Snowshoe Building Videos

I recently came across this series of videos taken during a snowshoe building workshop. The video was filmed in Stanley Mission (near where I paddle and where I hope to head off on a snowshoe trip later this winter) and the language used throughout is most likely Cree. An interesting look at building simple snowshoes (of the same type as mine) using only hand tools. These folks start right from the log and go through the whole frame building process. Despite any language barriers, the videos are very interesting and sufficient to figure out how to build the frames (more or less), but the lacing would require a much more in depth look for me to understand it.

The whole website is interesting, showing numerous aspects of Dene and Cree culture, including language and crafts such as birchbark basket making.


Link to the videos at the Gift of Language and Culture web site here.

An Experience In Bacon

A couple of months ago I posted my discovery of something called a "Bacon Explosion". A couple of weeks ago I finally was able to make my version of the recipe as my contribution to the put-luck supper at a Grey Cup party.

A "Bacon Explosion" is a meat creation comprised of bacon and sausage meat, where the sausage meat is surrounded in a woven wrap of bacon and the bacon and sausage rolled together. The meat is then smoked and slow cooked. There are as many variations on this theme as there are folks that have made it, with various fillings used, and a variety of spices or sauces. Further, the type and degree of smoke can also be varied.

For my version I decided to use a filling of bacon, onions, red peppers and mushrooms, using inspiration provided by Dunkin'.

For my sausage meat I originally bought some frozen plastic wrapped breakfast sausage meat at the local Sobey's grocery store. They only had one 500g package though, and I needed 2 kg. So, I also bought some mild Italian sausage in casings from Superstore. After cooking up a bit of the meat from Sobey's, I'm glad they didn't have more of it as I found it to be very salty & very fatty. The Italian sausage, thankfully, was neither. Below, the sausage meat has been stripped from it's casings and the first few slices of bacon fried up and chopped for use in the filling:

Some nice, healthy vegetables for the filling:

I should have taken a couple pictures prior to this next step. The bacon was laid out in a mat and woven together as per the instructions at the BBQ Addicts web site. On that woven bacon I sprinkled some rub that I had on hand. On top of the bacon I laid the sausage meat, forming the meat into a thin layer. The meat was not formed as one thin sheet and laid on top, but rather pressed into place piece by piece. I think that approach led to the cooked product not holding together well. I should have rolled it out into a layer, then somehow transferred it into place. The next layer was the chopped bacon and cooked vegetables.

The filling was seasoned with more of the rub and a generous amount of President's Choice Chipotle BBQ sauce (really decent stuff, by the way).

I should have had a photographer present during the rolling process. I rolled up the stack of layers, trying to keep everything as tight as possible.Getting the thing to roll up and keeping all the filling inside was easier said than done, but the next one should go better (not that this one went badly).

Below, I'm adding more of the rub seasoning:

A couple of hours in advance of the Grey Cup game, I brought the smoker over to Rob's place and set up in the back yard. A tarp was set up to protect the smoker from the wind, and a thin blanket wrapped around the smoker to help get the temperature up in the cool weather. The meat was smoked with maple wood at about 225°F.

After 4 hours of smoking, the Bacon Explosion is ready to come out at half-time.

Ready to eat:

Below, a picture of me slicing up my contribution to the potluck supper:

The creation was very tasty. In fact, we were so busy eating that no one could take a picture of us enjoying it. It was not as fatty as I might have expected. Slow cooking at those temperatures (200 - 250 F) melted a lot of the fat out of the meat. It did shrink a certain amount and firmed up. In the future, I'll try to make sure it is rolled tighter and that sausage meat is better consolidated so that it holds together better during the slicing.

Paul Quarrington

Author, screenwriter, and folk/blues musician, Paul Quarrington is dying of cancer. Quarrington's book, Fishing With My Old Guy is one of my favourites and I've enjoyed several of his other books as well, such as Whale Music and King Leary. I have thought that someday I'd like to spend time fishing with Paul Quarrington and David Carpenter, both literary fishermen (and not ones of the large-boat catch-your-limit-fast sort). Today over lunch I read his latest article for the National Post, the second instalment in his "Cancer Diary". Quarrington continues to be a very gifted person and this article is another fine example. He struggles to remain with us for a while longer, and for that we should be thankful.


January 21st, 2010 Update: Paul Quarrington's journey with cancer ended today. To quote from paulquarrington.org:

His brave battle ended on January 21, 2010.  He passed peacefully at home in Toronto in the early hours surrounded by friends and family. It is comforting to know that he didn’t suffer; he was calm and quiet holding hands with those who were closest to him.

Contributions to the Quarrington Arts Society are being accepted in his honour; visit http://www.quarringtonartsociety.ca

Rules of Winter Cycling

It was -31°C with a -40°C windchill (9 km/hr head wind) this morning. It took me an hour to get the kids to school and the sitter, then in to work. Never mind the amount of time it took to get suited up this morning (and to figure out my 'system' anew this year). I guess my winter cycling season is officially here.

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Three Golden Rules of Winter Cycling:

1. No Whining
2. No Whining
3. No Whining
   
   

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From Yehuda Moon & The Kickstand Cyclery

Ray Mears, Northern Wilderness

I've been aware of Ray Mears for a while now, having heard of him described as Britain's version of Les Stroud, Survivorman. However, I'd never seen any of his videos and after having seen the abomination that is Bear Grylls, another person that gets compared to Stroud, I really didn't care to look much further. However, the Ray Mears documentaries for the BBC were recently recommended to me, and it was mentioned that an episode was filmed in nearby Prince Albert National Park. Well, today I found that video on YouTube (in 6 parts), which I believe is the first in a series.

