Spring 2010 Vol. 37 No. 1 Quarterly Journal of the Wilderness Canoe Association

The Spirits of Chapleau-Nemegosenda Text by Gary Storr Photos by Gary Storr and Graham Bryan

“Have you ever read Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness? ” It was past midnight when our vehicle lurched into the I deadpan when people ask me how the trip went. Of course Chapleau Crown Game Preserve east of Lake Superior, there was no Kurtz, no embodiment of mystery and evil for towing a rickety trailer laden with packs and canoes. We whom we were being sent—there was only the river itself. peered out the windshield searching for a sign that would There were no ivory traders whose exploits sullied hu - point us to Racine Lake. The plan was to camp there and in mankind’s lofty moral expectations. We had only the spirits. the morning meet up with our driver who would shuttle us to the river. No sign. Above the forest single-minded intent was to blast the campsite. It was a tame creature, canopy the sky was starlit yet inky through as much whitewater as we completely without guile and it filled black; below it, our headlights deep - could, maybe spot a lynx, and enjoy me with a sense of optimism. The nat - ened the shadows—trees leapt at us eight uninterrupted days on the river. ural expression of a fox is a smile. from every bend. We stopped on the We figured on four days to Elsas, a This was our charm, a sign of good road to discuss our options and from former mill town on the Canadian things to come. the quarter points of the vehicle re - National Railway line at Kapuskasing After breakfast, we were delivered lieved ourselves, subconsciously mark - Lake, then four days back on a quiet to a spot partway along Island Rapids ing our territory. Lions and tigers and swamp known as the Nemegosenda by an affable fellow named Sylvain. I’d bears, oh my! Then we climbed back River, finishing at Westover Lake. found Sylvain earlier, hairy and shirt - in and carried on. Eventually we found it—a small, less, at a trailer site strewn with empty We’d come to paddle the Chapleau hand-lettered sign tacked to a tree at a beer cans. He cheerfully drove us up a River, a scenic waterway that forms dark intersection: Racine Lake . logging road, then pulled over and an - the eastern boundary of the Chapleau Minutes later we were at the camp - nounced, “This is it!” A bridge Crown Game Preserve as it courses ground. We quickly pitched our tents, spanned the rapids and the road bi - northward from the town of Chapleau tossed back a celebratory beer, and sected the portage. Leaving us to our to Kapuskasing Lake. There were four sacked out. task, he waved and disappeared behind of us: Dan Bell, Graham Bryan, Ross In the morning, Dan and I arose a billowing cloud of dust. Robertson, and Gary Storr, and we ahead of the others. We were preparing The rainy season had extended well were planning to do this trip during the our morning brew when we noticed a into summer and we soon discovered first eight days of August 2008. Our fox sitting expectantly at the edge of the trails didn’t dry up before the next

2 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 downpour moved desultorily over the obliged us to portage, but a few mo - across the water, never quite grazing river. There is a decided incongruity in ments of exhilaration were ample pay - the surface. We supposed it was har - plunging from a dusty, elevated log - back for the effort expended in getting vesting dragonflies, all the while indif - ging road into a wet, northern rain for - there. With raised spirits we paddled ferent to our gaze. (Our supposition est, but in our eagerness to start pad - into Shewabik Lake and began to look was based on the fact that we were fre - dling we thought nothing of it. We for a place to make camp. quently shrugging dragonflies from lugged our gear down to the riverbank, Shewabik Lake is a work in pro- our shoulders.) These revitalizing loaded the canoes, and pushed off. gress—it offers a rare opportunity to glimpses of life’s tiny wonders are It’s like coming home, those first observe an active shoreline. An island gateways to a world of simplicity and limbering paddle strokes that bring partway along was bridged over time unencumbrance. We drank in the scene you to speed, then glide you quietly by wave action and is now a pebbled until satisfied, then took up our pad - past myriad waypoints alongshore. spit sweeping out from shore. dles and dug in to the north. Your other self melts away and you be - Rounding this feature opens a lake –The following morning we broke come “Frontiersman,” the guy you’d be vista to the north, and tucked behind camp and paddled under sunny skies if you could do it all over again. We the spit is a shallow bay that for us out of Shewabik Lake. Dan, from the approached the landing to the next cradled a bit of magic. Here, a solitary bow seat, noticed a rainbow in the mist portage after only a few minutes, Bonaparte gull fluttered on the breeze, to our left. It paced us until the mist abruptly cutting short the reverie of gliding up then swooping unsteadily burned off, at which point we found self-abandonment. “Pack mule,” by contrast, bites. The Chapleau and Nemegosenda rivers tumble across the Canadian Shield along parallel fault lines so what lies primarily underfoot is gran - ite. And granite means challenging carries. Toss in a thunderstorm and not only are the portages potentially crip - pling, they’re saturated. Mud, mosqui - toes, thickening undergrowth—it all adds up to a route that appears to be seldom travelled and with the passage of time, grows wilder. I wouldn’t rec - ommend it to novice paddlers. That said, there are few places as beautiful. At the base of the second, un - runnable rapid we took lunch under towering cedars and watched the river burst through the final bend into the calm below our vantage point. Our sole objective was to cover twenty kilometres each day, but after two hours of portaging, eighteen remained. We needed to hustle. What we didn’t know was that downriver a dearth of campsites would necessitate lengthy forced marches—long days awaited us. Twenty kilometres wouldn’t be an issue. After paddling a placid expanse of reedy shoreline, we at last cut our teeth on a bouldery stretch of white - water. It was an easy run but it was enough to soak us through and whet our appetites for more. Two short rapids followed including one that

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 3 ers, whose caprices we were forced to contend with over the remainder of the trip. Soon after re-entering the river, granite walls rose at our flanks and we found ourselves faced with another daunting carry, this one bypassing a waterfall. We dragged the canoes out of the gorge from the still water near the brink, then muddied our backsides slipping down into the fault below the cataract. Royalex trips, Kevlar dreams. The waterfall cascades through a crook in the bedrock and is hidden from view. The current pushes strongly out from its base but we drove against it in our canoes to see what we’d been made to skirt. Resting in the damp air below the falls we basked in its energy, then ferried across to a rock face etched with faded pictographs. ourselves the epicentre of a magnifi - precariously from behind and break Grace Rajnovich explains in her cent sun dog mirrored in the lake. over its deck, don’t preach of atmos - book, Reading Rock Art, that the circle From beyond our bow and stern all the pheric pressure and lunar tides—those is the basic shape in Algonkian sym - colours of the spectrum arced away to are the gods of meteorologists. I pre - bolism—it provides the form of the the west. fer to imagine the horned lynx, medicine wheel. Within the wheel are Indigenous peoples believed rain - Mishipezheu, making tempestuous the the four realms of the spirit world: sky, bows were bridges to the spirit world. water with giant sweeps of his tail. The earth, underground, and underwater. At a time in life when every wilder - rumble emanating from dark clouds The base of the rock face where we ness excursion kick-starts my inner overhead is Thunderbird vomiting up bobbed in our canoes is a sacred site, Grey Owl, a belief system comprised his enemy, the Serpent, and lightning, one where the realms meet. Not only is of many deities offers an appealing the act of flinging Serpent to the it a place of spiritual significance, it’s tack. When whitecaps push my canoe ground. It was these spirits, and oth - the perfect canvas upon which to con - vey one’s beliefs. Barely discernible on the lichen-encrusted wall are ani - mal figures and the circle itself.

Learning to shoot rapids is three parts book-learning and ninety-seven parts calamity. With all due respect to Bill Mason, when I stare at the photo - graphs in Path of the Paddle , I might as well be holding the book upside down—it only begins to make sense when I climb into a boat and start ca - reening off boulders. The point of the exercise, of course, is to not bounce off rocks. My brother-in-law, Ross, good-naturedly partners me in the stern. I shout commands over my shoulder, which he calmly ignores, and this system seems to work fine for us, but occasionally it doesn’t. That afternoon after leaving the pic - tographs behind, Ross and I watched

4 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 as Dan and our teacher, Graham, ap - and we knifed toward it. As we pre - There were rapids which humbled peared at the top of a long extent of pared to exit triumphantly, I noticed us and others that lifted us to happy whitewater and began to pick their way Graham smile and raise his camera. exultation. Some just left us feeling through the final descent. They were Suddenly I saw what he saw and a lucky. One such rapid was a split that executing flawlessly, guiding their knot formed in my colon. “Shit!” I hurtled past both sides of an island. canoe through the undulating chop, yelled, as we rammed into the V. It was We moved our gear to the base of the when they abruptly found themselves a ledge, and unhappily for us, one with island, then returned to our canoes, hung up on a rock near the base of the a significant drop below it. As rivers scouting the trail on either side. The rapid. It was nothing of consequence are given to do, it turned us broadside channel to the right was impassable— — they stuck out a foot and pushed to the flow and began to tip us per - there was a small waterfall partway away, but I made a mental note and ilously over the precipice. Graham along and the rest was choked by chided them lightheartedly. later commented that he could see the deadfall and huge, gnarly boulders. At Ross and I were up next so we hur - entire contents of our canoe. Ross and the base of the island where the chan - ried back to the top of the portage and I held onto the gunwales like grim nels collide there was an eddy. We’d quickly hatched a plan of action. death while the river churned around have to snag a sharp right at this spot Determined not to repeat Dan and us, nudging us closer and closer. Then or risk being swept downriver without Graham’s mistake, we chose our point soundlessly we slid over the brink. our gear. We put our heads together of entry and smoothly glided in. When we opened our eyes we were and declared it a go. Gaining momentum, we began to right-side up and miraculously, still Graham and Dan went first. Ross carve a crisp, clean run, slipping afloat. But there was no saving face. and I watched until they were out of through chutes, drenching ourselves The current swung our stern downriver sight, then waited another prudent until we neared the place that had and flushed us out the base of the minute before pushing away. We given them pause. We drew hard to the rapid ass-backwards. All we could do couldn’t afford a midstream pileup. It right where I spied a downstream V, was grin sheepishly while Graham was a spirited run rife with obstacles. the safe passage between two rocks, snapped photographs. Unable to process the sheer number of

