Scott McCrindle, Web Designer

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The morning of the second day we were off promptly at about noon and then immediately found ourselves lost trying to find Keso Point on the way around the southeast portion of Okikendawt Island. We swallowed our navigational pride and asked a local fisherman named Norm where we went wrong.

Pointed in the right direction, we paddled upstream fighting some gentle current in the narrower parts of the river to our first portage near the Chaudiere Dam. The 600 metre portage was easy to find, just to the right of a bridge, but there was a fairly steep climb for about one hundred metres. The incline proved to be tough with both a backpack and a whitewater canoe on my shoulders.

Once we put into the water, we found ourselves a bit drained mentally from being lost and from sitting in the direct sun. We decided to paddle along the west shoreline to Dokis Bay where we could enjoy a cooked meal and some cold drinks at the reserve.

Our strength renewed, we put in and continued northward around Okikendawt Island. As we came around the most northeastern point of the island, we were greeted by a very steady westerly prevailing wind and blinding sun as we headed straight west. As we paddled, we saw fewer and fewer evidence of civilization as we headed into French River Provincial Park, and a narrower stretch of the river.

The sun was getting low in the sky as the river opened up again a few kilometres to the west. The wind was almost hot as the blinding water crested directly toward us. We took a break after about twenty minutes of hard paddling at a round, rocky island covered with tall white pine and the most lush wild blueberry bushes I have ever seen.

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Posted on Friday, August 4th, 2006 at 15:08 under Adventure. Responses can be followed through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your site.