring the boats together and just float down the river during lunch. The wannigan served as a wonderful table and Charles brought out a huge bag of pitas and we ate brie cheese and sausage slices on the pitas.

Floating Lunch

After our floating lunch we paddled some more flat water until we got to the Margaret Spry Shelter. We visited this public shelter and each of us carved our names and the date in the walls of the shelter as many canoeists before us had done.

We began to see more cottages around this stretch of the Dumoine because this area has good road access along the Eastern shore. We paddled through a final rapids for the day and all managed to get through successfully at the "Shoreway" rapids. Just after this we decided to check out the campsite on a point. Even though it was early in the day we decided not to pass this one up. After surveying the campsite we saw that it had an ample supply of firewood, picnic tables, a shelter and a beautiful breezey peninsula to put the tents. To top it off, the campsite had a johnny on the spot which was a luxury given what we encountered earlier. Jim remembered this site from the first trip. We'd seen a pile of Merganzer eggs in the tall grass and heard the howling of wolves when we went to bed. We put up our tents and dried out most of our gear and I went for a swim out to a nearby island and did a loop around it. Perhaps a little too long of a swim as I felt like I had hypothermia on the way back.

The Luxury Campsite

Day 4 - La Grand Chute

Because we had made camp early the previous day we knew we had a lot of paddling the next day to keep on our schedule so we were up bright and early and had a light breakfast in order to get on the river by 8. We knew we had the portage at the Grande Chute ahead of us. The portage is 1.5 kms and is really tough if you hit it mid-day. As we approached the Grande Chute, there was no mistaking this rapid for anything else as we could hear the thundering roar from far off in the distance. We arrived at the rapid by 10 and immediately took the canoes on the portage to get the worsed part over with.

After first portaging the canoes along the road trail we planned on coming back on the scenic route which goes along the shoreline but we had a tough time finding the scenic route back along the shoreline. After enquiring at the Zec office, we found out that this area had been heavily hit by last summer's July tornado which had devestated that area. The Zec office lost a big garage and there were many trees down along the scenic route beside the river and they were still attempting to clear the backlog of trees. We had seen much of this devestation during our portage.

The Bridge Overlooking "La Grande Chute"

Zec Office at "La Grande Chute"

After finishing the portage, we decided to have another floating lunch to get some breeze and get away from the bugs. We canoed mostly flat water until we reached a series of rapids called the "Red Pine Rapids". The first part of these rapids was runnable and we all made it down to the middle section called "The Ledge". This was a nasty C3 with lots of souse holes. We portaged most of our gear down most of the portage route known as "Fat Man's Misery". This really was no fun (even for skinny men) as the terrain was rough and the forest was very dense and we were portaging on a high bluff beside the river. This followed our tough portage of the Grande Chute so I think most of us were sick of portaging at this point. We did have enough sense to put in after "The Ledge" and we ran a challenging C2 where we had to hug the left bank and then brace through some rather rough water before eddying out in a pool to give us time to figure out the next section of the rapid. The next section of this rapid titled "Keyhole" had an ominous ledge on the right side so we stuck hard to the left side of the river which was a little shallow but better than venturing over the ledge.

Thankful to be passed the "Red Pine" rapids we continued on through some simpler C1 swifts. After finishing the swifts we came around a bend and saw the Bald Eagle Cliff rising out of the water. This is a 500ft granite cliff that seems to rise to the sky. Last time we attempted to do some novice rock climbing up the cliff face but this time we were a little more sensible and decided to stay in the canoes and admire from afar.

Jacques And Steve Beside Bald Eagle Cliff

We continued on until we came to the Bowman falls campsite. This was a fantastic spot for our final campsite on this incredible river. There were many flat cleared locations to pitch a tent beside the falls. The hypnotic roar of the falls served to drown out any other noise making it much easier to sleep. It threatened to rain so we all pitched in and got camp setup and dinner ready. I really noticed how the group was beginning to gel as a team as some people were putting up tarps, others preparing the dinner and others getting a fire going. We had a nice meal of mushroom soup mixed with vegetables and pasta. A recipe that I had stolen from Dave Hunsberger from previous canoe trips.

Mealtime at Bowman Falls

After eating the meal, it appeared as though as storm was coming. We were on a point so the wind came howling through. We decided to take down the tarps before they flew off like kites. We had an early night which was fine with all of us as this had been our longest day on the river.

Bowman Falls

Pink Lady Slippers

Day 5 - Crossing the Ottawa River

The next morning we had a light breakfast of porridge and then set off to reach the Ottawa River in the morning. The wind is known to get stronger and stronger as the day progresses and the Ottawa river can also produce some heavy rolling waves which can make it dangerous to cross. Thankfully the wind wasn't too strong although it was raining fairly hard as we crossed the river. We all stuck closely together and Steve Todd's GPS came in handy as we were able to take the shortest route across the river to Driftwood Park.

