Recent Work-Canoe & Kayak

The current issue of Canoe & Kayak magazine carries my work in a seven-page feature article by friend and writer Conor Mihell.

It's a tale of woe. A tale of a doomed (almost) trip to find a wilderness lake in Northern Ontario named for Conor's family. Mihell Lake. Yes, pronounced "my-HELL." My guard should have been up immediately, right?

Anyway, we had a lovely time kicking and dragging heavily laden canoes through the still frozen (8 inches of ice in some places) lakes of the Temagami region. I say lovely because, although it was mostly a sufferfest, we had the place all to ourselves. Well almost. There was a crazy beaver that wouldn't leave us alone one night.

Point being, if, like me, you ache from your painters to your tumblehome (canoe talk) for quiet, wild and rugged country--then you owe it to yourself to check out the Temagami region.

Just don't go quite as early as we did! Here's the piece:

And, like a parent, I love every image the same--but realize some just aren't going to fit in. Here's to the images from the trip that landed on the cutting room floor:

Paddling in ice is a...wait for it...drag.

Conor and his namesake lake.

Twilight portage.

Sure the fire is cool, but did you notice the moon?

The Mihell's, Kim and Conor

Pre-trip dinner on the back porch.

Tools of the trip. I love that axe.

Smoothwater Lake

Assisting.

Beast of Burden, the Nova Craft Prospector 16. This boat is STOUT.

Giving thanks for situations that allow you to do things you otherwise would never try.

so...cold...

This is the official Canadian ice testing technique.

Marina Lake.

More frozen lake---but sunshine...and hope.

Conor gets his paddle on.

My wingman, the Jimmer.

Moose? Check!

Carnage. My hand after pulling the boat with the axe.

Oh Canada!

Just got back from two weeks shooting in Northern Ontario, working on a couple paddling-related assignments with writer Conor Mihell. Now, it has been rumored that my absence from the USA during the demise of Mr. Bin Laden is no coincidence, but I assure you I am not a secret Navy SEAL. Though parts of this recent trip did resemble SEAL training at times...

First we ran the Agawa River, in Lake Superior Provincial Park, a beautiful whitewater river running through a deep canyon and only accessible by train. Rails to rapids sort of thing. We were the first to run it this season so water was high and the snow was still deep in parts of the woods. Great river and a great time. We worked on this for the travel section of a major Canadian newspaper.

Loading boats on the train in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario.

The train drops into the Agawa Canyon where it meets the river.

Portaging down the tracks.

A nice bit of Class II rapids.

Agawa Falls in flood. The 75-foot falls isn't listed on maps and must be portaged.

Next we headed east to the Temagami region, an untamed land of deep lakes, rugged hills and rich native culture. Our goal was to reach a lake named for Conor's family, Mihell Lake, and celebrate his 30th birthday. Ice out was a bit late this year, so we had to do a little "hard-water" paddling. Vanilla Ice drummed in our heads through long days of smashing through, and dragging over ice. It was a unique experience for sure, and made for some great images. All in all, it was a good trip, but not one that any of us imagined it would be. I can't say too much about the trip, but you can get all the details in an upcoming issue of Canoe & Kayak magazine.

Dragging across a frozen lake with wingman Jim Leaf.

Fire was our friend this early in the season.

Beautiful but brutal--paddling through brash ice.

Sunset on icy Smoothwater Lake.

Conor on open water.

Our goal for the trip: Mihell Lake.

A twilight portage.

The novelty of paddling in the ice quickly wore off.

Thanks to these great companies for supplying equipment for this and future stories:

Wenonah Canoe

Frost River packs

Alps Mountaineering

Vasque footwear

And a special thanks to my wonderful wife and the grandmas for holding down the fort while I was "working."