Missinipe/Otter Lake= Destination Decompression

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Otter Rapids Bridge Jumpers

There are many places a person can relax and enjoy a slow pace of life while enjoying the small things in life. Otter Lake is one of our favorites! As a result of the benevolence of Taras and his cohorts who so graciously permit us to use the cabin we have our own paradise in Northern Saskatchewan. The things that make staying at Missinipe so great include: not having to drive to get to the beach, store, and park. Seeing close friends who we don’t see often enough and friends who are not so close but know us well enough to say hello while we’re out for a walk. Getting out on the lake and exploring, fishing and because there are NO jets skis buzzing around incessantly it is rather peaceful most of the time. Of course there are planes flying in and out of Walker Bay but the distraction of the planes is minimal and it is kind of fun for the kids to see.

While passing through La Ronge on our way to Missinipe we noticed the carnival was in town so we decided that we would visit it on our second day. It was perfect. There were enough rides to make the boys happy and the crowds, although busy for La Ronge, were quite small compared to attending the Ex in Saskatoon. We were fortunate enough to run into some friends at the fair and do some catching up and wouldn’t you know it parking was easy to find, free, and exceptionally close. After the carnival we went over to Chris and Bella’s and had a great “one hour” visit before heading back to the cabin.

The thing about life at Missinipe is that we have no real commitments. If we want to wake-up and read, go fishing, hiking, take a bike ride, run, go to the beach, read a book, burn music, jump off the Otter Lake bridge(which we witnessed two brave young men doing) or just vegetate, or do a combination of all these things it is OK. Of course, this is my way of telling you what we did for our first couple of days here. One thing we did that was a first for us at Otter Lake was to rent a motor boat. Of course I’ve paddled all over Otter Lake as part of school trips, holidays, and canoeing courses but I’ve never motored around in a boat. With the condition of my shoulder being in the state it is we decided to rent a 16 foot Lund with a 20 horse motor and cruise over to Paul Island for a shore lunch. I have stayed at Paul Island on a couple of occasions and wanted to share the place with my family for the past few years. Of course I would have liked to guide them there in a canoe but the boat was faster and quite fun. Otter Lake has hundreds of islands and I was grateful for my GPS and the waypoints I had inputted throughout the years.

One of the things I always look forward to is getting on the river with my friend Chris. Chris has lived in the area for years and he has always been very generous with his time by taking Owen on the river to go fishing. This year Benjamin was old enough to join us and we had a great adventure. We drove to Stanley Mission, met Chris and went out for a day on the lake. We were very fortunate and caught a cooler full of Walleye/Pickerel and visited Nistowiak Falls. Benjamin and Owen don’t realize how lucky they are to be able to visit these places. The North is a very special place and I’m sure they are in the minority in being able to say they have spent the day fishing Malachi’s Bay, Potter Rapids and visiting Nistowiak all in one day. (Especially since their Mom still has not had the opportunity to see all these places yet herself.) THANKS CHRIS!!! Of course all good things must come to an end and with Dave’s immanent arrival at the cabin we were forced to break the spell of Otter Lake and head back to Saskatoon.

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Photos

Follow the Leader
A trip to Otter Lake is not complete without hiking to to bottom of the rapids

A Classic View
A standard pose at Otter Rapids

Where are we?
Paul Island- Otter Lake is easy to find with or without a GPS.

Paul Island
Beauty campsite.

Fish Fry Anyone?
Chris usually comes through with a few good fishing spots!

Nistowiak Falls
Of course the picture doesn't really show much of the falls but the guys in the photo look pretty happy don't they?

Dinghy Delights
The Dinghy provided hours of fun for everyone.

Man Overboard
Leaning too far over the gunwales often leads to an impromptu swim.

Master Angler in Training
Owen has been teaching Ben the finer points of casting.

Comments

[Janette Egland]

Letter from Ben
Hello Everyone, Rylan just received his letter from Ben yesterday and he was so excited. He will write back right away. Sounds like you are having a very wonderful and relaxing time. Its so nice that you can do so many exciting things with the kids in the summer. Take care of yourselves. Janette