Canoe trip to Canada 2012

[coyote101]

My son and I took our annual canoeing trip to Canada last week. The weather was good this year, although a bit hot. Temps got into or near the nineties every day and it didn't really cool down in the evening until close to ten o'clock. We had a three hour thunderstorm roll through the first afternoon, and it rained a little a couple more times, but other than that no problems. This was the first year that we didn't have at least one day of very high winds, so we were never shore bound by wind and high surf. The trip up and back, which is over a thousand miles each way, went very smoothly with no major delays due to traffic or road work.

Here are a few pictures from this year's trip: 

Loaded up the gear at Crane Lake, MN and took the boat ride to Quetico Provincial Park


Got dropped off at the first portage...


...and stared hauling gear...


...and the canoe.


Paddled portaged and camped by some pretty spectacular scenery during the week...






















...including Curtain Falls...


...which sits right on the border.


That silver thing is the international boundry marker. My son is standing in Canada and I took the picture from Minnesota.


Set up camp at four different places during the trip...


...and did a lot of fishing.








This 18 incher was my best smallmouth of the week:


And this was my one and only Northern pike:


As usual, my son caught a lot more fish than I did...


...including this 23 inch walleye...


...and this hoss...


...a nineteen and a half inch smallie.


A walleye and a pair of smallies were lunch one afternoon.




Fried up under the tarp during a little drizzle...


...and paired with some mac and cheese.


We were fortunate to see several eagles...


...and a couple of pretty nice sunsets.














All in all a pretty good week.


Pat

[weedwalker]

Fantastic pics Pat!! Looks like y'all had a great trip this year. Some nice fish too.

[Dave]

Great pictures!  Looks llike a blast.

[HaMeR]

It's good to have you back Pat!! Great looking trip!!  And a couple monster smallies!!!!! Thanks for sharing your trip!!

[FinsnFur]

Mannnnnnnnn that looked like so much fun. It's cool that you two get together and do this every year.
I would be in heaven fishing some of those lakes. Nice dang Walleye by the way.

That international boundary marker is pretty interesting. I would have liked to seen that. It's kinda cool that it's right by those curtain falls. Makes ya wonder if it had anything to do with placement of the marker. Looks like the two continents are shifting around.

Nice lil trip all in all, I'm glad you shared it with us.

[CCP]

Great pictures PAT!! I look forward to you and your sons trip and seeing your pictures every year.. Keep them a coming.. I know you got a few more hid back with a great story or 2, too go along with them..

[Carolina Coyote]

Beautiful country, very good to spend time with your son like that, Thanks for sharing it with us. cc

[Hawks Feather]

Thanks for sharing the great pictures.  I am sure that you have again given your son memories that he will keep forever.  It sure looks relaxing and peaceful in those pictures - except for needing to carry the canoe.  Glad you had a good trip.

Jerry

[iahntr]

Looks like a great time ! and sounds like the trip couldn't went much better!
Thanks for sharin it with us Pat 

[Todd Rahm]

Thanks for sharing Pat and it looks like another great trip in the books for ya. 

[Ladobe]

Wonderful report and beautiful pictures Pat.       Thanks for sharing something both of you will remember the rest of your lives, the time together in a special place, even the most minor details.

Sure stirred some fond old memories, so please excuse sharing a couple of my experiences on your thread that will be way too long in telling just the highlights for any who care to read them.   No picture's - I never got any of the pictures I had in the divorce, nor those of my folks after they passed.   

I was a serious river rat from my early teens (early 60's) and for about 30 years, all in canoes.   Most of my excursion's were in the Rocky Mountain west in back country wilderness areas in the Yellowstone/Grand Teton NP areas, Island Park, ID, western MT and SW Colorado for their extreme beauty and endless wildlife.  Most of them I did alone and are very memorable, but some of the fondest memories are the two I finally talked my Dad into doing with me in the mid 60's.

