This report is based on a satellite phone interview with Ted Green at 8 p.m. on June 11, three days after he, his brother Scott and their travelling companions Chris and Bella Todd left from Stanley Mission. Historical information is drawn from "Canoeing the Churchill: A Practical Guide to the Historic Voyageur Highway" by Greg Marchildon and Sid Robinson.

After leaving Frog Portage just after 1 p.m. on June 10, Ted and his companions spent the rest of the day paddling to and across Wood Lake, a large body of water that accounts for about 30 km of the old voyageur highway. Wood Lake is known to the Cree people as "Wepooskaw Sakuhikun", which means "old burn lake". According to Marchildon and Robinson, the English and Cree names could be unrelated, but they may also refer to the same event: a long-ago forest fire that left dead wood strewn in its wake.

The afternoon of June 10 offered the four travellers another long stretch of glorious paddling along the Sturgeon-weir system, which branches off the Churchill at Frog Portage. They travelled across Lindstrom Lake, a small lake whose shoreline willows and cattails and its yellow pond lilies have earned it the Cree name "Uthekis Sakuhikunises" or "frog pond", and then across tiny Pixley Lake (just three kilometres long) before reaching Wood Lake.

Ted described journey to Wood Lake as "really quite magical". He greatly enjoyed the twists and turns of the shoreline, and the beauty of the scenery along this stretch of Shield country. At one point, he recalled the canoeists rounded a corner and startled a golden eagle. The night was spent at a campsite two-thirds of the way across Wood Lake.

During their travels, the foursome passed two reserves belonging to the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation. At the first one, they were surprised to be pulled over by some conservation officers, who insisted on seeing their fishing licenses. Ted described the officers' attitudes as "a little stiff", as they stood and watched the canoeists scramble through two large barrels of gear for their licenses, which were eventually found at the bottom of the second barrel.

Another adventure involved Ted's discovery that he was using "a magic paddle", with the apparent ability to get out of his boat without him noticing, and then get itself noticed by the canoeists in the other boat, who retrieved and returned it - but only because it had his name on it. "There's some debate as to who really owns the paddle now," namely whether the finders-keepers rule applies, he said.

Pelican Narrows - October 8, 2002

After passing through the channel called Grassy Narrows into the eastern part of Wood Lake, the travellers paddled by "Sooniyaw Ministikos" or "money island". According to a story recounted by Marchildon and Robinson, an Indian agent visited Pelican Narrows to make the annual treaty payment of $5 to every man, woman and child. Just after the agent had left, a baby was born.

"The new father greeted the birth with both pride and alarm," write Marchildon and Robinson. "Realizing that hard cash was slipping away from him, he got in his canoe and paddled as fast as he could to catch the Indian agent. It took a good while, but at Sooniyaw Ministikos, he overtook the treaty party and claimed his bonus."

Beyond Wood Lake, the travellers came to Muskike Lake (the name is Cree for "medicine"), where they saw some rock paintings, including a bear-man figure. The canoeists met up with several families of commercial fisherman, whom they helped haul boats and gear. The fishermen told them where to find good catches of fish, and, said Ted, "they were right on the money."

At the village of Pelican Narrows, the four travellers stopped to visit with a friend of Ted's and to buy fresh fruit and vegetables. They then travelled on to Mirond Lake where they made camp for the night of June 11. As we spoke, Ted was enjoying a "beautiful, beautiful calm sunset down here by the lake."

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