JOURNEY 51: "A DAM GOOD TIME"

Dunrobin to Portage du Fort - August 22-25

You can read this account on the web with supporting
thumbnailed photos at http://gokayaking51.wellar.ca

=====

This was our first major paddle since moving to our new home on the water
last December. Keenan developed a very serious foot injury in the spring and
we have hardly been out on the water at all. So, we tried to make up for
that in just four days.

It was an amazing feeling to be setting off on a big adventure but to be
only 20 feet from our back door. It's a real pleasure not having to
transport our big kayaks on top of the car and then have to load them up at
a remote location. We just dragged all our stuff out onto the back lawn and
packed them from there.

We had made a reservation at Fitzroy Provincial Park and it was a very
obtainable goal despite pushing off at 2:00. But as we paddled out into
Constance Bay there were some grey clouds in the sky, and it became obvious
that it was quite windy out on the open waters. Just travelling the 3 km out
of the bay to the main river was quite a lot of work. And because of
Keenan's serious foot problems we hadn't been out paddling much this summer
so the muscles were not exactly happy about what we were doing to them! We
found our noses pointing towards Mohr Island and beyond, and it really felt
like our adventure was underway.

There is surprisingly little information available for paddlers interested
in exploring the historic Ottawa River by canoe or kayak. In planning for
the trip we contacted countless helpful people, from Ottawa River Keeper
Meredith Brown to paddling enthusiast Max Finkelstein at Parks Canada.
Especially helpful was whitewater rafter Gord Bunston, who communicated back
and forth with Keenan via email to pinpoint the location of the portage for
the big hydroelectric dam at the Chats Falls Generating Station using Google
maps. More on the portage later!

After considering all the information the plan was to spend the night
camping at Fitzroy Provincial Park as mentioned. The second day we would
paddle across Pontiac Bay, portage the dam, and make our way across Lac des
Chats (a long and wide section of the river) and up the Madawaska River to
spend the night in Arnprior. Day three would require a long northwesterly
paddle up the remainder of Lac des Chats and the narrow area of the river
through the channels around Chenaux Island and north to Portage du Fort
below the Chenaux Generating Station dam. After a night in Portage du Fort,
we were to return to Arnprior and spend the night, and then attempt to
return home on day five. That was the plan, anyway!

It was ten kilometres of rough going into mostly a stiff headwind to reach
Mohr's Island. It was a great relief to paddle into the small estuary that
splits the island in two. It?s a very peaceful and secluded spot. It also
carries the historical significance of being a campsite for Samuel de
Champlain during his search for a Northwest Passage. Boy, he sure was lost!

After a quick snack of bacon and tomatoes (prepared by Julie that morning)
it was back on the water and into the wind. Like a lot of paddlers we each
tend to pick objects in the distance and make it a goal to reach it, the
reward being a rest or drink of water. In this case there were some huge
powerlines in the distance and without talking about it we'd both decided to
focus on those. When we got there it was actually an intersting part of the
river, and a blue heron was there fishing along the shoreline.

We were now in the Woolsey narrows, and the going was a bit easier because
there was not much wind. And soon we could see the twin Quyon ferries in the
distance. We waited for the ferry on the Ontario side to leave and paddled
across while the ferry on the Quebec side was just getting underway.

It wasn't long before the Chats Falls dam became visible in the distance.
This was very exciting because the park is adjacent the dam. Even though
there's no reason to think otherwise, it's always nice to see with your eyes
that your final goal is attainable.

Keenan had been studying the maps for weeks and was doing the navigating to
get us into the park, which is well hidden from view as you move north up
the river. The campsite we reserved was on the banks of the Carp River, and
the idea was that we would paddle right up to it. Well, Keenan did locate
the Carp River and we did paddle it, but it quickly grew shallow and we were
short of our goal. So, back out into the Ottawa!

The water was very shallow everywhere and the bottom was rocky. Our kayaks
took a little bit of a beating because there was a lot of wind and it was
hard to see to pick our way through. After 4 hours of hard paddling, we
landed on the small beach in the campground at Fitzroy Provincial Park. Some
tourists from Germany came along and asked a number of questions about the
kayaks and the river.

It was hard to get out without falling over! It had only been 20 km but it
was pretty hard paddling and we were rusty. We crawled out, dragged the
boats up onto the beach, and went to figure out what to do next.

