CanoeCouple

65 Days on the waters of Gitche Manitou

"Now I know you guys are crazy"

Those were the first words out of Dave's mouth as we walked into Chimo Air with our trip maps and planning schedule to leave with them so that they could get our resupply items out to us.

Dave is the lead pilot for Chimo ... he's flown over this area many times but has no knowledge of anyone attempting to travel some of the land we're about to tackle.

Our route will encompass 65 days and over 800 miles of canoeing through an area that was once traveled by the First Nations peoples first in their annual movements to take advantage of the hunting and fishing possibilities and later as fur trading routes to the Hudsons Bay outposts in the area.

After our experience in Woodland Caribou Park we wanted to see more of this hidden gem of northwest Ontario.

It took us two years to plan and ready ourselves but here we were ... lists in hand... maps and travel plans to share ... resupply points and times tentatively set ... and with the trepidation of knowing that the water levels around Red Lake were extremely high for this time of year.

So ... come on along as we plan and execute the trip of a lifetime ... one that nearly cost me my life as we dumped on the Keeper River on Day 16 of our trip ... one that we were ready to quit and fly out on Moar Lake until a native fishing guide helped us out ... and one where the equipment that we lost or gave away came back to us through an amazing set of events.