History Lessons

Today was our day off in Kenora Ontario. Local artist Don McMaster helped with our portage and crew change yesterday and today he gave a private talk about his paintings of David Thompson's travels which are on display at the Kenora Museum. Daryl, Sharon and Bill are at the left of the photo as he describes a monument built for the international boundary survey in this area.



John Latham has joined the crew and had his first short paddle late on Saturday afternoon, but tomorrow will be his first full day in the boat as we head out into the 14,000 islands of Lake of the Woods for an over-night camp. Getting off track is easily done, so the Brigade will likely travel slose together and follow the boat that knows the region. John seems to have enjoyed the museum visit and is here speaking with the artist. The next photo shows Laverne Thompson (a seventh generation decendant of David Thompson) next to a painting depicting the wedding of Charlotte Small and David Thompson. Charlotte paddled tens of thousands of kilometers with David, covering more than twice the distance of the famed Americans Lewis and Clark.

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Shopping

A daily part of this trip is shopping. We buy chocolate bars, bananas, apples and bagles just about every day. Even when we are being fed by communities on a regular basis, ten people consume a lot. And some times the most efficient place to pack is in the middle of a supermarket parking lot - like this one in Kenora. While Richard, Daryl, Bill and I shop, the rest of the crew is on a wilderness overnight paddle.
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The Local Guide

Second from the right is Keith Reid who we met in Pinawa (which means calm water in Cree). He has paddled, rowed and sailed the Winnipeg River for thirty years and we were lucky to have him join our crew for the day. We paddled up the swifts, rapids and calmer waters for 41 kilometers to the tiny village of Point Du Bois. Keith saved the entire Brigade from a long portage by guiding us right to the base of a spillway at the Slave Falls Dam.
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Off to Pinawa

The community of Lac du Bonnet gave us a pancake breakfast send off this morning. Here are the Paddle Canada 1 and 2 crews just heading out to the next community of Pinawa.
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Charge the beach

Yesterday we did an arrival ceremony at the Lac du Bonnet public beach. We begin with the nine canoes performing a figure eight maneuver. Turning the boats and zipping past the canoe which has just crossed in front while not making it look like chaos requires lots of communication and planning. After two circuits, we lined up and then one canoe fires a shotgun blank, a responding gun is shot from shore, we shout three cheers and then we race the boats to the shore and then break hard at the last instant before actually touching the shore. Today was our day off and everyone enjoyed the time to do some laundry, rest and enjoy this small town - we especially enjoyed the restaurants.
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Du Bonnett

We managed to get up too early today and in the process Neil missed breakfast because we put everything away before the only sane one got out of his tent ! So here we are having breakfast number 2.

The weather has been ... mixed. The forecast says "better than yesterday" but each day seems to be colder and wetter. So everyone is geared up for rain and then the sun comes through then we take off the rain slick because it is too warm and a rain shower or downpour comes over.

Tonight the community of Lac du Bonnett (pronounced "dew bonnie") will welcome us with a supper and a Voyageur's Ball.
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A guest paddler

Roz, at right, joins us for this morning. She is a friend of Richard and she had us over to her house while we were in Winnipeg a few days ago. Today Bill had his first day in the stern and reports that he prefers the bow where Sharon set her regular steady pace today. Bev and Neil are now settled into the crew having paddled a full day yesterday they have proven themselves as strong crew members. We ended today with an outstanding curry chicken feast prepared by Michel and abel assistant Neil.
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Lake Winnipeg

We expected harsh conditions on the big lake today but we were extremely lucky. The Red River and the delta were totally calm and we had only a few passing showers before the sunshine came through. With huge black clouds to the west and south, the last 25 kilometers became a little windy and we crossed a large bay and we splashed through a few rolling waves as we rounded the last point of land before turning into Grand Beach. From right to left: Richard, Sharon, Bill, Steve, Michel, Daryl, Chris and me.
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The Forks

Steve and I met Loui, who is dressed as a member of the CCV - the Canadian Corps of Voyageurs who fought during the War of 1812 before the British decided their tactics were too unconventional. We were on our way to meet the crew who were doing a short paddle to a ceremony at the Forks in downtown Winnipeg.
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Portage & Main

