Blogs from Atikokan, Ontario, Canada, North America

Ce matin ce n' était pas l' été indien 6 au thermometre , sans parler de la pluie, du crachin, du brouillard et ce jusqu' a 15h. On rajoute a ca une route sans interêt pendant 400kms. Jusqu' au lac Nipigon 4850 km2, un des plus grands au Canada. Alors que la route était plate comme une planche, je me suis retrouvé dans des gorges magnifiques, des cascades, des falaises 9 (annoncées 800m) a droite, a gauche, un mot magnifique décor et bout de 10kms on débouche sur cette immensité de lac. J' ai cru pendant quelques kms que j' étais sorti de la platitude de la route. Mais ce n' était vraiment que ces 10 kms. La cerise sur le gâteau, le peu de village traversées sont des réserves indiennes, Cree, Atikamek, une désolation, les ... read more

Got caught up with some blogs, and now back on the road to Winnipeg! First stop Half Pints Brewery Company. My friend Richard wanted me to check it out, and I'm glad I did! It was a real treat! Locally owned. Husband was a home brewer, the passion took over and the wife is an accountant! (Nicole is the one who gave me the tour and their story). Their market is Western Canada, with one place in Toronto (which I now have to find!). (By the way, the beer is great, I have been enjoying the beer over the last couple of days). Drove downtown and walked along the river to the Forks and parked right in front of the Provincial Legislation building. Crossed into Ontario today! Very melancholy for me....my adventure to Yellowknife is just ... read more

Woke up today in a whirlwind and only had time to down a cold cup of instant coffee before we were on the lake trying to beat the rain (which we didn't) and the wind (which we didn't) as we made our way back to the Quetico Park entrance. Yep, we're on our way back home. In the rain. The rain did eventually ease up right around the time that we were shooting some rapids (which was real thrilling, actually) so all looked good... UNTIL we hit the Deux Rivieres. At first it felt like we were in Egypt, canoeing through papyrus plants on the Nile, but then it was like we were in Vietnam—we had to get out of the canoe and trudge through the mud while someone strung the canoe down the leech infested ... read more

Oh! My! Gosh! There were killer flies today... swarms over every part of everywhere we went and every part of our body. There were so many of these little biting flies I was close to tears several times during the day. It felt like an epidemic, an apocolypse almost. At times, it felt like a sci-fi movie where something so trivial and harmless in the everyday sense as flies could be so life threatening. There weren't that many when I woke up. In fact, the morning was fairly nice. I missed the mist on the water early in the morning, but getting to sleep in was much needed. After having a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and instant coffee, Hannah, my dad, and I did some fishing and then realized that Blueberry Island was vacated. We were ... read more

Wow we covered a lot of ground... err... water today. That of course means... we're in Quetico! It's just about as I expected it would be, minus a few things here and there?the first being the actual distance we travel and the second being the actual length of time it takes to travel said distance. Those minutiae aside, it's not half bad. The worst thing, if anything, was the 5:30 wake-up call and the fact that I was carrying an 80 pound food pack on my back for three quarters of a mile at 8:30 AM... which really happens to be about the time I'd wake up each morning. Quite a change of pace for me. Before we even set foot in a canoe, I could tell this was not going to be your average vacation... ... read more