Churchill River July 11-26 - Definitely NOT the AA Brigade....
Kettle
Falls - the highlight of the trip at the end - where we spent almost
four full days. In fact, we kicked back seven days of the 14 day trip -
despite easterly winds that continued, like the earlier trip, to
taunt us. La Vieille - The Old Lady as the old Voyageurs
named the wind - continued to be a bitch, but she didn't
stop us, just slowed us down a bit. Otherwise, weather was great
- unlike southern Saskatchewan which continued to flood.
This trip was along the Main Highway of the Fur Trade and Exploration
from Missinipe to the Reindeer River confluence, about 100 miles.
Splash's (Kam Kahnamoui MI'07)
five 26oz Canadian Club Tree proved so successful two years ago on the
Paull that Tipper emulated it with a martini tree, in addition to over
a gallon of wine to suppliment the usual compliment the brigade
carries. As well, Stroker brought THREE bottles of
Disaronno and I had my usual jug of Islay, plus a mickey of Anisette I
tossed in to get rid of so we could close the door on our bulging, rarely used liquer cabinet back
home.
Amachewespimawin
Cliff - where Indians used to shoot their arrows to determine if
hunting would be good. If it reached the top, it was. Or was supposed to be.
Nearby
is Stanley Mission church - the oldest building in Saskatchewan, built
1854-60. This was our one rainy day of paddling, and La Vieille was a
downright bitch that day too, the hag.
Potter
Rapid portage. Several were dreams like this...though we won't
talk about the 600 meter Grand Rapids Portage with its 15 plus
blowdowns...
While
there we stopped by Angler Lodge - Classic Canuck all the way.
James Raffan FI'07 - note the birchbark canoe. It was made
in 1952, the same time as the lodge. The owner treated us to
coffee and cookies.
Ummmm. Thai cuisine. Ant eggs. They make soup out of them. Delectable.
June 21, 1792, Hudson Bay Company surveyor and explorer Peter Fidler wrote this about Island Rapids: "Carry
over an Island (Rocky) in the middle of the river, good carrying,
called the kettle carrying place - on account of several very round
holes of a cylinderical form, from 1 to 5 feet in diameter, perfectly
smooth and round, some with a stone within loose - that has served to
make the excavation by the falling waters and strong current moving the
stone, and by its friction causing those kind of stone kettles above
mentioned, these have been formed when these places have been the
bottom of the river, now the rocks are above the surface 4 to 5 feet...." This is the 5 foot one Pete noted.
Indian grafitti was common and we followed Tim Jones' definitive book, Aboriginal Rock Paintings of the Churchill, to locate them.
This
is what 8 year's worth of growth looks like after a fire. I know
because Lobster Boy and I paddled through here in 2002 on our way to and down the Sturgeon-Weir to
Pelican Narrows, and right into a holocaust of forest fires. Great
adventure that one, as wild and dangerous as the Paull two years ago.
Famous
Frog Portage, with the rail system to cross the 330m divide to the
Sturgeon-Weir River system, and the cairn in the bg. This, along
with the Methye, is the most famous portage on the entire Montreal to
Athabasca fur trade route. It's not terribly glamorous, and
there's boulders everywhere.
Unfortunately, morons have used the plaque for target practice....
Class
pic L-R: Capt. Magnus Twat, Al "Stroker" Schoonover (cousin), JP
"Mammoth Hunter" Anthony & James "Tipper" Anthony. Tipper is
being sponsored into The Explorers Club by myself and Capt. Norm Baker,
aka Capt. Hook.
The
view from Frog. Turn left to continue upstream on the Voyageur
Highway, but our heading was straight ahead and downstream.
More
graffiti. This one is particularly fascinating. When first
recorded by Tim in 1965 it was clearer and he made the following
rendition below by taping clear plastic over it and using a marking pen.
Now,
we've all done it doggy style, but these early natives were
tough. Man, think of it. Timber wolf style. You didn't mess
with these guys, I'll tell ya.... Injun John, you shoulda been along
with your shpreaders, same with Fred "Capt. Franklin" Gaskin FI'81 and
Jack Purchase FI'81.
We delved the depths of political incorrectness to a level y'all woulda
loved, and laughed your heads off over....
