My second trip is from July 28 to September 21 in the centre of Central Saskatchewan, 213 km in and out on the same route, south and north of the Churchill River.
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Paddling 15 km on July 28, I camp at a site I have used before on a large island halfway down a big lake. It is tedious paddling across several km of open water, because, unlike paddling along shore, progress seems slow. It is a hot humid 30℃ both days. There always seem to be few bugs here, I think because the bush has a deep base of stair-step moss. I catch two pike to make a tasty chowder for supper on the second day.
An interesting incident happens that I have never encountered before. Sitting on shore reading an issue of Reader's Digest, all of a sudden there is a godawful loud noise across the bay. A great blue heron swoops down to land, but "on top" of a duck who does not take kindly to the intrusion, flapping and quacking which forces the heron to fly a bit farther before setting down in the lake at shore's edge. The heron made a horrendous "gaaaark" sound that echoed across the bay. This is the first time I have heard heron talk.
Salad of golden rod flowers, fireweed greens, red currants, raspberries and a few mauve-coloured mint flowers.
Northern comandra berries, orange in colour. Usually I do not find enough of these berries to bother picking them but this location has plenty.
With a one night stopover in La Ronge, I bought a few supplies including two Thermos® brand one litre single-wall stainless steel flasks to replace my old aluminum canteens. The latter impart an aluminum taste to water, so the stainless steel flasks are a marked improvement. I also bought a third one as a new pee bottle after the demise of my plastic one, differentiating it with orange flagging tape, just to help prevent any surprise tastes.