We arrived at the park at around 11 am and gathered the cars. We then kept our tradition of heading out for a wonderful breakfast before saying good-bye to everyone. It was another great canoe experience for us all. Hopefully the start of many more with our 2 new members Steve T. and Charles.

For all the Dumoine pictures click on the following link:

Dumoine 2007

Dumoine Action Shots

2007-06-09T10:39:00.000-04:00

Mexico Shots

The family went to the Bahia Principe which is an all inclusive resort near Tulum on the Mayan Riviera. Here is a link to the web album of these shots.

Mexico 2007 - Pump it up Baby

Sarah and I did some fantastic snorkeling in the Cenotes which are fresh water caves located in the jungle. I was very proud of Sarah's bravery as some of these caves were pitch black. All we had for light were hand torches and there were stallagmites over our heads.

Mexico 2007 - Cenotes

2007-05-19T23:53:00.000-04:00

Storm Mountain Wedding - Julie & Gavin

Sat May 5, 2007

In early February we heard that Julie and Gavin were planning on tying the knot. They had booked the location for the wedding and it was Storm Mountain Lodge. This lodge is a beautiful lodge located overlooking Storm Mountain. Thanks to Sheila Copps who protected it from being torn down in the late 1990s we still have these historic little cabins and main lodge. The food was exquisite and all the cabins have been upgraded and insulated and are very comfortable. The lodge is located in Banff National Park on the way to Radium hotsprings.

Sue, Peter and baby Jacqueline and I drove up with Jackie and Reinhard on Friday and go there at about 4:00 pm. It was a lot colder at the lodge which was already at a few thousand feet above sea level. Jackie, Reinhard and I set off on a snowshoe down a trail near the lodge but it was very difficult as we kept sinking into the snow.

The Wedding Ceremony

The wedding ceremony was very relaxed and informal with around 30-40 people and we all fit very comfortably in the main lodge. We met all of Gavin's family members who were very diverse and interesting people. There were a few speeches. Gavin's brother Darren welcomed Julie into their family and Tara and Corin welcomed Gavin into our family. After the speeches we were treated to some wonderful Buffalo sandwiches and everyone mingled. Even though I'm Julie's brother I have to say that she looked very stunning in the red and white dress with a black lacey shawl which Susan had worn for her wedding. The whole ceremony was so relaxed and fun. The wedding felt much like it does when one visits Julie at her house where you feel instantly relaxed and at home. Also nice to have Jacqueline and Ian at the ceremony. Jacqueline was in a smock dress that was made by our Aunt mary and had been worn by Alison.

Outside Shots

Gourgeous Couple!!!

Boom Lake Hike

The morning of the wedding Corin and I went on a hike up to Boom Lake which was 1 km from the lodge.

We thankfully brought along the snowshoes and I had most of the clothing that I had brought along on my body in order to make sure I didn't freeze to death. We walked for quite a while as I underestimated the distance.

It was 5 km in and 5km out. When we got to the lake it was frozen over but a beautiful lake nonetheless. The lake was in a bowl surrounded on all sides by mountains and a glacier at the far end. It was absolutely beautiful and I'm sure would be more stunning once the ice melts in the summer. Makes me yearn to go back during the summer months.

Sunrise in the Mountains

Lake Louise

After the wedding we were restless and wanting to work off the Buffalo sandwiches. Gavin's family was having a get together for everyone at Lake Louise lodge
in the town of Lake Louise so we decided to tack on a hike to this beautiful area before heading to the gathering.

Johnson Canyon

We had a wonderful get together at Gavin's brother's hotel room and then headed back later in the evening to the cottages at storm mountain. The younger family members (I still consider myself young) played scategories and Tara had us all hooting with her New Type of Triscuit invention called "Roasted Red Pooper". The next day we arose to a wonderful Storm Mountain breakfast and then managed to coordinate the troops for a spectacular hike up to Johnson's Canyon. The last shot below is of a lookout just off Highway 1a which is a highway full of wonderful views a must drive the next time we're in that area.

We arrived back in Calgary and went for a run. Brad managed to beat me up the last hill but did himself an injury. That'll teach him!

Julie and Gavin, what a wonderful wedding and fantastic weekend.

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2006-11-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

Hallowe'en 2006

The much anticipated night of the year came and went. Here are some photos of that fateful evening.

The Mummy's Curse

The above picture shows Emma and Sarah Ford knocking on the door of our favourite house in the neighbourhood. This lady is a stage set designer and her house decorations are the solid favourite with all the kids in the neighbourhood. If you look closely at the hideous Mummy you will see a snake coming out of the Mummy's belly with treats nestled in the snakes Jaw. This of course sends chills up and down the spines of many a trick or treater.