Our reserved campsite was quite a distance from where we landed, but we went
to look at it anyway. It had a nice view of the trickle that is the Carp,
but it was right next to this camper that seemed to have about 20 people in
it. Plus it was just way to far to be carrying our loaded kayaks if we
didn't have to.

We examined the available sites near the beach, which are all electrical and
mostly dominated by RVs and big campers. But the sites just off the water
were not busy at all, so we picked one of those, and dumped all our stuff.
Being a bit rules-conscious, Keenan wanted to make the long walk up to the
registration office and change the reservation. Julie figured it really
wasn't necessary, and she was right. But it was actually a pretty nice walk.

When we got to the office the sole staff member was obviously not used to
dealing with people who "paddle in" because he asked for our license plate
number twice.

There was a nice reward for making the walk to the office, which was a stop
at the camp store that is fully stocked with just about anything you could
ever want ? including hard ice cream.

The stars were out and the Chats Falls Dam is lit up at night, so we went
out on the beach to take a look. It was then time for a restful night's
sleep in the tent. The moon and stars were shining brightly through the mesh
screens and it was a lovely end to a terrific first day. Julie was still
getting over the poison ivy she acquired the week earlier and didn't sleep
as well as she usually does, whereas Keenan slept better than usual - no TV
or computer to keep him up!

Next morning after quickly packing up the tent, deflating the mattress, and
downing a breakfast of bananas, chicken noodle soup, and whole grain bread
it was time to paddle across the face of the dam (from a safe distance of
course) and try to locate the portage. We were full of apprehension. What if
we could not find the portage location? What if the trail was not passable?
The whole trip would be ruined. Keenan had tried desperately to learn more
about this portage for months but except for Gord Bunston's account, we had
little else to go on.

Following the map brought us to the extreme west of Pontiac Bay, and the
start of the portage as described by Gord was now in evidence. It is at the
site of the Chenal du Fer (aka the "rock cut") which is an unfinished canal
that was started back in the 1850s. We were just about to make our way
through the swampy rock cut when a pleasant voice rang out from a nearby
cottage. Mrs. Baser who was staying with her family in their cottage on the
site were soon offering some important help ? "You don't want to go that
way, it is very swampy and full of poison ivy. Come and use our beach and
come through the yard and down the trail behind the house."

It was a very kind offer and no doubt made for an easier portage. But it was
still a difficult 600 metres. The terrain was rocky and at times very steep.
At the end of the trail was a concrete dam (no running water, just a cement
wall) and beyond that a series of beautiful islands in the flooded lands
above the dam. The sun was pelting down now and it was quite a workout. By
the time we'd hauled both boats and all the gear, we were hungry and
cracked into some chili and ate right out of the can. After a couple of
bottles of water it was time to get going.

It wasn't a very good launch site, with a shoreline that dropped off
quickly. The remainder of the poison ivy on Julie's feet was getting
irritated by her sandals so she had to put some socks on. And that meant she
wanted to get into her kayak without getting her feet wet. Oh sure, she
could have just put them on in the kayak, but Julie is very talented at
entering her kayak from strange positions. But not this time. She found
herself in the classic "the boat is moving deeper and one of my feet is
still on shore" position. Keenan was standing in the water and sloshed his
way over and held the kayak and a dunking was avoided.

The area above the dam was both beautiful and isolated. There was not a boat
of any kind in sight. There are all sorts of islands and bays, and it could
be confusing. This is the one area where it was nice to have spent some time
looking at the maps to have some confidence about where to go.

We picked our way through the islands until the railroad bridge from Morris
Island to Pontiac came into sight. We took a rest behind Blackhead Island
(we don't know where the name came from) and then tried to figure out what
line to take next. In the distance we could see a bit of a beach, which we
figured correctly to be the Arnprior public beach. We could also see a big
church steeple nearby and used that as a guide.

The river is very wide here, and in bad weather this area of Lac des Chats
would be very dangerous indeed. We experienced some pretty good winds
ourselves, and it was a relief to draw near the Arnprior shoreline. There's
a big mine in the distance on the Quebec side and it looks really weird when
the sun shines on it. Despite the wind Keenan kept dropping his paddle to
take pictures of it.

