Rendezvous Rendezvous Aug 11, 2022 For nearly three decades, Fort William was the inland headquarters of the North West Company and the linchpin in a vast fur-trading empire that spanned a continent bordering on three oceans.Perhaps more importantly, it was the base out of which the North West...
Home Stretch Home Stretch Aug 10, 2022Rounding one of thousand bends in a never-ending parade of rivers leading forever east, you see this.For months I have only seen flat forest floors, marsh, and riverbank. Shallow, mostly gently sloping, riverbank.And suddenly this. Mt. Mckay. The Ojibwe named it...
Echoes Echoes Aug 9, 2022 On this trail, the only possible portage around the final set of rapids and falls above Kakabeka Falls, I stopped mid-stride, wiped the sweat running into my eyes and looked up. This is what I saw. Normally, I am bent double under the loads...
Some Rapidy Bits Some Rapidy Bits Aug 9 , 2022 With the tracker down, communication with the outside was limited to those places in the wild with cell coverage. As may be obvious, wilderness and cell coverage are generally mutually exclusive.Taking advantage of a rare pass near a...
Transitions Transitions Aug 7, 2022I am continually amazed that each river system has a unique personality despite these systems being only a few miles apart. By car, the distances wouldn’t let you finish a Tim’s Double Double. By canoe, the coffee would be long since gone or...
All Fired Up All Fired Up Aug 6, 2022I needed an early start if I was to clear Lac des Milles Lacs in one day. This image is my greeting and send-off that morning. We should all be so lucky.Considering the previous night’s pasting, I took it...
Karta Kalls It Kwits Karta Kalls It Kwits Aug 6, 2022 How this bit of spit and bubblegum lasted more than 60km will forever be a mystery.The seam binding the inner and outer halves of the tire together was destroyed as a result of the tread being completely...
Bert Was Here Bert Was Here August 6, 2022 The portage from Baril Lake to Lac des Milles Lacs was not only easy to find, it was well maintained. Not by or for canoeists mind you, but by Jim Pascoe for his clients and guests. Jim is the...
Fern Gully vs Fraggle Rock Fern Gully vs Fraggle RockAug 5, 2022It took three passes on the Brule Lake side of large marsh to find and then settle on this trickle as the start of the route/portage between Brule and Baril Lakes. Ever since leaving Rainy Lake,...
Serendipity Serendipity Aug 4, 2022 Leaving The Pines at daybreak found me paddling blind, enshrouded in a deep, cold, wet fog. I actually got going south for a while, as opposed to east, before I realized I had better get the compass out or end up I know...