Wednesday Sep 1 Wabakimi

The kids sure know how to maximize their playing time...the older ones and the adults do all the work packing up, and these guys just play and play.

Time to load the canoes...once the life jackets are put on, playtime is over.

It took us a while to find the portage. It wasn't that hard to find, but we got sidetracked on an old path where they did some tunneling under the trail tracks. OK, this is a steep portage.

We forbade the kids from crossing on their own (outfitter's advice) and looked both ways before crossing. Not that you could see far...the track curves through the trees pretty quickly. But you would be able to hear it, hopefully.

Down the other side is also steep. Now if we had to do this when it was rainy and wet, then I could see that this would be the hardest portage. So far. We take our time, as the shale the tracks are build on slip around like shale will do.

It's really not far, but it is awkward. We got back for seconds instead of trying to look tough.

Going up with a canoe is not easy. And there is a tree in the way, so having a helper to hold and guide the canoe at that point is certainly nice to have.

It isn't that far away, but it is steep...Melanie took the picture from the top of the tracks. It is steep.

And I took a bunch of small stuff that the kids didn't bother coming back for. I don't mind. Better than them running and hurting themselves. Or getting hit by a train. How likely would that be? Not exactly busy here.

Would you look at that, there is a train today! We have to the conductor but he isn't looking anywhere near us. It is pretty neat watching the train go by. We could hear the tracks hum well before it came around the corner.

Boy it's a long one! We enjoy watching the strong connection to civilization go by. Did you know that one way to get in the park is by train? You can get your canoes, your gear, and yourself on a Via Rail train and it will let you off (at a spot as steep as this) and then you can start camping from there. The only hitch is that it only comes by once a week right now. And the stop is, like, in the middle of the night, in the pitch darkness. Good luck finding your way to a campsite!

Some of us cooled off (it was pretty hot after that portage) by jumping in the water clothes and all. Then there was lots of paddling to get through Shawnabis Lake.

It's nice to paddle through a big lake in the sun when you've had a swim. And it's lovely having no wind and waves to fight through.

We stopped for lunch on a gorgeous sandy beach.

The only problem with lunch on the beach is keeping the sand off your food. Especially off of the cheese.

After another swim we headed on our way. We paddled as far as we could go until we made it to our portage.

Off through the woods we go. This is supposed to be 700 meters. It seems long, but we make it to the end.

We wait for the last of the gear (and people) to come through. And eat some snacks.

Not far after this, on Boulder Lake, we make it to our campsite. There are some crabby moments here...hopefully everyone gets a good sleep tonight, sounds like some of us need it! But it's a beautiful day in a beautiful setting, even with a bit of unpleasant noise. :)