Canoe Tour, Missinaibi River, Ontario, Canada August 2016

This journal covers the first part of our 2016 visit to Canada during which we paddled the lower part of the Missinaibi River in Northern Ontario.

Thursday, 28 July     Riniken, Toronto, Oakville Photos

We had time on our hands yesterday afternoon, and a strange message from Swiss when we tried to check-in online, so we went to the airport to query it, and managed to check-in and drop off our bags at the same time. So we only had hand baggage to carry. On top of that, Colin and Mirjam offered to drive us to the airport, so we had a very relaxed start to the flight to Toronto via Montreal.

Unfortunately, relaxation ended in Montreal. The flight was 45 minutes late, giving us just 1 1/4 hours to get through immigration, re-check-in our bags, get through security, and reach the gate of our connecting flight. It wasn't enough, and wasn't helped because I had put a small amount of salami into my pack, which caused extra delay in immigration. We were put on the next flight without any fuss, but it did mean that we didn't arrive in Toronto until about 20:00 instead of 18:20.

The serious result, though, was that it was already dark as we drove away from the airport in our rental car, trying to head in the direction of Niagara with a 35 year old street map of Ontario, and looking for a motel along the way.

As we had already experienced in Italy many years ago, finding a hotel by car in the dark is extremely difficult. It proved to be also the case in the suburbs of Toronto. After asking at a petrol station, and subsequently at a bowling alley, we eventually found one in Oakville. By this time it was getting on for 23:00, too late to really enjoy the hotel's comforts. We just had quick showers and went to bed hungry.

Friday, 29 July     Oakville, Hamilton, Niagara Falls, Hamilton Photos

We slept well, and amazingly long. Perhaps the somewhat disputed Melatonin tablets that we took before turning in actually had an effect.

Breakfast was included in the room price with service starting at 06:30. We were down for 07:00, and felt like fish out of water trying to sort out what was where in the buffet. At one point we both went up together to get some more to eat and came back to our table to find it cleared, half-drunk glasses of orange juice and all! The bacon and scrambled eggs were very good. They even had a waffle maker and batter dispenser for making fresh waffles. The waffles and bread in general were alas very British - body-less!

After the struggle to find accommodation last night, and the fact that this is the so-called Civic Holiday weekend here, we decided to use the Internet connection in the hotel to find a room for tonight. It's good that we did. Everything in the Niagara area seemed to be either full or too expensive. In the end we opted for a rather down-market motel in Hamilton, The Hamilton Inn, on Main Street West costing CA$ 84 plus tax. That is a real pain in Canada. All prices are quoted without tax or service. That means +15% on a hotel, and +30% in a restaurant. The country is not that cheap, despite CA$ 1 being only worth about CHF 0.80.

We decided to head for Niagara Falls via the motel to ensure that it was really confirmed, since it wasn't far out of the way. It was worth it, since we were able to occupy the room straight away and put chocolate and cheese into a fridge.

The direct route from the Hamilton Inn to Niagara Falls goes through downtown Hamilton. It takes for ever because of all the traffic lights. By the time that we had got most of the way through, the morning was getting on so we decided to stop for an early lunch. It was a McDonald's to keep things simple.

The km to Niagara Falls seemed to be very long, and there wasn't much to ease them in the way of nice views. One doesn't see much of Lake Ontario, and the scenery is mainly cheaply made, light industry or shopping sprawl.

We found a car park easily enough on our way into Niagara. The price, at CA$ 9 for 3 hours, was rather steep, but we didn't go looking for anything cheaper, since we expected it to be expensive everywhere. As we wandered around, though, we saw other parking lots for as little as CA$ 5 for the whole day!

We made a bee-line from the car park down a pedestrian-unfriendly road to the Falls esplanade. It was very hot and very muggy, but the views of the Falls made up for it. We got onto the esplanade near the road bridge across to the USA and walked the full length up river passing the American Falls and then the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. It was all very impressive, and very nicely organised. There were lots of people. We were not really interested in a boat trip. After seeing the length of the queue, we were even less interested.