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 5 cessful eddy turn. At just the right mo - ment I thrust my paddle hard by the bow and swung the stern into the tiny piece of quiet water. Ross executed a broad sweep from behind and pushed us into place just as Graham and Dan moved aside to accommodate us. It was reassuring to see that their canoe held at least as much water as ours. At the base of an ominous set of rapids that we wisely chose to bypass, trees lined the riverbanks like walls of a shrine. The hair bristled on the back of my neck—there were ghosts here. A lingering residue of ill fortune per - vaded, then quickly became apparent: on our left, the bow of a canoe jammed in the rocks, a reminder of some an - cient, undeveloped skill-set; the twisted wreckage of an aluminum canoe stuck in the branches of a tree to rocks in my field of vision, my brain island appeared around the final bend. our right. More remains lay further balked and shut down. Working on raw It was like losing a game of Tetris. We downstream. It was a canoe graveyard, nerve, we scraped over boulders and pulled our canoe as close to the right hallowed ground, and we allowed our - rode up their sides, scooping vast bank as possible, avoiding overhang - selves to be carried through it in silent quantities of water until the base of the ing branches, and prayed for a suc - awe. How had these people gotten out of here? Their accounts would surely have been riveting. We made it to Elsas in three days. We’d run rapids and carried our heavy boats over back-breaking portages. We’d paddled wide, reedy expanses of slow-moving water over which bald eagles soared and saw stands of aspen, their tops unfurled like umbrellas trembling high above the surrounding canopy. It was late when we entered Kapuskasing Lake. Far to the north we saw a cluster of cabins and a railway bridge to the east. We made it there in an hour. While we were having supper the rain began and it rained every day after.

Elsas is a ghost town possessed. Unable to come to grips with its own demise, it’s possessed of a tiny spark of joie de vivre . The sawmill closed in the 1930s but from its inception the hamlet has sustained itself as a CNR camp. The only access is by canoe, train, or float plane. There are a dozen or so cabins, a former church, and a school, now a private cottage, that

6 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 Lester Pearson visited in 1948. The meanderings of glaciated wetland. fore logging. Now, there’s scarcely a last full-time resident, a hermit Moving languorously upstream, our pine to be seen on the distant upland named Walsh, died in 2003. Now the paddles clacked against reeds and ridges. From this point onward, the hunting and fishing crowd restore stalks of wild rice. Above us, a rail- first order of business when landing at life to the former settlement. truck driver waved as he crossed the a campsite was to pitch a tarp and Operating for a few months each bridge. Ahead of schedule, we opted stand idly beneath it, spilling pooled year is a bed-and-breakfast, the for a short, restful day on the river. We rainwater off the sides and splashing Dolittle Inn, and behind it, a pub—a set up camp on picnic rock, a solitary ourselves in the process. Grey skies refurbished tool shed. The décor is chunk of Precambrian stone that rises lingered overhead, puddling the shanty chic, hockey-and-fishing enticingly from the water. Dave told us ground and saturating the forest. Each bric-a-brac accented with draped his fish finder measured the depth leaf became a tiny salver of droplets netting over the bar. Unfortunately here at thirty feet. The nearest camp - conspiring with its multitude to soak for us, the pub was closed, its own - site is twenty-five kilometres upriver. anyone who brushed past. We were ers absent. All thoughts of a cold, Elsasians call this place Pine Lake, drier in our boats than on our camp - refreshing beer evaporated. We were a name that harkens back to a time be - sites and never wetter than on the generously offered its use by the owner’s brother, Dave Quigley, as refuge from the mosquitoes that nightly drove us into our tents be - fore sunset. The shots, however, were poured from our own stock. The Chapleau River, or Kebsquasheshing, Ojibway for “river full of weeds,” flows into a vast lowland. Departing from Elsas, our route led us briefly down the Kapuskasing River, then east across a man-made trench to the Nemegosenda, “river of the big trout,” where we plied wide, lazy

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 7 portages. But there wasn’t a moment rainwater. Sodden branches thwacked through a fish camp at Twenty-foot when I wanted to be anyplace else. us in the face. Falls in a torrential downpour, then Seasoned canoe trippers develop a “It can’t get any worse,” we prom - stood high above the cataract in an os - “leg timer”—they know the duration ised ourselves. motic trance, letting its power seep of a portage if given its approximate But it did. into us. We gathered tentatively around distance beforehand. It becomes innate One afternoon, we dragged our gear a steel rod embedded in the rock at in the way a bird knows where south is. In Chapleau, the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources destroyed this notion by means of a simple device: they mislabelled all the portage dis - tances on the map. Our leg timers were restored by adding fifty percent to the length of each carry. Over the next few days we pressed on doggedly across broad sweeps of marsh occasionally cut through with serpentine channels. We waded our ca - noes up foaming rapids, pushing against shove, banging our shins on the slippery rocks. We ducked the grasp of charred skeletons that reached from intermittent burns along the riverbanks and crawled over progres - sively higher levels of Shield like gasping tetrapods evolving from the primordial ooze. Our meagre advance was accomplished by a series of hell - ish portages, each more difficult than the last. “Son of a bitch!” sputtered a fallen comrade as we dragged our ca - noes through ankle-deep mud awash in

8 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 cliff’s edge, examining it like Kubrick’s apes at the base of the monolith. A sudden crack of lightning reverberated across the sky instantly topping up our intelligence quotients and sending us scrambling off the rock in sheer terror. We’d been playing with a lightning rod in a thunderstorm! Either we’d get through this alive or we’d succumb to natural selection. I, for one, wasn’t placing any bets. The next day, near to abandoning hope of reaching a campsite, we refo - cused our energies on merely locating solid ground. Our access to the sur - rounding forest was blocked by im - mense tracts of shoreline fen. The sun moved across the sky and afternoon faded to evening. Then, as we ap - tiny critters blanketed the tents, and not Wendigo, the giant cannibal of proached the north end of Frog Lake, buzzing at the screens, thirsting mind - native lore. He would come crashing a clarion call: “Over there! Dirt!” lessly for blood. God help any man through the darkness to pick his teeth Earthen riverbanks rose serendipi - who had to pee. with our bones. tously on both sides. But there was no After the buzzing subsided, I con - With increasing bewilderment we place we could call home. torted in my sleeping bag listening for found ourselves in situations that nor - Graham, who possesses adventur - night sounds: a barred owl, a racoon, mally would have triggered alarm ous tendencies that make the rest of us but the world outside our tent was a bells. As it was, our learning curve cringe, noticed a muddy bearslide on boundless void, the stillness as black veered sharply to the left, describing the east bank and decided to investi - as the night. If we were to receive a the wide, dipping arc of a boomerang gate. Using roots to haul himself up, nocturnal visitor, I prayed for the bear as it winged back to clip us in the butt. he disappeared into the forest, then re - ported back. Up we went. Tramping down wet bracken ferns adjacent to the trail, we made camp. Further along the path lay deadfall shredded with claw marks. Later, the snap of a fallen branch pricked our ears. Was the bear informing us of his presence and ad - vising us to move off? There were four of us and only one of him so we car - ried on with our camp chores uncon - cerned. With fifty combined summers of canoe tripping under our belts, we learned long ago not to let rain dampen our spirits, but supper had to be hurried so we could dive for cover before mosquito hour struck. A tiny zizzing around our ears intensified into a high-pitched, whining hum as throngs more joined the chorus. Soon the forest was vibrant with mosqui - toes. We spent this time reading and stretching tired back muscles—we were slowly becoming damaged goods. Meanwhile, a dense layer of

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 9 That night we set up camp high atop our gear behind us. Gaining the sum - Our final day found us lily-dipping an island near the south end of mit, we shrank from Thunderbird’s on Borden Creek, the last sparkling Nemegosenda Lake. To reach the peak, fury once more as jagged bolts of ribbon of water we would paddle on we tied a rope to a tree above a mud - lightning sizzled above the pines at the this trip. Decrepit beyond my years, I slide and pulled ourselves up, hauling highest elevation on the lake. squirmed in my seat and took pleasure in watching a pair of cedar waxwings alight on their namesake tree. Soon after, we entered Mate Lake. Failing to regard the magnitude of an esker that divides the lake, we were rudely awakened by the portage leading out of it. Its gradient is so severe that a man with a canoe on his shoulders might bump repeatedly into the base before realizing he was meant to go straight up. Emerging from the forest at the top of the incline, Dan and I caught our breath, then stepped onto a giant arti - ficial scar scraped from the wilder - ness. We noticed an animal at its base, silhouetted in profile against the intru - sion, its head turned toward us. We paused for a longer look. It was our talisman, the fox, greeting us on the final portage. We stared at each other for a moment, then it turned and trot - ted off. I smiled, aware that in spite of our trials, this place had somehow got - ten into me. We had imposed our wills on forces that had toyed with us and

10 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 for a few shining moments acquitted ourselves with aplomb. But even though we had joined the ranks of the flesh-and-blood spirits who had passed this way before us, there were no high- fives. We weren’t done yet. Paddling across a pretty kettle lake called Waweya, we pulled ashore at the place we’d arranged to find our vehicle and quelle surprise —it was - n’t there! Heart of Darkness ? Perhaps. Outward Bound for grey - beards? You won’t hear a word from us to the contrary.

