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Everything fits into the canoe (08/31/03)

Idon't know why it takes four hours to pack for a three-day canoe trip. It is not all that complicated. Tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, maybe a tarp. A change of clothes, extra socks, first aid kit, kitchen equipment and some food.
Idon't know why it takes four hours to pack for a three-day canoe trip. It is not all that complicated. Tent, sleeping pad, sleeping bag, maybe a tarp. A change of clothes, extra socks, first aid kit, kitchen equipment and some food.

Sometimes I even take along a fishing rod. It seems to me all this stuff could be pulled together in less than an hour. Everything fits into a single big pack. A second small pack carries camera, maps, lunch, a cup, binoculars and a towel just in case I find an irresistible place to go for a swim.

At last, when all is ready, I place it in the canoe. Add paddle and life jacket to the list. And me. Everything fits into the canoe.

To be back out on my own again feels great. I wonder why I waited so late in the summer to organize for my
annual solo trip. Next summer, I'm going to do this in July-I'm putting it on the calendar now!

The winds were favourable, just a light breeze at my back. The bugs were gone, just a few lingered on the portages.

First portage I carry the big pack on my back, the little one on front, and the paddle and lifejacket in one hand. I love the portages around here. They are narrow and close, not like a provincial park with passing lanes.

The only maintenance these portages get is when someone wandering through takes out a few overhanging branches or cuts through a fallen tree. I have to walk around most of the windfalls, making a trail a little longer, a little more awkward.

At the other end of the portage I took out the Swede saw (did I mention I had a saw in the big pack?) and walked back along the half-kilometre trail to get the canoe. I trimmed back a few of the bigger branches, cut through some of the smaller logs that crossed the trail. I took a scenic side trip here and there to look at the waterfalls and the clear, still pools that lay below them.

You can't easily get to the falls, or the pool below from the portage. On this trip, I was content to reminisce on a trip I did here a decade ago when I camped at the last lake, and spent the day bushwacking along the edge of this stream, swimming in the pools.

Back to the beginning of the portage, I secure the saw in the canoe, hoist it above my head and begin the carry.

This cedar canvas canoe is only 14 feet long and weighs less than 50 pounds. It's fairly easy to carry as I wind my
way through the forest. Still, it is a little awkward to step over the larger logs, or wind my way through the forest I have to go around.

Four lakes, three portages and one slow meandering creek I paddle to get to the evening's campsite. I set up the tent, have fresh veggies from the garden with my supper and take a swim just before the sun sets. I tuck the paddle and life jacket under the canoe, along with the fishing rod and saw. The small food bag I hang in a tree to discourage the critters.

My sleeping pad and bag spread out in the tent, everything else I own fits into the tent with me. I set out my water bottle, look over the maps to see where I've been, and where I might go tomorrow, make a few notes, and settle in to watch the stars through the screen of my tent.

Viki Mather lives by a lake near Sudbury.

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