I am embedding the video here, but if you have the bandwidth, watch it full screen in the highest quality. The full video is about 60 minutes long, but is broken up into 10 minutes segments for YouTube. To see all of the video clips in order, go to the playlist found here. The clips played automatically for me, one after another in order. The production and videography is excellent. The interest, information, and entertainment value are also very high, in my opinion. The focus, at least in this first episode, is not so much on skills or wilderness techniques described, but on the ecology of the boreal forest.

I watched the "Forgotten Forest" episode this afternoon (somewhat accidentally - I didn't mean to watch the whole thing). This evening I watched it again with my wife, at least the 2/3 until she fell asleep, it being past her bedtime. The Forgotten Forest episode was filmed in Prince Albert National Park (PANP), my familiar trekking and paddling grounds. I was able to recognise some of the places shown in the film, just this summer swimming and playing on the beach where he had the small fire with the jack pine cones in the film (I'm about 70% certain on his location). It is great that the park was shown in fall and winter, the seasons I like best in the park. I've been to Grey Owl's cabin on Ajawaan Lake about 6 or 7 times, by foot, snowshoe, canoe & kayak. This summer I brought my kids up to the cabin. It was also very interesting to see him putting into practice the use of the Black River sled, the Snowtrekker tent, and small wood stove. Also, the jacket Mears is wearing is not a parka as it may first appear, but an uninsulated shell cotton anorak, much like that made by Empire Canvas Works. A cotton shell would be breathable, shed the snow, and not tear or burn as readily as gore-tex or synthetic material shells (which work poorly in freezing temperatures).

It's interesting to learn a few more things about my own back yard from a Brit. Ray Mears conveys a great deal of respect and a sense of awe towards something that most folks around here take very much for granted.

The ecologist that is featured during this episode is J. David Henry. His cold-weather clothing looks like something from a MEC catalogue, circa 1986, but obviously it's still working for him after 20+ years. (As an aside, I wonder how much of their current product line will still be in use after another 20 or more years?) His mitts look very much like my MEC over-mitts, but in flashier colours. Henry co-authored a chapter in the book Endangered Spaces titled "Misunderstanding the Prairies." The biography of Henry in my copy of the book, published in 1989, describes Henry as a biology professor in Regina and as a key player in the revision of the National Parks Act and the establishment of Grasslands National Park.

The woman teaching the birch bark biting was Sally Milne a Cree elder from La Ronge. You can find out more about her here: http://www.virtualsk.com/current_issue/culture_and_spirit.html

From Kingsmere 09

13th Man

It's either laugh or cry. I'm still leaning toward the latter. Perhaps some day I'll be able to see the humour.

Oh, what could have been...

Wikimapia

I just found this and so far I'm very intrigued: wikimapia.org. Time to start exploring and find out what this tool can do!

Western Final - Game Day!

Happiness is....

... a silent chain.

Tourism Saskatchewan Video

Several months ago I came across this video on the Tourism Saskatchewan website. At the time, I contacted Tourism Saskatchewan asking for permission to share the video on my blog. They said no. That's too bad, since it's free advertising for them and the more it gets spread around, the more people that see it and the more value they get from the video. However, since then they have posted the video to YouTube so I gather that they have finally seen the light and understand why modern advertising now often aims to achieve something that is often called a viral video. Since it has been made widely available on YouTube where they have enabled embedding, I gather then that I have permission to share this with you.

Another Blog is Born

I recently created a new blog: NorthStarExped.blogspot.com. The NorthStar Expeditions blog is a place for trip reports from a group of friends that do an annual "guys trip", usually in September.  This new blog is planned to be a more light-hearted take on canoe tripping. Some useful information is surely to crop up there and I would hope that some of the information presented will of use to those who travel where we do. However, much of what we write is not to be taken too seriously and will provide some entertainment. Unlike the blog you're reading now, the NSE blog is a group effort, with the other 3 guys contributing some writing, many photos, and a few videos. 

So, enjoy!

NorthStarExped.blogspot.com

Paint The Whole World Green

The Riders won over the Stamps last night in an exciting game. That win meant they finished the regular season in first place in the West!

Two weeks from now the Riders will be playing in the Western Final at home in Regina.

Montreal River Follow-Up

Back in August I ran the Montreal River with a few other folks (Eddy, Wes, Gene & Craig). I posted earlier about the trip and you can find my brief report & comments here. Since then, Wes sent me a few photos of us on the river and I'm finally getting around to sharing them (with his permission). The photos were taken with a waterproof film camera.

 

Craig and Gene are in the yellow EasyRider canoe, Bryan and Eddy are in the red Swift.

Bryan (stern) and Eddy.

Gene.

 

Craig trying out Wes' new solo canoe, a 15'8" Wenonah "Rendesvous". I believe Craig loved the solo experience.

Surfing on the Churchill

With winter weather knocking at the door, I thought I'd post this video of canoe surfing on the Churchill River from summer of '08. The video is of and taken by some friends of mine during a Saskatoon Canoe Club trip. Russell is in the blue canoe and Mark is in the red. The first portion with the small ledge is Carla's Rapid and the bigger wave train is Surf City. I've paddled through, over and past both these spots, and swim there too (purposely of course!) whenever we get the chance. It's great fun!

Scary Mary

Hit the Road With James Raffan

It's only a few more days until canoe guru James Raffan comes to Saskatoon! A blog is being posted of Raffan's travelling adventures on the Canadian Canoe Museum website. Click the top tab that says "Hit the Road With Raffan". And don't miss the presentation on Wednesday!

Paddles

This likely to be the final instalment in my series of posts moving material off of my about to be deleted Geocities site (Geocities is schduled to shut down permanently on October 26th). Some of the text has been edited & updated from the original.