After a short rest in the shade and with a bit of a breeze under a tree, we climbed back up to the town for a quick look into the Casino. The town itself was somewhat reminiscent of Blackpool promenade - very kitschy. We stopped for a cold drink and ice cream on the way back to the car as an antidote to the tropical weather conditions.

The drive back to to motel in Hamilton was very easy, and seemed much shorter than the drive there. We found a nice Chinese restaurant to round off the day.

Saturday, 30 July     Hamilton, Toronto, Barrie Photos

The motel was really rather basic, but adequate in its way. The goal for the day was simply to get to our pre-booked B&B in Barrie. We breakfasted in a diner near the motel - a rather stodgy and too-large breakfast - and set off in rain to return the rental car to Toronto airport. At least the weather was a little cooler.

That went well, but we had a bit of trouble finding the train into town. We took a detour via Terminal 3 and back. Once we reached Union Station in the centre of Toronto, we had a choice of train or bus for getting to Barrie. The rucksack load made it a bit tough finding the ticket office. We managed it in the end and got tickets on the 12:20 train at the remarkably low price of CA$ 7.10 each. It was a very comfortable 90 minute ride to Barrie.

Eventually the train escaped the urban sprawl of Toronto, and the countryside became very pleasant and green. We reached Barrie feeling very relaxed. A short wait and 2 bus rides later found us at the Richmond Manor B&B. It is a beautifully situated and well cared for old (1911) house. It is a world removed from last night's motel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling around the bay of Lake Simcoe, on the shore of which Barrie is very beautifully situated. At the far end was a craft fair, which is held here every Civic Holiday weekend. We returned to town on the fair's shuttle bus, and managed to find an Irish pub which served us what was probably the worst fish and chips that we have ever had.

Sunday, 31 July     Barrie, Sudbury, Timmins, Cochrane Photos

Breakfast was very good, though the young German couple, who were also staying there, hardly touched their's. All we had to do today was to take a town bus for the short ride to the bus station, and wait until 12:30 for the bus to Cochrane.

The day started cool, but was already quite warm by the time that the bus turned up 15 minutes late. It stopped occasionally to drop off and pick up passengers, and stopped for 15 minutes in Parry Sound enabling us to get a needed and extremely good beefburger and fishburger to help keep body and soul together.

There was another break in Sudbury before continuing on to Timmins, where we arrived at about 21:30 with a 90 minute wait for the last bus of the day to Cochrane. On the way somewhere before Timmins a rabbit managed to run out and under the wheels of the bus. It was dark before we left Timmins. The scenery was very nice, especially as it got more hilly towards Sudbury. There was little evidence to the untrained eye of the alleged ravishings of the Sudbury mining activities.

We got to Cochrane at about 23:30 and had a 20 minute walk to the Westway Motel on Highway 11. It was a while before we found the proprietor and the key to our room. She was having to clean up after a skunk attack. It smelt horrible, but the motel was excellent.

Monday, 1 August     Cochrane, Hearst Photos

Now we are waiting for Matt Howell from MHO to turn up at about 18:30 for the drive to Hearst and the start of the canoe tour tomorrow. It's a bright, blue, hot day so far.

We hung around the motel and Cochrane all day until Matt turned up. There wasn't a lot to do, especially in the heat. Matt turned up in a 5.7 litre truck, but they are two a'penny hereabouts! We set off west for Hearst along Highway 11, the Trans-Canada Highway, a distance of about 220 km, and got there as it was going dark. We had our first view of the Missinaibi as we crossed it at Mattice, not far from Hearst. We spent the night in the Queen's Motel, which was very acceptable. Kathy, the proprietress of the Westway Motel, let us leave our bag of extra gear at the motel during our trip, which was very valuable to preserve the chocolate, cheese and wine destined for Skeleton Lake.

