The Ugly
The Ugly Karta is broken down on the side of the road. I noticed something wrong after walking the first 1.5km. One of the star knots securing the collapsible wheels to the frame has fallen off. Officially MIA.I walk retrace the 1.5km back to my...
The Bad
The Bad After landing at East Mossy Portage, I briefly consider camping in the best spot I’ve seen for weeks. It’s a sand beach surrounded by limestone gravel with large patches of flat, low grass. Surely the exit on Winnipegosis will be something similar. I...
The Good
The Good The vast expanse of empty lake is from whence I have come. I paddled madly out of Pine Bluff, threading my way through a maze of innumerable marshy islands. The Saskatchewan doesn’t really end, it rather sadly, almost ignominiously, peters out.And here is...
Bruce Almighty
Bruce Almighty June 19, 2022The flooded Saskatchewan River offered next to no campsites of any worth. More often than not, we were forced into a bit of landscaping. And i’m some cases, some genuine earth removal.East enough with shovels and picks. Not so much with...
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly vs The Best A Day in the Life of Bert
The Good, The Bad and the Ugly vs The Best: A Day in the Life of Bert I am behind in keeping up with posts. It’s not that I’ve run...
Barely Legal
Barely Legal Legal, but barely. As they say, a miss is as good as a mile.Surely pitching my tent here put a smile on a few folks’ faces. It did for me …...
Nose for Nipawin
Nose for Nipawin The 10 or 12 kilometre paddle to Nipawin passed quickly enough despite headwinds and increasing darkness. The Old Bridge, visible in the far distance, seemed to retreat faster in the dusk than we advanced. Finally underneath the thing, the reason for...
Francois-Finlay
Francois-Finlay In 1753, Francois Chevalier de la Corne established a fort on the North Saskatchewan River just upstream of the confluence of the North and South. Deep in Rupert’s Land, it was a direct challenge to the HBC. New France’s upstart fur-traders could no longer be...
It Ain’t Always Purdy
It Ain’t Always Purdy Forced off the river and onto a mudbank campsite the previous afternoon by thunderstorms, we figured ourselves geniuses for finding a campsite at all. And then it started to rain. Once the rain let it up it turned to...
Forks
Forks There are few forks more important in our shared history than the one shown in this photo. Looking southwest, this picture shows the South Saskatchewan river where it meets the North Saskatchewan.The confluence of the North and South Saskatchewan Rivers, known locally as ‘The Forks’,...