A Greenland Paddle

I started building a Greenland-style kayak paddle several years ago and it was shelved shortly after gluing up the central part of the blank. Years later I came back to the project to finally complete it. The paddle is made of cedar and poplar laminated together such that the poplar forms the outer part of the shaft area (loom) and extends through the length of the blades. The blades are made from additional pieces of cedar glued to the central shaft and each of the four blades should have been made from the same piece of wood. Unfortunately, I forgot why I had been hanging onto those pieces of cedar and at some point I turned one of them into a toy canoe (shown in an earlier post). Since I no longer had a piece of cedar long enough, I glued together two shorter pieces. I should have used a scarf joint and glued them up properly, but instead I simply butted them together and glued them to the shaft. The result is a weak point in terms of aesthetics and possibly also in terms of structural strength. However, lack of strength has yet to become a problem witht the finished paddle. The excellent and free plans used for this paddle were those by Chuck Holst. The picture below was taken after carving. I waited to try it on the water before adding a finish.

The first thing you will notice when you look at the picture is that it doesn't look like most kayak paddles you may have seen. It is such a different style and that is one reason I wanted to build one - just to see what they are like to paddle with. The following is quoted from the introduction in Chuck Holst's plans:

Apart from its romantic association with the people who taught Europeans to kayak and to roll, the narrow-bladed Greenland paddle is popular because it is easy to brace and roll with and is not very susceptible to strong winds. Also, because it slips a little at the beginning of a stroke, it is easier on the muscles, and thus less fatiguing on day-long trips than wide-bladed “Euro”-style paddles. A further benefit for northern kayakers is that the Greenland paddle is adapted for paddling in freezing conditions. The shoulders where the blades and loom meet make an ice-coated loom easier to grip, while the narrow ends of the blades, which are immersed in water while paddling, offer an ice-free grip for emergency braces and rolls. The Greenland paddle is also popular because it is very easy and inexpensive to make with simple tools in a home workshop, which is the subject of this article. Working entirely with hand tools, it is possible to make a Greenland paddle with less than $10 worth of materials and 24 hours of labor.

I spent more than $10 on materials and more than 24 hours in the construction, but it was fairly inexpensive and once I got around to actually doing it, the project went fairly quick. Those who paddle with these "sticks" get pretty passionate about it. I haven't put a huge number of miles on the paddle, but I have used it a fair bit and really like it. The first impression was that it really wasn't all that different from the more familiar modern paddle. It still catches a fair bit of water, I can accelerate quickly and can paddle in a "normal" manner just fine. I like the long reach I have with it when I want to do a sweep stroke. Although I've attempted rolls with it, I can't say that it works any better, or any worse, in that department. So far, my rolling has not been terrible effective (one of these days I'll take some lessons on that). I should probably build a couple more greenland paddles and reduce the weight as well as possibly trying out different lengths.

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Kids Paddles

I have made two small beaver-tail style paddles scaled down to be suitable for small children. The plans I used were scaled down from those in the book Canoe Paddles - A Complete Guide to Making Your Own by Graham Warren & David Gidmark. These paddles are very easy to carve out of cedar and one can be made quite quickly. The latest one that I have finished was for my daughter & I completed that shortly before we went on a canoe trip when she was 3. The graphic with the seal is just clip-art printed with an ink-jet printer onto a plastic overhead sheet. I cut out the graphic and used epoxy to glue it onto the face of the paddle. I then fibre-glassed over top and the graphic is now entombed on the paddle blade. This method may not be suitable for something which may flex since any flexing could possibly result in separation of the layers above and/or below the plastic. However, it has stood up to 4 years of abuse from two kids just fine. On the other side I practiced my wood burning technique to draw a flower & my daughter's name. With the whole blade covered in fibreglass, it is quite strong and has withstood much abuse. (These pictures were taken after a season worth of use and therefore there are numerous cosmetic scratches.)

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Canoe Paddle

This is a "voyageur"-style paddle I built several years ago based on plans from the book Canoe Paddles - A Complete Guide to Making Your Ownby Graham Warren & David Gidmark. The paddle is laminated from maple and ash gleaned from the scrap bins of the local Habitat Re-Store. Both woods are strong and able to flex without breaking. Due to the strength inherent in the woods used, I was able to make the blade and shaft both quite thin and as a result the weight of this paddle is very reasonable. The tip has a mahogany insert running across the width in order to protect the tip from abuse and to prevent the laminations from splitting.

This paddle is LONG. The blade alone is approximately 30" long and as a result, this paddle is for use in deep water only. I think I also made the handle a bit too long for me. Unfortunately, it is tough to use in the shallow South Saskatchewan River and I have never really gotten the hang of using this paddle effectively. It sure looks nice though. (I need to take a better picture where the minor imperfections aren't magnified such that they seem far more prominent than they do in real life.)

2009 Update: I never really got the hang of using this paddle, it simply seemed too long. However, in 2007 my wife & I did an 7 or 8 day trip on Lac La Ronge & the Churchill River and I forgot my usual touring paddle (a basic Grey Owl bent-shaft) at home. Thus I was "forced" to use my voyageur paddle (we still had one more spare with us - on of those awful plastic & aluminum things). After several hours I started to finally develop a relationship with this paddle. Before long, I came to love it. It's light weight, thin edge, generous flex are endearing features. With such a long blade, it does best when the blade remains underwater, being knifed forward in and underwater recover stroke such as the "Indian" or "Canadian" strokes. I slowed down my paddle stroke, but put more power behind them, and the recovery becomes part of the correction to maintain a course.

A Canoe & A Kayak

Another in the ongoing saga of moving things off of my very soon-to-be-deleted Geocities site. Originally published online 3 or 4 years ago.

