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Aug 3, 2008 - Mowat Landing to Lady Evelyn Lake (at narrows) - 20 km paddle, 1 portage

We slept in a little, but got up and cooked the eggs and bread we bought yesterday in the kitchen of the cabin. We then drove to the outfitters and picked up an old beat up Smoothwater canoe. It is a heavy beast, but should be managable on the minimal portaging involved on this trip. We drove to Mowat Landing, packed up the canoe and launched alongside others in fishing boats with high powered motors. A beautiful day awaited us with lots of sunshine. A brief paddle brought us to the dam on Lady Evelyn River, where we hoped a short portage would escape us from the motor boats. We were wrong. A truck and trailler were fully employed to transport boats up the dam. We quickly carried across a very heavy load... our food bag is very full! Fortunately the carry was easy (gravel road for the truck) and only a few hundred meters long. We took some pictures of the dam and then paddled up the river. We had a good tailwind now, so covered the next 7 km in very little time at all. We paddled onto Lady Evelyn Lake and stopped on an island for lunch. We then paddled across a large bay, the wind somewhat hindering our progress, but not too bad. The waves were not being kicked up high so we could at least take some direct routes across some of the wider sections. Some areas of the lake were somewhat confusing, as there are lots and lots of islands, not all of them matching what is drawn on the map. After a couple hours of paddling we arrived in the narrows where we were greeted with lots of cottages, boats, float planes, and a large fishing resort. As we passed the resort we got caught downwind of a very stinky garbage fire, but fortunately paddled through fairly quickly. A little bit further we found a nice spot to camp. There is continuous growl of motor boats, as we are on some sort of boat highway. Fortunately I think they will quiet down as the evening wears on. After some rest and relaxation, we cooked up some pasta and vodka cheese sauce which was very yummy. The motorboats died down so we went for a refreshing swim and then sat down by the water and watched the sun set, while listening to the constant rumble of a diesel generator for the fishing resort.
































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