Website Under Construction

Throughout the time that our website is under construction most of the content is still available.  Please take the time to read stories from our first two summers here in our blog, check out photographs in our gallery and discover our routes of 2007, 2008, and what is in the works for 2009!  Our website will be back up and running shortly.  Thank you for your patience and continued support of our journey.

Holy Cow!

We were impressed by the abundance of wildlife on Manitoulin Island and became accustomed to daily sightings of bald eagles and sandhill cranes. We observed numerous other mammals such as snowshoe hares, mink, deer and skunk. One morning, while loading our canoe, Jon shouted, “Get out of the water!” Unbeknownst to me, a snake was swimming right next to my foot. Running towards shore, I noticed that the snake had a tight grasp around the back of a fish. The fish put up a big fight and the snake was obviously struggling for his breakfast. We watched in awe as the battle between the snake and the fish continued. It was a close one. In the end, the snake swallowed the fish looking quite satisfied with the catch.
No animal could have prepared us for the shock we were about to experience when we noticed a herd of cows grazing at the waters edge. I asked Jon to paddle us closer while I take out the video camera. While filming, I noticed that one cow was strikingly different from the rest. As it turns out, it wasn’t a cow at all but a large black bull. Protective of the females, he eyed our red canoe. Shutting off the camera, I noticed that he was slowly advancing in our direction. We tried to paddle away but the strong winds and waves had beached us on some rocks. Pushing ourselves off with our paddles, we finally freed the canoe and paddled as fast as we could out of sight. Whew! Wiping the sweat from our foreheads, we were thankful to be paddlers instead of bull fighters.

The Missing Crew Member

As we left Little Current, the wind was strong and luckily in our favor. We waived goodbye to my dad and the Fowler-Taylor family from Waterloo who cheered us on from the public dock. We were pushed swiftly past the swing bridge happy to be back on the water but saddened by our missing crew member, Tess. A few nights before departure, she was experiencing a terrible ear infection that demanded vet attention and an appointment could only be scheduled for later in the week. After discovering poison ivy at every campsite the first four nights, we were relieved that she stayed with her Grandma and Grandpa in Sudbury.

A Childhood Dream

After a much needed rest, picking up our vehicle in Thunder Bay, drying out our equipment, packing our food, and planning our route, ten days have rolled by without even a paddle stroke. As preparations for Manitoulin Island are nearing completion, we are becoming increasingly excited to get back out on the water and explore the coastline of the largest freshwater island in the world.
As a young teenager, I can remember pouring over a map of Manitoulin Island with my dad dreaming about a day we would circumnavigate its shores in our little red canoe. After calculating the distance, we decided it would take too long and opted for a family roadtrip out to the east coast instead. Since then, I have kept the dream alive and, as the weekend approaches, Jon, Tess (our dog) and I, are anxiously awaiting the wonderful experiences we will have on the island "where spirits come to play."

Happy Canada Day!

What a great day to finalize our journey along the Canadian shores of Lake Superior! We arrived just as our hot chocolate rations ran out, which was kindly replenished in Pukaskwa National Park by the campsite host and hostess, Mary and John, and before the threatening rumble of distance storms came any closer. It was a delight to be with friends at Naturally Superior Adventures in Wawa and watch the brilliant display of fireworks over the lake.
We feel so privileged to have paddled beside some of the most spectacular, remote, and ancient freshwater coastlines in the world. After seeing them at such an up close and unique perspective, we can assure you that we should feel very proud, as a nation, of our natural inheritance. Few countries in the world are as fortunate to be the keepers of the largest chain of freshwater lakes on the planet. As Canadians, it is our duty to protect these inland seas for future generations; working cooperatively with our American neighbours to ensure that we continue to keep them great.

Hitchhikers

After the summer solstice, the weather warmed enough to allow thick swarms of mosquitoes and black flies to enshroud our campsites. Armed with bug jackets, one of the top ten greatest human inventions, we survived their battalions with few bitten wounds. Often times, they were so persistent that we would resort to eating our meals inside these impenetrable jackets, although several would always sneak their way through a 2-inch tear at the side of my jacket. Duct tape solved that problem quickly. As we paddled away from the shore, swarms of them would follow us out onto the lake and travel with us for kilometers. We aptly named these pernicious creatures “the hitchhikers.” Luckily for me, they were quite fond of my husband leaving me to canoe in peace. Just a reminder to others, when choosing a paddling partner, make sure they attract the bugs more than you.

Fog Magic

Many days were spent canoeing through thick fog banks that made it hard to see the shoreline beside us and impossible to visualize what lay ahead. Most often, we hugged the coastline weaving ourselves around the shoreline but we were sometimes compelled to cross at the mouth of deep bays to further our progress which gave us a good chance to hone our navigational skills. We used a techniques called dead reckoning to help us find our way across through the fog, which when completely surrounded by it and with no land in sight, made us question how the term 'dead reckoning' came to be.
The fog seemed to us to be a powerful curtain that enjoys playing tricks on the minds of those with active imaginations. Everything seems dream-like and mystical as if we could be transported back into an ancient place where anything was possible. While rounding a cape through the fog, three black heads popped-up beside our canoe making a very distinct hissing noise. Immediately, I jumped back thinking that three-headed sea serpents do truly exist. Silly me. Coming out of the fog-like trance, I quickly realized that it was a family of three otters trying to protect their territory. We canoed away from the otters thankful that we didn't have to ward off any sea serpents with our paddles.