I built two boats in my garage in the spring of 2005. First was a Chesapeake 17 stitch & glue kayak based on the plans in the book The New Kayak Shop by Chris Kulczyki of Chesapeake Light Craft. The kayak was constructed of 1/32" birch plywood, "stitched" together with cyanoacrylate glue (aka slow-drying crazy glue). The hull was covered with a single layer of ~6 oz. fibreglass and the deck and cockpit sealed with epoxy. The second boat was a 17/6 Redbird canoe based on plans from the book "CanoeCraft" by Ted Moores. The canoe as I've built it is some sort of cross between cedar strip & dugout canoe construction. The hull was first made of cedar "strips" and the interior of the hull subsequently carved out. Again, the outside of the hull was covered with one layer of fibreglass and the interior sealed with epoxy.

OK, if you haven't yet looked at the pictures below you're probably wondering what the heck I'm talking about. The boats were 1:12 scale models. Barbie can paddle them, but that's about it. (Actually I was disappointed to find that Barbie doesn't fit in the kayak - her hips are too wide. Maybe I should steal one of my daughter's barbies and use various power tools to administer some cosmetic surgery to make her fit - all in the name of getting a nice photo.) I made these boats as toys for my daughters and as "fun" little projects. Another reason for building these boats was to practice techniques (stitch & glue construction for the kayak, carving was used for the canoe). The kayak was a PITA and I'm not sure I would attempt another (at least with a normal size boat your pieces are big enough to hold properly). It was very tedious to get the thin plywood panels (cut with a scissors) to line up just right and to stay in precisely the right orientation until the glue dried (clamped with binder clips, tape and my fingers - which often became a structural part of the hull thanks to the glue). There are bulkheads in place so that the bow and stern compartments are fully sealed so it won't fill with water and sink. The kayak is very strong and should stand up to a fair bit of abuse.

As alluded to above, the canoe was made by first gluing together some scraps of cedar. I then pasted onto this block outline drawings of the canoe copied to the correct scale from the book CanoeCraft. I then used the drawings as a guideline to cut the general canoe shape out of the block using a band saw. With the rough blank cut, I used a spokeshave to carve away anything that didn't look like a canoe. This was very easy and went well. I'm sure it doesn't share the same lines as the original canoe design it is based on, but it still looks pretty fair and it is just a toy. I once tried the band saw to remove a bit more material, but ended up slicing into the canoe and had a patch I had to repair. I find that often I don't save any time by using the power tools, I just create a mess to repair. With the outside of the hull carved, I used a gouge to hollow out the inside. Carving the interior of the canoe was much more work and I never did get it perfect (it's just a toy after all). There are three reasons this portion of the carving did not go well: 1) I had only one gouge to use with a fairly narrow width (I opted to purchase one good tool rather than a set of multiple mediocre tools); 2) I did not sharpen the gouge after purchasing it (though it was still plenty sharp to cut me very easily when I slipped); and 3) I don't know what I'm doing. All three of those factors can only improve with time.




The picture below shows the plywood panels of which the kayak is constructed. The hull (bottom) is composed of 4 panels and the angle where they meet at the side is called a "hard chine." The presence of a chine gives particular handling characteristics to this style of boat with it's own pros & cons. The deck is curved over a masik or deck beam located just ahead of the cockpit opening. I constructed the curved deck beam by steam bending strips of 1/32" plywood and forming them around a spray can. Once dried, I glued the strips together, again using the can as a form. This laminated beam was then sanded smooth on the sides and cut to fit and glued to the shear clamps (strips of wood where the hull and deck meet, not visible in these photos).




As a sad conclusion and 2009 update, my kids have lost the very tedious to build kayak. I really hope it turns up again sometime, but it's been missing for a year or two now so I don't expect to see it again.

Bacon Explosion

Bacon Explosion: The BBQ Sausage Recipe of all Recipes

Oh my.... I think that I'll have to try that on the new smoker this weekend!

So much to do, so little time

Winter seems to be on the doorstep and pushing it's way in (we have received a few inches of snow over the past several days) so it seems like a good time to evaluate all the things I want to get done in the coming season.

The Short-Term List

1. Clean the garage - Somehow my garage has developed some rather bad personal hygiene issues. Time to put stuff away for the winter and generally tidy up the place.
2. Oil the canoe - The wood components of our new canoe need a coat of oil to maintain their good condition. This should be a simple wipe down then the canoe can be put away.
3. Build a canoe hoist - In order to store our new canoe out of the way and protected from the elements, I want to build another hoist similar to what I did for the kayak. The hoist I built was inspired by the nifty but expensive Harken Hoister. However, my version used too small of pulleys combined with too small of rope. The small rope is hard to pull on, and the small cheap pulleys eat up a lot of energy through friction. So, Mk II will have to use better pulleys and better rope. Getting the canoe up out of the way will go a long way toward helping out with the #1 item listed above.
4. Varnish snowshoes - My snowshoes should get a coat of varnish before the season to keep them in good shape and to preserve the babiche. The earlier I get this done, the better in order to give the varnish time to better cure (and harden).
5. Fix the foot brace on our fiberglass canoe - A metal bar with ends cut & squashed to attach to a bracket, one of the ends has broken.

