A look behind as well as ahead

For those of us still enclosed in the icy clutches of winter it's nice every now and then to look back the previous summer's activities in order to anticipate next summer's.

In the last couple of week's I've spent a significant amount of time day-dreaming about what sort of camping/canoeing trips I might be able to pull off this upcoming summer (Lord willing, of course!).

Last September long-weekend I (along with a few other adults: my brother, Lori who organized the whole trip, and her brother) guided a group of kids on a canoe trip just north of LaRonge, SK.

Here's our route:

It was a nice, easy loop based out of Missinipi (south-west corner of the map). We crossed Otter Lake into Grandmother Bay (travelling north-east), portaged across into French Lake and made camp on the first night on a tiny little island on the North-East end of French Lake. Day two started off with a portage from French Lake into Ducker Lake. We travelled down Ducker until we had to portage (worst portage EVER!) into Stewart. We spent our second night on a little peninsula in Rattler Bay. Our final day on the water took us out of Rattler and back into Otter Lake. Our weather had been fantastic so far, but day 3 had us fighting both the current and the wind most of the way back to Missinipi. As you can see from our return route, we did our best to hug the leeward side of the islands for a bit of shelter. We got back to Missinipi just in time to set up camp before the rain hit!

Here's most of our group:

Ahh, how I long for the open water!

A little open-water rest/snack time.

Campsite on Day 1:

My good brother, the canoe meister, attempting to teach me how to solo properly :)

At the south end of Rattler Bay there are some cool petroglyphs. The picture might not show it super well, but this is clearly a moose.

It was a great trip. There are few things so excellent in life than spending time experiencing God's phenomenal creation with those of like mind!

Now back to planning this year's trips!!