Posting some pics - inspired by Ray Mears' canoe trip

[Mike Harlos]

Hi there,

I just watched Ray Mears' canoe trip on his Bushcraft Survival DVD (Series 2). I live fairly close to the area where he was canoeing (at least compared to many who frequent this forum).

I thought I'd post some pics from recent canoe trips; this area is about 2 hours' drive from where I live. Our family can basically park the car, put the canoe in the water, and be out for a week exploring the Canadian wilderness (we will be doing exactly that this August).

Ray's DVD helped reinforce how fortunate I am!

Here are some pics:

Mike

Yours truly, enjoying the sunset

 

[sandbender]

Fantastic pics Mike...

 

[arctic hobo]

Wow! Looks a wonderful place

 

[anthonyyy]

I'd give my eye teeth to live in a place like that. Unfortunately, the bottom has dropped out of the eye tooth market.

Just wondering, do you see many kayaks on Canada's inland waterways?

 

[dtalbot]

Wow! want to be there!

 

[Biddlesby]

...wow indeed! It looks gorgeous there.

 

[Abbe Osram]

Hi mate,
Did you build the canoe yourself? I am planning to go to a canoe building course next spring and they build wooden/canvas canoes and they look very similar to yours.

Great picts thanks for sharing
Abbe

 

[troy]

Jealous is one word that comes to mind - about this time last year I was on lake in northern new hampshire, and one morning a scene just like your last picture greeted me during a paddle before breaky - time and worries just vanished (during most of the trip) and the silence plus the feeling of being at one with the world over whelmed me. In my silent transport, wild life went about their routines completly oblivious to my presence, I'll never forget the joy of watching a stork waiting for his breaky to swim by while I floated a few metres away.

In a flash after catching his meal, he spread his wings and flew over head, with grace and silence - ye, jealous is just one of the words

 

[Wayne]

Great pics.

Where in Canada are you based? i don't own a television so i haven't see rays show.

My sister in law lives in Deep River. i am hoping to drop Val off with a her sister and spend a week canoeing bushcrafting. Any good out fitters you can recommend?

 

[Abbe Osram]

Great pics.

Where in Canada are you based? i don't own a television so i haven't see rays show.

My sister in law lives in Deep River. i am hoping to drop Val off with a her sister and spend a week canoeing bushcrafting. Any good out fitters you can recommend?

uknova

Wayne you can legally get a free download from uknova. Only the older Ray M movies, which have been released on DVD, are forbidden there.
I believe you will enjoy the movies one is done too in Canada where Ray is building a Birch bark canoe.


cheers
Abbe

 

[eraaij]

Fantastic pics. Thanks for sharing!

-Emile

 

[FeralSheryl]

What a beautiful place. On a hot and muggy day in England today, seeing your photographs is somehow rather cooling. Nice

 

[bushman762]

Yes I share the groups sentiments, and thanks for posting.

I feel that many of us would visit the US & Canada if we knew where to go and how to avoid the commercial end of bushcrafting.

Best Regards,

 

[Mike Harlos]

... Just wondering, do you see many kayaks on Canada's inland waterways?

Hi anthonyyy,

We see quite a few on the river here in Winnipeg, and ocean/lake kayaking is popular. For multi-day trips, particularly where portaging is needed, canoes are by far the more popular choice. I know that one can purchase expedition kayaks, but my guess is that those would be used for lake or ocean rather than rivers or "lake-hopping" requiring portaging.

Mike

 

[Hoodoo]

Very nice canoe country there Mike! Gorgeous!

 

[Mike Harlos]

Hi mate,
Did you build the canoe yourself? I am planning to go to a canoe building course next spring and they build wooden/canvas canoes and they look very similar to yours.

Great picts thanks for sharing
Abbe

Hi Abbe,

I'm afraid I'm not skilled enough to try building a canoe. It would be a wonderful accomplishment, and I could imagine it would feel incredible to be out on the water in a canoe that you made yourself.

My canoe is the green one; it's made of a fiberglass-like material by Souris River Canoes . The red canoe was rented, as we needed a second one for our numbers. It was a standard rental beast... very heavy!

Mike

 

[Mike Harlos]

Great pics.

Where in Canada are you based? i don't own a television so i haven't see rays show.

My sister in law lives in Deep River. i am hoping to drop Val off with a her sister and spend a week canoeing bushcrafting. Any good out fitters you can recommend?

Hi Wayne,

I live in Winnipeg, Manitoba; this is about 2 hours from the lakes in western Ontario where our family canoes (very near Kenora, Ontario... around the Lake of the Woods area). It's west of Deep River. Ontario is a beautiful province, full of lakes and rivers.

I buy a lot of my gear through the internet (some even from the UK... I think bushcrafting as a concept is more popular in the UK; here, a lot of people go "camping", with car or truck and a few cases of beer, as well as the loudest portable stereo they can find).

Locally, a popular gear store is Mountain Equipment Co-Op . They have good prices, and generally some good quality gear.

Mike

 

[Mike Harlos]

Thanks everyone for the nice comments about the pics!

I'll post some more after our trip in August. Also, I'll try to take some pics when I'm on the summer Wilderness Skills course with Mors Kochanski (July 3 - 9). I hope to learn some skills to make these canoe trips even more fun!

Regards,

Mike

 

[troy]

Hi Mike

I don't suppose that you go near to what may be john rowlands cache lake do you? - if so I'll look forward to your photos with even more intense jealousey.

Have fun on the course and trip - isn't he retiring soon?

 

[Wayne]

Cheers Abbe