Day #1 - August 24th
The trip began at the school in the early hours of August 24th. Mr. B. in his truck and canoe and me in my car with my brand new canoe, Dijon (later renamed Golden Boy) left the school with great anticipation for the days to come.
As fate would have it, however, we experienced out first delay only 10 minutes from the school when we drove past a car in the ditch. Mr. B., a paramedic, stopped to offer assistance but finding that the situation was under control informed us that we could resume our adventure. As we all began to pile back into our vehicles Nick noticed that my front tire was flat. Thirty minutes later, with the spare mounted, we headed back onto the road. Because the spare was one of those temporary mini tires, we were unable to make good time on the four hour journey north, arriving at the Pine Cove Lodge near Wolseley Bay approximately one hour behind schedule.
After renting two additional canoes (each weighing 90 lbs at least), arranging for my tire to get fixed, and loading up the canoes, the 8 member team left the beach around 2 pm. The first sign of trouble began as we rounded the turn into the main part of the river. It was then that Mr. B. and I realized that some of the students hadn’t practised their canoeing skills as promised.
In the 90 lb red canoe, Lisa with Isobel at the stern began the traditional novice ‘Z’ manoeuvre down the river. That is paddling from one side of the river to the other. If the wind had not been at their back they would not have made any forward progress at all. Since we had to allow the students to paddle their own canoe as well as navigate, the 10 km trip took a lot longer than planned 3 hours. We finally arrived at our destination, a small island, around 6 that evening. The evening was uneventful and a tired bunch of canoeists headed to bed shortly after sundown.
Day #2 - August 25th
The next morning we were greeted with a spectacular sunrise. Following a quick breakfast we were back on the river by 8 am for the longest day of the trip, an expected 16 km paddling with a 700m portage. In hopes of having the canoes travel in a more direct line, canoeing partners were switched for the second leg with Nick replacing Isobel in the stern. Though this did little to straighten the direction of the canoe, the brute strength of Nick allowed him to travel much faster from one side of the river to the other.
The first portage was an unexpected one - for most. The height of the river did not permit us to travel through a narrow passage and most of us had to bush whack a 200 m portage. The exception was Nick and Lisa who managed to hitch a ride with a pontoon boat. I guess they took pity on Nick given his ‘Z’ canoeing technique.
After 30 minutes of paddling we came to the first official portage. The 700m portage was made without incident and the group stopped for a quick shore lunch on the far side of the portage before proceeding on the second half of the leg. To give some people a break, we once again decided to switch canoeists and Margaret replaced Lisa in the green canoe with Nick at the stern. For the next two hours the group was faced with a stiff headwind as we had begun to round the point and head in a northerly direction. It was tough paddling but the tediousness of paddling into the wind was finally broken up when we completed the route around the point and started to head in a westerly direction. Coincidentally, this was also when Nick decided to lean on the same side of the canoe as Margaret and they both wound up treading water while the rescue teams hurried to their aid.
In this picture you can see that although Margaret has been dumped in the water she is still smiling. This is because when she and Lisa switched canoes after lunch they didn’t switch their gear in the canoes. Consequently , the gear seen floating in the water belongs to Lisa. Lisa who didn’t have the foresight to pack any of her gear in waterproof bags!
The upside of Lisa’s decision was that once we stopped for the night, Lisa was compelled to beautify our camp with an underwear tree. Only a novice would pack so many undergarments for a 5 day trip but all those thongs blowing in the wind certainly leant a unique sparkle to the camp.
Day #3 - August 26th
The spectacular weather of the first two days continued into the third as we headed in a westerly direction on our circle route. With only 12 km of paddling and one small portage in front of us, the third day was very relaxing and all of us enjoyed the warm sun and low winds as we slowly made our way to our third camp. Arriving at camp early in the day allowed enough time for some students to go fishing while others laid upon rocks and soaked up the sun.
Day #4 - August 27th
The weather was again perfect and the team had an easy day of paddling, stopping at the only portage for the day, the five fingers rapids, for lunch. Since the weather was so warm, two of the girls (who shall remain unidentified) had decided to canoe wearing only the briefest of bikinis. As we approached the portage a middle aged woman, wearing a Tilley hat naturally, came out to assist us. As the Tilley hatted woman approached the canoe one of the unidentified girls in our team stood up and the woman actually came to a full stop as she took in the unorthodox canoe wear. She must have let out a small gasp as her husband, who had been laying on a rock several feet away, raised his head to see what the fuss was all about and nearly choked on his soft drink. Their teenage son, who was fishing at the time, also turned to see what was going on and nearly dropped his pole in the water at the spectacle a mere 10 feet from him. Over lunch at the portage we all had a good laugh at the commotion our team had caused.
Following lunch we proceed across the river to our last camp site. Given that it had been an easy day of travel there was plenty of time for the students to practice their canoeing skills. Here we see Nick experimenting with a new technique for putting in a canoe from the top of a hill. He suffered only minor injuries.
Day #5 - August 28th
A cloudy morning seemed fitting for our last day. Since it was only a 5 km paddle back to the lodge we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and didn’t launch the canoes until 10 am. Arriving at noon, we all enjoyed a home cooked meal at the lodge, replaced my tire and headed home. All in all - one of the best experiences I have had canoeing with a group of people.
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