Brigade regrouping

Three years ago during my first Brigade experience there were two Paddle Canada crews - PC1 & PC2. This past summer there were twelve alumni participating so one day we put together a "PC3" crew so we could all paddle together again. We also sent a thank you message to Eric Williams who made it possible for the two crews to paddle in 2008.

In the photo from PC2 are Sharon, Bill and Richard (sequentially from my left) and David who is wearing a PFD. From PC1 are Ross, David and Jay on the far right. Missing from the photo are Janice and Tanya who were teaching kids how to canoe when this shot was taken; Eloise who was driving down to rejoin the Brigade; and Robbie Bates who could only get two weeks off work.

In a few weeks some of will be together again for the official launch of the 2011 video. That probably means I will get the itch before long to assemble some of my 2011 video so I have something to show. Therefore I predict a few marathon video editing sessions in the not too distant future.

Kirk has paddled on

Kirk Wipper, a truly great Canadian, died two days ago. He gathered hundreds of canoes at his Canadian Canoe Museum and was awarded the Order of Canada. I had the pleasure of spending some time with him on the final day of the 2008 David Thompson Brigade thanks to the efforts of Linda and Eric Williams.

Next summer

Plans are progressing for the 2011 David Thompson Brigade.

Brigade Video DRAFT

Editing video is both fun and time consuming. With about ten hours of video and a few hundred photos to work with I am slowly working towards a 10-15 minute video. I will also assemble a bunch of other clips together to make a DVD to distribute to the crew members and other crews. This is a link to my .mac account which will eventually morph into my mcmurtry.ca site.

My Best Brigade Shot - Ready, Switch !

Like everyone involved with the David Thompson Brigade, I am struggling to decide what is my single best photo. At this point, this blurred-in-camera shot of the Canadian Voyageur crew doing a switch is my favourite. For me, this captures the essence of the experience - a blur of people working together in complete synchronization. Often it wasn't obvious who was doing the work. Often you only saw it briefly while you were focused on something else. Often it seemed like others were able to effortlessly do something you could not.

In the beginning it was frustrating to see a crew like the Voyageurs slip past at what seemed an impossible rate while we struggled to make our boat respond to clumsy efforts. The first revelation was a clean switch which in time became simple even in high winds, big waves and rapids. One day on the Rainy River we snuck up on the Canadian Voyageurs and beat them to shore at a crew change - it wasn't really a race, but to everyone on the crew it was a small victory which we will probably remember (and boasted of) for a long time.

Surfing the Dog

We had a good day on the Dog River on July 10th. This is just a quick low-resolution edit.

Grand portage

The Brigade drove across the border into Minnesota on Friday with canoes in tow for a visit to the Grand Portage National Monument. This is the location of an important fur trade era fort of the Northwest Company. David Thompson arrived upon the same stone beach where we launched our canoes. We toasted him with milk, something he didn't have in his years in the north.
Thursday morning we spent two hours surfing a series of waves along the Kamanistiqua River. The Kam drops an impressive two hundred feet at Kakabeka Falls. We avoided the scary rapids and enjoyed the day in a modest narrow.
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Quetico

July 4th
We have spent three days traveling through Quetico Provincial Park. The first camp was on Tanner Lake (the picture of the canoes), the second was on Sturgeon and tonight we are on an island East of Emerald Island on Pickerel Lake.

We were on the water again this morning at 6:30, paddling the narrow, twisting river from Sturgeon to Twin Lakes. We interrupted three moose having their morning meal as we approached the first portage. After carrying several canoes and our gear across the 800 meters we were all getting tired. The second portage, Pine, was about 500 meters, and left everyone tired and hungry. After a long lunch we paddled for an hour into Pickerel Lake and found a nice campsite on an island.

Ellie, on the right in the third picture, is one of the captains of the Shawnigan crew. She has paddled with us for this section while John is away for a few days.
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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.