The Haunted Farquhar Mansion

As always, the Farquhar women were not to be out done by the Mummy lady and decorated their own haunted mansion. You can see the absolutely horrifying grave yard illuminated by the luminescent bones.

3 Amigos

Lauren (was a dryer), Laura (CowGirl) and Katie (washer) had a great time. Katie however was quite sore by the end of the evening after walking around as a washing machine for most of the evening. You can't really see if too well but if you look closely her the door to the washing machine was where her candy bag was stashed. The top panel of the washing machine is decorated with life like knobs including details about the settings for each knob. I think we have a future stage set designer. Look out Mummy Lady!!

Exterior View of the Mummy Lady's House

Mr. Mime

Here you see Alan in his mime costume. He went to work dressed as a mime and accompanied Sarah on their neighbourhood jaunt.

Alyssa Ford Ghoulish Delight

You In Da Club

Instilling fear in the hearts of young trick or treaters, Fordicas, Todd and Farquhar were in their element dressed as Rappers. Sarah Farky is sporting a Bling around her neck and each Rapper has a painted on Goatee. Miss Todd looks the part as an emasciated Rapper with the skeletal cheek bones. Instead of shouting "Trick or Treat" when they got to the door they would chant a rap tune.

Would You Look At This Pumpkin!!

Take a look at the intricate carving of this pumpkin. This is a Harry Potter character known as Hagrid, hunched over and holding a candle. I was so amazed at this piece of artwork that I asked the owner how he managed to achieve such a feat. He indicated that the carving was done with a power scroll saw.

2006-09-15T21:21:00.000-04:00

6th Annual Father-Daughter Camping Trip - Pinery Provincial Park

This event is one of the most anticipated events of the year as the famous father-daughter camping trip took place at Pinery Provincial Park. Every year we hold this event on the 2nd weekend in September and it has become a really fun tradition for all the families. This was the second time we'd been to the Pinery and the girls were looking forward to exploring the dunes and getting in some swimming.

The Trek to the Beach

Dunescape

Climbing the Dunes is Tough on the Calves

On Saturday we played a rousing game of Jailbreak. In this game the fathers were the jailers and the girlies were the jailbirds. We also went on a
bike and hike to the Riverside Trail. Here we were intrigued to find the park rangers doing bird banding in order to understand the migratory patterns of some of the birds at the Pinery. The rangers had set up nets near the shore of the Ausable River which runs through the Pinery. The nets were light nylon nets. Once the birds flew in they would drop into a safe nylon pouch. We met 2 volunteers who were extricating the birds from the nets and taking them to be banded and measured.

This kept the girls very intrigued for the better part of an hour as the bird experts measured their wings, body fat and identified their type. There were Thrashers, Warblers and a little bird called a Wilson which when held on its back would remain stationary. Sarah Farquhar tested this out when the little Wilson was ready to be released, the ranger put the bird into Sarah's hand on its back. It stayed there resting for 1/2 a minute. What a thrill for Sarah to hold this little yellow bird for that long before letting it go.

Caroline Practices Kayaking

Daddy This Water Is Cold!

Brianna Enjoys Playing In The Waves

Girls On Film

Sarah Fee Relaxing On the Beach

Mary Tries Body Surfing

Beach Beauties

Pablo Doing Yoga

Ghost Stories

One of the annual traditions at the father daughter is for each family to come up with a blood-curdling ghost story. Although this year was the best yet as each family had to research and come up with the best ghost story they could think of. Jim Kerr had us all on the edge of our seats with a thrilling rendition of Stephen King's "The Shining".

Preparing for Ghost Stories with Healthy snackfood

Sarah Acts One Out
Sheppys

We Went For Dip N Dots @ Bests

Sarah, what are you doing opening a milk carton, this is a Coke Commercial

Open Your Eyes John

Monster Group Shot

If you're looking for all the father daughter shots, CLICK HERE

Emily's 16th birthday video

2006-08-11T20:36:00.000-04:00

August Long Weekend In Algonquinn

Here are the details of our August long weekend spent in Algonquinn park back country camping on Penn Lake. The weekend started in hectic fashion. Upon arriving home from work on Friday, I proceeded to pack and then headed for Toronto to stay with Jackie at Sue-Sue's place. We spent Friday night in Sue's wonderful pad. The next morning Jackie and I awoke bright and early. We had to make it up to Honey Harbour to pick up Sarah and Alison from Camp Queen E. We set off at around 7 am after packing the car up with the canoe on the roof rack and most of the gear carefully tucked under the canoe.

We made it to the 401 in good time happy to be beating the holiday weekend traffic. Sue had informed us that unless you make it to hwy 400 by 7:30 am even on a Saturday, you could run into traffic. After driving a while on the 401 we realized that we had missed the 400. This was not a good sign since we needed to make sure we weren't late to pick up the girls in Honey Harbour at 10:30. We got ourselves turned around and managed to find the 400. The problem was we began running into the traffic that we thought we'd missed. After a few heartstopping traffic jams we managed to get up to Barrie in good time. From there it was smooth sailing up to Honey Harbour where we met our independent little girls Ali and Sarah.