There was a nice family doing some fishing near the entrance (well, really
the exit) of the Madawaska and they said hello as we paddled up this
important tributary. There were lots of boats moored in the area, but only
one in the water, and it was about to leave via the public ramp.

We passed by the church that had been our guide across the river, and made
our way close to the weir to the small dock that belongs to Arnprior Quality
Inn, which was to be our home for the night. It had not been a long trip,
and the work of the portage had definitely been a much bigger strain than
any of the paddling.

We dragged our boats partway up the hill below the hotel and decided to get
a little more presentable before going in. This basically means taking off
sweat-soaked shirts and replacing with a clean one.

The front desk had the same problen as the park staff in coming to grips
with "paddle in" visitors. She also asked for a license plate number, and
asked if we needed tips on places to drive around town, but caught herself
and laughed at her error. They definitely charge a bit much for what is a
very ordinary room, but we didn't have a lot of choices. There is no camping
in Arnprior, and it was pretty nice to be able to pull our kayaks up the
hill and leave them just below the window of our room!

Keenan wandered out to find a newspaper, and to replenish our supply of
bottled water. The gas station was out of newspapers, so he stopped in at a
coffee shop across the street and the guy behind the counter was nice enough
to give him a copy of the Citizen free of charge. It was a gesture that
earned them a visit for breakast the next day.

After lounging a bit and reading the paper, we decided to skip the hotel
restaurant and walk over the bridge and into town to see what we could find
on a Tuesday night in Arnprior. We noticed most of the restaurants had
people's names so we picked a restaurant with two people's names: Steve and
Denni's. Or Steve and Dennis. It depends whether you look at the sign, the
menu, the placemats, or the takeout menu. No matter, the menu offered what
we needed...a truly special special...how'd you like soup, salad, ribs,
quarter chicken, mashes potatoes, and pie? Well, we were hungry. And it was
only $9.95!

We rolled out of there and walked back to the hotel as the sun was starting
to set. There were gulls lined up along the top of the weir, and just below
it a blue heron was doing some fishing for a late night snack. We both had a
good night's sleep.

We got up around 7:00 knowing we had a pretty long journey ahead, and not
knowing much of what to expect, especially in the area past Chenaux Island.
We went over to the S&K Coffee Shop for eggs and bacon. There's a Tim
Horton's up the street, but there couldn't have been many locals there,
because they all seemed to be at S&K. There was constant laughter and
swearing. The waitress/cook/cashier was a jovial lady who asked what we were
doing for the day, we told her that we were paddling kayaks to "portaaj dew
for" and she said "Hey Henry, these two are paddling all the way to
"portidge do fort." Henry replied simply "CHRIST!" and that was the capper
on our S&K experience.

We dragged our kayaks down the hill to the water. Keenan actually hit more
than 12 km per hour running with his, according to our GPS unit. For those
interested in such things, we didn't use the GPS for navigation, only for
recording distances and speeds. The experience of navigating by compass and
maps is simply more enjoyable.

We pushed off into the Madawaska and headed for the Ottawa. At first in the
shelter of the harbour we thought it might be a calm day. But soon we came
to face reality - the wind was blowing strong, and it was not a helpful
wind, slamming us mostly from the side, which in many ways is worse than a
headwind because steering is more complicated.

We paddled along the Ontario shoreline past the old Gillies Mill. The winds
were driving pretty hard. As Keenan stopped to take a picture of the mill,
Julie asked "What's that white stuff up there in the distance?" The only
plausible explanation was whitecaps caused by the wind, and that was exactly
what it was.

At Red Pine Bay near Braeside we passed over the shipwreck of a lumber tug
that went down in the late 1800s. It was a bit eerie to think about that,
and with the high winds blowing, we gripped our paddles a bit tighter and
quickened the pace out of the area.

It was past time for a rest. Keenan was intent on pausing at Lighthouse
Island (which no longer has a lighthouse on it) but Julie wanted to push on.
The mouth of the Bonnechere River provided the perfect spot for a rest.
We've actually paddled this river on several occasions in other areas (it's
a long winding river that goes all the way from the Ottawa River through
Golden Lake and Round Lake to its headwaters way up inside Algonquin Park).
In fact, Keenan was canoeing on the river during the SMILE camping trip just
two weeks earlier (he also took a bit of an unplanned swim).

