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I owned a 15' Penobscot some years ago. From old photos, I see its first trip was in 1995, so it must have been available by the mid-90s. Mine was in Royalite with aluminum gunnels. It listed at 49 lbs, max beam 29", a fairly deep boat at 14" midships. It would carry a good load. It cruised...

Not "all signs" in Canada are required to be bilingual. The Federal government, and one provincial government - can you guess which one? - are officially bilingual and their signage reflects this. If you have managed to drive across western Canada without seeing a unilingual (English) sign...

Patterson's Nahanni journals have also been edited and published, and make a great companion piece to the Dangerous River: as good as Downes' and Patterson's books are, I actually prefer the journals...

I had a pair of water tennies, and used them on an extended trip with rugged portages. I really liked them. Grip was incredible, comfort and drainage were good, sole protection was good, and they were more supportive than I expected given their light weight. The only problem I had with them...

After 1803, the main fur trade route west from Thunder Bay avoided the border lakes. It went via the Kaministikwa, Dog, and Savanne rivers to Lac des MIlle Lacs, then via the Pickerel River to Pickerel Lake, and into Sturgeon Lake and down the Maligne River to Lac la Croix. This information is...

"problematic when seated, due to wind." Good point, Boatstall - thanks for the tip. wjmc

Like Neil, I've found that most pants manufacturers consider my legs to be too short. I've been considering something like this: http://www.ula-equipment.com/product_p/rain-kilt.htm SInce I'm usually wet from the calf down anyway, it would seem to offer advantages of easy on and off in the...

I have a Kluane Summerthought (-5 C) sleeping bag, about 20 years old. Still good for summers in the NWT or fall in northern Saskatchewan, down to freezing (0 C). I also have a Kluane down "inner parka", about 12 years old. It's my second, someone stole the first one. It's my standard winter...

Thanks for posting, a great story. Reminded me of Elliot Merrick's classic book, "True North". -wjmc

I have one from these guys: http://www.blacksprucegear.ca/Home_Page.php Also works well, I think a slightly more lightweight approach.

A link to a CBC story about a two month, 1100 km canoe expedition - with a one-year old! http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/wilderness-canoe-camping-with-a-baby-1.3793116 -wjmc

He is roughly 50 km from his put in in Hidden Bay, if he started at the provincial recreation site or the fishing camp nearby. Environment Canada is forecasting a high of 5C (41F) today with periods of rain mixed with snow, winds NE 20 km/h gusting to 40. Weather is forecast to improve...

That nice beach Alan camped on last night is on a topographic map derived from 1955 aerial photography, "updated" by 1986 satellite imagery. A good source to access and view Canadian topo maps (and buy, if you like) is here: http://www.jeffstopos.com/ A higher resolution view of that beach is...

This is likely the closest: https://weather.gc.ca/city/pages/sk-30_metric_e.html

I use 30" nylon NRS bags (tandem end bags) in my Raven for tripping purposes. They add a lot of buoyancy without taking up much cargo space. Between the bags and tied down packs, I have managed to replace swimming with bailing on a few occasions. -wjmc

Is that sketch one of Les Kouba's illustrations from Calvin Rutstrum's "North American Canoe Country"? Kouba illustrated a few of Rutstrum's books and also a couple by Sigurd Olson. -wjmc

I wetfoot, mostly sit but kneel occasionally. I had the same experience as Alan with the Abyss boot, I liked them but the stitching went. The next year I used a pair of five-ten water tennies. They were flexible and had great grip, and were reasonably supportive. They didn't last either -...

Have you done any estimating / guesstimating on the calorie count of your menu? I'm sure you will burn in excess of 4,000 cal/day, and 1.5 lb / day seems a little light to meet that requirement. On my trips the food - mostly dried, plus nuts, fats etc. - goes around 2 lb/day and I still manage...

I agree portage spotting from satellite photos can be pretty hit and miss. Here are a couple more quotes from the old Berard map describing this trail: "“North end trail follows bottom of cliff along west side of floating bog”." At the Bloodvein end: "“Trail begins in marsh at...

Is this the portage you are thinking about? It's described on Real Berard's "Sasaginnigak Canoe Country" map as: " 'long port' (100 chains)-trail fair-some windfall and swamp." Berard's maps relate to trips in the late 1960s and early 1970s, so this is hardly current information. I crossed...