Meanwhile Katie, Lauren, Brad and Nick were driving up from Waterloo. We ended up meeting at the Algonquinn Outfitters at Oxtongue Lake just on the perimeter of Algonquinn park. We put our canoes in at a beautiful little creek that runs into Rock Lake. Rock Lake is known for its high rock cliffs that adorn the shores of the lake.

Rock Lake Cliffs

The canoes were fully loaded with gear and kids. The Baechler canoe had Lauren in the bow, Nick in the middle and Brad in the stern. Jackie took both Katie and Alison as she had a light canoe and needed the extra weight. I took Sarah.

Baechler's Canoe

Jackie in the Stern

Don't Stand in the Canoe Sarah!

We canoed through Rock Lake for about 1 1/2 hours until we got to the Penn Lake portage. The portage wasn't too bad but it was getting late in the day and the kids were getting hungry. The adults were hoping we'd find an early campsite on Penn Lake but it was not to be. We canoed for about another 1 hour checking campsites as we went. All were full. Finally we came to our campsite of last year. Thankfully it was tucked away and probably was missed by the canoeists ahead of us. We settled at this familiar site.

Brad Nick and Jackie resting at the campsite

Sunrise at 6 am

Beached canoes

Kids playing by the tents

Nick was up for the Algonquinn Challenge - A true camper

We awoke the next morning and were planning to take a day trip to Clydesgale lake. This was a lake we had been to last year when we had come on our Algonquinn trip and the lake was very beautiful. Unfortunately we faced a strong headwind and were unable to make any headway towards our destination. It took all our effort just to make it safely across the lake. We spontaneously changed our plans to suit the wind patterns and settled on an interesting island on the other side of the lake from our campsite. This island was fantastic for swimming as it had nice large granite rocks to dive off of into the water. It also had some amphibian inhabitants as identified below.

The Algonquinn Frog

Vanna White poses with the Wind Breaker

Swimsuit Model

Lauren Testing the Water

Sarah and Nick Like Island Living

Cousins!

After spending about 2 hours exploring the island we decided to head back to camp for an early dinner. This would allow us to have a trip after dinner if the wind died down. The weather cooperated and after dinner we headed out for the portage to Welcome Lake. The interesting thing about this portage is the entrance is a challenging little creek that snakes its way through a swamp. The creek is deep enough for a canoe to get through but it is challenging for the person who is steering to make it through without beaching the canoe. We crossed a rock bed to the portage area. We left our canoes at the entrance to the portage spot and hiked the portage route to get to the waterfall. The kids spent some time playing in the
rushing water of the water fall.

Sarah at the Falls

It started to get dark so we decided to begin canoeing back to the campsite so as not to get stuck in the dark on Penn Lake.

Sarah Canoeing Back to the Campsite

We awoke the next morning at about 6 am. We were greeted by a brilliant sunrise. We had breakfast of porridge and bacon and then packed up camp. We managed to make it out on the water by about 8 am. Which was amazing timing given that we had the kids but they were very helpful with the packing up camp activities. However, many other campers had the same idea as us and we met a lot of people at the Penn to Rock Lake portage. Canoeists however are much more patient than drivers in a traffic jam. They are a helpful group and it was nice to see one man portage an older couples canoe. We had a bit of difficulty making it back to the cars as the wind picked up on Rock Lake. Jackie in her Featherweight canoe had to use all her canoeing skill and strength to get back to the cars. We reached the cars around 12:00 noon.

It was a another memorable canoe trip of 2006!

Group Shot at the Penn-Rock Lake Portage Route

2006-08-11T18:55:00.000-04:00

Camp Queen Elizabeth

Sarah and Ali spent the week from July 31 to Aug 4 at Camp Queen Elizabeth. They had a great time except that they lost power for Wednesday and Thursday due to inclement weather. First few nights were tough for little Fee but then she overcame her fear and made great friends with the girls in her cabin. Katie was at camp Ki-Wa-Y but we don't have pictures of this for the blog.

Girls at Camp

CQE Friends on the Dock

Off to Algonquin

2006-07-26T22:46:00.000-04:00

Brilliant Killarney

We drove up to Widgawa lodge which is just outside Whitefish Falls. About a 6 hour drive from Waterloo. The lodge is on the western most edge of Killarney. Actually about a 3 hour paddle away from Killarney. I was very excited since I had booked the trip back in February. The crew that went was Jackie, Katie and Sarah, the Fischers and me. Unfortunately Janice couldn't join us because she couldn't get the time off from her new job.

When we arrived at the Widgawa lodge we were pleased to be housed in a pretty little 2 bedroom cabin with a living room and kitchen. The lodge had a main lodge, swimming pool and best of all a river that had huge water snakes and giant snapping turtles.