There was a small natural beach nestled into the brush, with blue herons and
cormorants at play in the weedy shallows nearby. We were hungry. It was time
for some peanut butter, bread, bananas, plums, nuts, and chocolate. Ahh. And
of course lots of water. A blue heron had settled into some reeds across
from us and seemed to be keeping an eye on what we were doing.

We could see the narrowing of the river in the distance, and there was some
anxiety about what might be next. The navigation charts show a number of
different channels in the area around Chenaux Island, and the word "rapids"
is mentioned. What would this mean to our efforts to continue north to
Portage du Fort?

As we paddled further a train passed near the river on a track near
Castleford. At this point it almost looked like the mighty river came to a
dead end. Then a motorized pontoon boot came chugging past us (amazingly it
was one of the few boats of any kind we saw all day) and headed up the left
side of the island in the distance. We figured if a boat like that could
make it up the left channel then so could we!

There was a pretty strong current with many little eddies and whirpools that
turned the kayaks in different directions, but it was not difficult to stay
on course, and the scenery was just beautiful. The river is very different
in this 8 km section because it is narrow and the water is moving. There are
interesting rock faces and picturesque tiny islands, as well as some larger
islands with sandy beaches. There are very few cottages and this was one of
our favourite places on the entire trip.

We paddled into a quiet area with the sun pelting down and stopped for a
break on a sandy natural beach. Keenan went to stand up and his legs did not
cooperate. He started to topple over in the shallow water and was
desperately trying to hold his camera bag up out of the water (the camera is
in a waterproof case, but he didn't want the bag full of water). After
watching in amusement Julie realized there was some seriousness to the
situation and rushed over and grabbed the camera bag.

We got back on the water and it was late afternoon when we sighted
powerlines and the top of the Chenaux dam in the distance. We stuck to the
eastern shoreline and continued north. There was an enormous blue heron
perched on a branch right at the intersection of one of the dam floodways
and the river.

Soon we could see the steeple of the local Church, and then the red facade
of the River Club building (our home for the night) near the boat launch.
There was also a beachcomber unloading his haul for the day.

There were many local children fishing and hanging around the dock, and
through Keenan's banter with them we were surprised to learn that Portage du
Fort is a mainly English-speaking community. Before checking in at the River
Club we walked across the town and across the highway to the north side of
the Chenaux Generating Station and touched our toes in the water. It was a
celebration of reaching the half-way point of our journey. We thought maybe
we were standing right in the very spot where the first people to explore
the area had portaged their canoes.

We had dragged the kayaks up near the parking lot, so we left them there and
went inside to find the registration desk. Keenan had been emailing with the
promotional manager or the River Club but wasn't sure if we'd be expected or
not.

We came in the side door and entered a large bar with VLT machines, pool
tables, and a small stage. There was a woman behind the bar and a fellow who
looked like a chef. But there didn't seem to be any sign of a desk with keys
for the rooms and such. So we headed for the front door, to see if there was
another entrance. There wasn't. We came back in and the chef guy was sort of
laughing at us. He asked if we were looking for the bathroom. Conversation
ensued and the lady (Sonia) figured out who were were. We answered a few
questions about our journey, and then Luke (the chef) was kind enough to
give us a place to store our kayaks for the night (in a locked shed) and
left us the keys so we could get out early in the morning. What service!

We were a little surprised by the room. It was a bit fancier than expected.
There was a brass nameplate on the door (it was called the Fort Coulonge
room) and inside it was tastefully decorated, had sattelite TV, a fridge,
and air conditioning, and the bathroom was big and it looked brand new. We
each had a nice long hot shower and then sought out dinner.

There weren't any options for where to eat, and that was fine with us. Sonia
said Luke was an excellent chef, and she was right. Chef Luke prepared a
tremendous chicken caesar salad followed by a huge (enormous) and cheesy
meat lasagna. After dinner Julie figured out we'd be able to watch CFL
football on TV. We talked about what we wanted to do tomorrow. Did we really
need to stay another night in Arnprior? Perhaps we could paddle all the way
to Fitzroy and camp instead. Or if we didn't make it, maybe we could camp
somewhere near the portage?

Keenan went to the payphone at the corner store and cancelled the
reservation at the hotel, and also picked up some more bottled water which
could be chilled in the fridge.

Julie went to sleep around half time and Keenan was half asleep after
watching the game to the bitter end - Calgary choked and let the Argos win.
Bad news for the Renegades in the battle for first, but there's lots of
season to go!