The Mid-Term List

1. Repair wear & tear on guillemot kayak - There are a couple of spots underneath the kayak that could use some repair.
2. Varnish kayak - I've not re-varnished the kayak since I finished it a couple of years ago. The sooner these two items are complete, the more time the epoxy and varnish will have to cure before the paddling season starts again next spring.
3. Repair wear & tear on the kid's kayak - The girls' kayak received a lot of use this summer. With all that use, came some wear & tear. The fabric has worn through at one spot on the bow and other spots show some wear. Interestingly, aside from that spot on the bow, most of the wear seems to have occurred during transport where straps would rub.
4. Build a portable wood stove - I purchased a used canvas "hot tent" recently. Now that I have the tent, I need a stove to go with it. Commercially made stoves range in price from $80 to $800 depending on size, materials, construction style, etc. However, there are DIY plans out there so I might as well give it a go. See here for Dave Hadfield's version and here for a good discussion on some improvements or variations.
5. Fix paddles - My wife's bent-shaft paddle developed a curve and crack on the blade during the last trip so that has to be fixed. I also have a kayak paddle from the canoe club that I volunteered to repair some months ago. My ulterior motive for fixing the kayak paddle was to use it as a template to make make my own version.
6. Varnish the kayak moby latches. (Not to mention to write the promised follow-up post on how to build the mobies.)
7. Build a crooked knife - Murat recently completed a similar project. I've started the process of turning an old file into a knife blade by removing the temper from the file and have started to grind it down. When completed, this knife would come in handy for the next item on my list.
8. Carve some paddles - I want to carve some paddles for my kids and some for friends too, plus I'd like to build one or two for myself. I was recently in the store at Classic Outdoors and saw some absolutely gorgeous one-piece cherry paddles from Badger Paddles. They were light with a fine edge and flexed beautifully - it re-kindled the fire to build paddles again.

The Long-Term List

1. Carve more paddles.
2. Build a knife handle - A few months ago I bought a blade because I want to build my own camping knife. I have various pieces of wood that might be good for the project, but have not yet gotten around to taking it on.
3. Build a toboggan - I want to build a long plastic toboggan that will be able to haul my new tent & stove over the snow into the bush. If it doesn't fit with my current arrangement then this item will get bumped up in priority.
4. Build a canoe - But which one?
5. Build a shaving horse - Useful for paddle carving.

Of course this is really just a sampling of some of what I have in mind. There are various projects on the "honey-do" list that should be cleared off before I undertake some of those listed above. I should also make some effort to finish the kids' playhouse before the snow really arrives.

James Raffan in Saskatoon

The Saskatoon Canoe Club, Recreation Division, will be hosting Dr. James Raffan, author and Executive Director of the Canadian Canoe Museum (http://www.canoemuseum.ca/), as part of his National Treasure tour. Dr. Raffan will be presenting an entertaining multi-media event celebrating canoes, Canada, and the wonders of the Canadian Canoe Museum. The presentation is all about canoes in popular culture, canoes in Canada (voted in 2007 as one of Canada's Seven Wonders), and will feature just a few of the many amazing stories attached to craft in the museum's collection of canoes and kayaks.

One of the newest acquisitions that Dr. Raffan is excited to talk about is a canoe that once belonged to Farley Mowat's family. Raffan writes "one of the newest canoes in our collection is one that was purchased and paddled in and around Saskatoon by Angus Mowat, Farley's father, when he was the Chief bookminder at the Saskatoon Public Library back in the 1930s. Farley claims that this canoe (a 1921 Peterborough sailing canoe) was the vessel that first took him into nature on the mighty South Saskatchewan and in the sloughs around Saskatoon--he also claims that this canoe is actually the reincarnation of the original canoe in which he was conceived on the Bay of Quinte ... and therein lies a bit of a tale."

This event is open to everyone. Admission is by donation with all money collected going to the Canadian Canoe Museum.

What: James Raffan, "National Treasure" Presentation
When: Wednesday, October 28th, 7:00 pm
Where: Castle Theatre at Aden Bowman Collegiate, 1904 Clarence Ave South, Saskatoon

Castle Theatre is a large venue so pass along this information to anyone who you think may be interested! Word of mouth/e-mail is the best advertising.

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Trip Archives: 2005

May 22-23, 2005 - North Saskatchewan River - After first planning on doing the Red Deer River, then the Montreal, then the Torch, my wife & I opted to spend the weekend on the North Saskatchewan River. We had originally planned on leaving Saturday morning but my wife wasn't into starting out in the steady rain that persisted most of the day so we put it off until Sunday. Sunday morning we put-in at the regional park north of Langham (~40 km from Saskatoon) and paddled about 40 km downriver, about 8 km past the Petrofka Bridge (Hwy 12 to Blaine Lake). We camped along the shore in the least muddy dry spot we could find. Monday we continued the remaining 30 km to Fort Carlton where my in-law’s were supposed to meet us with our car. Unfortunately there was a mix-up regarding what we thought was pre-arranged to meet at 4 pm at Ft. Carlton unless we call and tell them otherwise. Earlier Monday we hiked up out of the river valley to a hilltop in order to get cell coverage and tried to call just to confirm the time/place for our pick-up but only got a message manager. We eventually arrived at the Ft at 3 pm but when we tried to call them again just got the message machine again. It wasn't until 4:45 that we were starting to wonder where the heck they were that my wife got through to her grandma who told us that they were sitting at our house awaiting our call! Turns out something wasn't working with their cell and the messages weren't being recorded either. Oh well, they found us eventually.

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We saw a lot of wildlife on the river, more than I'm accustomed to seeing on the South Saskatchewan River in the area around Saskatoon. There were Pelicans, tons of ducks, lots of geese (and a few goslings), a bald eagle, 4 turkey vultures, an osprey, a variety of hawks, a deer, beaver, muskrats, a coyote, plus countless shore birds, terns, bank swallows, etc. We were in a narrow passage between a couple of islands when we came past a little clump of willows hanging into the river. As we came past the bush we startled a beaver, two ducks and a coyote from exactly the same spot. Either they were having a wildlife association meeting or we spared the ducks from becoming lunch, and spared the beaver from witnessing the event (of course we probably doomed the eggs if there was a nest). At another point we passed some pelicans resting on a sandbar. We stayed a respectful distance of maybe 100 yards or so away across the channel. Once we had drifted past them and were clearly moving away, the 6 pelicans took off then circled around behind and passed in formation a few feet above our heads, maybe 15 feet to our left before heading off down the river ahead of us. It seems they were just as curious about us as we were of them. That certainly is the closest I've been to a pelican in flight before, let alone 6 of them.