[Another Chapleau trip is presented in the Winter 2008 issue of Nastawgan (ed.)]

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 11 CPM #40015547 Published by the Wilderness Canoe Association ISSN 1828-1327 Nastawgan is an Anishinabi word meaning “the way or route”

The WILDERNESS CANOE ASSOCIATION is a non- Nastawgan, to facilitate the exchange of information and profit organization made up of individuals interested in ideas of interest to wilderness travellers, organizes an ex - wilderness travel, mainly by canoe and kayak, but also in - tensive program of trips for members, runs a few basic cluding backpacking and winter trips on both skis and workshops, and is involved in environmental issues rele - snowshoes. The club publishes a quarterly journal, vant to wilderness canoeing.

WCA Photo Contest Editorial The production team regrets that in the Members of the WCA visit many in - mation on the photographs. last issue of Nastawgan, SPRING 2010, credible places on this planet, both Send your selection to Toni a different font was used than normal. near and far. However, we don’t Harting, Nastawgan editor, at: jour - Steps have been taken to avoid this from often get a chance to share our sto - [email protected]. Toni will happening again. The dastardly culprit of ries and images with other members. be the main judge, assisted by sev - this misdeed has been severely punished. But now there is such an opportu - eral photo-savvy people who are not nity, because all members are invited members of the WCA. The closing to participate in the search for the date for submission of your entries best photographs made by WCA is 1 October 2010. members. Winners will be announced at the Select three of your favourite Wine & Cheese Party in November canoe/kayak/wilderness trip photo - 2010. The top ten photographs will graphs (flat water, whitewater, be enlarged and laminated to be a camping, portaging, swimming, any - part of the WCA booth at public thing you encounter on wilderness events. In addition, winners will be canoe trips and related activities) published in the Winter 2010 issue and enter them in this competition. of Nastawgan . The top winners will Photographs can be made in tradi - also receive an autographed copy of tional analog format (35 mm, Toni Harting’s book Shooting medium, negative, slide, color, Paddlers, Photographic Adventures black-and-white, etc.) and digital with Canoeists, Kayakers and format. But all submissions must be Rafters. in the form of digital files, so you We’re hoping that this invitation Deadlines need to digitize the analog originals may provide a spark for future simi - before submitting them. The files lar initiatives – perhaps making this The deadline dates for submitting mate - should be in JPEG at 300 dpi at 4 x a fun, annual event! So, grab your rial for the three remaining issues in 6 inch or larger. Please include a camera and go shooting…! 2010 are: the first day of May, August, brief description of each image and and November. If you have questions, the full name of the photographer, as The Board please contact the editor; addresses on well as some basic technical infor - the last page.

12 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 Symposium: Northern Travels & Northern Perspectives IX

More than 600 paddlers and other lovers of the outdoors thor - E.T Seton’s Arctic Prairies John Wadland oughly enjoyed the 18 presentations made at this annual sym - Thaidene Nene: Land of the Ancestors Larry Innes posium, organized by George Luste and sponsored by the Journey to Nitchequon: A Fur Trade WCA, held in Toronto on February 5 and 6, 2010. The follow - Family in Ungava Virginia Barter ing presentations were made: Vachon River in Ungava Eric Leclair Tale of Two Trips: Romaine’s Final Gift David Lee, David Thompson & his Writings Bill Moreau Dave Robinson Dubawnt River Art Expedition Christine Persaud An Innocent on Baffin, circa 1950s Terrence Ryan The Raven’s Gift and Wilderness Rocks & Sand – Sand & Rocks Glen Hooper Spirituality Jon Turk More Lost Ontario Canoe Routes Kevin Callan Big Thaw: Travels in the Melting North Ed Struzik Sacred Headwaters: Paddling the Jay Neilson, Arctic Issues: Barren Ground Caribou Monte Hummel Spatsizi and Stikine Frank Knaapen Blue Covenant: Water Issues for 50 Mile Portage to the Rae River & Canadians Maude Barlow Some Paddling Too Borealis Expedition Pike’s Portage: Stories of a Morton Asfeldt, Rivers in the Land of Genghis Kan Hermann Harbisch, Distinguished Place Bob Henderson Claudia Moessner

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 13 ANNUAL GENERAL MEET 20 February 2010

14 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 Photo – Aleks Gusev TING

Midland, Ontario Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons Wye Marsh

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 15 WCA 2010 Annual General Meeting

More than 40 WCA members turned with a lot of familiar faces. Reports followed from the treasurer, out on Saturday, 20 February, for this In his Chairman’s report Aleks pre - membership, and outings. The WCA year’s AGM at Sainte-Marie-Among-the- sented a number of highlights for 2009, board for 2010 will see Allan Jacobs Hurons and the Wye Marsh near including the WCA presence on You coming in, as Jon McPhee completes his Midland, Ontario. Restaurant Sainte- Tube, and a redesign of the WCA and term and steps down. Marie provided delicious goodies to start CCR websites, which he gave an impres - We were served a delicious hot meal, the day, and we had a cozy 17th-century- sive demonstration of. Overall, the club and then headed a short way down the styled room to hold our business meeting seems to have more people having more road to the Wye Marsh for our afternoon in. Chairman Aleks Gusev had us in rapt fun! Goals for 2010 include completing activity. Naturalist Sarah showed a film attention from the start, showing You canoe routes on MyCCR and increasing on the trumpeter swan recovery program, Tube excerpts of an amazing grizzly- the number of “green” (i.e. online) which has been a huge success in cub-and-cougar encounter, and “This is Nastawgan subscriptions. Outings must Ontario. She talked about swan behav - Canoeing,” a wonderful new film by a remain part of our core value: “It’s all iour and fielded our questions. We then British company, shot mostly in Canada about giving back and paying forward.” headed out in two guided groups. The beautiful sunshine and warm tempera - tures allowed us to hike on the packed trail rather than snowshoe. We even tried out the assistive devices for the trail, both trail runner and kick sled. Our first stop was at the birds of prey collection. We were amazed by the size of the immature bald eagle up close. The wooded trail winds its way down to the marsh proper and the area of water that is bubbled to provide for the group of swans that have not learned to migrate. We met Adele, the swan who goes out on school visits, but who will only allow one naturalist to take her! A tower allowed a distant view over the large area of marshland, and some took the longer hike on the marsh boardwalk. Back at the centre, Aleks held court for a brainstorming session as we en - joyed hot chocolate and goodies and toured the exhibits of snakes, frogs, etc. that we often encounter on our canoe trips. A few went out for a spring-like cross country ski. Thanks to all who were able to partic - ipate. Go to the WCA website, click WCA on Video, and select WCA AGM 2010 to see musical highlights of the day. There has been a suggestion that we return here next year, making the after - noon session a guided snowshoe/ski/hike of the Sainte-Marie-Among-the-Hurons historical site, with a visit to the museum and some sort of voyageur-related speaker. Please let me know how that would suit you; any other suggestions you may have are also welcome. Barbara Burton, [email protected], 705-788-0059

16 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 Hiking Weekend at Duntroon

On November 14 and 15, 2009, a small group of WCA members joined together for a fun weekend of hiking, eating, and story sharing. Our home base was the farmhouse at Highlands Nordic and we hiked Ontario’s Bruce Trail in Kolapore and the Pretty River Park. We had two new members join us: Val Davis-Kelly and Meir Bester. Val shared the following in a follow-up email: “Thanks to everyone who organized, drove, planned, booked, cooked, led, welcomed, and just were themselves making this weekend a wonderful experi - ence. I am glad to have met each and every one of you and to have spent some precious time with you hiking through paradise. From the sunshine of Saturday to the damp mist of Sunday, it was a great ride.”

Submitted by Barb Young on behalf of the organizers: Barb & Dave Young, Diane Lucas, Rick Sabourin, Beth & Bruce Bellaire.