Tuesday, 2 August     Canoe Tour Day 1: Hearst, Bell's Bay Photos

The flight into the river was booked for 07:30, so we were up at 05:30, showered and ready to leave for 06:00. The first stop was the local "Tim Horton's" for a take-away breakfast, which we ate in the truck heading further west along Route 11 for about 30 minutes to Carey Lake where the Hearst Air Service water-plane base has its home.

All our gear was put onto a weigh-bridge (538 lb/244 kg) and our own weights were noted. There was a good bit of waiting around whilst paperwork or whatever was completed, but eventually we taxied out onto the lake and took off. Water flew around everywhere, causing a bit of concern regarding the gear stowed in the floats. The noise was almost unbearable. Next time, if there is one, we'll have our ear plugs with us.

The flight over endless forest, lakes and bogs lasted about 30 minutes until we landed at Bell's Bay, not far below Thunderhouse Falls. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see the Falls. The river is so low that they probably wouldn't have been very impressive anyway.

There were 7 people waiting for us at the bay, 2 to come with us, and 5 to fly out with 1 canoe. That meant 2 trips for the plane (a Beaver, according to Ken, our Canadian friend) - extra expense for the MHO company.

We had 2 double canoes and 1 single, all packed to the gunwales. Kari and I were in one, Brian (Dade) and Matt in the second, and Joey (Miller) on his own. The paddling went well with a few "swifts" (fast stretches of water, usually through hidden boulders and often shallow) along the way. We scraped the bottom of the canoe now and again, but not too hard, and one gets used to it. The canoes seem to be built to withstand it.

After some 12 km we found some partial shade on the right bank for lunch - salad and meat sandwiches served on a table!! - and continued on. By about 16:00 we had done about 24 km and called it a day. We made a fantastic camp on a gravel bank. A storm blew up whilst preparing supper, and it suddenly started to rain, but it stopped before bed time. The afternoon swim was delightful and warm, but for the horseflies that attacked one on getting out. Evening meal was salad with grilled chicken. Matt and Joey take their catering very seriously.

Altogether we covered 23.6 km today. We saw a juvenile bald eagle that followed us for a while. We also saw many wolf and moose tracks.

Wednesday, 3 August     Canoe Tour Day 2 Photos

We were up at about 06:00 for scrambled eggs with veg and muffins with bacon. It was all very professional. The weather is delightful.

It was a long hard day on the river in beautiful weather. We had to find our way through lots of swifts, which helped to keep up our adrenaline levels, and one Class I rapid. We only ran aground in shallows twice, and got stuck on one rock, but otherwise had no problems. The canoe scrapes the bottom quite a bit though because of the low water.

There were a few birds around today: 2 Canadian geese, and 2 or 3 bald eagles (probably called white-tailed eagles in Britain). We camped near the HBC (Hudson Bay Company) grave, just after the confluence of the Soweska River. It was another idyllic site. Steak and baked potatoes rounded off the 35.5 km that we did today.

Thursday, 4 August     Canoe Tour Day 3: including Capsize Photos

We were up at 06:00 to glorious sunshine again. Breakfast was scrambled eggs again - the eggs need eating up because of the heat. Today turned out to be more exciting than we really wanted. The river level is very low, so there are lots of rocks and shallows to get stuck in. We managed to get stuck twice, the second time taking us quite a long time to get ourselves free. I lost one of my Teva sandals once, but Matt was able to find it. There are lots of swifts due to the low water, and some of them are quite technical.

Unfortunately, in late morning one of them proved to be too technical. We were doing fine until a big boulder suddenly appeared in our way. In less time than it takes to tell, we hit it and reacted wrongly. Rather than leaning downstream towards the rock we made the beginner's mistake of leaning away from the rock. Water poured into the canoe and we capsized.

Matt and Joey were very professional though. They soon had the bags out of the boat, lifted up the canoe tipping out the water, and put everything back in again. Unfortunately the camera, GPS and binoculars got thoroughly soaked, and may not work again. I also lost my map of the river, so notes on where we are getting to each night will now be rather sketchy. In the afternoon, we managed to hit another rock, but this time we managed to roll off it without drama.

