Sunday, August 31, 2014

Canoe Trip 2014: North Western Temagami - Rain, rain, rain and many portages...


Our first day - Smoothwater Lake
Enjoying our last beers on our first night - Smoothwater Lake
1st campsite
Rein getting friendly with the leeches
As with every canoe trip, you come home and you always remember the highlights of the trip more than anything else. This year was probably the most challenging trip we had as a family so far. We explored the north west, less traveled region of Temagami. We now understand why it is less traveled. Our route was very portage heavy and mixed with 9 days of rain, it tested our limits many times - AND we were in two canoes for the first time. We ended up pulling out 2 days early at day 14. Tom and I discussed turning back on day 5, however, after Shawn and Julia showed up unexpectedly we decided to press on. We were so impressed with Rein and Silka - they did every portage without complaint and carried more than their share. They matured  years in one. We had never seen so much rain - we had 4 days of non-stop, day and night precipitation. We spent many hours in the tent playing card games and reading. The funny thing is that the photos really don't reflect the rain we experienced or the amount of portaging we did - neither great times to be pulling out the camera. Going through the pics made us realize that there were so many spectacular moments that outshone the darker ones.

2nd day of paddling - Smoothwater Lake



A buggy 2nd night - McCulloch Lake

Father and Son


Day 3 - One of many portages...

3rd night - Eating dinner on Scarecrow Lake
3rd night - Rein chilling in the hammock

Day 4 - The rain and the goofiness begins



shinanagans....
Day 5 - Tent...

abound...

Day 6 - Shawn and Julia save the day and the trip!

Day 7 - Julia shows her reverence to the small and fleeting patch of blue sky...

Day 7 - Shawn and Julia's kijik at the end of the portage into Regan Lake

Day 7 - Shawn and Julia and Rein and Silka go ahead while Tom and I finish our last carry-over

Rein and Silka - a great paddling team

Day 7 - Going over a small beaver dam
Soldier Rock
Day 7 - The portaging continues...

Day 8 - Beautiful Solace Lake

Some rest from the rain

Day 8 - Gorp and swim break, Solace Lake

Solace Lake - Northern view from a campsite we passed by

Rein fishing
Day 8 - Julia in the kijik, Solace Lake
A treat from Shawn and Julia
Tom's catch - Solace Lake Trout



2nd and last sunset of the trip

Day 9 - Formal night, Blue Sucker Lake

Shawn and Julia dressed for formal night - colour co-ordinated!
Day 10 - Foggy morning, Blue Sucker Lake

Day 10 - Starting another big day of portaging to Florence Lake

Day 10 - Blueberry picking on a beautiful portage


Day 10 - reloading after finishing a portage
Silka, Shawn and Julia walking a creek bed

Tom with the 2nd canoe

Day 10 - We finally arrive at Florence Lake!
Day 11 - Group shot before we part ways

Name of old cabin on Florence Lake

Day 11 - heading down the Lady Evelyn River

Day 11 - Lady Evelyn River, Team Leslie and Rein

Day 11 - Huge rock faces along the Lady Evelyn

Day 11 - Rein fishing at our campsite on South Lady Evelyn River

Day 11 - The kitchen
Day 11 - Rein trying very hard not to dump...
Day 11 - Canoe frisbee
Day 12 - Continuing down the South Lady Evelyn - a beautiful section of swifts and class I
Day 12 - Silka and I made it through but Tom and Rein had to drag
Day 12 - Picking more blueberries at our site for the night
Day 12 - I am holding Rein's fishing rod while he tries to untangle the line from the fallen tree. This is after the third time of saying to his sister "Hey, Silka, can you cast as swell as me?" and getting it entangled each time.
Day 12 - Tom reads while the kids throw the frisbee
Day 13 - Making pancakes
Day 13 - Paddling up the North Lady Evelyn towards Gamble Lake
Last night on trip - Gamble Lake. We originally were supposed to portage 4 km to Sunnywater Lake (acid lake with visibility to the bottom - 85 feet!) and then another 3 km back to Smoothwater Lake. The weather was the deciding factor and we decided to abort two days early. 
Day 14 - No ride came our way so Tom started the trek to our car. He walked 18 km before he got a lift by some blueberry pickers.









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