Beach Combing Mystery

The myriad of brightly coloured rocks found on Lake Superior's cobblestone beaches keep us entertained at each campsite. Beach combing for the perfect rock has become our evening ritual. In our search, we've discovered sparkling agates, pink daisystones and, to our surprise, small white coloured plastic pellets known as nurdles. For about one hundred kilometers of coastline, we found hundreds of thousands of these noxious plastic pieces scattered across beaches along the north shore. Used in the plastic manufacturing industry, nurdles are known to wreck havoc on marine life since they are often mistaken for food. Concerned, we are left puzzled in our attempts to find out how these nurdles ended up in the water. Could it have been in a train derailment or perhaps a shipping mishap? Maybe we will never know.

Monsoon Season

The weather along the northern shore has been anything but hospitable. Cold, windy and wet are three words that come to mind when trying to describe the experience. Rain has been a typical everyday occurrence so much so that you might as well call it monsoon season on Lake Superior. Fortunately the awe inspiring scenery keeps our spirits lifted and encourages us to push forward to see what new wonders lie beyond the next headland. Another delight along this coastline is a section popularly known as "The Sauna Tour". Several islands in the region contain saunas that are available for boaters and paddlers to use. Our warmed bodies really appreciated the effort it took in establishing these havens along the coast. Now, as we paddle towards the summer solstice, we are hoping for warmer weather.

Golden Pastries at Silver Islet

Once one of the richest silver mines in Canada, the town of Silver Islet is now home to a pastry-lovers gold mine. Located on the remote northern shore of Lake Superior, we knew that this would be our last bit of civilization for sometime. We pulled our canoe up on the government beach and entered the town's general store. The smell of freshly baked pastries called to us from the tea room at the back of the building. The owners and operators of the store, the Saxburg family, welcomed us with a hot pot of tea and freshly baked cinnamon buns. They helped us with our equipment dilemma and charged our camera batteries since our solar panel charging unit wasn't receiving power from continually overcast skies. While we passed the time, we noticed a sign in the tea room which read "Come in as strangers, leave as family." No other saying could have depicted our visit any better. It wasn't a problem for us to wait all afternoon for the batteries to charge - "Another piece of apple pie please?!"

What's in a Name...

Canoeing past the city of Thunder Bay was a unique experience. Up until this point, we hadn't paddled through many large ports so we were happy to have a calm day to canoe the fourty-five kilometer stretch to Sleeping Giant Provincial Park. Although we passed some towering structures such as the power generating station and numerous grain elevators, the city itself looked so small compared to the wilderness that surrounded it. While tucked away in our tent on Caribou Island, a series of thunderstorms awoke us from our much-needed sleep. The loud crackling bolts reverberated off the cliffs reinforcing the appropriateness of the bay's name.

Three Degrees Celsius

Spectacular cliffs and bountiful wildlife highlights the coastline from Pigeon River to Thunder Bay. We were delighted to have spotted two Peregrine Falcon nests perched along towering cliffs - a sign that their populations are hopefully rebounding. This year, we purposely departed on our expedition in June instead of May thinking that it might be warmer. Unfortunately, summer on the northern shore of Lake Superior doesn't seem to be here yet. The temperature of the lake is three degrees Celsius and it seems the shoreline isn't much warmer. Yesterday, while paddling along, we spotted a huge slab of ice hanging from the rocky shore. We were mentally prepared for summer, good thing we packed for winter! Yeah for down jackets, sleeping bags and booties! We sure hope it warms up soon.

Departure Day!

The weather is looking good for our departure today - sunny and warm with a slight breeze. This week, in Thunder Bay, we experienced everything from snow to plus 27 degrees Celsius in less than two days. Today, we will be departing from the Pigeon River which is where the Canadian and American borders meet on Lake Superior. Our friend Ken will be driving us and all of our equipment to the closest point we can get to the water. From there, we will portage our gear in - a nice reminder of why we paddle on the Great Lakes! We have added a new feature to our website where you can track our progress throughout the summer. Please follow the link on the left hand side of this page to see our location on Google maps.

Planning and Preparations

The long winter is over and now we are well on our way to completing our plans and preparations for the new paddling season. As we pour over maps and sort through food we are spending time reminiscing about our experiences of last summer and dreaming about the adventures to come. After last summer, our plans have developed and changed, reflecting the ever changing nature expedition paddling and the challenges the Great Lakes provide. This summer we will be focusing on completing the north shore of Lake Superior from Pigeon River to Wawa, a complete tour of Manitoulin Island and the Lake Huron coast from Tobermory to Sarnia. Our anticipated departure date is set for the end of May in the hopes that Lake Superior will be a little bit warmer. Currently, the water temperature of Superior is 2 degrees Celsius! Making cold weather paddling gear a necessity! We are well prepared on the equipment front thanks to the continued support of our many sponsors (please check our their links through our website). Tess (our dog) will be visiting family in Sudbury as we paddle the Lake Superior portion. She is looking forward to joining us in the nicer weather later this summer. Please continue to check back for journal entries and photographs throughout the summer.