The weather got very sultry in the afternoon, and it started to look like thunder. After inspecting a couple of possible camp sites, we eventually settled on the third, at the top end of an island, not far after the Opasatika River entered from the right. We covered about 22km today.

We set up camp, including a very elaborate tarp with its frame-tent-like supporting construction. Because of the wind, everything was tied to or weighted down with heavy stones. The wind continued to get more and more ferocious until, eventually, one gust demolished the tarp, ruining its frame. Rain and thunder followed. We retired to our tents for 2 hours to sit it out. Kari and I had no chance to dry out things that had been in our small rucksacks when we capsized. But it could have been much worse.

Joey managed to catch a couple of walleye (doré) fish that he added to some chicken noodles and cooked over a camp stove for a late supper after the storm had abated a bit.

Friday, 5 August     Canoe Tour Day 4: Waiting for Storm to Pass Sorry, No Photos

It was a tremendous storm during the night. I was worried that the river would rise and wash out our tent. We had all camped on sand close to the river. Fortunately all was well when we got up. There's discussion about whether we can make it all the way to Moosonee or not because of the low water.

The wind was too strong today to do any paddling. We spent the time dozing and fighting to keep the kitchen tarp from flying away. We moved our tent to a spot further from the water's edge. Joey made toasted cheese sandwiches for lunch.

In the afternoon we moved camp a few hundred metres along the west coast of the island and into the forest to get out of the wind. No doubt we have moved into mosquito country instead.

Later ... In fact the mozzies were OK. The camp fire probably kept them at bay. It was a super camp site, nice and sheltered from the wind. And Joey was able to cook us a lasagne for supper in something called a Dutch oven. It was basically a heavy casserole with short legs and heavy lid. Joey spent about 45 minutes putting in layers of cheese, bacon, pasta, etc. Then charcoal briquettes were put on a griddle on top of the fire to get burning properly. The pot was stood on some of these; the rest were put on the lid; and the whole was covered with a fireproof tea cosy with a few holes in it and left for another 45 minutes or so to cook. The result was delicious.

In the meantime, Matt spotted a pair of moose about 2 km up-river on the opposite bank. We got a good view of them through Matt's binoculars. All in all it was a very enjoyable evening. By the way, we saw quite a few beaver lodges along the banks of the river yesterday.

Saturday, 6 August     Canoe Tour Day 5 Sorry, No Photos

It was a very quiet night's sleep. Breakfast was a repeat of yesterday - granola with dried bilberries and vanilla yoghourt - the yoghourt needs to be eaten up. The day, however, was rather grey. It wasn't clear from the shelter of the forest just how windy it was, or how the canoeing would be.

We were on the water soon after 08:30, this time with Kari and Matt together, and myself as bow paddler with Brian in the stern. The map showed no rapids and no swifts. In practice, with the river so low, it was almost continuous swifts with a couple of them almost worth a Class I grading. We survived the day with a lot of wading through shallows. My Tevas are done for - the Velcro doesn't stick any more - and that made the wading rather tedious. Now I've added a couple of strings to act as shoe laces. Hopefully it will fix the problem.

Along the way we saw a young bull moose wading at the edge of the river. We had a splendid view of him. We also saw 5 or 6 eagles, a family of loons, and some falcons. Not bad for one day. Joey and Matt have also caught 3 walleyes that are now in the process of being turned into fish tacos for supper. The daily swim in the river was rather cool, but very refreshing none-the-less.

We came past Rabbit River today, and finally stopped at a nice camp site on an island near Km 140 giving about 28 km for the day.

Sunday, 7 August     Canoe Tour Day 6 Sorry, No Photos

It's 20:30 and we're sitting on a gravel bank next to the camp fire with the setting sun making beautiful colours of the forest. We're also starting to get attacked by the mosquitoes now that the wind has dropped.

