Thank you all for your kind comments.
re: the beaver The thing that was so funny to me was that he had to climb a serious hill and descend another hill to save not a heck of a lot of swimming.
Robin Snapper has a good eye. Those are Ursacks with OPSaks inside, tied up with un-bite-through-able Spectra rope. Pro: you don't have to hang your food. Just seal the bags properly, tie the right kind of knot at the top, and tie them to a tree a couple of hundred yards away. Con: heavy-ish, expensive, small capacity (on more than a four day trip, I need a second one.)
Odyssey It wasn't May; it was just last week. That's the second year I've spent the longest day of the year canoeing. I might make it a tradition.
yellowcanoe There were only a pair of small beaver dams on Otterslide. Easy peasy!
BTW the reason I wanted to go through Otterslide is because that name was familiar in our home growing up.
When my dad (from Kirkland Lake in northeastern Ontario) was studying at the University of Toronto in the 1950s, a couple of his Toronto friends convinced him to join them on a canoe trip in Algonquin. Despite what folks might think, people in northern Ontario didn't do much canoeing. They were familiar with bugs an the bush and hard work, and preferred to use motor boats on the countless lakes. The Toronto folks mythified the woods and the romance of canoe travel.
He recalls starting on Lake Opeongo and portaging into Otterslide (via Happy Isle? or Merchant-Big Trout- Otterslide Creek?) It was heck. The canoes were heavy and the bugs were bad. He complained to his Toronto friends. His best friend said, "Oh, don't worry it'll be worth it. Otterslide's a great lake. It'll be worth it." When they got to Otterslide, my dad took one look and declared, 'It's just another g*&%$#m lake!" It's one of those family stories..whenever someone raves about how good something is going to be if we just put in a bit more effort, someone else (usually my dad) pipes up, "It's an Otterslide." or "It's just another g&*^%$#m lake!"
So I finally made it to Otterslide. Called my dad and told him I made it there. You can guess his reply.
