Tuesday
Peter and Joyce were up early for the Tour de France, but everyone else soon appeared, even Megan, and we had breakfasted and were on the road by 06.50.
Brent
had planned this short trip, which could be accomplished in three days (with
Brent driving the pace). It was a very good trip for novices, not too long, and
with no white water. It is in the Saskatchewan Canoe Guide as Trip 31, and makes
a loop through a series of lakes with about eight portages. Our put in point was
at a fishing camp, on the highway about 130 km north of La Ronge.
Mike: The six of us were up, fed and in the van
headed for MacLennan Lake before 7:00 am on Tuesday morning. About 10 minutes in
Peter announced that he had forgotten something so we turned around and headed
back to the cabin. On the way back I wondered to myself what else did we
forget but did not say anything. We picked up Peter's item and headed out
again. About one and half hours later Brent announces that we forgot the food
that we had placed in Peter's freezer. Too late now to go back. We
stopped in La Ronge and bought food, a cooler bag, a rain jacket for Peter (also
forgotten), and a fishing license for me (also forgotten). We proceeded up to
Missinippi to pick up a canoe for Wayne and Meagan at Horizons Unlimited -
Churchill River Canoe Outfitters. Whilst stopped at Missinippi I made ham
and cheese sandwiches which we ate on the road (even Megan liked the sandwich).
The gravel road between Missinippi and the launch point on MacLennan Lake was
pretty rough. Megan announced she saw a hub cap file off so we stopped and were
able to find it. However, when we got to the launch site Wayne noticed that the
van was short two hub caps, not just the one we found.
Mike: When we arrived at the launch point, shortly after noon,
there was a group of teenagers just getting ready to leave. We asked them what
direction they were headed and they said north-east. Since the trip is a
loop we had the option of heading north-east, with the wind and the other group,
or south-west, against the wind but alone. I lobbied for south-west,
primarily because I preferred our group to be alone but also because I expected
wind to continue from the south-west hence in our favour the next day.
We headed south-west but it was tough going,
especially for Wayne and Megan. I second guessed the decision to head
south-west a few times given the strength of the wind in our faces and the
difficulty Wayne and Megan were having. We portaged from MacLennan Lake to
Davis Lake using the first of two available portage trails. We continued
south-west on Davis Lake and portaged to Minuhik Lake where we set up camp.
Peter: Because of the rain, wind and waves we have no pictures from our first day.
Wayne: I picked out (with expert advice) my first canoe an hour before the trip. My daughter Megan and I started paddling it, with me entrusted with steering. It was more of a challenge than I expected, since we started off into a strong wind and we were underpowered to slash through the whitecaps. Also the weight was in the back so the nose was up and the wind easily spun us, in some cases pushing us back to shore after hard minutes of paddling out. Brent suggested we redistribute the packs to level the trim of the canoe so the wind would not grab us. I had forgotten the life lesson, “In stormy weather, stay level.” Still, progress was painfully won. We rested after fighting our way across each bay. Then our course changed and the rough seas were behind us, even if a drizzle kept away the sunshine. When we could finally set up camp, Megan and I were exhausted, wet and cold. We set up our tent and tried to warm up while the rest of the group set up camp and started the fire. We had an early night.
Megan: Canoeing is hard work, especially when the Paddle Nazi (aka my uncle Brent) is around. “Paddle harder!”, “Keep going!” and comments on my stroke were almost all that was said to me when I was on the water. The first few hours of canoeing, we paddled into a 40 km/h wind when there were whitecaps on the lake. That was very difficult and kind of frustrating. I did have a dark tan and slightly large triceps when I came home though, so maybe the seemingly countless hours of grueling paddling paid off.