I'm not sure how far we got today, but Matt seems happy enough, so I assume that we're more or less by Km 115 as planned, i.e. 25 km today. We spent lots of time today picking our way through rock gardens in the river. One is forever looking to sense in which direction the main current is flowing, and trying to follow it without running aground on sand or gravel banks. Eventually one gets to a point where the water runs through a rapid or swift to drop down to a lower level. At that point one has to run with the current. The idea is to get through in good style, i.e. without scraping the rocks. The water is so low that that is more often than not impossible at the moment. At least we managed all day without capsizing, but we did have to climb out of the canoe a few times to pull it through shallows.

By about 11:30 we reached Deception Rapids, the only Class II rapids on our stretch of the river. Joey went through first to reconnoitre it, soloing his bobbly canoe down the run without trouble. Kari and I then walked the couple of hundred metres along the shore whilst Joey soloed one of the heavily laden canoes and Matt and Brian took the other. They all got through quite dry. By this time it was lunch time. The picnic table was screwed together, and a multi-dip meal fit for a king was set up below the rapids. Joey managed to catch quite a big walleye whilst we were enjoying it.

The afternoon was generally more tranquil. We had some rocky sections of river, but it went better than in the morning. At one point we passed a patch of forest that was regenerating itself following a forest fire, so Matt and Joey had the idea of going ashore to look for bilberries. These are apparently amongst the first plants to resettle a burnt-out patch of forest after a fire. It was a struggle to fight our way up the steep river bank through the undergrowth. All that we found were a few small raspberries and some bitter blackcurrants.

The only time that we had to get out of the canoe was to get through shallow water to reach this pebbly beach for our night's camp. We had fried walleye as an apéro and curried chicken with popadoms for supper. The bags of red and white wine are now nearly empty.

The wild animal count for the day was 5 or 6 bald (white-tailed) eagles, some loons and a wading bird. Despite lots of tracks we saw neither moose nor wolf. We have seen absolutely no signs of any bears. Also, there seem to be no more beaver lodges.

Later ... but just after finishing my log last night, 2 cranes flew by and landed on the river bank not far from our camp site.

Monday, 8 August     Canoe Tour Day 7: End of Missinaibi Sorry, No Photos

Last night was the coolest yet, requiring the putting on of a shirt and the zipping up of the sleeping bag.

We were up soon after 06:00 to a beautiful sunrise, blue sky, no wind, and mist rising from the river. Breakfast was porridge (oat meal) with the usual Canadian add-ons - maple syrup, yoghourt, brown sugar, peanut butter, etc. Granola was also available, but only with a little powdered milk.

We were on the river earlier than usual (~08:45). The river was as smooth as glass as we paddled along the first straight of deep water. Eventually we got to the usual swifts, but picking our way through seemed easier than yesterday.

The river has widened and the banks have become less steep so that the scenery now seems to be more open. But we didn't see any fish jump today, and there were only a couple of eagles and one osprey around. Also, no fish were caught today despite the many attempts, usually just after a swift.

Just before lunch we reached a swift which bordered on being a Class I rapid. Brian and I very nearly came unstuck in that we got stuck rather nastily on a couple of rocks. Fortunately, with a lot of huffing and puffing and a good push from Brian, we managed to get ourselves free. A picnic lunch below the rapids was very welcome. Later on we had another rather difficult swift which required a lot of very panicky paddle work to avoid a boulder, which was seen almost too late.

By about 14:00 Portage Island, our goal for the day and the end of the Missinaibi River came into sight. At this point the Missinaibi joins the Mattagami River to form Moose River. We had a long, sunny afternoon to set up camp in the trees at the top of the steep sandy bank. The view back up the Missinaibi was spectacular. We had a long bathe and rinsed out some clothes. Kari had a longer bathe than she wanted because a group of 10 canoeists came past as she was about to get out, so she had to stay in until they had gone by. We covered some 26 km today.