We did about 100 river miles of the mighty Snake River over 3 days from just below Jackson Lake in Grand Teton NP down to Alpine, way too early in the years high water in 17' canoes stuffed with six big river bags and 4 extra paddles lashed in.   We were part of a small group of neighbor dad's and son's doing it together.   None if the dad's had done canoeing before, some of the son's were friends that I had done them with on our own before.    The dad's all said no way at first, then probably did go out for fear of disappointing their son's or ridicule from other dad's.    It soon proved to be a damn stupid time to go because of the very high water that early in the season that year.   But we were all there, and far enough down river before realizing it that we were committed.   The waterfall called Wipe Out has a reputation in spring though stories told that can freeze a roaring bonfire instantly.   It can't be portaged around easily.   The entire wide river funnels into a 10'-12' gap between two huge boulders.   The thunder alone was enough to scare anybody with any common sense long before we got to it, and seeing it coming when we did get close to it "almost" stopped the trip.   Miles from nowhere it was decided to do it when Dad and I said nothing and dug in to line up with the gap as fast as we could paddle.    It was an extremely fast rocket ride with so much force that the 2 story fall was a flat one.   Seeing us make it the rest followed, and we all made it with nobody swamping.   But both Rhodes and King Rapids especially were a guaranteed long swim that spring as they were both impossible in a canoe unless you hugged the shoreline on the weak side.   Weak side?  No me!  At Kings Dad and I only made the first three or four crests until I was straight above Dad in the bow with the canoe standing on end long enough for us to look at each other in total amazement before going over backwards.   After that (and getting untangled from under the canoe) it was about 3-4 miles in freezing water before the fast current, turns and whirlpools of the river would let us get to shore safely with the righted but swamped canoe.   All we lost was one paddle, a hat and one of my Dad's 9 lives.   Nobody in the group made it through them, but as we were always out front far ahead we had no help like the others did to recover on shore sooner.  Regrouped and down river they were relieved to finally see us waiting for them.   On that trip we camped on the river two nights, one on a small mid river island to help avoid park bears (for the dad's), and on the sandy beach at Moose the other (what is now near Teton Village, but was roadless wilderness back then).   We stopped for awhile to take time to jump the 80' cliffs in the Gorge some miles above where the Hoback River comes in.   Even with those old Mae West life preservers on you went so deep it took forever to resurface.   My Dad litterally kissed the ground when we finally beached near Alpine.  Some folks from Spaulding Sporting Goods were on the river in large rubber rafts at the same time as well that we talked to a couple of times the first day before getting down river of them.   Their guide told us he had never seen the river so rough, warned us about specific places and wished us good luck attempting it in canoes.   We heard soon after the trip that they lost one of their people in the river that was never found.   Probably drunk, so looking back now there was only drunks, fool dad's and teens having the time of their life on the river those few days.

The next year Dad and I went alone, paddled across Lewis Lake in YNP, did the paddle and "in the river" portage past rapids 9 miles up the Lewis River to Shoshone Lake, and paddled all the way across to the end of the west arm to camp and live off the land for 9 days.    No problems except a bull moose that chased me into a deep wallow when I was shore fishing miles from camp alone, and clouds of skeeters so big they had landing lights.   They didn't bother me, I was having too much fun, but Dad holed up allot at camp in a heavy coat with towels wrapped around any exposed skin with little but his nose sticking out.   So I spent most of my days exploring and fishing the area alone in the canoe or hiking, and the nights sitting around the campfire with Dad.   I caught endless trout (my biggest an 18# beauty); found lots of wild food to eat and never saw another soul until we were back on Lewis Lake on the way out.   Great trip for me, my Dad's last.

So I mostly went alone to wilderness lakes and in tamer rivers after Shoshone.   I spent some incredible time exploring, fishing, living off the land and learning about the natural world canoeing that would carry on my entire life.

Everybody should try it, just don't learn canoeing on a glass smooth lake like our dad's did that year to tackle the powerful Snake, and mind the high waters of spring in deep snow country.   

[nastygunz]

Now that looks like a great time !

[FOsteology]

Beautiful country. Looks quiet and peaceful. Wonderful that you and your son are able to do this. Very much enjoyed the pictures, and thanks for taking all of us vicariously along.

[JohnP]

WOW, thanks for the pictures.  Had to be great to be able to do this with your son. 

[WldWldWest]

WOW! What a trip Pat, That's incredible!
Congrat's on the time spent with your son

WWW

[Coulter]

Man that looks like it was fun...ya even got a "canoehead" pic. I hope my son takes to liking outings like that sometime real soon. Nice adventure Pat.

Steve

[bambam]

Awesome pics , thanks for sharing. I bet those smallies put up a fight !