Widgawa Snakes Are The Biggest

We woke Thursday morning to a bountiful breakfast prepared by our hostess Heather. We all ate very heartily knowing it would be our last meal for a while until we were able to set up camp.

We canoed through Frood Lake for about 2 1/2 hours. Jackie and Theresa were in one canoe. Alan, Katie and Carly in another and Andy, Sarah and Emily in the last. We had a beautiful canoe ride through Frood Lake.

Alan's Repaired Canoe On Frood Lake

Cool Carly Canoeing

Next came the portage to Grace Lake. This was quite exhausting. Sarah and Emily feigned dehydration and managed to get out of portaging much gear. The portage was about 1 1/2 kms. We all managed but were at wits end when we finally got all of our geat to Grace Lake.

Grace Lake was as beautiful as I had remembered. But this time we had our canoes to explore the mythical islands. We had our pick of 3 wonderful campsites since there was noone else on the lake. We picked a picturesque campsite that overlooked a tiny island which was well within swimming distance for the girls.

Next we set up camp and had a tough time finding anything remotely flat especially since I know had my massive 6 man tent.

That night we slept to a mystical full moon which from my tent was visible most of the night over one of the quartzite peaks of the hills. We also heard loons and owls for a good part of the night.

Girls on a Hike on Grace Lake

Alan in Heaven

The next day we had decided to do the 2 km hike to Nelly Lake. Nelly is known for the highest visibility in the park because sadly it is a dead lake. Nelly is surrounded mostly by quartzite shoreline and as a result isn't able to fight the acid rain from Sudbury nickle mines as well as the other granite shored lakes of Killarney. The water however is wonderful for swimming. Opening your eyes in the water was a magical experience as you were presented with a brilliant aquamarine blue like I've never seen before.

We picked a stunning spot for lunch which was at the first campsite on a little peninsula just near the entrance to Nelly. Andy challenged me to a gunnel bobbing competition which I quickly lost and the girls were so entranced by Nelly Lake that we couldn't get them out of the water when it was time to go.

Nelly Girls!

We came back to a wonderful campfire meal cooked by Andy. We cooked while the kids picked a desert of wonderful wild blueberries from the top of the quartzite hills. In about 20 minutes the girls had picked enough blueberries to fill us all for desert.

Kack Picks Some Desert

We had another wonderful night with fantastic animal sounds. The next morning we awoke bright and early. Jackie shot up at around 5:30 and I thought wow is she energetic. I heard her out swimming just as the sun was coming up. Tired as I was I had to measure up to my mother so I dragged my tired butt out of bed and dove in the refreshing lake. When we were drying off I asked Jackie why she had gotten up so early. Her response was that my alarm went off as it always does at 5:30. I am so used to sleeping through it that it doesn't wake me but when Jackie heard it she thought it was more like 6:30. Anyways this got us going on an early start to the day which we needed in order to make the trip back.

The Relaxed Passenger

The trip back was fast paced. We were on a timeline to get back in time to get groceries and meet darling Sue Sue at the ferry. We portaged the gear back and on the way we met 2 couples who were so impressed by our portaging girls that they offered us their cabin for lunch. This was a welcome resting spot since we were battling a strong headwind. We rested for lunch at the cottage and then continued on back to Widgawa Lodge.

Jackie Portaging

All in all a fantastic trip! I only wish we could have added one more day to our stay in the park.

Group Shot at Campsite at Nelly

2006-07-08T11:41:00.000-04:00

Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival

Dr. Draw under the lights at Waterloo Jazz Festival

It was a beautiful night. We decided to walk to downtown Waterloo and take in the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival. This festival is one of the amazing things that Waterloo does to attract people to the downtown core. They have numerous events like this each summer. This jazz festival goes on for the whole weekend. The highlight of the evening was a Russian born, Canadian raised eletric violin rocker named Dr. Draw who kept us all very entertained for most of the evening.

Dr. Draw's new album is Urban Rush. Here's his latest video Ave Maria

Janice and Sarah walking to the festival

The weather was fantastic. Katie needed an ice cream to cool herself off.

The band played a number of high energy songs including Donna Summer's "Love to Love You Baby" which got the crowd moving. Katie was quite enamoured with the Dr. Draw. We decided to get their CD and Katie got it signed by the Electric Violinest himself.

2006-07-03T20:32:00.000-04:00

Canada Day at the Pinery

We spent a great day at the Pinery. Here are some pictures from the day. We met up at the Pinery with Sue, Juliana, Peter, Jackie, Baby Jacqueline, Janice, Katie, Sarah and myself. The water in Lake Huron was wonderful and warm. We walked down a trail called the Wilderness Trail to the water. The trail went through the beautiful Carolinian Forest that the Pinery is known for.

A picture of the Carolinian Forest.

