My first trip extends from May 21 to July 27 (Camps 1 to 24) in the Centre portion of Central Saskatchewan, a 279 km circle route south and north of the Churchill River.
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My trip gets off to a non-auspicious start. When I stop for lunch I leave my emergency belt bag hanging in a tree ... aie! Not a good thing when the bag contains survival gear in the event that I lose everything else. The bag also holds my SPOT Satellite Messenger™ for keeping in daily contact with family and for sending an SOS. If my contacts do not receive an "okay" message for three consecutive days, they will contact RCMP. To recover the bag I have to canoe back two hours, seven km, in the presence of strong wind and rain. A long day, arriving in camp at 7:30 pm and not getting into bed until 10:10 pm. Better to get my "stupid" out of the way at the start and provide a reminder to double-check that I have the bag strapped to my waist before I set off.
At the end of last year's trip, my camp chair was held together with rope and duct tape, but now repaired and reinforced. Weighing three kg, I would not be without it for long trips. It is a great luxury to have a comfortable seat off the ground with back support. Thanks to Bob for helping me with the fix.
My Kevlar™-fibreglass canoe is 10 years old and started to leak a bit at the bow from abrasion against rocks. Using epoxy, I glued Kevlar™ "skid plates" onto the keel at both ends of the canoe to correct and to help prevent the problem. I would not buy a new canoe without "skid plates". Note that I think the felts should have been attached a bit lower on the keel.
First camp at 15 km on this large lake, plus an extra 14 km of canoeing to retrieve my emergency belt bag. I use a white tarp for shelter to allow more light through, but when I arise May 25 the tarp is flapping in the wind ... aie! Two grommets are ripped out at one corner. Duct tape cannot fix this problem.
No shortage of firewood and lots of moss to preserve my cooler full of butter.
Fresh poplar leaves (above) and birch leaves and catkins (below) used as salad greens.
Cool 10°C wet weather for three days and nights makes a fire and the stove welcome. The white tarp over the tent is a big improvement allowing more light through to the interior.