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 17 Quiet, or the computers will eat you

Almost all of us will confess to a certain from the leaf litter, and flew off into the tres up in a tree, could hear a mouse run - exasperation with computers. We admire forest. ning through a tunnel along the ground their awesome power but very few of us The whole thing was over so quickly beneath the snow? Or, if it could, would really understand how they work and we and seemed to be such an unequal contest it be able to pinpoint the sound source ac - often find them downright frustrating. that we couldn’t help feeling a little sym - curately enough to make a successful Still, if you think that we humans have it pathy for the victim, and wondering what blind grab? bad, some other animals have even bigger advice we might have offered to it and to Well, perhaps we should take a closer computer problems. all the thousands of other mice who suffer look at just exactly how owls do hear. This really came home to us on our the same fate every night in Algonquin. Their ears, like those of all birds, are lo - last canoe trip up on the west side of the Is there, in fact, anything that a mouse cated on the side of the head behind the Park, when we witnessed some impres - could do to lessen its changes of becom - eyes. Basically, they are just holes in the sive computing by a Barred Owl. The ing supper for an owl and then, a few skull hidden from our eyes by the owl’s Barred Owl is our commonest owl and hours later, being coughed up as a lifeless head feathering. There is, however, at one that is quite familiar to most visitors pellet of fur and bones? least one thing about the ears of owls that to Algonquin as the author of all those We might suggest staying out of sight is very odd indeed. The external ear crazy nighttime hoots and cackles, some - because we all know, of course, about the openings are way out of alignment! The times rendered as “Who cooks for you? incredible powers of night vision pos - left ear opening is noticeably higher on Who cooks for you all?” On this occasion sessed by owls. Our Barred Owl, for ex - the side of the head (a little higher than the owl not only gave us an excellent ample, has eyes fully one hundred times the eye), round, and downward-pointing. vocal performance, but also came so as sensitive to low light as human eyes, The opening of the right ear, on the other close to our campsite that we were able to and it can easily see in what we would hand, is situated below eye level, is of get our flashlight on it and have a good perceive as total darkness. Still, a mo - quite different shape, and points upwards. look. It had been looking down at us for a ment’s reflection will show that owls Now, it turns out that owls (and many minute or two when we heard something must be using something more than just other birds as well) have hearing that is start to rustle on the forest floor a few feet vision to catch its mouse on a very dark many times more acute than ours. We away. Instantly, the owl’s attention was night, even when we were shining a flash - think this is fairly easy for us to accept, riveted towards the sound. The face light into its eyes. Also, as good as owl especially since we are already used to pointed directly at it and the owl’s eyes vision may be, it can’t explain the ability the idea that owls far surpass us in visual seemed to stare with a burning, concen - of owls to capture mice in the winter sensitivity. The far more difficult point is trated power that even we human ob - when they are completely out of sight the question of whether owls can really be servers found a little disconcerting. And under the snow. Hearing is about the only so attuned to the precise direction of then it happened. The owl silently glided other candidate, but can any of us really sound sources. We humans have a crude down from its perch, grabbed something believe that a Barred Owl, sitting ten me - ability to locate the sources of sounds, but we are notorious for our poor accuracy and sometimes quite bad mistakes. Experiments with owls have shown that their ears and brains work along sim - ilar lines as ours – but with some very so - phisticated differences. First of all, by placing tiny microphones right inside the external ear openings of an owl and then producing sound from various points around the owl’s head, scientists were able to show that a sound is measurably differ - ent when it arrives at each of an owl’s ears. Sounds produced from the same level (say, eye level) but moving in the horizontal plane around the owl’s head ar - rive in the two ears with the same loud - ness, but at slightly different times de - pending how far off to the right or left the sound is produced. Sounds originating from directly in front of the owl’s head ar - rive at the two ears at exactly the same time but, if they come from below the owl’s eye level, they will arrive with greater intensity in the owl’s left ear

18 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 you with its talons, severing your neck vertebrae with its beak, and then gulping your limp body head-first down its gullet. Too bad, but hey, you’re not the only one to have the odd little problem with computers from time to time.

Why Facial Disks? Apart from their strong asymmetry, owl ears have another very distinct feature. In front of each ear opening (that is, between the ear opening itself and the eye) there is a moveable flap of skin. The front surface of these flaps is covered with short feath - ers. Seen face on, the flaps appear as so- called facial disks which, more than any other single feature, are responsible for the ”owl-like” faces of owls. It may not be obvious that the facial disks of owls have anything at all to do with their hear - (which opens downward) than in the right horizontal or vertical direction of the ing, but such is indeed the case. Among ear opening (which opens upwards). sound and then the two types of informa - other evidence is the intriguing fact that Similarly, a sound originating from above tion are integrated on the surface of the facial disks are also possessed by the the owl’s eye level is louder in the owl’s owl’s mid-brain in the form of an auditory Northern Harrier, a day-flying hawk un - right ear than in its left ear. map that tells the owl where the sound related to owls but which also uses hear - It seemed reasonable, therefore, that source must be – within an error of just ing to locate its prey (in the dense vegeta - owls might be able to use these differ - one degree. tion of marshes and bogs). ences to pinpoint a sound’s origin. The Some features of the computer sys - Still, it is not immediately obvious just difference in a sound’s arrival time at the tems are still not understood. How dis - how facial disks might actually help hear - two ears could tell the owl how far off to tance of the sound source is determined ing. Some authorities state that the disks the left or right the sound is coming remains unclear, for example. Another serve “to funnel sounds into the external from, and the difference in loudness in mystery has to do with how the owl’s ear openings” but why would this be so the two ears could tell the owl how far brain resolves what the computer engi - when the disks are found in front of the above or below the horizontal plane the neers call “phase ambiguity” – a type of ears? Other people have suggested that sound source must be. This idea has been problem with nerve impulse speed that the disks help reflect sounds coming from proven by placing tiny speakers in the could cause the owl to come up with sev - behind the owl’s head into its ear open - ears of a tame owl in a laboratory and eral possibilities for the direction of a ings – an equally unsatisfactory explana - then playing the same mouse sounds at sound source. There can be no doubt, tion, given the way hunting owls instantly slightly different times and with slightly however, that an owl’s brain includes cir - turn their heads towards sounds that they different intensities in the two speakers. cuits and programs that eliminate all con - hear. Because owls instantly turn their heads fusion. Owls in a totally darkened room We suggest that the real function of towards the source of mouse sounds, the (where vision is impossible, even for owl facial disks is to force sounds com - speaker-equipped owl told the re - them) can still fly over and capture a ing from in front of the owl to take a searchers precisely where it thought each mouse using hearing alone – and with longer route to at least one of the ears sound was coming from by literally complete accuracy. (see diagram). Since we know that the pointing right at it. The experimenters So, if you’re a mouse we would say ability of owls to pinpoint their prey could even make the owl look wherever that things look pretty bleak. You can’t through hearing depends on minute dif - they wanted, left or right, up or down, by even use sound yourself to hear an owl ferences in the intensity and arrival time giving it the right combination of differ - coming because the edges of an owl’s of sounds reaching the two ears, anything ences in time and loudness between the leading wing feathers are serrated in such that exaggerates those differences should two ears speakers. a way that the owl flies in complete si - immediately prove an owl’s ability to de - Scientists have also worked out the lence. Sorry if we got your hopes up but termine direction of the sound source and precise pathways in the owl’s brain by you’re probably doomed. Even if you’re therefore to be a better, more successful which sound arrival time and intensity as quiet as a mouse, you’ll still be com - hunter. differences are processed. It turns out that ing in loud and clear as far as an owl is the two types of cues are handled by sep - concerned. One little squeak or rustle Reprinted from the July 27, 1995 issue of arate “parallel computers” that compare from you and the owl will achieve instan - Algonquin Park’s The Raven , courtesy of nerve impulses from the two ears. Each taneous “mouse lock-on” with its on - the Ministry of Natural Resources. computer goes through a four or five step board computers, calculate your precise computational process to determine the position, and within seconds be piercing