Katie on the hike.

A picture of all of us on the platform just before leading down to the beach.

Janice, Peter and baby Jacqueline under the sun umbrella.

Grand Jack and Fecal Matter on the beach.

Peter and his little Garden Gnome.

2006-06-29T20:53:00.000-04:00

Waterloo 10K Classic - Fun in the Sun

It was a hot day 32 degrees with no shade along the course which went up and down Westmount road. We all managed to finish. Here are the race results and some links to pictures at the finish line. It was a great time had by all and very nice of the families to join in for the run on Father's day.

Carly : 5K 32:16

Sarah, Maddie, Emily : 5K 34:45

Katie : 5K 38:19

Janice : 5K 39:07

Alan : 10K 42:20

Andy : 10K 46:20

Theresa : 10K 56:47

2006-06-24T12:13:00.000-04:00

Favourite Photos

The following pictures are some of my favourite photos from the last few years. Since I haven't been blogging long, I wanted to put some of these up to capture the best from the last few years.

Grace Lake

This is just north of manitoulin island. This year we'll be going for 2 days back country camping up there with a site booked on Grace Lake. Here's a picture of the island that Katie, Carly, Sarah, Emily, Andy and myself swam to.

Webster's Falls

This is a shot of Webster's Falls near Dundas. This place is on the Niagara Escarpment and a place that I love to visit at different times during the year because it changes so much.

Madawaska River

The following shot is Andy Fischer and Mark Tunks going down a tough set of rapids on the Madawaska River. This is my favourite white water river. Note
how the boat is completely immersed in frothy white water. These guys almost
didn't make it out of this rapid. A little further down the rapids then hit a rock broadside and Andy had the sense to pull up on the gunnel so that they didn't dump.

Flowerpot Island

Beautiful Georgian Bay. This is a shot of when we visited the Fischers up in Georgian Bay. One of my favourite areas up there is Flowerpot Island.

Manitoulin Island

A shot of the girls at the beach in our favourite cottage on Manitoulin Island

Sarah at Dusk

Sarah at dusk on Manitoulin Island

Whitewater excitement on the Coulonge

2006-06-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Here's my synopsis of our recent whitewater canoe trip on the Coulonge river. First of all, some background on the river. The Coulonge River is a river in western Quebec. It is 217 km long and runs into the Ottawa river at Fort Coulonge, Quebec. It is in the Pontiac region of Quebec which is known for its huge white pine forests. This river is often grouped together with the Dumoine and Noire as three of a kind. All three are in the same area, have similar characteristics, and are very popular with white water canoeists like us. The Coulonge however is known as the most dangerous of the 3. The reason for this is that many of the rapids have nasty consequences as we would later find out.

The drive up was relatively uneventful. We left at around 4 pm from Waterloo. Got Jimmy at around 5. His office mates bidded us a safe trip and asked us to ensure that we didn't bring Jimmy back :). We prolonged the drive by missing our turn off at Napanee and made it to Kingston before we realized we'd gone about 60 kms out of our way. We made it up to Tim Horton's to meet Steve (Andy's brother) and Jacques(our favourite Frenchman) who we waiting for us in Pembrooke Ontario. This was about 11:30 at night. After happily greeting our long lost canoe buddies, Jacques and Steve, we headed up on the first stage of our adventure to get to the Riviere Noire Inn. The drive in to the Inn was down a logging road. We drove for about 30-45 minutes until we came to the end of the road. We got out of thecars and saw a picturesque Inn that was located right on the lower part of the Black River. It was a late 19th century auberge.

The stars leaped out at us as we were so far away from any ambient city light. We rested peacefully with the sounds of nature filtering through the walls of this historic Inn. We awoke bright and early to a wonderfully cooked egg and bacon breakfast from Jean the Inn's caretaker. We chatted and enjoyed the hospitality of the Inn and reminisced about the previous canoe trips we'd had and not so idyllic first night lodgings of past canoeing experiences (ie. the gruesome motel just outside Sudbury). At this point Jean interrupted our breakfast and wondered if we planned on getting our stuff packed onto his trailer before the bugs descended upon us. Well this got us going! We are very familiar with how bad the bugs can get. No sooner did we leave the Inn than the black flies began to feast on our necks and other exposed body parts. Thank the lord we had Jim Kerr's nice white flesh to divert the nasty black flies but that still didn't stop us from spending about 30 minutes being bug bait while we frantically packed Jean's trailer with our gear. After loading our gear onto Jean's truck we followed in our trucks up to Lac Jim where we dropped our trucks. This was our intended takeout point.

Andy, Steve and Jacques at Lac Jim - the take out point

From Lac Jim, we all jumped in Jean's truck to take us up to the put in point at the Gauthier Falls. Jim and I started off in not so fine fashion. After loading our canoes we decided to have a little fun at the bottom of the falls. Not quite having gathered our canoe legs yet we nearly experienced the first dump of the day as we entered at the base of the rapids with the canoe sideways and nearly went in the drink.

