Those Guys Need a Car!

The much anticipated portage finally arrived and, as we started walking towards Niagara Falls, we laughed nervously about the 26 kilometer portage ahead. “What were we thinking when we signed up for this?” I wondered out loud. To be perfectly honest, we had never been on a portage longer than two kilometers and up until this point we avoided them like the plague. Even if it meant swimming through the frigid spring waters on a previous French River canoe trip, we felt that anything was better than the dreaded “P” word. Fortunately for us, portaging technology has advanced since the fur trade and we were well equipped with a C-Tug canoe trolley that proved invaluable for the next 26 kilometers.
We opted to take the scenic route around Niagara Falls by pulling our canoe through the Niagara Recreational Trail instead of the following the historic route on Portage Road. As we approached the falls, people looked at us suspiciously and we were soon approached by the Niagara Park Police. Two well-dressed officers stepped out of their vehicles and after discovering that we had no ambition to canoe over the falls told us that they had received several calls about us that morning. They were very helpful and told us to call them if we needed any assistance.
At table rock, we stopped at the brink of the falls to meet Ray and John from the Niagara Falls Review. I asked them if they had heard of anyone portaging the falls in recent years. They chuckled and told us with certainty that we were the first ones to portage this route since the early explorers. We continued pulling the canoe through the thick Monday morning crowds. As we made our way through the tourists, we couldn’t help but laugh when one person commented, “Those guys need a car!”
John, one of the policemen, arranged for us to stop at the Whitewater Walk which is where the river is at its narrowest point. We travelled down an elevator to see the incredible class six rapids at the bottom which reminded us of why we have to portage such a long way. After lunch, Geoff Elliot, Dave Patterson and Jon’s father, Chris Pratt, came to help make the portage more manageable. We took turns pulling the canoe and, in the end, I don’t know how we could have completed it without them. To celebrate the long day, wine tasting and dinner followed at Peller Estates.