Tuesday, 9 August     Canoe Tour Day 8: Moose River Crossing Sorry, No Photos

There's no end to the drama on this trip. We've just spent an hour or more sitting out a thunderstorm on an island just below Moose River Crossing (the place where the railway between Moosonee and Cochrane crosses Moose River, some 70 km from Moosonee). We were huddled together under an improvised tarp on the beach of Murray Island. Matt, when he saw the storm approaching, stood a tall log up on end on the higher part of the island just behind us to act as a lightning conductor. In the meantime, the storm has abated and I am sitting in the open, and in the smoke from the camp fire as a hopeful mozzie deterrent. Joey is busy preparing a mashed potato and chilli dish on the fire. It's 20:40.

Because of the low water we've, or it's been decided, that we're breaking off the canoeing here. We're going to take the Polar Bear Express to Moosonee when it comes through tomorrow lunch time, and then take the train back again, all the way to Cochrane, on Thursday at 17:00.

Now it's 21:20 and, in the meantime, Joey has prepared, and we have eaten, mashed potato and beef chilli (home made dehydrated beef), and we have dashed into our tents as the next phase of the storm has engulfed us. I'll finish this log tomorrow!

Next day ... Just before we made a dash for our tents, 5 cranes flew over and landed near us. The storm went on and on but eventually blew itself out so that we could sleep until 06:00.

Going back to the start of the day, we got up to a beautiful sunrise again, lighting up our view of the last stretch of the Missinaibi. We set off paddling anti-clockwise around Portage Island to get into Moose River proper, where it was deep and wide.

Ahead of us was the group of 10 paddlers, which had passed us whilst bathing the previous afternoon. They had hoisted sails. We were actually going faster than they were, but obviously using more energy. We slowly overtook them and drew away.

The going was easy with a strong tail wind so that we did some 10 km to Grey Goose Island in not much more than an hour. There were occasional shoals, shallows and swifts to look out for. There were also two quite severe swifts with big waves splashing over the bow. We mastered these, however, although the second one was a near thing requiring some panicky paddling to avoid a boulder.

Before long some pylons came into view, and shortly before 12:00 we saw the Moose River Crossing railway bridge and journey's end. We stopped for the usual picnic lunch not far from the bridge and saw the morning train cross it on its way to Moosonee. There was a lot of maintenance work going on on the track.

After lunch we slid under the bridge on a swift and continued on and on. We weren't sure what Matt and Joey had in mind, since we were supposed to be stopping here for tomorrow's train, and, in the meantime, the wind had become quite wild from behind. It turned out that we were looking for somewhere to camp. It was difficult: the forest was hard to reach because of the steep banks and was, in any case, impenetrable; and the beaches were too exposed.

In the end we settled for an exposed beach on the north (downstream) end of Murray Island where the vegetation gave us a bit of shelter. We spent a lot of time moving rocks to anchor the tents. When all was set up we had our daily dip – the water had turned quite cold and there is a lot of extremely soft sand at the water's edge. We also paddled across to the right hand river bank in the canoes to visit some gypsum caves, which are a new geological feature of the river around here.

By this time we could all see the storm on its way to hit us. We battened down the hatches and the rest is described above. We probably covered about 25 km today by the time we had finally decided on where to camp.

Wednesday, 10 August     Canoe Tour Day 9: Moosonee Sorry, No Photos

The storm had passed over us by about 23:00, but it was none-the-less a poor night's sleep. For some reason I couldn't get comfortable. The tent was quite sandy inside despite having kept the doors closed. The sand got blown under the fly sheet and up through the mosquito netting.

Anyway, we were up soon after 06:00 to a cold morning with steel blue sky and the sun just rising. All we had to do today was to paddle back to the railway at the Moose River Crossing to get the train to Moosonee. Unfortunately the time of the train was rather vague, and the distance to be paddled also, so we were a bit tense as we set off in the canoes at about 08:45.

We didn't go back up the river, but up a side-arm of the river. There was a head wind, but we made good time. As it turned out we had lots of time. We reached the trail up to the train stop with no trouble, and had soon carried the canoes and all our gear about 200 m up the hill to the rail side by about 10:00. The train was apparently expected at 12:30. It was a long wait with not much to do.

