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Canoe Homepage of Ted Green, Scott Green, Chris and Bella Todd
  • 2003 - Stanley Mission - Pelican Narrows - Denare
  • 2003 Trip - Photo Gallery
  • 2002 - Patunak-Churchill River-Otter Lake
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    June 14th, 2003

    June 14th, 2003 Pictures

    This report is based on a satellite phone interview with Ted Green at 12:15 p.m. on June 14, six days after he, his brother Scott and their travelling companions Chris and Bella Todd left from Stanley Mission for a canoe trip to Denare Beach. Historical information is drawn from "Canoeing the Churchill: A Practical Guide to the Historic Voyageur Highway" by Greg Marchildon and Sid Robinson. (Note: Ted was unable to reach us by phone for a trip update on June 13.)

    When we spoke at last, Ted and his companions had taken refuge from a nasty storm that had swept up while they were out paddling this morning (June 14). The foursome had found shelter on the deck of an unoccupied cabin, after the fierce winds and rain drove them off the water. The cabin is part of a fishing camp on a First Nation reserve near Amisk Lake. By 12:15, the storm was over, and the paddlers were sitting down to a quick lunch of soup and tea before heading out on the last stretch of their week-long journey to Denare Beach.

    Sturgeon Wier River, near Amisk LakeOther than this morning's storm, the last couple of days have been just glorious weather-wise for the four canoeists. The bruise on Ted's head from clobbering himself with a canoe is starting to heal, although he expects will "look like Gorbachev" (the former head of the USSR, who has a wine-red birthmark on his head) for a while yet. He is also very red from all the sun exposure. "I went swimming last night, and they said I looked like a beet in the water," he reported.

    After breaking camp on the morning of June 13, Ted and his companions left Birch Rapids and headed down the Sturgeon-weir River. They passed through a narrows spanned by two bridges (separated by a small island) on Hwy. 106. The highway is also known as the Hanson Lake Road, after the nearby lake. The lake in turn is named for Olaf Hanson, a Norwegian man who arrived in the area in 1919 to trap and later worked as a forest ranger. In the late 1950s, Hanson played a key role in scouting a route for Hwy. 106, a long-awaited link between Prince Albert and Creighton that was finally completed in 1962.

    Sturgeon Wier River, near Amisk LakeFurther along the route, the travellers passed through Maligne Lake (a misnomer for the slow-moving water body), Leaf Rapids, Scoop Rapids, Snake Rapids and Spruce Rapids, where they were when we spoke to Ted. The portage at Scoop Rapids was known during the early days of the fur trade as "Carp Portage". Water tends to escape from the main rapids and flow over bedrock "shelves" that are frequented by fish, who sometimes get trapped in shallow depressions in the bedrock. This makes it easy for predators or fishermen to catch a meal.

    Because they were ahead of schedule, and enjoying gorgeous weather, Ted and his companions chose to run some of these rapids rather than portaging around them. Aside from "a few bumps and grinds", the adventure was a lot fun.

    Along the way, the travellers saw "lots and lots" of beavers, and a deer by the river last night. There were also eagle feathers scattered near their campsite, so there were likely eagles nesting nearby.
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