The Royce Files

The following is part 2 in a series on my first canoe trip into the wilderness of the Quetico which occurred over a decade ago. I will provide some annotations to the tale.   In this episode we fight off one of the toughest portages. into the Quetico Our route consisted of more twists and turns. Ruth and I disembarked once again as the canoes were pulled over a beaver dam that blocked the width of the stream. Getting into the canoes we put on our bug netting, since the gnats were getting bad. So far, I was clean and pretty dry. I really did not want to soil my fine hiking shoes and expedition pants and I didn’t think I would have to. Nearing seven, we reached the first portage. Efficiency in portaging is a must, otherwise you’ll be going back and forth quite a bit. So carrying as much as possible helps tremendously. Our first portage was measured around 80 rods I think-- not long but not really short either. With the canoes on shore we removed all the packs a...

A s expected I awoke to the pitter patter of rain. I broke camp and tried to keep things as dry as possible. Wetness tends to stick and stink and neither did I perfer too much. With my full rain gear donned, I paddled out of Rock Lake without much delay. Steadily, yet softly, the rain continued its cadence. A 65 rod portage transfered me into Oyster Lake, a large lake with 6 campsites. I considered using 1 site as a portage a a shortcut through a long peninsula, but thought the site would be occupied. However, it was not and I maintained a route around the peninsula. After rounding the peninsula my navigation skills plummeted. I miscalculated my position and thus took over an hour to find the portage into the Oyster River. The rain ceased as I traversed the portage. During the past few days, when not praying, I had unconsciously begun to make up portaging songs based on the tunes of "Frosty the Snowman" and a few other Christmas tunes. Thumpy, thump, thump Thumpy, th...