Yes,
it was a laid back trip, with lots and lots of time for, uh,
contemplating exploration and the fur trade. Tipper's a vet prof who is
a pioneer of animal dentistry
who has done comprehensive studies of numerous Filipino tribal
groups, one of my own areas of considerable ethnographic interest.
Stroker's turn.
No,
he's not dead, he just looks that way. Though we had to shake him
to find out. He had been smelling pretty bad for some days.
Sleeping? Passed out?
And
then we came to gorgeous Kettle Falls. It and Manitou Falls
on the Fond du Lac are the two most beautiful sites and sights
I've seen in Saskatchewan.
And here we settled in to LIVE...as I say, for almost four full days....
I'll
bet the 5-6 meter drop didn't stop Laura "Big Balls" Archer MI'07 (whose
Northern Saskatchewan Canoe Trips: A Guide to 15 Wilderness Rivers we
followed) from shooting the one on the right. Right BB?
The
fishing was incredible. This one came in over 13 pounds. We
chucked most of the jack back, saving the pickerel/walleye.
This
one came in at only 7+, but I really included this slender-again shot of
me because Bow Buba (Candy Wilson MI'96) beat me up after seeing the June brigade shots in
which early pictures of me were of a great, big, fat, grotesque slob of a porker -
and I was, from back in February when I was wolfing back The Dragon
Lady's hospital food when she was bedded down in a Bangkok hospital for
5 weeks with a severe Staph A infection. Su probably would have gotten
out earlier if I could have let her eat but, hey, the food was so
damned good and I'm bigger than she is. They even served Japanese in Bento boxes. This was
immediately after we finished working on the shoot in Sri Lanka for
Les' new show, Stroud's Vanishing World, which debutes this fall on
Discovery. This summer of canoeing I dropped from 182 to 166 I'm
very happy (and relieved) to report.
The walleye fishing was so good we created a Japanese fish pond to keep them in.
Then, when our stomachs started to rumble, it was from pond to filletting board....
...to
pan. Yes, Sub-Count Ingo of Translyvania (Ingo Schoppel MI'87) ,
my armpits were clean for cooking. Doesn't it look like they are?
And then we finally moved on.....
We
paddled all of three miles to Nairn Island at the confluence of the
Reindeer to wait for our pickup. The Bangkok Reindeer Brigade of two years ago
will almost (but not quite) see Atik Falls straight ahead in the
distance up the Reindeer, where we spent our last 2-3 days on that trip. The
Churchill Brigade of two years ago that continued can see, but probably
not recognize, the island we paddled around to enter that first long
800 meter of rapids and fast water as we continued down the
Churchill from here.
And this is where we spent ANOTHER full day off.
You
can see my trusty hammock on the upper level somewhat to the right. I'm
at my very happiest at any time in the year laid out in it while canoeing with a
good book.
Mammoth Hunter 3rd Class.
These interesting clouds were a set up for a series of three wild storms in the middle of the night.
Da plane! Da plane!
Back
at Tipper's in Toontown for the post paddle fete. He couldn't be
happier - back in his hot tub with a cigar and single malt.
Chicken
Legs and Yoko generously co-hosted - supplying the salmon for the BBQ,
wine, and fresh veggies from Yoko's Jungle, her garden. Lobster
Boy, right, was also in town and joined us. It was just a great little
fete, with great, old friends. That's a corner of The
Dragon Lady in far left.
Last
day, with two weeks of scraggly beard (well, decades for
me). And with the flag I brought Stroker back from Bangkok and
which he - a fanatic Fox viewer - is delighted with, even if the
politics represented by the flag are somewhat to his left.
And thaz it for this year folks! Next year - Return to the Missouri!