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 19 Book Review

Two Strolls In The Wilderness; A Story rather short (16 ft), Kevlar canoe on an the river bank would enable him to see an of Survival, written and published by unknown northern river in cold weather, incoming plane more easily. On my right Norman Stroll, 2009, softcover, 207 can lead to serious complications. The the river, which had been our sole means pages, www.twostrolls.com, available at book is primarily of interest because of of transit and was now the agent of our Barnes & Nobel and Amazon, US$15.26 the passionate and heartfelt descriptions impending death, roared mindlessly past, plus US$6.44 p&h to Canada. of the crisis situation the two men were gorged with rain, a degree or two above Review by Toni Harting. in, and there behaviour under stress. The freezing, obliterating most other sounds, following excerpt gives a good impres - particularly any that might be the music One of the few major rivers in western sion of the style the book is written in: of an approaching airplane. Quebec that has not been impacted by the "I think I hear it!" my son screamed extensive water-based power generation We knew we would most likely hear a from somewhere over the ridge. "Dad, projects in the area, is the Pontax River. plane before we saw it. We just didn't can you hear it?" It flows north from Lac Champion and know if we would ever hear it. I could not. I was too close to the then west until it empties into James Bay Standing deathly still I imagined that bank, sandwiched between a steep incline near Washkaganish. The Pontax flows every groan of the trees around me was leading up to our tent on one side and on just north of the bigger and better-known the first notes of what I prayed would be - the other by the river. I had stopped to lis - Rupert River. A few years ago, the author come the drone of an airplane engine. ten a few seconds earlier and squished and his son planned to paddle the upper Exhausted, starved from days with lit - down ankle deep in the bog. I was stand - part of the river, from Lac Champion to tle food, cold and wet, I strained my ears ing so close to the river that the spray Hwy 109, but a short distance before to listen. At this critical moment it was bouncing off the boulders sprinkled onto reaching the road they encountered seri - only my hearing, not physical strength, my face, its radiating mist forming a co - ous problems and were stranded with a that really mattered; we had nowhere else rona around my head. My feet were start - destroyed canoe, unable to move. Also to walk, no more loads to haul, no more ing to freeze. My wool pants, soaked because of the cold weather—it was the food to prepare, no more bonfires to from the cuffs to the belt buckle, had a second half of September and winter was build because the rain had soaked every flat, almost putrid odor. I began shivering moving in—a life-threatening situation piece of wood, and so far there were no uncontrollably, crossing my arms to warm developed where they had to survive on rescue teams to wave to. It was clear to my fingers in my armpits. very little food, facing starvation. After me that this was very close to the moment But, whether I heard it or not, if Brad several days the two paddlers were res - when a person with nothing left to give said he did, I believed him. He's tough, cued by floatplane. This book describes wants nothing else in life but to be kept rugged like a frontiersman; quiet and an - their adventure in great detail, and also alive. alytical and he rarely jumps to conclu - presents a list of equipment and gear as And so I stood there shivering. My son sions. He reminds me of those fighter pi - well as a small number of very simple had disappeared over a low ridge to my lots who never panic even when their black-and-white photographs. It clearly left as though viewing the sky from a planes are skidding sideways through the shows that trying to paddle an overloaded, vantage point 20 vertical feet higher than sky, coolly focused on running through the emergency procedures for which flight schools are famous. Their concern Awaken is not how to accept impending death, but to be sure they have tried every possible Winter unchains its armouries of icy spears, means of regaining control. All they want Lets free its streaming rivers of frozen time, to know is "what else can I try?" That was Banishes to arid wastes those shifting snows, my son. Returns to us who live, the promised spring. If he heard a plane it meant we were saved. I listened with my entire body and Birch bark that wrapped tight to trunk there it was; just above the din I heard the Now released, soft pliable in an early warmth. Ash which cracked with whip-like fury, low throaty hum of a propeller. Once I Bares and spreads her tender shoots. fixed on the sound it did not go away. It grew louder by tiny increments. Rising steam and buttery sunlit hollows, I cried. I could not control my emo - Life pushes up and past the frigid land. tions and I was conscious at that moment, Earth’s bosom softens to receive her lover, as I tried to pull my right boot out of the Where liquid rivers overflow with promise. bog and perch it on a clump of grass, that Alex Strachan © I wasn't crying because I knew I would Caledon, February 2009 live, but because I knew that my son wouldn't die here, today.

20 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 Basic Bannock Mix Pizza: Spread rehydrated spaghetti sauce Food for Premix: 3 cups of flour, 3/4 cup milk on top with some parmesan cheese, rose - powder, 1 tsp sugar, pinch of salt, 2 tbsp mary with oil, and salt, rehydrated Paddlers baking powder. onions, mushrooms, zucchini, grated car - rots, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, meat, etc. Dawne and Dave Robinson have pre - Cinnamon Buns Mix all dry materials together first, then sented at the WCA Fall meetings very 2 cups basic bannock mix, 2 tbsp oil or add the liquid. professional, entertaining stories of their shortening, water, margarine, cinnamon, Garlic bread: Try adding anything from trips on the Stikine and Romaine rivers. brown sugar, raisins. garlic, oregano, and grated cheese, onion Dawne has forwarded several recipes, Mix the basic bannock mix with oil soup mix, potato flakes, oatmeal. the first of which is featured below with and enough water to make a dough that Dumplings: Drop the bannock dough by an introduction from her: you can knead. Mix and knead it tablespoonfuls into soup or fruit compote “This is a recipe which we always smooth on a clean surface. Roll it out (a little goes a long way in this instance). enjoy when our friend Andy Hanson and coat the top with margarine. Mix in small batches and make it a little comes on our trips. He makes the best Sprinkle with cinnamon, brown sugar, sticky. Add a little more sugar to the buns of anyone I know. All are based on and raisins. Roll it up and cut it into 1 dough for fruit dumpling. This is great his basic bannock mix. Experience dic - and a 1/2 inch slices. Put the slices into with fresh blueberries. tates that you should bake more than a pan so that they are touching each Pancakes: are a runny bannock dough you need because they will disappear other for soft cinnamon buns. You can with a little powdered egg added. Crepes quickly. Andy also recommends you bake over low coals (blow off the ash are even runnier. bake downwind from the group or when done), turning once; or you can they'll be hovering over you like black - use an outback oven. If you would like to share your favourite flies. I must confess that I'm guilty of tripping recipes, please contact Barb this!” Variations using the basic bannock mix Young, 12 Erindale Crescent, mentioned above: Brampton, Ont. L6W 1B5; youngj - [email protected].

Over the last ten years we have added about how far you need to travel tomor - GPS two items to our group equipment list. row. The GPS unit will give you lati - And that's only after carefully pondering tude and longitude to within twenty me - One of the main reasons to do wilderness if an item is in keeping with our philoso - tres, anywhere on earth. You are here. canoeing is to remove yourself from the phy of being durable, of great utility, of Period. trappings of modern civilization. To sam - relative ease of use, and in harmony with But I don't know. It takes out all of the ple life without electricity or a hard roof wilderness canoe travel. doubt when moving around in the overhead. To travel by your own power. With approval from all the buddies, wilderness. Is that a good thing? Part of To cope with whatever weather the ele - we now carry a Magellan GPS unit. The the reason for wilderness travel IS the ments throw at you. To live on simpler Global Positioning System relies on a se - uncertainty. The danger. The doubt. You terms. ries of twenty-four satellites that orbit the can get lost. You can get hurt. You can Living simpler means that you don't earth at fixed positions. The Magellan run into wild animals. get caught up in buying new items for unit polls the satellites above the horizon If we give up doubt and uncertainty wilderness canoe trips. Gear that you (usually five or six) and triangulates your here, where can we find it? Where can used ten years ago is the gear that you present position. we go if we want to experience it? would need to use today. You should No more worries about magnetic Without doubt and uncertainty, the have determined resistance to adding declination of the compass. No more world would just be a smaller place. new items to the equipment list. late-night discussions about where I know it. I have no doubt about it. Fanatical resistance to adding new items along the shore of the big lake you are that use batteries. camped at now. No more indecision Greg Went

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 21 Spring in Carolinian Canada

Prothonotary! Binoculars were quickly Upon our arrival, the Visitor’s Centre another attraction. A walk through the raised to the eyes of eight eager WCA parking lot was already full, so we parking lot shows license plates from members as they sought out closer views parked along the West Beach and caught Quebec and many American states, be - of this lovely little warbler. the shuttle for the 2.5-km ride out to the sides the numerous Ontario plates. No, there was no canoeing involved. Tip Exhibit Area. From there it is a short People tote scopes and cameras with But a fine weekend was had by all as we walk to the most southerly ‘tip’ of huge lenses. It can feel a little intimidat - explored the wonders of Point Pelee Canada’s mainland. Point Pelee’s sand ing, but these birders are very generous National Park during the 2009 spring mi - spit reaches out into Lake Erie, and its with their knowledge. As an inexperi - gration. When we canoeists do our trips length and shape vary depending on enced birdwatcher, you have only to through the warblers’ breeding territories water levels and currents. Science tells us wander the many trails in the park until farther north, they can be pretty hard to that although the sand spit at the tip you come upon a crowd of folk, sidle up see, hidden in full foliage high in the comes and goes regularly, the actual land to someone in the crowd, and ask “What trees. But on Mothers’ Day weekend at area of the park has been decreasing over have you got here?” They will take great Pelee there is very little leaf cover yet, the past 50 years. The tip is surrounded pains to show you the exact location of owing to the effect of the still-cold Lake by dangerous currents and undertows. the bird and tell you what it is. Erie waters. It is much easier to pick out Swimming, even wading, in the water One can tell a beginner by their fre - these stunning little jewels of nature in has led to many tragedies. But this place quent referral to their bird book. But a the open canopy. is at the crossroads of the Atlantic and wise ornithologist once advised to put Friday night our group met at Mississippi migration flyways. Like an the book away and just look at the bird as Wheatley Provincial Park, our base for extended hand, the park’s forested lands long as you can, fixing details of its ap - the weekend. Tents were erected and a and sand spit greet tired migrants on pearance in your mind. It will fly away campfire provided the opportunity for their northward journey across the lake sooner or later so you want to have as conversation. Plans were made for an each spring. They pause here to feed on much time to take it in as possible; then early start the next morning—a quick insects before carrying on to their breed - you can take the time to look it up. breakfast, pack a lunch and raingear, ing grounds. This is what makes Point By 1 pm we had become so hungry don’t forget your binoculars. We were up Pelee one of the top ten birding spots in that we had to abandon the pursuit and at 6 am and on the road for the short North America. find a sunny, sheltered picnic table to drive to Pelee by 6:30 am. Along with the birds, the birders are take some nutrition and restore our en -

