Canada As You Like It Blog
Canadian Canoe Adventure- Adventures in Red Lake, Ontario
- by Maggi Smit
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- 10 Nov, 2017
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Account from Richard Young, our Canadian Canoe Culture 2017 prize winner, about his trip to Red Lake this summer.
“After two flights, we arrived in Red Lake. There was Harlan waiting for us with a big smile and just as excited about our trip as we were.
Straight away you knew everyone was going to be friendly when the pilot is taking photos for you. A quick 20-minute drive and we were at the Red Lake Outfitters shop for a quick chat about where we were going to be canoeing and met Lucas our guide. A huge lake was in front of the shop and we were straight in it for a couple of hours to test out our canoeing skills. It was beautiful with the town and houses on the edge of it. Afterwards we were dropped off at our hotel 2 minutes away to freshen up before we went and viewed the float plane we were going to travel on the next day. Lucky for us they had a Rib festival on with music and thought it would be rude to not go for dinner. I love Ribs!!
Morning of the trip we picked up our gear from the shop and left for the floatplane. Three backpacks, one for each of us for the 5-day trip, each weighing 80+lbs plus fishing rods and the canoe tied to the side of the plane. When the plane started you knew the trip had started properly now. The sound of an old 1950s plane engine making that popping noise you expect from an old plane. Up in the air was incredible looking over huge lakes that just went on nonstop. We landed 40mins later at our starting destination. The plan was to set up camp and go fishing for the day. It was a bit windy and we found a spot for drift fishing. It was great, Jacqui had the first walleye. Having never fished before, she loved it. We had about 25 walleye between us and the treat was eating them afterwards around the camp fire.
The second morning we woke to a very windy day. Had breakfast, packed up and got straight on with the challenge. We had two portages to tackle today to get to our next camp. Whilst canoeing it felt like the wind was in our favour to start so we'd drift and fish over certain spots. It didn't last long, then it was a headwind for the rest of the day. The two portages were about 400 meters. It was overgrown with trees fallen into the pathway and boggy bits where Jacqui lost her leg down to her knee at one point. Trying to get up with an 80lb bag on her back wasn't going to happen without us pulling her out. She thought this was hilarious!
Even with the wind all day making it hard work, we were rewarded with seeing several bald eagles using the thermals. We also saw a black bear coming out of the water in the distance. We canoed up to the spot and could only just see its head bobbing about in the trees. We went around the corner, got out and went on foot to see if we could spot him properly but unfortunately we missed him. With camp set up we went out fishing and we had great success again catching walleye. We saved some for dinner and I had a good attempt at filleting my first fish. We were absolutely knackered by the end of the day because of the headwind but it was still an amazing day.
Day three, we had a choice to either do two portages or four and we'd be on the lake we were getting picked up from and could just explore and fish for the rest of the holiday. It was completely still with no wind and even though the portages were twice as long as the day before we decided to go for it. As we canoed off in the still water all you could hear was the howler birds echoing off the high cliff edges. Also, the cracking of trees where a moose was moving about. Such an amazing experience. As we come to the first portage we prepared ourselves for the hard work but what a pleasure it was with the less overgrown surroundings and there were fresh blueberries we could pick and eat. After the second portage, we decided to stop and have lunch but just as we came around the corner we saw a caribou swimming across the lake. We tried to get to its position as quick and quietly as possible. We were just lucky enough to see it again walking over the top of the bank. We hadn't realised how lucky we were until our guide said he'd only ever seen one once before.
On the fourth and final portage I even had a go at carrying the canoe on my shoulders. It's surprisingly well balanced, I came close to falling right at the end with it but just managed to get it back. Now with our final camp set up we were on a lake with fresh trout. This lake was deep at 100 + feet in areas. Again, our guide Lucas got us on the fish which we cooked and ate. I must say on the whole trip we were constantly being fed and you were never going to go hungry. Everything from chocolate bars, granola bars to chilli con carne and curry. They even took into account my lactose intolerance. The next few days were just so nice and chilled out, fishing and eating from dawn till dusk until we were picked up on the lake late in the afternoon.
Flying back over the endless lakes you still couldn't compute what you had just experienced. A great finish for the trip was going out for a meal and a few beers with Harlan and Lucas to chat about the trip of a lifetime. What an amazing experience!!
It hadn't ended yet though as we were flying out to Thunder Bay the next day.
Walking through the airport in Thunder Bay we were met by Stephanie who helped organise our trip. She took our suitcases to drop off at our hotel and introduced us to a chap who was our tour guide for the day. We went straight to Fort William historical park which is a full size 25-acre reconstruction of the North West Company. Fur, medicine and food trading post amongst other things back in 1816. Actors were in every building playing the part in historical clothing and talking about what life was like in the fort. We were then taken to Kakabeka Falls which is a beautiful sight to see followed by Mount Mckay where you can look over the whole of Thunder Bay and Lake Superior.
When we were dropped off at the hotel we were met by Paul, another organiser of our trip, who took us out for a rib dinner. What an amazing bloke and what a passion he has for his town, for the locals, and tourism. The next morning we were picked up by Stephanie for a Finnish breakfast before a walk along the town and lake front. To finish off our trip we went on a sail boat on Lake Superior before we said our goodbyes and were dropped off at the airport to return home.
We can't thank everyone enough for our trip of a lifetime!”
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