Eventually the train trundled up, so we could have our long-awaited picnic lunch on the train. We chugged along through unchanging forest scenery, crossing a stream or river now and again. After an hour or so we reached Moosonee, got our bags, and wandered down the main street to the taxi ferry across to Moose Factory, stopping to buy 2 cans of beer and a Magnum on the way. Moose Factory is apparently a "dry" town, hence the cans of beer.

The taxi zoomed over the river to the Eco Lodge Hotel on Moose Factory Island. The rest of the day was spent showering, snoozing, resting, eating, and enjoying the luxury of the hotel. It was a fantastic sunset. Brian treated us all to evening meal in the hotel restaurant.

Thursday, 11 August     Canoe Tour Day 10: Moose Factory, Cochrane Sorry, No Photos

It was another bright, sunny morning with a glorious view from our room across the water to other islands. The river has become a wide estuary with lots of islands. There was a continental breakfast included in the expensive price (CA$ 224) of the hotel room.

At 10:00 we checked out, left our heavy bags in the hotel lobby, and went on a tour of Moose Factory with Matt as guide. The town includes federal land with hospital, provincial land with schools, youth centre, radio station and some shops, and ”First Nation" land with culture centre and lots of wooden bungalows. A visit was expected today from the premier of Ontario, Kathleen Wynne. There were some people in the culture centre getting ready to roast some geese, which are hunted here, in her honour. When we saw them, they were in the process of gutting them. Our lunch was an expensive BLT sandwich in a tiny diner in the small shopping centre.

By about 14:30 we were back at the hotel to get our bags and take the car ferry back across the river to Moosonee to catch the train to Cochrane at 17:30. The train stopped briefly at Moose River Crossing for us to load the canoes and camping gear, which we had left there, and trundled on to Cochrane, where we arrived on time at 21:45. It was wet in Cochrane.

Matt had his truck and canoe trailer waiting for him at the station. I think that it had somehow or other found its way to the Westway Motel after we had left it at the water-plane depot, and the proprietor of the motel had moved it to the station in time for our train. As a result, we didn't have to carry our heavy bags to the motel, which was very welcome. Matt, Joey and Brian were planning to leave early the next morning to go their various ways (Brian home to Vermont, Matt to his sister's wedding in Sudbury, Joey back to Thunder Bay, I think), so we said our farewells and retired to our rooms.

The motel proprietress, Kathy, offered us a lift to the station in the morning to catch the 08:15 bus to Huntsville. That was also very, very welcome.

Friday, 12 August     Cochrane, Huntsville, Skeleton Lake Photos

We somehow managed to get all our luggage back into our bags and were up in time to nip into "Tim Horton's" next door for a quick breakfast sandwich before Kathy drove us to the bus stop. As expected, there was a bit of confusion with our tickets at the bus station due to our tickets having been issued prior to Ontario Northern's summer timetable change, but it all got sorted out and we were able to catch the bus.

The bus ride was uneventful. It followed Highway 11 turning off quite frequently for stops in various villages and townships along the way. There was a longer break in Earlston, giving us time to get some food, and a 1.5 hour wait in North Bay where we changed buses. After a bit of a search in the adjoining shopping mall, we found an unexciting ice cream there.

It started raining before we reached Huntsville - very much needed rain in this part of the world this summer. Everything is going brown and there is an open fire ban in effect at the moment. Ken, a friend of ours dating back to Ken's sabbatical in Switzerland in 1979, was waiting for us at the Huntsville bus stop and drove us the 30 km or so to his "cottage" on Skeleton Lake. This is the end of the journal of our Missinaibi canoe tour.

Our holiday continued for another 8 or 9 days or so. I think that this continuation is of less general interest than the holiday so far. There are a few, rather blurred photos as a result of the camera getting drowned when our canoe capsized, and a continuation of this journal.

Please don't feel obliged to fight your way through it, but if you really want to see it, you can find it here.