The river itself is much muddier than the S. Sask., which is very sandy in this region, and our gear and canoe were all covered in a sticky mud. It wasn't bad on shore but at the waters edge it was a gooey mess and every time we got in the canoe we brought more mud in with us. Having our dog with us made it worse as she’s not too good at washing off her paws before bringing them inboard. At one point I had gotten out of the canoe to go ashore and sunk in mud to within a few inches of my knees. I thought I was going to be stuck permanently but I did manage to free myself after a lengthy struggle.

Hayman Lake, Churchill River Trip - June 2nd-5th, 2005 - Annual NorthStar Expeditions guys trip. You can find Rob's pictures from the trip at the link. Things to note when we eventually do a write-up:

• The bloody Devil Portages
• The portages had been trashed by wet weather and the Sask Centennial Canoe Quest that spring.
• The collapsing pack-frame
• I had used an old external frame backpack, stripped down, to carry a food barrel or maybe the super-heavy duffel bags. Unfortunately, it fell apart part-way across one of the Bloody Devil Portages.
• The hot-tub
• We brought a hot tub with us on this trip. Across 2km or more of portage. Muddy, long portages. And, we did it without Jay even noticing we had a hot tub along.
• OK, so the hot tub turned out to be not so hot. Mk II will be better!
  
• The engineering genius that is Rod
• Submersible stoves and other incredible feats of ingenuity.
• Our buddy who visited & creeped us out
• Don't worry, we confused him more than a little too.
  
• Our bushwhacking adventure
• We bushwhacked in to one of the lakes on Twolake Island. It was a grand adventure, full of thorn bushes, hordes of mosquitoes, a scenic little lake, but no fish.
  
• Butter-flavoured Crisco shortening stays firm in warm temperatures and goes much farther than margarine does.
• The wave-train of Sluice Falls that extended so far out across the small lake below the falls and above Farside Rapids that we had to paddle over half way across it in order to safely cross over to the carry spot beside Ric's Falls.

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Sturgeon Weir River - Amisk Lake - July 2nd - August 6th, 2005 - My wife & I chose the "West Weir" for my 3 year old daughter's first extended wilderness canoe trip. We arrived at Maligne Lake (pronounced locally as Maleen, rather than the way I was saying it) near Pawistik Lodge where the Sturgeon-Weir River crosses the Hanson Lake Road (Hwy 106), about 50km East of Flin Flon & Creighton, around noon on Saturday. When we approached the river crossing, things were a zoo with hundreds of people and many dozens of vehicles everywhere. We had arrived at our start point just prior to the expected arrival of the 29 canoes participating in the Saskatchewan Centennial Canoe Quest, a race across the province in 25' 6 person canoes. We spent some time watching the leaders race across the finish line before unloading and preparing to embark on our journey. Unfortunately, during this time the threat of storms were moving in. We covered the canoes with tarps and headed off to do the shuttle and get a bite to eat, all the while hoping that the storms would pass. We were granted our wish and by the time we were back at the put-in things were looking up.

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Trip highlights:

• Seeing the big canoes of the Sask Centennial Canoe Quest Racing straight through Leaf Rapids
  o The race started at 6 am from near the provincial campground on the Hanson Lake Road, about 2km away. A shotgun blast re-started the race and a couple minutes later they were at our rapids campsite.
  o The best canoes shot straight through the rapids without breaking a stroke, no draws pries or braces, just that 70 stroke per minute marathon pace, straight down the center. The canoes that got forced towards the sides lost a LOT of time when they hit the bottom and found they were no longer in the fast current. The fastest canoes were already at the other side of small lake below the rapids 1 km ahead while others floundered in the back-current below the rapids.
  o The big canoes made Denare Beach that same day by 3 pm, taking 9 hours for what took us days to do.
  o For pictures from Team Kisseynew, click here.
• The Pelicans at Scoop Rapids
  o Scoop is famous for its pelicans. It was here that I saw a Pelican catch a fish (the only time I've seen it). The Pelican dipped its beak in the water and came up with what looked like a 4lb walleye cross-wise in the beak. It threw its head upward and the fish slipped into the large distendable beak and you could see the fish shape in the beak. The pelican kept its beak straight up in the air and shook its head causing the fish to go down its neck. You could see the fish slide down the neck and the neck distended to accommodate the fish. The thing was, this was still a living and valiantly fighting fish! At one point the sides of the neck came way outward as the fish flipped crosswise in the throat. The pelican just kept shaking its head and in a couple of seconds the fish was in the bird's crop where, presumably, the battle came to an end.
• Our travelling day.
  o No matter how hard we tried to get away earlier, every single day we left camp within 10 minutes of 12 noon.
  o We paddled about 4 hours each day before making camp.
  o K's main role in the bow was to entertain our daughter A. We all sang songs, K. & A. cuddled, and A. played with toys.
  o Usually, A. travelled in the bow which of course interfered with K.'s paddling. Eventually A. would tire and K. would create a bed at her feet. There A. would nap for a couple of hours and K. was able to paddle once again.
• K. was nearly 8 months pregnant with our second daughter.
  o The main problem that K. described was that everything while camping was usually at ground level. The frequent bending was difficult for her.
• Maple
  o Laurie & Mike’s dog Maple is a tad high strung. While paddling, it liked to be perched in the extreme bow of the canoe like some sort of living figurehead. I’m sure it didn’t spend the entire trip in that position, but I seem to recall that it was up there a lot.
  o Maple is territorial and having our dog along seem to upset Maple. While paddling Maple would bark incessantly if ever the two canoes came within 1oo yards of each other. This is the only time I have ever been on a canoe trip where we only rarely spoke with the people in the other canoe while paddling.
  o Mike is very close to his dog and is very willing to share. One day while sharing supper from his fork with Maple, I asked if he knew that dogs were copraphagic (I don’t think I used that word but was probably more explicit) and lick themselves. This of course stopped Mike from letting the dog eat food off of his fork.....for about 10 minutes.