Steve drives us through Portage & Main in downtown Winnipeg after masterfully leading the canoe through the first half of the day along the Assiniboine River. We paddled well all day, staying with the two fastest crews (Canadian Voyageurs & Fort Saskatchewan) until the 32 km crew change. The other crews suggested we needed to supply a urine sample on suspicion of performance enhancing substances.
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Nine Hours in the Rain

It was raining at 5am when we got up and it didn't stop raining until we were sitting in the van at 4:30. I don't know if anyone sells rain gear that will allow you to paddle all day and stay dry - I was soaked, except for my feet in rubber boots. Back on the water for another 72 kilometers into Winnipeg tomorrow.
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Crew member sites

Paddle Canada 2 crew member Richard Wagers has his blog for the trip operational. Also Bill Erickson has his site . Note you need to click on the specific dates to see his pictures.

More Wind & Rain

John L. was asking if we have had much wind that would permit sailing the canoe like we did on a few afternoons in Alberta. Unfortunately we haven't had those favourable conditions in several weeks. We keep a pair of thick branches in the boat that Michel, Chris & Steve created for rapidly hoisting a tarp sail. Two days ago a farmer was saying spring is a few weeks late. So maybe the westerlies will kick in soon.



On Thursday we had a beautiful day paddling into the Narrows but yesterday the wind turned from steady 30-40 km per hour to driving rain that was gusting over 60 by late morning. The entire Brigade was forced off the water before 11am. Some wonderful farming family allowed four dozen dripping wet paddlers to enter their house.



It was luck that Chris and I, who had paddled the rainless first 20 kilometers, encountered one of the Brigade leaders or our crew would have sat for hours before we located them. Late in the afternoon we returned to the canoes and paddled them a short distance and then portaged across cow pastures to put the boats on trailers. The forecast for today had the wind shifting to the west at the same strength which would make the eastern shore essentially impossible.



It would have made fantastic video to see us sliding our canoe through the cow-patie covered fields in pouring rain. Some crews with lighter-weight boats carried their boat, but we enjoyed a good workout pushing and pulling our canoe along at a steady pace. The portages to come will not be so easy.

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New video

The second short video clip of our trip is now on Youtube. It can also be accessed from the www.2008ThompsonBrigade.com site. Eric Williams continues to make postings on the www.paddlecanada1.blogspot.com blog.
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Lake Manitoba Narrows

June 5th
It was a beautiful day on Lake Manitoba today - we were unbelievably lucky with the weather - the water was like glass at times, unfortunately I didn't have my camera in the boat.

This afternoon the Cumberland House crew went out to Manitou Island and gave a traditional tobacco offering and we will see if the forecasted rains and winds tomorrow are strong or mild.
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Comfort camp: June 4th

This morning the forecasted rains arrived on land but spared the paddlers. I decided we could all use a little easy camping and reserved a chalet at the Narrows. Tonight was scheduled to be a wilderness camp but schedules can change with the weather and with the energy of the crews. Bill is still recovering from the Brigade Bug while Michel and I split the day at a crew change on our first day back. For the others, who have been covering extra paddling duty for as much as a week, it was a tiring day in the waves of Lake Manitoba.



After paddling from 5am to 2:30pm, most of the crew enjoyed a long soak in the hot tube. Everyone enjoyed a fantastic BBQ meal prepared by Bill & Sharon. While watching Detroit beat Pittsburgh in the Stanley Cup final game I slipped outside to take these shots of our very comfortable camp. And our best decision of the day was to shuttle the canoe tomorrow morning by road and cut our paddling from about 55km down to less than 15km. This is a long trip and rest is needed by everyone or injuries will mount. Tomorrow afternoon we will arrive by canoe on the beach in front of our cabin and be swarmed by about 250 school children.

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Meadow Portage BBQ

June 3rd -- This is the original portage between Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba and the location for a community hosted BBQ. The winds were moderate today compared to what these big lakes can deliver. Tomorrow will be my first time out on the big lakes.

Bill and I have been out of commission for three days since we were hit with some kind of Brigade Bug which delivered stomach flu like symptoms. Michel had been out for a few days prior and will only be back in the canoe tomorrow. We were lucky to make it through the first wilderness camping night before the rapid onset of the illness - at least one crew was not so fortunate. It makes you wonder how the folks 200 years ago suffered without Immodium.
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