More often than not, the way you imagine a day out on the water from the comfort of your couch is very different than when you are in the middle of the wilderness. As I pour over maps and other canoeists' trip reports, I'll measure distances, estimate how long the route will take, and write notes on any information I can find about the area I plan to travel. However, with a wild place like Temagami that isn't maintained like Algonquin or Killarney Provincial parks, things often change and evolve from year to year. The notes I had on portages for this trip were based on other journeys between 2018 and as old as 1960. Traveling down the Temagami River on our second day would open my eyes to how much a place can change and how dramatically it can affect your travel.
(Didn't catch part one of our journey? Check it out here)
We laid in the tent for an hour, our aching muscles were making it very clear that we hadn't been on a long paddle in a year. After some stretching and convincing ourselves we needed to start the day, we rolled out of the tent around 8:30 and put water on the stove. We'd packed "Trippers Oatmeal" for our breakfasts, which consisted of quick oats, protein powder, chia seeds, shredded coconut, and a few chocolate chips. A definite upgrade from Quaker Oats packets I'd used in previous years. We took our time making coffee and enjoying the day beginning to warm. With 28 km to paddle ahead, we had estimated that it would take us about 7-8 hours to get to Hangstone Lake where we'd set up camp for the night. We figured we could have a slow morning and still end up at a site by around 6 pm.
Teddy continued to explore our site and looked no worse for wear after his first full day on the water. He was loving that there was such ease of access to swimming and hopped in and of the lake several times before we pushed off. The only sign that he wasn't fully accustomed to the camping lifestyle was his unwillingness to finish his breakfast in one sitting. While normally he wouldn't move from his food bowl once started at home, out here he had so many things to explore, how could he possibly sit and eat?
After Ted had finished and we had convinced ourselves it was time to move on, we packed up the site and loaded the canoe. We pushed off of our cozy island around 10:15, pointing south towards Surveyor Lake, our entrance into the Temagami River. While the morning started cloudy, the skies soon cleared and the day looked like it would be perfect for us. With only a slight breeze from the west, the water was almost still and made for a quick trip through Surveyor, into the mouth of the river. As we pulled to shore at our portage around a small dam, it looked as though we couldn't have asked for a more pristine day for canoe travel. We were even greeted by a "Smile you're on camera!" sign as if the forest ahead was the entrance into a corner store. All signs pointed towards an easy start to the day's journey.
However, nature has a way of lulling you into a feeling of comfort before it serves up a challenge. Within the first 50 meters of the trail was a massive blowdown of pine trees, forcing us off the path to navigate through thick forest to reach the unobscured part of the trail. With a 16' canoe over your head, pushing through the trees was difficult and in spots, I had to put the canoe down on its side and pull it between trees. After 10 minutes of bushwacking, I managed to reach the trail again, and my efforts had brought me just 15 feet down the portage.
Sierra carried the pack and kept eyes on Teddy, which made navigating the dense forest easier, allowing her to be farther ahead than I was. I heard her call back to me that there were more trees down ahead. As I pushed forward, I came to the blowdown as she and Teddy were picking their way over the horizontal mess. The fallen trees this time were deciduous and had far fewer branches on their trunk, allowing me to slide the canoe over top of them, rather than forcing me into the forest.
The 430-meter portage continued like this with several more spots blocked by wooden rubble. The mosquitoes added to our struggle, as they attacked any exposed area of skin and incessantly droned in our ears. Teddy had no trouble, often walking right under the trees and staring back at us as we made our way under or over the mess. On the last obstacle, Sierra took a tumble climbing over a tree, but bounced back up quickly, escaping with just a few bruises.
We were thankful to finally stumble out onto the water's edge of the Temagami River, ripping off our bug jackets and quickly loading up the boat. We happily paddled into the current, Sierra swatting the remaining bugs from Teddy's back as we went. A Bald Eagle soared above the river as we went, creating a surreal moment as we paddled in silence. The river felt so wild and secluded, a reward for the hard work ahead.
It wasn't long until we came to another portage around a large set of rapids that was full of blowdowns that took us almost 30 minutes to complete regardless of the fact that it was only 355 meters. As we pushed forward down the river, it became so shallow in areas that we had to hop into the water and pull the canoe behind us. Teddy enjoyed the time out of the boat, swimming with the current and drinking whenever he pleased.
Before leaving for the trip I had accounted for roughly five portages down the river most of which were to get around rapids. As we worked our way along, it was clear that the maps I'd looked at were out of date, as we ended up coming across two extra rapids along the way. We were able to line the majority of them easily, as I would let the canoe float in front of me while holding onto the rope attached to the bow. In spots where the river was especially rocky, Sierra would carry the backpack to lighten the load of the boat to protect the Kevlar hull from suffering any punctures or tears.