• A’s birthday party.
  o A’s 3rd birthday was celebrated on an island on Amisk Lake. We had fantastic weather and a beautiful setting.
  o We baked a small cake in the campfire and iced it with a tub of store-bought icing brought along for the occasion. Of course there were candles too.
• After the trip, the Limestone Crevices near the southeast shore of Amisk Lake.
  o About 10km South of Denare Beach are narrow but deep crevasses in the limestone rock that makes up the ground. It is very strange to walk along, stepping over a crack in the earth that goes down 40 feet.
  o At the bottom of the deeper crevices ice remains year-round.
• Some links relevant to the Sturgeon-Weir:
  o Robin & Arlene Karpan feature the Sturgeon-Weir in their book, Northern Saskatchewan, Canoe Country. You can find some photos from the river, including the pelicans at Scoop, in their stock photography gallery.
  o Here is the SERM trip description, #44.
  o Some history & perspective.
  o This link takes you to a Google Earth kmz file for the portion of the river we travelled.

Trip Archives: 2004 (Part 2)

Churchill River, Missinipe to Robertson Falls - September 9-13, 2004 - Annual NorthStar Expeditions guys trip with Bryan, Rob, Jay, & Rod. For Rob's photos, follow the link. After replacing the motor for the windshield wipers in Rod's Range Rover, we loaded up and headed off with abandon into ... a blizzard. Yup, that's right, a blizzard on the night of September 8th and we were heading straight into it at 1:00 am with 2 canoes strapped to the roof.

We got away late, much later than we expected. Let's blame Rob for not anticipating that it was going to take several hours to fix Rod's vehicle (we anticipated that the weather might be bad enough that we would need his windshield wipers) and for not getting Jay there sooner so we could have had more hands getting in the way, and for not having Rod's vehicle loaded with the canoes and ready to go earlier. So, at the crack of 9 pm we headed over to Rod's house to deliberate and reconsider our options, and maybe have a rum to ease the thought process. The forecast wasn't looking good - cold, wet, & maybe even white. A similar amount of driving in the opposite direction would have landed us in Montana and a land with a forecast of near 30C temperatures. We scoffed at cold with only a minimal amount of whimpering and hit the road heading North at around 10pm. Fill her up with gas & onto the open highway. By midnight we were in PA, filling up with gas again (ummm..... is this a bad sign guys?). Back on the road we were peacefully enjoying the ride up when one of us noticed that the rain seemed to have gotten harder, and whiter. Shit. It's snowing. Rod casually points out that it had been doing so for a while and we hadn't gone too much farther before it turned into a full snowstorm. Once we arrived at the Waskesiu turn-off we decided to pull in, go over the map and reconsider our options and have a beer in the closest bar to keep us perky. After only a little whimpering (mostly from Jay) we decided there was nothing for it but to keep heading North. By now the snow had accumulated and the roads were getting worse. We eventually reached Weyakwin Lake around 2 am and decided to call it quits for the night so we pulled into the winter wonderland looking for a place to set up our tents for the night, wondering if they would handle the snow load. Things were not looking particularly good at this point with about 6" of heavy wet snow everywhere. We found a gazebo near the community centre and after moving aside some tables and a couple of garbage bags full of beer cans we set up one of our tents in this tiny parcel of snow-free ground. Some rum, brandy, & rye was consumed while we considered our current situation and the prospects for the morning.

Day 1- Friday, September 9th - The next morning in the daylight we were finally able to take in our winter wonderland. We packed up and hit the road bright and early (9 am?). Driving the gravel road back out to the highway we saw thousands of trees broken under the weight of the snow. Back at the highway, we again deliberated and considered our options - North or South? After 10 minutes parked at the intersection we eventually decided to throw caution and all sense of reason to the snowy wind and continue North. Part of the reason for this decision may have been the amount of money we put into fuelling the vehicle thus far. Our decision made, we headed across the road to fill up with gas ... again. In the gas station/general store we heard tales of the power outages and line fires that had occurred. It seems that the snow weighed the trees down so much that they would touch the power lines and start fires. Back on the road we noticed after about 10 miles of driving that the snow was no longer quite so deep. Soon, there was no sign of the blizzard we had just been through. Things were looking up!

We made a short stop in Air Ronge for gas (of course) and a visit to the local hardware store to stock up on whatever items had been forgotten, as well as adding a bunch more cold-weather gear to our arsenal. My personal addition was a pair of insulated rubber boots. It would prove to be a wise selection. With lunch of greasy La Ronge A&W burgers under our belts, we were off on our final leg of the journey. Thankfully, we didn't see any dead guys in the ditch this time around. We parked and put-in at the provincial campground at Missinipe and after only a minimal amount of confusion we were underway on Otter Lake.


We headed generally East across Otter Lake, navigating our way through the network of islands and bays. A couple hours of paddling in calm conditions brought us to Naheyow Island which we went to the south of. There is a channel to the south of this island which seems to see less traffic than the MacDonald Channel to the north. There is a riffle to pass through at the western end of the channel and a couple of campsites were indicated on our maps for this area. We found our campsite in this channel just beyond where it takes a 90 degree turn to the northeast. The campsite is well used but in decent condition with a good supply of firewood not too far back into the bush. It proved to be a much nicer campsite than the one located right at Robertson Falls, and much less traffic is seen in this part of the channel. There are enough tent spots for a fair size group (room for at least 4 tents, probably a few more). With our camp set up, we finally got around to having lunch, at what was probably 5 pm by that time.