Julie was very keen on the skipping Arnprior plan, and she started carrying
it out by getting up bright and early. It was still quite dark, in fact. But
there was lots of fussing around to do so the extra time was good to have.

It was now August 25, and we celebrated the first wide awake minutes of our
4th wedding anniversary by hauling the heavy loaded kayaks out of the shed
and down to the water. We got a send-off from one of the locals ? of the
four-legged barking variety,

There was a mist across the river and not a cloud in the sky. It was an
incredibly beautiful paddle downstream, although even as early as 8:30 am
the sun was already quite intense and it was a hot paddle. It was hard to
tell with the sun in our eyes, but it became clear at one point that
something big was watching from the shoreline. It turned out to be a big
beige cow! And he had friends. They were all wandering around the shallows
having a morning drink.

With the current behind us, we blasted downriver at speeds in excess of 8 km
per hour. It was barely 9 am and we had already cleared Chenaux Island and
were heading southeast on the Lac des Chats part of the river.

Today there was only a slight breeze, and it was a tailwind. The only
challenge was the heat of the sun. With your lower body underneath a
neoprene seal and PFD on your torso, it gets pretty hot. Keenan was starting
to lilt, and fought back by dunking his hat in the water.

We continued to make great time, maintaining a pace of about 7 km per hour,
and paddled all the way to Kennedy Island before stopping for the usual
lunch of bananas, bread, peanut butter, plums, and chocolate. Julie relaxed
in the shade and Keenan waded in the water. It was a lovely little spot.

And at this point there was an interesting discussion: perhaps it would be
possible to paddle all the way back to Dunrobin on the same day!

Bypassing Arnprior meant it made the most sense to paddle the Quebec side on
this leg of the trip, and that's part of the fun of doing a return journey ?
you can see both sides of the river. It was actually about three kilometres
shorter to get back to the Chats dam this way. The biggest difference was
that the water was very shallow and full of deadheads and shoals. We both
had a few close encounters and bumps into rocks and logs. It was a very
interesting paddle, and again, very peaceful with no other boats around.

It took a bit of poking around the islands to find the portage without
venturing too close to the main part of the generating station. The sun was
blazing hot but it was only 3:00 and with only about 20 km left to return to
Dunrobin, the impossible was sounding possible. But first there was the
portage to contend with.

We managed the difficult exit onto land, and then scattered our gear all
along the top of the dam. We had some canned food left, so we ate them all.
One for Julie, three for Keenan.

We made a plan to carry the kayaks and gear in just three trips. First was
Keenan?s larger and heavier kayak. We both had bruises along our sides from
carrying in the other direction two days earlier, and it was a bit painful
to go through it again. But we got to the end of the trail and the Baser
family was busy working in their yard, preparing to fell a big tree. They
welcomed us warmly and asked some questions about our trip. Then it was back
up the trail to load up on gear. Whatever could not be carried on this trip
would go in Julie's kayak and be carried on the final trip.

The plan worked well, but it was definitely exhausting with the sun pelting
down. As we prepared to push off, the Baser's completed a perfect takedown
of their tree. We applauded and shoved off into the water.

Getting back on the water was a pleasure. Crossing Pontiac Bay the children
from the Tim Horton's camp were busy enjoying themselves with an afternoon
swim. Approaching Quyon, we spotted a huge mast in the distance, and it
belonged to the Black Jack, a well-known local sailing vessel that Keenan
remembers well from his days of working at the Britannia Yacht Club.

The Quyon ferries were hard at work with full loads (a full load for them is
about 4 or 5 cars).

Soon the familiar sight of Mohr's Island was in the distance. The sun was
setting quickly, but at this point the odds of making it home before dark
were very strong, although both physically and psychologically the journey
was feeling long.

Keenan tried to save distance by sticking close to the Ontario side but it
was so shallow he ran aground and almost had to get out. Julie observed with
some amusement from deeper waters.

As we neared home, a float plane was practicing landings and takeoffs along
the Quebec shoreline, and on sand point some dogs were frolicking in the
shallows.