22 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 ergy levels. Birding is not an extremely physical activity but does involve long standing and can cause “museum legs” as one of our group described it. A post- prandial snooze was not enough for some who decided to retire to the car for a longer nap, while the rest of us soldiered on in our search for ever more birds. Mid-afternoon we lost a few more who suffer short attention spans. But we all agreed to meet again for dinner at Paula’s Fish Place and a feed of Lake Erie fish, especially perch. It was a merry meal as we discussed the sightings of the day. So keen was our guest from Norway that she actually left the table in pursuit of a baby great horned owl reported not far away. We placed her order and she was fortu - nately back before her food came to the table. Homemade pie for dessert com - pleted the repast nicely. The evening saw us visiting Hillman Marsh and its shorebird cell where we noted dunlin and black-bellied plovers. Some of us had observed these birds breeding on the tundra. As the sun dropped in the sky, the lovely low-angled light was also reminiscent of the light on the Barren Lands. Terns and ducks were present to delight us. The final gift of the day was a tree at Wheatley Harbour, which seemed to be dripping with white egrets like decorations on a Christmas tree. Back at camp it was early to bed with the sweet knowledge that the next morn - ing would be more relaxed. Most of us “slept in” until 7 am, and then took ad - vantage of the park’s Comfort Station to have a welcome but admittedly erratic shower, followed by a leisurely breakfast, which included some homemade rhubarb pie provided by one of our number. We birded around the campground, strolled the Lake Erie shore checking out the swallows and water birds, and hated to end this “rite of spring” in Carolinian Canada. Parting of the ways came in the late morning as some headed back to Pelee for one last look, while others went on to Rondeau Provincial Park or the Blenheim Lagoons. The count for this year was 55 species, not the best year but also not the worst. That’s one of the joys of this out - ing. You never know what gifts Mother Nature is going to present on Mothers’ Day weekend at Point Pelee.

Anne Bradley

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 23 WCA ACTIVITIES WANT TO ORGANIZE A TRIP AND HAVE IT SPRING/SUMMER 2010 PRESENTED IN THE SUMMER ISSUE? Contact the Outings Committee before May 15

For questions, suggestions, proposals to organize trips, or anything else related to the WCA Outings, contact the Outings Committee: Bill Ness, 416-321-3005, [email protected]; Mary Perkins, [email protected], 905-725-2874 Our ability to offer an interesting and diversified activities program depends on our trip organizers’ generous donation of their time and enthusiasm. We appreciate the important contribution these members make to our club. If you are an active paddler, please help us. Become an outings organizer.

WCA outings and other activities may have an element of danger of serious personal injury. You are responsible for determining if your equipment, skill, and experience are adequate to participate safely in a club activity. Participants are ultimately responsible for their own safety and well-being when participating in club events. All moving-water trips rated intermediate level or higher require participants to have fully outfitted whitewater canoes (thigh straps, air bags filling the boat, throw bag, secured spare paddle), and to be wearing helmets and weather-appropriate clothing (wetsuits or drysuits for winter, spring, fall trips).

All Spring WEEKDAY WHITEWATER on the Credit from Inglewood to Glen as soon as possible ----- This will be a Jon McPhee, 905-640-8819, Williams. Some competence in moving challenging whitewater run suitable for [email protected] ----- I like to get water is helpful. Suitable for novices. A advanced-level paddlers with fully outfit - out during the week to paddle whenever potluck dinner will follow at the home of ted canoes (centre bags for tandem weather and water are good. Favourite Barb & Dave in Brampton. boats) and proper cold-weather attire. If destinations are the Black and Head near the river isn’t open yet, we could switch Washago, as well as the Hwy 7 rivers. March 28 LOWER CREDIT RIVER to the Moira. Limit five boats Call me if interested, and I’ll put you on Bill Ness, 416-321-3005, [email protected], my contact list. The Black at Washago is book before March 21 ----- Join me on April 17 THAMES RIVER suitable for novices with moving-water ex - this classic early spring favourite of Kevan Baker, 519-245-4926, perience. The Hwy 7 runs are for good in - Toronto area paddlers. We’ll catch the [email protected] ----- Book by April termediates or better. Drysuits or wetsuits Credit in Streetsville and run down to the 10. Get an early start on the paddling a must, as are properly outfitted whitewa - mouth at Port Credit. The river is a de - season by enjoying this day trip down the ter boats. lightful continuous class 1 to 2 with lots of Thames. If water levels permit, we will play spots. However, as sweepers can paddle from St. Mary’s to the Fanshawe March 27 MOIRA RIVER present a hazard and the water will be Conservation Area. Some moving-water John & Sharon Hackert, jhackert cold, participants should have solid basic experience is recommended as there are @sympatico.ca ----- Book as soon as moving water skills, and wear a wetsuit or several swifts with small standing waves. possible. This is our season opener and drysuit. If we have a late break-up, we’ll Limit six boats. a chance to recover our skills after a long move the trip to March 29. winter. We will start at Chisholm’s Mill and April 17 BEAVER CREEK #2 finish at Latta in the morning, eat lunch in April 2 MOIRA RIVER ENCORE John & Sharon Hackert, jhack - our vehicles, and run Lost Channel in the John & Sharon Hackert, jhack - [email protected], 416-438-7672, book afternoon. This is a good opportunity for [email protected] ----- Book as soon as as soon as possible ----- See description new spring paddlers to introduce them - possible. This is a repeat of the March 27 above. selves and demonstrate their compe - trip. tence. The river is not particularly techni - April 16-18 BEAVER CREEK, MOIRA cal and we will only be about an hour April 4 ELORA GORGE & LOWER BLACK RIVERS from our cars. This trip is open to anyone Bill Ness, 416-321-3005, [email protected], Jay Neilson & Frank Knaapen, 613-687- who doesn’t mind swimming in ice-cold book by March 28 ----- This time of year 6037, [email protected] ----- Book im - water. Tandem canoes must have a cen - the gorge should provide a challenging mediately. We’ll start out Saturday morn - tre airbag. Wetsuits or drysuits are re - intermediate run, packing a lot of inter - ing on the upper part of the Moira (Lost quired. If winter is later and esting class 2 to 3 whitewater into a short Channel section), which is the easiest of weather/water conditions are unsuitable, distance. It’s a great place to play at this the three. Water levels should be well we will postpone the trip. Limit of six level. Afterwards we can warm up and below peak, but as the water is still very boats. swap paddler gossip at Tim’s down the cold, full wetsuits or drysuits are manda - road. tory. Suitable for physically fit paddlers March 27 UPPER CREDIT RIVER comfortable in at least class 2 water. Barb & Dave Young, 905-457-7937, April 10 BEAVER CREEK #1 Some of the rapids on the Black and [email protected] ----- Book by John & Sharon Hackert, jhack - Beaver, should you choose to run them, March 21. Join us for an early spring run [email protected], 416-438-7672, book have “must catch” eddies, and provide