Gauthier Falls - the put in point for our trip down the Coulonge

We continued down the meandering river until we got the Chute Diable which was where we decided to set up camp for the night. We met another group of about 8 canoeists from Michigan who had been on the river for 8 days. They were extremely happy for the warm weather as they had had snow during their trip. The group was a mixture of young strong guys and wily river veterans. Andy and I chatted with them as they loaded up their gear. After they departed a number of us went swimming in a cold but wonderfully refreshing swimming hole at the bottom of the rapids but out of harms way.

Swimming hole at Rapide Diable

Rapide Diable

Andy in front of Rapide Diable

The next day we woke up and were itching for a bit of adventure. We hit the rapides Petits Diable (little devil) which was a class II. We managed to make it through that unscathed and more confident for the next one. I believe we did one more set of rapids and again took in very little water. I indicated to Steve to his surprise that we'd only ever dumped once in our white water experience. Unfortunately the river gods must have heard this for the next set of rapids we were not so lucky. This rapids was called Rapid Enrages (Enraged Rapids).

From Hap Wilson's book it was tough to tell how far away the chute was at the end of this rapids. It looked like there was a calm stretch between the rapids at the top and the chute below. There was a small writeup. None of us felt very comfortable at the top of the rapid since it seemed very difficult to scout the rapid. However we were in the flow of the rapid and managed to pull over to an eddy pool to discuss our strategy. There was an island towards the middle of the rapid which we decided to try to canoe to and then scout from there. Jimmy and I felt a bit uneasy about this but thought we could make it. From there the plan was to line the boats around behind the island and canoe from their to an eddy pool on the right where we'd be able to scout the rest of the rapids from. Andy was paired with Jacques, Steve was in the solo canoe, and Jim and I were in my canoe. Andy, Steve, Jacques made it out to the island. Jimmy and I set off as well. In order to get to the island, it was a tricky maneuver. We had to ferry across the rapids with the nose of the canoe pointing up river. Its tricky because you MUST keep your nose pointed into the flow of the rapid at a slight angle and use the current to pull you across. I underestimated the pull of the current and before we knew it the force of the current had swung the canoe around and we were heading down the rapids without the opportunity to scout to see what was ahead. A feeling of panic struck me as I realized just how strong the current was and how heavy the flow of water was. We hit a haystack wave and this swamped the canoe. At this point we started to see and hear what was ahead of us and this was the chute. There was no flat water for us to flow into. We took in another wave and at this point I knew we were in trouble. I looked left and there was a high rock wall with no opportunity to climb out and to the right was the main flow of the rapids. Jimmy fell out to the right where as I jumped with all my might towards the safest spot I could see on the left side. Andy would later remark

I had never seen Alan jump so high!

Then came the shock of the cold water and the swirling rapids. The water was intense but now Jimmy and I were in survival mode. We swam with all our the strength we had. Jimmy was on the right side of the canoe and this was worrying me as this was where the main flow of the rapid was. We swam as hard as we could for the last remaining bastien ... an eddypool just to the left of the chute. Jimmy grabbed onto the last rock perched at the top of the eddy pool just before going over the chute. A supreme being must have been watching over us as both Jim and myself managed to make it into the last eddy pool. What a shock ...but what relief! As I clambered up onto the rock and seeing Jimmy safe on the rock. I watched the canoe go down the chute. It looked like it might make it down okay but towards the bottom, the raging rapids kept it upright almost vertically for a second and then brought it crashing down spraying all of our gear at the base of the rapid. Jimmy and I clung to the rocky shoreline and stood up to hug one another thankful that we were alive. Then we turned around and to my horror I saw Andy coming down the rapids. By the time we saw him, he had already dumped and was in the water. We both yelled Andy get over to where we are the chute is right here!" Like a nightmare being replayed, I could see Andy struggling to get out of the current. He went in higher up the river and we saw him go under and then his body came shooting out of the waves to the left of his canoe. He swam for his life to the same eddy pool where Jimmy and I were. Similar to us he managed to clamber up onto the rocks as his canoe went over the chute as well.