Cheers - Capt. Magnus Twat^ aka Jason Schoonover FI'86
Ol’ Thunder Outfitting’s Voyageur Guest List
(266) emailed in bcc in three batches:
Geoff
Alexander, Jan Anderson, Loral Anderson,
Colin Angus, Ken
Anklovitch, James “Tipper” Anthony, “Mammoth Hunter 3rd Class” John Paul Anthony, Juhachi Asai, Nick Ascot, Staffan Backlund, Capt. Norman
“Capt. Hook” Baker FN’70*, Lis &
Andres Baldo, Mike Barry, Roger Beaumont,
“Texas Dan” Bennett, Guy “Zorro”
Bennett, Chad “Lobster Boy” Berscheid, Ragnar
Bertelsen, Honorary
Admiral Don and Shirley Bigelow, “Muskeg (Jr.) Kai” Bjorck, “Muskeg (Sr.) Lars”
Bjorck, Barry Black, Walt “Lilly
Dipper” Blahey, Wharran Blahey, Laura Bombier, Franco Bordignon, Jim Bracken, Claes Bratt,
Michael “Charlie” Brown MN’03, Sarah Bruce, Eugene Buchanan, Bill Buxton, John & Jane Campbell, Rod
Carr, Don “Eggie” Chaput, Valerie Chirkov, Kevin Chisnall, Al Chubak, Neal Christensen, Patty
Christensen, Kraisak Schoonhavan, Gord Kathy Clayton, Mark & Lilah Cram, Cat Crosbie, Paul Czaros, Tony
Dalton FI’85, “Snorkel Master” Lynn
Danaher MN’05, Jim FI’97 and Ann Delgado, Dave and Genevieve
Denny, Mario Dima, George Dobbie MI’05 and Mairi
Anderson, Niki Drapak, Carman and
Marilyn “Pisstank” Drury, Kirsty Duncan FI’05, Bill & Kim East, Albert
Ellis, Bonnie Endicott, John “Ling Ling”
Ellis, Mick Elmore, Ruth Epstein,
Devon Fairbairn, Kim Twatt Foden,
“Capt. Incredible” Joel MN’73 and
Coty Fogel MN’73, Eric “Deep Throat” Forbes, John
“Bill” and Stephanie “Cheesecake Mary” Foster, Paul Fourneir, Rick Fredericksen, Emilio and
Marian Freeman, “Glorious Leader” Joe Frey FI’02, Yvonne Friesen, Rosalund Fussell, Fred “Capt.
Franklin” Gaskin, John Geiger FI’03,
Larry “Don’t call me Bwana” Gelmon, Jaret
“Young Griz” and Twyla Gentner, Brian “Ol’ Griz” Gentner, Rhonda Gerbert, Brian Gibbs, Geoffrey Goddard, Marc Goichot, Harrison, Mike Hosaluk, Gene
Hattori, Su “the Dragon Lady” Hattori, Sylvester Hawryluk, Bob Hellman, Bill Henderson, Hal Herbison, Bill Hominuke,
David Hopkins, Sandra Hunt-Chomyn, Brian
“Slash” and Patcheri “Hot Lips” Hunter, Carol Anne Inglis-McQuay, Kit John, Don
Johnson, Karinch, Kasha, Sylvan Katz
and Jennifer Osachoff, Heather Kelly, Leanna Keyes, “Dancin’ Deb” Kita, Robert Sarah
Jones, Kamyar “Splash” Kahnamoui, Koosh “Splish” Kahnamoui, Ken Kamler
FR’84, Nelson & Helen Keet, Maryann
“Agent M” Kollen, Chris Kostman,
Mark LaFontaine, Richard “Elephant Man”
Lair, Lee-Ann (Skibinski) Lau, Malcolm “Cherry
Popper SAS” Lawson, Stephen LaPointe,
Mike Lewis,
Tim Leacock, Anna Leighton, Stratton
“Tutti Frutti” Leopold MN’88, Tamara “Two
Feathers” Levine FI’04, Alastair “the Limey” Linn, Richard “Beater” Loken, Phil Long, May Loo,
Babs McLaren, Colleen
MacPherson, Les “Evil Twin”
McPherson, David Maier, Jerzy
“Yurek” Majcherczyk FR’92, Joanne
Marcoux, Silvia Martini, Gary Marvin,
Colin Maskey, Natsuko “Summer” Mayers, Bill Maynard, Richard Meyer, Maura Moynihan, Ken McGoogan,
Rick Miller, Carolee Milroy, Heidi
“Piano Mouth” Mittler, Maya Moore, Diane Fay, Shawn “Two Names” Munns, Seamus Munns, Garth
Murphy, Margaret “Shrieker” Newton, Fumiyo Noguchi, Shintaro Noguchi, frank &
Monnel Norrish, Cathy O’Dowd, Rick Olmstead, Robert and Joan Palmer, Rui Parada, Bic Parker, Bev “Flasher” Pavelich, Dave Penman, Garrett Phenix, Trev Phenix, Aaron “Boy