24 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 great rock-and-roll class 3 paddling. normal stopping place in the Double April 24 BLACK RIVER-COOPER’S However, all difficult rapids can be Trouble State Park at the campground. I FALLS TO WASHAGO portaged or lined. estimate four to five hours of easy pad - Bill & Joan King, 416-223-4646, lyon - dling. Rental boats and shuttles are [email protected], book before April 17 --- April 17, tentative BLACK RIVER available at each place and there are -- A gentle moving stream flowing (WASHAGO) & HEAD RIVER motels nearby. There is some camping through spring woodlands. A few small rif - Jon McPhee, 905-640-8819, but since I live in nearby Philadelphia I fles and one, or possibly two, portages. [email protected], book by April have never pitched a tent in the area. Suitable for novices and anyone else who 3 ----- See Black River: Washago at One thought would be to stay out on the would enjoy some pleasant spring ca - http://www.boatwerks.net/whitewater/ru barrier island with ocean beaches and noeing. Limit of six canoes. nning.php. The actual date will depend back bay paddling--Long Beach Island in on optimal water levels. This section of a motel or B and B--and drive to the var - April 24-25 SPENCE’S CELEBRATED the Washago Black River is a short run ious put-ins or stay in-land at some SALMON-MOIRA WEEKEND from the concrete bridge on Hwy 169 place. References: Paddling the Jersey Glenn Spence, 613-475-4176, book after south of Washago to the first conces - Pine Barrens by Robert Parnes ; ; Berger February 20 ----- Just north of Belleville, sion road west. It’s a short stretch of and Sinton; Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. these two rivers offer exciting whitewater river, but we will take about three hours and fine scenery. The Salmon is the more of paddling, working the river. It is an April 24 LOWER BLACK RIVER- gentle run, with some small rapids for you easy, fun run where paddlers can prac - TWEED to practise your skills. The Moira has tise eddies, ferries, and surfing, with lit - Jon McPhee, 905-640-8819, larger rapids possibly up to class 3. You tle or no consequences (except for the [email protected], book by April can bivouac at my house and enjoy a COLD water). If the water level is suit - 10 ----- See Black River – potluck dinner. These are two of Southern able and there is interest, we can drive Queensborough at http://www.boat- Ontario's finest spring rivers. Intermediate over to the nearby Head River. The werks.net/whitewater/running.php. This is paddlers welcome. Limit six boats. Head is small and technical, and has not the same river as the Black River at been described as a mini-Beaver Creek. Washago. This Lower Black runs from May 1 UPPER MADAWASKA RIVER In this short section there are a number Queensborough to Hwy 7, northwest of AGAIN of class 2-3 ledge rapids that require Tweed, and east of Madoc. It is 10.5 km John & Sharon Hackert, 416-438-7672, precise manoeuvring. This river is best of grade 1 to 4 rapids. The more serious [email protected], book before 21 for skilled intermediates. There will ones can be and at least one will be April ----- Please see description above. probably still be some snow in the bush portaged. The river is primarily pool-and- This is your chance to pick up the and the water will be cold. Tandem ca - drop, but a number of the rapids are Thermos that you left at the lunch stop noes must have a center airbag. longish and narrow and require the ability last week. Wetsuits or drysuits and helmets are re - to manoeuvre a canoe at an intermediate quired. Limit five canoes. level in whitewater. There will be some May 1-2 SPRING IN MUSKOKA eddies that you must hit, and some defi - Gisela Curwen, 416-484-1471, April 23-27 PADDLING THE NEW nite lines that you must run. The book [email protected], book before JERSEY PINE BARRENS Eastern Ontario White Water Rivers April 15 ----- We will paddle some lakes Jonathan Berger, [email protected]. ----- ranks this river as the next step above the yet to be decided, experience the return - Book as soon as possible. Designated Moira. If you are not comfortable running ing birds, and discover other flora and America’s first National Ecological the Lost Channel section of the Moira, fauna emerging from hibernation. Maybe Reserve, The New Jersey Pine Barrens you will not be comfortable here. On the we will find the first turtles sunning them - comprises over 1.1 million acres of pitch other hand, it is a fun run on a pretty sec - selves on logs, and listen to the choruses pine, cedar, and lowland bog forest and tion of river. There will probably still be of spring peepers, as in previous years. fields. The low-gradient rivers are narrow, some snow in the bush and the water will We’ll hike and explore the surrounding surprisingly swift, and filled with clean be cold. Tandem canoes must have a area and clean up portages, if needed. brown-yellow water. The paddling is center airbag. Wetsuits or drysuits and Limit four canoes. marked by ducking under curved cedars, helmets are required. Limit five canoes. open bog-like areas with twisty channels, May 8 MINESING SWAMP sandy banks, and bars, and a variety of April 24 UPPER MADAWASKA RIVER Ray Laughlen 705-754-9479, flowering trees and shrubs. Parts of the John & Sharon Hackert, 416-438-7672, [email protected] ----- Book by May rivers cut across sand plains with pitch [email protected], book before April 1. The trip down the Nottawasaga Rive pine that are strikingly like the jack pine 17 ----- A day of whitewater excitement through Minesing Swamp is a slow- areas so familiar in Canada’s north. I pro - for advanced paddlers. The upper paced, relaxing spring paddle. The swamp pose two trips, both of which I have done Madawaska is a fast-flowing pool-and- is a unique area rich in birds and wildlife. many times since my youth. The first is drop river with quiet stretches inter - We’ll enter the Swamp via Willow Creek the Oswego from Oswego Lake down to spersed with some very serious rapids. and follow the river down to Edenvale. A the junction with the Wading River with a All rapids can, and some must, be pleasant day’s paddle for canoeists of all take-out at Beaver Branch. There are two portaged. Wetsuits or drysuits, helmets, skill levels. short portages around dams and lots of and fully outfitted whitewater boats with lovely cedar paddling. The Oswego is to - full flotation are a must. Limit six boats. May 8-9 OPEONGO & UPPER tally within Wharton State Forest. I esti - MADAWASKA RIVERS mate six hours of easy going. The sec - Jay Neilson & Frank Knaapen, 613-687- ond is Cedar Creek which flows east to 6037, [email protected] ----- Book im - Barnegat Bay of the Atlantic Ocean. I mediately. The Opeongo has long sec - can inquire as to the possibility of a pick- tions of class 2-3 rapids, making it suit - up on the Bay itself or we can use the able for solid intermediates or better. The

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 25 Upper Madawaska is one of the most grade 1 to 4 and there are a couple of and demanding portages, as well as beau - challenging rivers in Ontario. Water levels short portages around falls. The water will tiful campsites and majestic scenery: na - will be very high, requiring class 3 rock- still be cold, and the water levels are ture at it’s best. It is also quite remote and and-roll paddling skills, with some class 4 likely to be quite high. In the past we have only accessible by train. We will meet on thrills for experts. The big drops can be had sun, rain, hail, and snow, all on the Sunday morning, June 6, at the station for portaged, but the river still requires ad - same day, so participants will need to the Agawa Canyon Train in Sault Ste. Marie vanced whitewater skills. Fully outfitted dress and pack appropriately. Suitable for and load our canoes and most of our gear whitewater boats, and complete wetsuits intermediate-level paddlers. Limit six on the train. We will then drive up to the or drysuits are mandatory. boats. Book early as this trip “sells out” park and shuttle cars to the take-out before every year. catching the train as it goes by on its way to May 14-16 LONG LAKE LOOP Sand Lake. We will spend six nights on the Gary James, 416-512-6690, May 22-24 PETAWAWA RIVER river, which will give us plenty of time for [email protected], or Andrea Jay Neilson & Frank Knaapen, 613-687- bird watching and fishing for speckled trout. Fulton, [email protected] ----- 6037, [email protected] ----- Book as Some whitewater experience and bug Book by May 1. Join us for a trip around soon as possible. Join us on the classic shirts are required since this is the peak of some beautiful Kawartha lakes before the run from Lake Travers to McManus. There the black fly season. Limit of four canoes. bugs come out. Small lakes, flatwater, lift- will be a potluck dinner and accommoda - overs and portages. Located just south of tion at our place on Friday night. This is a June 12 GRAND RIVER Apsley. Limit of four canoes. great opportunity to watch expert pad - Doug Ashton 519-620-8364, dlers take on Rollway, one of Ontario’s [email protected] ----- Book by May 15-16 OPEONGO & UPPER wildest whitewater thrills. There are plenty June 1. This very popular annual trip MADAWASKA RIVERS ENCORE of class 3 rapids for intermediate pad - seems to be a great draw for all levels of Jay Neilson & Frank Knaapen, 613-687- dlers on this run. All the more difficult paddlers, including families. Over the last 6037, [email protected] ----- Book im - rapids can be walked around, and there five years we have enjoyed perfect mediately. See above for details. The is lots of scenery to enjoy from either the weather, portage-free paddling, and a so - water should be a little lower and more river or the trail on this beautiful river. cial barbeque that has followed our out - suitable for class 2 paddlers who want to Fully outfitted whitewater boats, and com - ing. This is a wonderful day to enjoy an take on some class 3 paddling. plete wetsuits or drysuits are mandatory. easy moving river and to socialize with other WCA’ers. The trip will start in south May 8-9 BIRDING AT POINT PELEE May 29-30 ORCHIDS ON THE BRUCE Cambridge, where we will put in, and then Anne Bradley, 519-855-4835 or an - Anne Bradley, 519-855-4835 or an - paddle to Paris. We will pass through sce - [email protected], book before [email protected], book before nic farm country, negotiate some easy May 1 ----- Enjoy the spring warbler mi - May 1 ----- Explore the many facets of the class 1 water, and stop for lunch along the gration. We will camp at Wheatley Bruce Peninsula and marvel at the or - way. Those interested are welcome to join Provincial Park and wander the trails of chids. There’s an abundance of natural us back at our house in Cambridge for Point Pelee and Hillman Marsh. beauty, from the cobble beaches and some food, beverage, and social time. Flatwater padding opportunities available. cliffs overlooking Georgian Bay to the Binoculars mandatory. sandy beaches, bogs, and fens of the June 12-13 NOIRE RIVER (QUEBEC) Lake Huron side. Flatwater paddling op - Jay Neilson & Frank Knaapen, 613-687- May 21 -24 MAGNETAWAN RIVER portunities are available, but foot travel 6037, [email protected] ----- Book as Alan James, silvergobblin2009 will allow us to see more. soon as possible. We drive to the Black @gmail.com ----- Book before May 10. I River Inn after crossing the Ottawa at will be paddling on the Magnetawan River May 29-30 INTERMEDIATE WHITE- Pembroke. The Inn’s proprietor will shuttle for the long weekend in May and would WATER CLINIC us to 50:50 Rapid for approximately $75. enjoy some company. This is a four-day John & Sharon Hackert, jhack - There are loads of play spots on this sec - trip suitable for experienced whitewater [email protected] ----- Book before April tion of river, and the weatherman willing, trippers. Participants must have properly 19. This is the thirteenth year of our clinic, we’ll do some body surfing in the hot outfitted boats and cold weather camping which is designed to help improve your sun. It doesn’t get much better than this. gear/experience. basic skills. We will paddle the Lower Mad on Saturday and practise our basic Early July RIVER SAFETY & RESCUE May 22-24 LOWER MADAWASKA skills at Palmers Rapids on Sunday. The FOR TRIPPERS RIVER emphasis will be on front ferries, eddy- Sara Rykov, 416-588-8246, Larry Durst, 905-415-1152, ldurst outs, and peel-outs. Your paddle strokes [email protected] ----- Contact me @devon communications.com ----- Book will be critiqued. You will also have an op - by April 1. Exact date to be determined. as soon as possible. Join us for the 10th portunity to practise self-rescue tech - We are considering a weekend river annual spring paddle/wine-and-cheese niques. Open to properly fitted solo and safety and rescue course with Paddler party and find out first-hand why mostly tandem canoes. Tandem boats must have Co-op for next summer. The course will sane, reasonably intelligent and some - centre air bags. Wetsuits or drysuits will specifically focus on the needs of ca - what mature persons subject themselves be needed. We will camp at our cottage. noeists who must deal with problems in to the vicissitudes of spring camping. We remote locations with limited equipment. paddle from above Aumonds Bay to the June 6 SAND RIVER We think it will provide valuable skills and take-out at Griffith, a distance of only 28 Larry Snyder and Wendy Champness, 517 greater self-confidence for both trippers km. The pace is leisurely with only the 351-1970, [email protected] ----- Book as and playboaters, anyone who ventures in Sunday being a full day of paddling and soon as possible. Join us for a spring run a canoe down a swift river. This is a paid, most of that spent on the Snake Rapids down the Sand River in Lake Superior professionally taught course. Amount in - section of the river. Lots of time to play, Provincial Park close to Wawa. While not cluding tax will be approximately $175. If chat, and nibble! Rapids will range from large, this river has some technical rapids interested, please contact me so that we