As the day progressed, Teddy began to tire from the swimming and the exhausting task of making his way across the rocky shores of the river. At times where we were walking the boat along, I would need to pull the boat to a spot where we could paddle again and beach it, then walk back and hold onto his lifejacket harness and carry him almost like a suitcase through the water. Every time we reached a spot to begin paddling Teddy happily jumped into the canoe half sitting, half leaning into the bow.
Nearing the end of our journey down the Temagami River, we could hear a large rapid raging ahead, suggesting a large drop in the river. As we came closer we could see that what we heard was a long straight shoot of rapids that dropped nearly three meters in elevation over the length of the swift water. Inching towards the top of the rapid we couldn't see where the portage around them began, so I made the decision to pull us over to the shore so we could figure out our plan moving forward. I pointed the bow towards the shore, planning to stop between a large rock sticking out of the water and the shore. As I began the maneuver however, the first person we'd seen not on a motorboat came out of the forest. Teddy was shocked more than we were apparently, as he jumped up and began barking at the hiker, forcing Sierra to stop paddling and keep him from tipping the canoe. In the shuffle, I forgot to communicate my plan and as we moved toward the large rock, Sierra thought that we were going to collide with it and pushed off of it with her paddle. This resulted in our stern being shoved into the strong current and spun us backwards towards the rapids. We were picking up speed quickly and seconds from careening down a long set of whitewater with our backs turned. For a moment we slid beside a large rock and I took the opportunity to throw one of my legs into the water and straddle the left gunnel. With the right side of the canoe against the rock, my left foot frantically searched for a foothold. As the canoe began to slide off the rock and into the rapid, I found a crevice and jammed my foot into it. I leaned hard to my right, using my weight to pull the canoe back towards the rock. I fought the current and told Sierra to jump out onto the rock and pull the dog to shore.
Somehow, while carrying Teddy, Sierra managed to jump from rock to rock onto the shore and tie the dog to a tree. I continued to fight the current, as it tried to pull the boat back into the middle of the river, my leg beginning to cramp from the strain of holding the canoe in place. I began to contemplate jumping back into the canoe, letting the river pull the bow back around, and running the rapid as best I could. Just as I was about to lose my grip, Sierra made her way back across the rocks and grabbed the canoe. Relieved, I swung my other leg out of the canoe and helped Sierra guide the canoe onto the bank of the river.
At some point during our scramble, the hiker had disappeared back into the forest leaving us to ourselves as we sprawled out on the ground trying to lower our heart rates. After five minutes our nerves had relaxed and we began to walk down the riverbank, lining the canoe in front of us. At the bottom of the rapids, we slowly got back into the boat and made our way around a bend, into Clearview Lake. As we paddled out through the opening into Red Cedar Lake, we both felt worn out from the day so far. It was already 2:30 and we had only covered 9.5 kilometers. An average pace for a canoe trip is about 4 km/h, and we had just done half that speed. With us only traveling a third of the distance we had planned to cover for the day, we began to think it may be a long shot to make it to our destination of Hangstone Lake.
We pushed through Red Cedar with what little energy we had left. We had moved Teddy to the middle of the canoe, where he had curled up and fallen asleep. The sun became blocked by a large mass of grey clouds and the wind picked up slightly, dropping the temperature noticeably. As we passed through a narrow spot about halfway through the lake, Teddy began to shiver and our paddle strokes had started to slow. We made the decision that we would cut the days travel short and find a site for the night. By 5:15, we'd pulled over onto a small island just off a peninsula. We had made good progress on the second half of the day, covering over 12 km in 3 hours.
Our site was a small clearing on the front of the island, with cedar and pine trees growing around its edge. Large flat rocks bordered the shore, with a wonderful spot for our tent overlooking the water. A small circle of rocks and an old wooden stool were the only sign that this spot had been previously used.
As soon as Sierra had the tent up, the dog instantly curled up and slept inside. We rehydrated our BBQ chicken and made instant mashed potatoes, which resembled something closer to potato and chicken soup, but tasted excellent after our long day.
Sierra tested the waters with a swim and Teddy slowly explored the island after dinner. I had a fire going when Sierra came out of the lake, and we relaxed on the rocky point. We eventually cleaned up the dinner dishes and discussed the plans for the next day. We decided that we'd try and make up for our lost distance, wake up early, and paddle 34 km to reach our original plan of Wasaksina Lake. By 9:15, with our goal set, we crawled into the tent and fell asleep quickly as I wondered what the 10 portages we were to complete tomorrow would hold for us.
Part Three Coming Soon!
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Wow! Sounds like challenges were many and you tackled them as a team. I love reading about your B.A.M. Adventures and can’t wait for part three!