Manitou Falls is without question the highlight of the journey on the Fond du Lac River. This is a magical place where the river drops through a magestic sandstone gorge. In high water, it is absolutely necessary to be able to catch the small landing spot above the falls. Failure to do so may result in dire consequences. David Thompson describes a near-death experience at this very spot as he was swept over the edge and pummelled by thousands of tons of water. We joked about the birch tree his companions argued over tying the boat to as the stern of his boat swung into the current. I'm sure the birch tree that stands by the shore today is a grandfather to the one that was there over two hundred years ago.

We decided to stop paddling early and spend the night camped above the falls. The day was an exciting rush of river and rapids. We had lunch at Thompson Falls and continued through to the rapids just before Manitou Falls where we portaged up a steep sandy bank halfway down the rapids. The high water volume made the ledges rather impressive.

After setting up camp we found a cairn on a flat rock ledge behind the camp. In the cairn I found a plastic olive container with a guest book. We were surprised to find that the date and time that it had been placed there was within an hour of our arrival. Adrien, one of the paddlers with the other paddling party had placed it there with new papers and a dry guest book. I am eternally gratefull that the party had moved on to camp further down the river. It was an extremely interesting item to find. There are accounts of trips dating back into the seventies, as well as an account from David Thompson's journal.

Three of us paddled below the falls and to fish for supper. We were able to catch enough northern pike for a royal feast of fish and bannock. Joan cooked an enormous amount of bannock which we managed to put away quite handily with enough left for breakfast. Bella cleaned the fish and hung the stomach and livers to dry. Her "special food" was a topic of conversation that led us to a discussion of the various edible parts of different species. Fish guts cooked the right way are a true delicacy.