26 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 can determine if there is sufficient inter - Aug. 26-29 ALGONQUIN PARK, WEST NEED A PARTNER? est. A minimum of six participants is re - SIDE -- WOMEN’S TRIP If you’re a tandem canoeist in need of a quired for the course to go. No maximum. Beth Jones, 519-655-3155, miss - paddling partner, whether for a single trip (P. S. This is a great opportunity for our [email protected] ----- Book as soon as or on a more regular basis, our website WCA trip organizers to take advantage of possible, by August 1 at latest. This trip provides a valuable resource to help you their club educational credits!) will take us through the wildlife-filled west connect with other members who want to side of Ontario’s most famous canoeing get on the water. If you need a partner, July 1-4 WHITEWATER SKILLS destination. Moose, beaver, and many please submit a message for posting to BUILDING CLINIC other species are plentiful in this region, our website giving details. Jon McPhee, 905-640-8819, so we are sure to see lots of wildlife, as [email protected]; and Bill Ness, well as the lovely mixed forests of this 416-321-3005, [email protected] ----- Book area. This trip is a great introduction to Partners Wanted as soon as possible. This is a four-day wilderness canoe tripping as we will be workshop on the Madawaska River for encountering a variety of paddling envi - Thlewiaza River , Northern novice to budding intermediate whitewa - ronments from small rivers to big lakes. Manitoba, Summer 2010. The ter paddlers. We will focus on the basics As a bonus, at this time of year that bugs Thlewiaza is Farley Mowat's great of moving water boat control and ma - are all but gone! Limit of four boats. river where he first met the Eden noeuvres, water reading, and safety. Both Edehli people shortly after WWII and tandem and solo paddlers are welcome. Aug. 28-Sept. 5 SPANISH RIVER documented his scary spring ride in The weekend will be spent at Palmer (WEST BRANCH) Rapids and on the Snake Rapids section Gary James, 416-512-6690, No Man's River and Curse of the of the Madawaska River, one hour north - [email protected], or Andrea Viking Grave. Here are two recent east of Bancroft. The location offers some Fulton, [email protected] ----- summer trip reports: www.out- of the best novice to intermediate white - Book as soon as possible. We are inter - there.com/bil-thle.htm and water in Southern Ontario. In order to be ested in exploring the West Branch of this gorp.away.com/gorp/ able to work closely with participants, beautiful wilderness whitewater river. location/canada/manitoba/pad_thl. registration is limited to six boats. Details to be determined. Basic whitewa - ter skills are required to enjoy this trip. htm Contact Jay Neilson and July 1-4 OTTAWA RIVER Some rapids on the West Branch are not Frank Knaapen at 613-687-6037 or John & Sharon Hackert, 416-438-7672, runable, so efficient portaging skills are [email protected]. Trip details: [email protected] ----- Book before needed. Limit of four boats. http//:jneilson.freehostia.com June 21. Three days on the Ottawa for big water fans. Must be at least strong interme - Sept. 4-6 OTTAWA RIVER Maguse River, from Henik Lake to diate whitewater paddler. Limit six boats. John & Sharon Hackert, 416-438-7672, [email protected] ----- Book before Arviat,Nunavut, Aug 21-Sep 11, Aug. 12-15 MASSASSAUGA PROVIN - August 30. Three days on the Ottawa for big 2010. Experience Barrenlands CIAL PARK -- WOMEN’S TRIP water fans. Must be at least strong interme - Aurora Borealis, caribou migration, Beth Jones, 519-655-3155, miss - diate whitewater paddler. Limit six boats. and McConnell River Migratory Bird [email protected] ----- Book as soon as Sanctuary. Fly WPG-Arviat. Canoes possible, by August 1 at latest. This is a Sept. 6-12 ALGONQUIN PARK -- LAKE are available in Arviat after the great chance to paddle in one of Ontario’s OPEONGO most beautiful paddling areas. We will be Linda Simpson, 519-620-4430, lindasimp - Thlewiaza expedition. Contact Jay exploring the bays and inlets of this [email protected] ----- Book by August Neilson 613-687-6037 or jneil - Georgian Bay gem where we will see land - 6. Join us in this beautiful part of Algonquin [email protected]. Trip Details: scapes of exposed granite and windswept Park. This is a flatwater trip with lots of time http//:jneilson.freehostia.com vistas. This is a trip for anyone from begin - built in to explore by paddle and foot: pioneer ners to experienced paddlers as the sites, wild bog with moose and rare birds, Looking to join a trip, summer 2010. portaging is easy and minimal, and the and massive 35-metre-high pine trees. There pace is relaxed. There will be lots of time to is one 1450-metre portage that we’ll do twice Sarah Jefferson is an outdoor educa - explore, hike, swim, or work on your pad - that will take us into one of the finest virgin tion instructor in the UK who has been dling skills as you prefer. Limit of four boats. white pine stands in North America. There awarded a fellowship to travel to shouldn’t be any mosquitoes at this time of Canada. She would like to be able to August 14-15 INTRODUCTION TO THE year, and the kids should be back at school, hook up with some Canadian paddlers MINDEN WILDWATER PRESERVE so this should be a peaceful and enjoyable to do a major trip. Problem is that she Jon McPhee, 905-640-8819, trip. Limit of nine people. [email protected]; and Bill Ness, doesn't know anyone here. It would be 416-321-3005, [email protected] ----- Book ADDITIONAL TRIPS great of the WCA could give her a help - as soon as possible. A whitewater skill Check our website at ing hand. Her request is posted in the building weekend for solid intermediate www.wildernesscanoe.ca/trips.htm for ad - WCA website in the Bulletins section. tandem or solo canoeists. We held this for ditional trips. Members may submit addi - the first time last summer, and it proved tional trips to the Outings Committee any - For sale to be a great way for intermediates to time at [email protected]. If you miss the Red solo playboat, evergreen sequel gain experience on more challenging Nastawgan deadline, your trip will outfitted, $500. Tandem trip - water. So let’s do it again! Limit of 5 still be listed on the website. Also, boats. Please see full description & pre - check the bulletin board at ping/whitewater boat, old bluehole requisites on website before registering. www.wildernesscanoe.ca/bulletin.htm for Starburst, $600. Alan James: silver - private, non-WCA trips or partner requests. [email protected]

NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010 27 Where it is…

Ontario

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22 …in this issue 1 Chapleau-Nemegosenda 18 Owl Hearing 27 Partners Wanted 12 Deadlines 20 Book Review 27 For Sale 12 Editorial 20 Poem: Awaken 12 Photo Contest 21 Food for Paddlers 13 Symposium 21 GPS 14 Annual General Meeting 22 Bird-watching Pelee 17 Hiking at Duntroon 24 Activities Spring 2010

WCA Postal Address WCA Contacts http://www.wildernesscanoe.ca P.O. Box 91068 2901 Bayview Ave. Secretary Interim Editor Membership and Toronto, ON M2K 2Y6 Bill King Toni Harting Computer Records 45 Hi Mount Drive 7 Walmer Rd. Apt. 902 Emmy Hendrickx BOARD OF DIRECTORS Toronto, ON M2K 1X3 Toronto, ON M5R 2W8 [email protected] Aleksandar Gusev Jon McPhee 416-223-4646 416-964-2495 (Chair) jon.mcphee@ [email protected] [email protected] Conservation 8 Valiant Road rogers.com Jeff McColl Etobicoke, ON 905-640-8819 WCA Outings [email protected] 416-236-7079 Bill Ness Treasurer [email protected] Barbara Burton 194 Placentia Blvd. Barb Young [email protected] Toronto, ON M1S 4H4 [email protected] Martin Heppner 705-788-0059 416-321-3005 Toronto, ON [email protected] Webmaster 416-465-1558 Mary Perkins Jeff Haymer mheppner@anchor [email protected] Toronto, ON securities.com 905-725-2874 416-635-5801 [email protected] Michel Lafrance [email protected] 450-538-1551

Editorial Team: Toni Harting, Editor-in-Chief Barb Young, Food Editor Bill Ness, Outings Editor Bob Henderson, Resource Editor Printed by Grafo Print Media

28 NASTAWGAN SPRING 2010