At long last we were back in Constance Bay, with just three kilometres to go
to the back yard. The sun was now just above the horizon and the air was
cool, a welcome change for the struggle of the final few minutes. We hit the
shore just as the sun disappeared from the sky. Our neighbours were just
heading off in their canoe for a little evening paddle, and their dog Joker
was very interested in our kayaks. He had a look of apprehension on his
face, as though the kayaks had become part of our bodies. In a way they had!
We took one final photo with the setting sun in the background and the trip
was over.

Here are some statistics from this journey:

Day 1
Paddling time: 4.5 hours
Paddling distance: 21 km

Day 2
Paddling time: 2.5 hours
Portage time: 2 hours
Paddling distance: 13 km

Day 3
Paddling time: 6.5 hours
Paddling distance: 33 km

Day 4
Paddling time: 9.5 hours
Portage time: 1.5 hours
Paddling distance: 60 km

Totals
Paddling time: 23 hours
Portage time: 3.5 hours
Paddling distance: 127 km

"Keenan & Julie" wrote in message
...
JOURNEY 51: "A DAM GOOD TIME"

Dunrobin to Portage du Fort - August 22-25
You can read this account on the web with supporting
thumbnailed photos at http://gokayaking51.wellar.ca

This was our first major paddle since moving to our new home on the water
last December.

= = = = = = = =
What a great story & pictures - makes me want to RUN to the nearest river
(Kissimmee, I'm afraid) and head out. Real hot here, though ...
Chip in Central Florida

"chip" wrote in message
ink.net...

What a great story & pictures - makes me want to RUN to the nearest river
(Kissimmee, I'm afraid) and head out. Real hot here, though ...
Chip in Central Florida

Hey -- a river's a river. There's something special about "around the next
bend". "My" river is right in the middle of town. One of my landmarks
coming "home" is Interstate 94 running across the river. But once out in
the piney stretches with undercut rock banks, it's easy to imagine you're a
lot farther than 4 miles away from the whining semi-trucks.

in article et, chip at
wrote on 9/2/05 5:46 AM:


"Keenan & Julie" wrote in message
...
JOURNEY 51: "A DAM GOOD TIME"

Dunrobin to Portage du Fort - August 22-25
You can read this account on the web with supporting
thumbnailed photos at http://gokayaking51.wellar.ca

This was our first major paddle since moving to our new home on the water
last December.

= = = = = = = =
What a great story & pictures - makes me want to RUN to the nearest river
(Kissimmee, I'm afraid) and head out. Real hot here, though ...
Chip in Central Florida

Thanks Chip!

I was down your way (well, in the same state anyway) in February, my wife
and I supported a trip for 14 people with intellectual disabilities to South
Beach. It was awesome. We were treated like gold everywhere we went.
Kayaking wasn't on the agenda though, we'll have to come back on our own
sometime for that.

Keenan
gokayaking.ca

in article , Bob the Cow at
wrote on 9/2/05 6:19 PM:


"chip" wrote in message
ink.net...

What a great story & pictures - makes me want to RUN to the nearest river
(Kissimmee, I'm afraid) and head out. Real hot here, though ...
Chip in Central Florida

Hey -- a river's a river. There's something special about "around the next
bend". "My" river is right in the middle of town. One of my landmarks
coming "home" is Interstate 94 running across the river. But once out in
the piney stretches with undercut rock banks, it's easy to imagine you're a
lot farther than 4 miles away from the whining semi-trucks.

Definitely. The most amazing thing about our own little trip was that we
left the second morning from a provincial park full of huge RVs, SUVs, and
tourists, paddled 3 km and walked 600m, and then it was like we were the
only people on earth many places on the rest of the trip.

Keenan
gokayaking.ca

Hey Keenan et al:
Let me know when you'll be in Florida ...
As for the Kissimmee River - it's a ditch. Fixed up nice and straight (way,
way better than dumb ol' nature flung it down there) by the US Army Corps of
Engineers back in the 1940s (or thereabouts) it's now the object of some
restoration projects. Maybe in a decade or so it'll again be a beautiful
ride, but right now much of it is just a high-speed channel to move
fertilizer runoff to Lake Okeechobee then out to the Gulf via the other
ditch - the Caloosahatchee River.