At this point we were all in a bit of shock. I saw Steve on shore on the right bank of the river. Not knowing why Andy had come down the river I yelled to Steve NOT to come down that the chute was right here. Steve had no intention of putting his canoe anywhere near the water as it might have been our only way down the rest of the river for the entire group. The reason Andy dumped was this. When Andy, Jacques and Steve saw us go down the rapid, they responded quickly. Andy was now in the solo canoe and put his canoe in a little quicker than he would normally have had he not just seen his friends disappear into the rapid. The flow of the water was heavier than expected and he immediately tipped and was in the rapids. Steve watched in horror unable to assist as he saw his brother now go down the rapid. He actually held a throw bag but it was best that he didn't use it as it would only have pulled Andy closer to the chute. After seeing Andy go in, Jacques and Steve jumped in their canoe and immediately got spun around and were in a very precarious position going down the rapids backwards. They managed to keep their heads and took advantage of this position to forward ferry to an eddy pool on the right side of the river. When assessing damage to ourselves once we were all safely on shore Jimmy felt a wracking pain in his ribs and realized that he must have broken a few ribs probably falling out of the canoe. Thankfully though we all still had our lives! Needless to say we made a number of errors that we normally never do. The guidebook had a more detailed description of the rapid a few pages further in the book which we hadn't seen. The rapids had a portage to the right which we should have taken and if we had, we would have seen the magnitude of the chute at the bottom. Hap Wilson's guide book had the following comment

It's a fun place to play and spend a few days

Well I feel like sending him this email! I imagine that the high water made this much more treacherous. But still this is an unrunnable rapid at almost any time. We analysed our mistakes over the next few nights. With regards to our canoes, mine was damaged at the front. When the rapids stood it up, the front gunnel was tornoff, the nose was dented in, and a small hole was torn in the front of the canoe. Jacques' solo canoe did much better and had a few minor gashes. Our gear managed to make it through which speaks highly of barrels and waterproof gear. Luckily my tent was still strapped into the canoe. The base of the rapid looked like a disaster zone with our barrels and other gear floating randomly at the bottom of the rapid.

The lost gear was our booze barrel, which we sorely needed that night, Jimmy's water jug, a paddle and a few other pieces. With all that had happened we were lucky that there was a campsite at the bottom of the rapid and so we gathered our gear and setup camp there. There wasn't much discussion that night as we all did a bit of soul searching as to whether the whitewater was really something we were cut out for. Jimmy had a rough night but he was a trooper. Imagine having cracked ribs and sleeping on a Thermarest with a life jacket as a pillow. He took as many Tylenol as he could and then went to bed early. I had a fitful sleep dreaming about what could have been as I listened to the roar of those same rapids. At about 2 am Jimmy awoke in a lot of discomfort and I had to help him out of the tent so that he could relieve himself.

The next morning we awoke and had a light breakfast everyone still in a bit of shock from the events the day before. I went down and patched up the front of my canoe as best I could with duct tape. It actually seemed to seal the canoe quite well. At least to the point where I felt I could get it to the take out point. We loaded up the canoes and left the site. We had a very easy class I rapid to do but after the events of the day before even this seemed like Niagara Falls. No problems getting through that however. We continued on and our spirits were brightened by the beautiful day and the beauty of the river.

Slanting Pines Reaching Out Into the Coulonge

The river started to become much more interesting. The flow of the river even in the calm areas was very strong. It was very interesting seeing how fast one could paddle relative to the banks of the river with such little effort. This part of the river was much more scenic and sandy banks or tree lined bank met us around every corner. As we were paddling, we managed to find some of our gear (paddle and water jug but still no booze barrel). We portaged our gear around both sets of falls at Rapid Gallinotes then paddled the canoe on the section between the falls. We had a wonderful lunch at these rapids. As we were portaging the gear back and forth Andy shouted to me,

Hey look what's caught in a whirl pool at the bottom of the first set of rapids".

I looked down and sure enough there was our green booze barrel looking not worse for the wear. We hastily went down to the whirl pool with a large stick and rescued our prized treasure. We captured the experience on camera as each of us got to have their picture taken hoisting the barrel above our heads like the Stanley Cup.

Jimmy holding the cup

From the Rapid Gallinotes we paddled down to Lac Jim to pick up our cars. This paddle was very entertaining as the flow of the river was quite strong yet the banks were lined with trees. You could measure the speed of the river by the speed at which we were passing the trees.

Jacques and Steve passing by a Rock Wall

Sandy banks on the Coulonge

We portaged our canoes up a steep incline to the damn where Lac Jim emptied out into the Coulonge. We put the canoes in at the top of the damn and canoed to where we had parked our cars. Jim's ribs were still bothering him but he agreed to stay on one more night so we set up a make shift camp at a beautiful part of the Coulonge just outside of the town of Fort Coulonge.

Grand Chute outside Fort Coulonge

Rainbow over the Grand Chute

Mist From the Waterfall

We spent the evening swimming skinny riding the currents down the river and the eddies back up. The water in that part of the river seemed warmer and the bottom of the river was a sandy bed which made it wonderful for swimming. Having found the booze barrel we all helped ourselves to plenty of beer and wine and finally began to discuss the ordeal of the day before. We spent a good part of the evening until the early hours of the morning discussing what we should have done and outlining how we have to behave as a group in order never to run into that sort of thing again. It brought us all much closer together as this sort of thing does. To sum it up an unforgettable canoe trip!

Us at a bridge over the Grand Chute