Canadian River Adventure

It was a ten day
Wilderness adventure
Through the heart of
The Canadian backcountry,
North of Thunder Bay.
There were eight of us,
Two per canoe or kayak.
We had a guide with us
Who had made the trip before
So we knew that
The lakes and rivers in the region
Were all interconnected
And that they generally drained south
Towards Lake Superior.
All we had to do
Was catch the Wabatosh Railroad
Heading north out of St. Saint Marie
And be dropped off
Somewhere in the middle of nowhere,
And paddle our way South
Until we met the railroad again
Ten days later.
We brought the food and supplies
We needed with us,
For there was no habitations
Anywhere along the route
We were taking.
The lakes and rivers up there
Had an incredible pristine beauty,
But we quickly discovered
They also had an endless supply
Of leaches just waiting
For us to stick our toes in the water.
We tried to wash up
As best we could,
But after ten days
Without a shower or a bath
I imagine we were pretty rank.
There were a number of spots
Where we had to portage,
Carrying all our supplies,
As well as the boats,
Overland from one location to another,
And each one punished us
For all the gear we brought with us.
There were a few places
With navigable rapids,
But mostly we traversed
Slow moving streams
And gently flowing rivers,
But there were several sizable lakes
Whose placid waters
Made progress agonizingly slow.
On one of the larger lakes,
We had to row against
A particularly strong wind
That whipped up waves
That tried to swamp us.
We wore ourselves out,
Hour after hour,
Struggling against that wind
Making almost no headway at all.
Our sleeping bags sure felt good
Each night when we called it quits,
Especially after we finally got
To the far side of the windy lake.
That wind beat us up pretty good.
The food we brought with us
Wasn’t all that bad,
But everything we brought in
Had to be carried out as well.
We couldn’t ruin it for others
By leaving any trash behind.
The only big animals we saw
Were a couple moose.
I was somewhat concerned
About the possibility
Of running into some bears,
But we didn’t see a single one
On the whole trip.
We did manage a little bit of fishing
Along the way, though,
Which provided a welcome supplement
To the food we packed in.
During certain times of the year,
The black flies are savage
Up in those parts,
But fortunately, we only encountered
One area where they were bad,
But in that area, they had a field day
Biting us and sucking our blood
Like little vampires,
And leaving big welts behind
As evidence of their handiwork.
Insect repellant largely kept
The marauding mosquitoes away,
But it didn’t seem to hinder
The black flies at all.
After ten days of travel,
That returning train
Sure looked mighty good
And they just stopped
And picked us up
In the middle of nowhere,
A long ways from the nowhere
Where we started.