Don't think that's all I've got to say, though, as there are some beautiful
rivers & creeks here in Central Florida - I live near Lake Walk-in-Water
and there's a creek flowing into that lake - my house is about 100 yards
from that creek, about 1/2mile from the lake. Going out of Walk-in-Water
there's a creek which flows on into Lake Rosalie and one going from there
to Lake Tiger and one from Tiger into Lake Kissimmee, a beautiful wide spot
on the Kissimmee River.
I used to make that journey, camping and fishing, and stay gone for weeks at
a time when I was young, but it was always a challenge as the creeks are
narrow and often blocked by downed trees. Beautiful, though.
And there are dozens (if not hundreds) more rivers & creeks that are even
more easily travelled.
Used to make lots of canoe trips. Haven't gone anywhere much since I bought
my kayak (which I bought because a beautiful girl kayaker living nearby told
me she wished she had somebody to kayak with ... ). I used it for fishing
here on the lake a few times and let other neighbors borrow it - they love
to kayak and don't have one ...

I look forward to making that and other journeys again now that I'm an old
retired person. Hopefully my worn out knees, back and hips will allow it.

Lemme know when you head to Florida next - chip


"Keenan & Julie" wrote in message
...
JOURNEY 51: "A DAM GOOD TIME"
....
Thanks Chip!

I was down your way (well, in the same state anyway) in February, my wife
and I supported a trip for 14 people with intellectual disabilities to
South
Beach. It was awesome. We were treated like gold everywhere we went.
Kayaking wasn't on the agenda though, we'll have to come back on our own
sometime for that.

Keenan
gokayaking.ca

in article et, chip at
wrote on 9/3/05 7:02 AM:

Hey Keenan et al:
Let me know when you'll be in Florida ...
As for the Kissimmee River - it's a ditch. Fixed up nice and straight (way,
way better than dumb ol' nature flung it down there) by the US Army Corps of
Engineers back in the 1940s (or thereabouts) it's now the object of some
restoration projects. Maybe in a decade or so it'll again be a beautiful
ride, but right now much of it is just a high-speed channel to move
fertilizer runoff to Lake Okeechobee then out to the Gulf via the other
ditch - the Caloosahatchee River.

Oh :-(

Well, at least all your rivers seem to have spectacular names!

Don't think that's all I've got to say, though, as there are some beautiful
rivers & creeks here in Central Florida - I live near Lake Walk-in-Water
and there's a creek flowing into that lake - my house is about 100 yards
from that creek, about 1/2mile from the lake. Going out of Walk-in-Water
there's a creek which flows on into Lake Rosalie and one going from there
to Lake Tiger and one from Tiger into Lake Kissimmee, a beautiful wide spot
on the Kissimmee River.
I used to make that journey, camping and fishing, and stay gone for weeks at
a time when I was young, but it was always a challenge as the creeks are
narrow and often blocked by downed trees. Beautiful, though.
And there are dozens (if not hundreds) more rivers & creeks that are even
more easily travelled.
Used to make lots of canoe trips. Haven't gone anywhere much since I bought
my kayak (which I bought because a beautiful girl kayaker living nearby told
me she wished she had somebody to kayak with ... ).

Heehee. Many a man has been inspired to do much less worthwhile things for
the same motivation.

I used it for fishing
here on the lake a few times and let other neighbors borrow it - they love
to kayak and don't have one ...

I look forward to making that and other journeys again now that I'm an old
retired person. Hopefully my worn out knees, back and hips will allow it.

Lemme know when you head to Florida next - chip

Thanks! I'm a relatively young but somewhat physically wornout man myself,
and I find kayaking is pretty easy on most parts of my body that I usually
complain about :-)



"Keenan & Julie" wrote in message
...
JOURNEY 51: "A DAM GOOD TIME"
...
Thanks Chip!

I was down your way (well, in the same state anyway) in February, my wife
and I supported a trip for 14 people with intellectual disabilities to
South
Beach. It was awesome. We were treated like gold everywhere we went.
Kayaking wasn't on the agenda though, we'll have to come back on our own
sometime for that.

Keenan
gokayaking.ca

HI Keenen and Julie I live right in your neck of the woods! I didn't even
make the connection when I read my local paper then I followed the link from
this newsgroup because of a google search and there you were
http://www.wellar.ca/jk/articlehighwebnew.jpg I actually read the story for
a while before I picked up that the same story was in the paper on the table
in my den! Now my wife is getting ideas for our next anniversary :-)

Glen
(from Richmond)

PS: Sometimes I put my yellow Storm kayak in just off of Greenland (the
road!)