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Another sunny and calm day awated us. After a pancake breakfast, we had a short paddle to the first portage which
was almost 3 km long. Rob picked up the canoe and ran down this easy trail all the way to the end, only stopping
to rest once. The result was a portage that I had estimated between 1.5 and 2 hours, taking only 45 minutes. We then
paddled off on the Nipissing River. This was a nice river with a decent current which pulled us along. A couple of
portages took us around sections of rapids. At the end of the last portage there was a strong smell of gasoline. Then
we saw the souce, a couple of fishing boats with smokey outboard motors. We also met another canoe pair going the
other direction with a whole ton of camera gear. We paddled out down the final bends of the Nipissing and passed a
couple of fishermen who told us that there was a moose around the corner. Sure enough, there was a buck moose standing
in the swamp eating. We paddled onto Cedar Lake where it was really shallow and marshy. We got stuck at one point and
had to pull the boat through by wading. We got onto the main lake and were able to cross the 4 km or so of water via
a direct route as the wind was calm. This saved a very lengthy circumnavigation which was a relief. We paddled back
to the outfitters and hauled the canoe out among a whole crowd of motorboats. Stopped at Rolphton for some greasy food
on the way home. We saw a moose along the side of the road, bringing the total count of moose sightings to seven,
making an average of one sighting per day.
This was a great trip. The weather was equisite for a may canoe trip. Only one day of serious rain. After the first
day, we went for a 48 hour period without any human sightings. From that point on, there was only one or two a day,
until of course we got back to the motor accessible portion on the last day.
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