Woodland Challenge crosses Temagami (Part III)

Day 6: August 10

Today started like most days with a slow start and departure. We headed down the Sturgeon going through Goul Lake past some pretty big cliffs and into what appeared to be a dead end except for the two waterfalls. The pool above the falls was pretty big and the water was dark. We portaged across the island through a site which was totally demolished by over use. Apparently there was great pike fishing on the river as carcasses were all over the landing for the site. Gross. I decided it would be a great idea to try my hand at fishing and see if I could catch a fish or two above the falls. However I got my new 'cyclops' lure snagged on the first cast right after all the boats had been portaged. I either had to go swimming or cut my line. There was no way I was going swimming in that tar coloured water. However, another idea came to mind and I managed to convince Anelynda to wade/swim out to get it. She kept asking if there were big fish that lived there and I reassured her there must be because the carcasses were huge. I also threw in that if there were sea monsters they must live there, in the darkest water in the world... She didn't manage to unsnag it and I don't know why she went out there at all but I was appreciative. This just gets better. On the other side of the portage she managed to drop her sunglasses right by the put in. It was less than a foot deep but couldn't find them because of the darkness of the water. Bummer... Luckily this happens to her frequently and she only buys sunglasses for $5 and had another pair. I immediately put that strap thing on my glasses which cost significantly more than five dollars.

We continued down river practicing some C turns and grabbing eddies on some smaller stuff. We entered into Eaglenest Lake and I jokingly said it was called that because there is a huge eagles nest on it and pointed randomly over my shoulder. Everyone including myself looked and there actually was a massive nest in a tree! Crazy! After a short water/sunscreen stop where we had to force Natalie to put sunscreen on we carried on to a set of class II rapids that were actually interesting and had lunch in the middle on a tiny rock. There was a campsite nearby that Murdoch wanted to stop at instead, it looked gross as we passed it afterwards. We then hit a bunch of tiny rapids as the river traveled through and area with less exposed rock and big overhanging conifers. I felt like I was in Jurassic park. The big ferns, the massive conifers, the dark water, the shallow river. I half expected a stegosaurus to lumber out in front of me at any moment.

Towards the end of this area there was a rock ledge with a chute that we were supposed to portage but we ran. All you had to do was go straight down it and then avoid the ONE rock at the end by turning either way. Everyone made it no problem except for one boat that nailed it head on. I can't remember who that was though. We ended up in Lyman Lake and stopped for a gorp break and drifted in the sun (it finally showed up).

Kettle Falls

At the end of the lake was Kettle Falls. The book read " The Kettle Falls portage is insane, you have be half billy-goat to make it to the other side." It couldn't have been more accurate. The kids took what they could and no one could take too much to ensure balance as one creeped along the side of the cliff. Anelynda carried the wannigan on top of a barrel, hardcore tripper style while the boats were left for Murdoch and myself. Getting them across was an absolute feat. My method was to basically military press the boat and tilt the front end almost to my feet and shimmy sideways along the 6 inch wide scree slope/cliff. By the time I did get out of there the kids had already headed over the to driftwood pile in the pool below and were collecting firewood. Their training was beginning to pay off. Paddling away from that one felt GREAT and I looked forward to the 'excellent' sites below the falls. HA! The book couldn't have been more wrong on that. The sites were cursed. The ground consisted of jagged bedrock that poked towards the sky and small patches of dirt occupied by scraggly jack pine. Jordan scoped all three and we decided to set up 3 tents on one site while Murdoch and I stayed on a neigbouring site on a flat piece of bedrock.

I set Anelynda up to make dinner while Murdoch, Jordan and I went to take a 'shower' in the falls. Dinner was chili and all you had to do was add some water and stir. We paddled over to the falls which got significantly bigger as we neared them. Murdoch was the first to get out at the base with Jordan quickly behind. I stopped Murdoch a few seconds later after noticing the bushes he was scrambling through was a patch of poision ivy... Jordan and I went around another way. The falls were powerful and we stayed in a side channel. The guys washed their legs with soap after getting back to the site.

After returning to the site the guys washed their legs to hopefully remove any poision ivy oils and we started dinner just as the skies opened up. Mmm, chili and pitas! The kids ate in their tents while we talked and grumbled around the fire. Apparently the water in my hair made me look like a MEC ad, Anelynda disagreed. Murdoch and I returned to 'our site' to asses the dry status of our tents post downpour. Mine was ok, Murdoch wasn't so lucky. It was a rough night of sleep on good old Canadian shield.

This was not fun.

Canoe partner: Can't remember
Distance Travelled: 15km (ish)
Put in time: ?
Take out time: ?
Dinner: Chili and pitas
Dessert: Cheesecake with blueberries from the top of Ishpatina
Weather: started out gorgeous, huge downpour at dusk then solid cloud