Professor” Phoenix, Steve and Mary Pineo, Collin
Piprell, Milbry Polk MR’95, John
Pollack FI’06, Aeneas “Farm Boy and good twin” Precht, Jack “Best” Purchase FI’81, Garth “Chicken
Legs” Ramsay, Vern
Rattlesnake, Tom Reimchen FI’04, Patrick Rekart, Keith
Richburg, Chuck Ringness, Marcel
Robischon, Guilhem Rondot, Mem Rondot, Peter Rowe, Leslie Rowe, Piyawee Ruenjinda, Nat
Rutter FI’78, John Saunders, David Sawatzki, Stan Schneider, “Stroker” Al
Schoonover, Karen Schoonover,
Jason Schoonover, Araceli Segarra, Shirley “Evil” Semaka, Frank
“Knieval” Semaka, BJ and Greg Severson,
Sandy Shantz, Bob Shields, Iris
Shimada, “Sub-Count” Ingo Schoppel
MI’87 “of Translyvania”, “Ranger” Jim Simone,
“Queen” Bill Sitter, Ted Skibinski, Ed Sobey
FN’81, Jody Smith, Judit Smits, Marlyn & Murray Soparlo, “St. Julian” Spindler, Kris
Spindler, Kevin Stanway, Marianne Stenbaek FI’92, Granis Stewart, Lawrie Stewart, Robert Stewart,
Samuel Stime, Martin “Ostrich Legs” Stockwell,
Mikael Strandberg FI’03, Les Stroud MI’05,
Camilla Suimei, Peter Sullivan, Marasee
“Bossy Bitch” Swan, Dale Symons, Judy Thair, Colleen “Scoop” Thuen, Patricia Thomson
MN’04, Matt Tremaine, “Birdman” Rob Tymstra FI’94, Sharon Mark Tysseling, Steve Van Beek
FI’88, Erich Volkstarf, Steve Voth, Maria Ware,
“Bonfire Brenda” Weenk, Phil Whitfield, Pete Williams, Candace “Bow Buba”
Wilson MI’96, Jim
Wilson, Sandi “Capt.
Hook” Woods, Mary Yanchus, Kumiko “Good Yoko” Yokoyama (Lennon got the bad one.
. . ) and “Shanghai” Jane Zhang
doing sweep.
Captain
Magnus Twat^ FI’86
*
FN’70 is an Explorers Club member designation denoting, in this case with Thor
Heyerdahl’s major collaborator on the reed boats Ra, Ra-II and Tigris,
“Fellow National (elected in) 1970” and
who was with us on the 2008 Churchill River brigade, jokingly titled the Ra-III Reed Canoe trip, and the 2009
Cree River Geisha Brigade.
^Magnus
Twat was born about 1751 and joined the Hudson Bay Company in 1771 as a
“labourer” and was subsequently a “carpenter and canoe builder” before advancing
to “factor." From journal entries, he was highly respected for his
multiple skills and work ethic.
From 1791 to
1795 he was almost continuously in charge at Cumberland House, the first
settlement in what became Saskatchewan, and only seventy air miles from the
small town of Carrot River where I was brought up. In 1798 he was in charge at Carlton House on
the Saskatchewan
River, and later
established a house at Setting river.
From 1799 to 1801 he was back at Cumberland House. It was while canoeing up the Carrot River
that he suffered what appears to have been a stoke and died, on October 23,
1801, and was buried on site. He left his mother not only an annuity of £10, but a
trust to build and maintain a school, along with money for the poor, in his
home parish of Orphir, Orkney. To honor this outstanding but unheralded member
of the Canadian fur trade with whom I share the Carrot River,
I have adopted his name as my river name. He left at least two sons. His descendents for some reason changed his
name, adding a ‘t’. His distant cousin, Kim Twatt of the Orkneys, paid an
emotional visit in 2001 to her equally
distant Cree relatives at the Sturgeon Lake Reservation which she recounted in
her booklet, Full Circle: http://www.orcadian.co.uk/acatalog/Orcadian_Bookshop_Full_Circle_327.html