Churchill River Saskatchewan canoe trip: August 18, 2007
Day 7
It was another beautiful morning. We did a bit of birding and
exploring the area around our campsite. We paddled past the
outlets that empty around Donaldson Island, which lead to Sluice
Falls, etc. We could see nothing but some current, as the rapids
are out of sight. We continued against a slight chop into the bay
and portage leading to Great Devil Falls. Curt had recommended
the Sluice route, but we decided to keep faithful to the voyageur
route.
The Great Devil portage was a long one, 1150 m, but it
was fairly flat with a few wet areas. Bill started with the canoe
and immediately had his way blocked by 7 or 8 stubborn grouse.
The guide said there was a canoe rest half way, but it was no
where to be found. Bill finally found a pair of trees where he
could prop the canoe for a rest about 4/5 of the way along! He
went back to assist Barbara, then they both retraced their steps
for the second load, noticing the broken down rest en route. Once
again, the trail did not permit observation of the rapids, which
were rated Class 3 with a falls at the end. We finally completed
the carry in 2 hours. We sat on an overturned boat and had our
lunch. The whole landing area was a quaking bog – it felt
eerie to walk on it.
Little Devil Rapids followed right away, and consisted
of three short Class 2s. We ran the first two, which were very
easy. The last set required careful scouting, as there was a
minor ledge at the bottom with only one place to sneak through
beside a rock.
We paddled out onto Devil Lake, then south across the
other outlets – Murray Rapids, Mosquito Rapids and Manitou
Rapids. At the outlet to the latter, we found an excellent
campsite at E515978 N6168091. For the first time in a while, we
saw a few canoes coming and going from the provincial campsite
across the lake. It was only 4:30 pm, but we decided to call it a
day and enjoy the area.
We made a fire and cooked our pasta on it. Then we paddled up the
Manitou outlet to see the falls (C4 drop). Light was fading when
Bill caught another good walleye in the fast current. We decided
to take it back to Saskatoon for Pamela. Barbara was trying to
photograph the Canvasbacks as they maddeningly would dive just as
she was ready.