Day 2 - Saturday, September 10th - We took a tour over to Robertson Falls (2 km direct, 2.75 km by water around Reid Island) to do some fishing and to check out the neighbourhood. We fished from the portage east of the falls without success before heading out on the unnamed lake below the falls. We went to the west, upriver into the area of the confluence of the channels around Reid Island. This is a very nice area that looked like it should be home to some great fishing. As I recall though, we had moderate success here at best. We then landed our canoes on the island at the head of Twin Falls. After bushwhacking across this island (236 m straight across, more like 400 m after zig-zagging around obstacles and looking for a passable route), we were so impressed by the spectacle of Twin Falls that we bushwhacked twice more to bring back our rods and gear. There is no real path and it's not an easy trek, but it was very much worth the trip. Not only was the view great, but the fishing there was decent too. We pulled a few pickerel out of the fast turbulent waters at the foot of the multi-channel falls. We then headed home to enjoy our fresh fish for supper. We got back to camp under threatening skies and got the tarps up just as the rain started to fall. With tarps up and a fire going, Rob & Jay got supper preparations while Rod & I donned rain gear and headed out into the darkness and rain to fillet our supper.


Day 3 - Sunday, September 11th - We started the day with a great debate regarding where to go. We had 3 options: 1) Head north into Rattler Bay and Rattler Creek. There is a pictograph there that we would like to have checked out. 2) Head northeast to First North & Second North Falls at the other end of Eyinew Island where the remainder of the Churchill River flows out of Otter Lake and into Mountain Lake. 3) Portage below Twin Falls to fish below the falls and explore a bit of Mountain Lake. Being ready to go, we realised Rod had left his fishing rod at the island above Twin Falls. We eventually decided to head to Mountain Lake by a route that would allow us to pick up the misplaced rod. Rod and Jay took the route which had them portage past Robertson then after picking up the rod, traverse into Mountain Lake via Mountain portage. Rob & I decided to take the single portage (350m) directly into Mountain Lake that cuts across a peninsula on Eyinew Lake. This single portage was steep at the Mountain Lake end and we had a time to get the canoe and ourselves down the slope given the damp conditions. Once in the small bay Rob & I paddled below Twin Falls through some waters that could accurately be described as turbulent and confused. The water comes straight off the falls, hitting the wall along which we were paddling. A lot of that water makes it's way into the bay then flows back out to Mountain Lake. Water in that area is going every single direction which makes negotiating it in a canoe tricky and it should not be attempted by novice paddlers. If you do venture though here, keep steady and stay a safe distance (10 feet?) away from the rock face. You may be tempted to stay tight to the rock since there are standing waves further out, but in my opinion the smoother water along the rock is a wolf in sheep's clothing. The waves are at least a bit more predictable and indicate water flowing towards Mountain Lake instead of water that is going downwards. Of course the nature of this area may be very different at a different level of river flow so your experience may be markedly different. Once through this area, we met Jay & Rod at the dock of the nearby fishing camp. After checking out Mountain Portage, Jay & Rod opted to take the shorter route through the fishing camp which was closed for the season. After lunch on the dock, we headed back to the Twin Falls area to fish. We picked up a few walleye and a couple of sauger here, though the sauger were too small to keep for supper. This was the first time any of us had seen a sauger and there was some some discussion about whether it was simply a small dark walleye or something else. Sunset came while we were on the rocks facing Twin Falls and we were treated to an incredible display as the sun peeked through the clouds and shining on us from directly above the falls, through the opening in the trees created by the channel. It was an incredible sight in a beautiful area, such that even though we knew we'd better get back to camp quick, we were slow to drag ourselves away. Plus one of us was away down the rocks in another area and couldn't be found by the others. When we tried to regroup Rob, Jay & Rod headed to where they thought I was. Meanwhile I headed back to where I thought they were and back to the canoes. In so doing, we managed to unknowingly cross paths just a few meters apart with me in the bush and the other three on the rocks. As a result we were all very confused about where the others were. We didn't get to tour as much of Mountain Lake as we had wanted but we had a great afternoon at Twin Falls. It was very dark by the time we had made it back into our home channel so it's a good thing we knew where we going.

Day 4- Monday, September 12th - We packed up and headed home across Otter Lake in a moderate wind. Due to the SW wind we opted for take a more northerly route through the islands in order to seek as much wind protection as possible. This made for a nice variation on the route so that we covered some new ground and saw some new sights. Back at Missinipe we quickly loaded up Rod’s vehicle and headed south. As usual it was late at night by the time we got back to the city, unloaded the Range Rover, and got everyone home.

Follow-up comments: The most adventurous part of this trip may have been the drive North. We seriously considered turning with our tails between our legs and heading for a cabin. If we had, we would have missed Robertson & Twin Falls and some beautiful country we all want to go back to another year. We had cool but mostly dry weather which turned out OK. It was another example of a decent trip despite a horrible forecast. If it had been raining the whole time, or there had been 6" of snow on the ground as we expected, it might have been quite a different story.

Note in the above graph that there was no snow on the ground recorded. That would have been a much different situation had the weather station been in the Thunder Hills near Weyakwin.

September 2009 Addendum: We (NSE) went back to the same campsite at the east end of Otter Lake once again. This year we toured the North Falls route, visited Robertson & Twin again, and did some fishing. We also started off the trip by paddling the Montreal River before continuing our drive north. I'll post a report on that trip sometime in the coming months.