Quetico Canoe Trip

We have just returned from our big canoe trip in Quetico Provincial Park (hence the flurry of updates to the site). We had such an absolutely amazing week it's actually hard to know where to begin, but here it goes. The park was stunning and very "untouched" feeling. There were camp sites, but beyond a rock firepit and a relatively flat area for a tent there were no other amenities. Despite the large number of people who go through each site in a given year they were very clean and wild and we really learned to appreciate the tenants of backcountry etiquette. We were also canoeing on the shoulder season and on most days would cross no more than two other canoe groups which helped contribute to our sense of isolation and being in the wilderness. There are no signs anywhere in the park which means that proper use of a map and compass became very important and we both got a chance to learn more about orienteering which was really cool (especially as we did not get lost or get sucked over any rapids). On the official park map camp sites are not even marked, but we had a more detailed map for much of the trip and it had sites marked on it so we were able to route plan a little easier. Our days varied in length between three hours and six hours of canoeing, depending on our destination for the day. As we progressed in the trip we got more aggressive with our goals and the longer days were mainly later in the week. We had a variety of weather conditions from absolutely calm sunny days where the water reflected the shore and sky perfectly, to cross or head winds that sent waves over the side or front of the canoe. We were fortunate that most of the rain we had occurred during the night (our tent held up well in the wind and rain, thanks Kuldeep) and we only really had two days that felt particularly cold. We steered clear of any bear or moose encounters, though did manage to see a Mamma and her cubs off in the distance as we headed towards home. Turtles could be spotted sunbathing, fish were plentiful (so plentiful that Meghan was able to catch 6 Bass and Walleye while Cameron diligently paddled across a rather large lake), and bald eagles abounded. We saw some Indian pictographs, painted with ocre and still clearly visible along various rock faces.

Meals were always yummy, as only backcountry camping can turn KD and Mr. Noodles into gourmet tasting dinners at the end of a hard day. Even Meg's insistance on KD with tuna ended up being palatable.

As I had alluded to in a previous post, while we got a tow into the park, we decided to canoe our way out. We had given ourselves plenty of time to make it from the smaller lakes within the park, across Lac La Croix back to Campbell's and we ended up needing it. For two solid days we had a strong westerly wind which we fought against as we crossed the lake. With the size of the lake we also had pretty big waves fighting against us and every paddle stroke was a battle. It looked like the shore was passing at a snails pace. In the end though after camping on a windy, rocky point for the night we were able to pull into Campbell's with the last of our energy and got a boat ride back to Derby to continue our adventure.