2 - PLUS! - Saturday. May 22, 1993
Getaways
Vivien
Little, old ladies
T ODGHm to	rescue|
ing, they just ran the whitewater instead of portageing around like the sign suggested.
Being inexperienced, they had not tied their gear into the canoe so when they tipped, they lost everything including their camera, food, tent, and clothes. This was before the storm three days earlier. When we found them, they were hypothermic, hungry, wet and frightened. We lit a fire, got out some warm clothes, made some hot soup (which one fellow quickly vomited) and checked the maps for the quickest route to the warden’s cabin.
After trying to reassure the boys (they thought we were two inexperienced, little, old ladies), we tied their canoe to our canoe with our lightweight climbing rope, tied some of their things in our boat, and towed them to the warden’s cabin where we left them.
We chuckled as we waved goodbye and continued on our trip.
A few days later, we were paddling along when we heard some shouting. Because we had not seen anyone except each other since we left the two boys, we were glad to respond. As we paddled closer to the sound, it seemed more hysterical. We finally went through a narrow passage and came to a large lake with an island in the center. This was where the voice was coming from. We quickly paddled over to find a half crazed man alone without a boat standing on shore with a lifejacket on.
We knew somthing was funny because he had a pile of freshly cut green logs on shore with a few of them tied together. He was wet and shivering standing in the cool wind. There was no fire to make hot tea or keep him warm.
He said his name was Jim. A few days ago, he arrived on the island and he unloaded his canoe, planning to set up camp. He turned his canoe upside down to keep it from filling with rain. A huge wind came up and blew the canoe over and away from the island. He had tried to swim to the opposite shore but could not swim that far so he tried to make a raft but it sank.
That was two days ago and he was frantic. He knew that the area was secluded and he could have stayed there for weeks before anyone else would pass by. He was glad to see us.
We unloaded our canoe and Jim and I went looking for his boat while Joanne set up camp and started supper. We found the canoe unharmed, on the op-poside side of the lake tucked between some trees. We towed the boat back to shore, had supper and headed for bed.
That night, there was a terrible rainstorm. Everything got wet including Jim. The next morning, after hearing Jim walk around for a bit, we got out of our dry, sleeping bags expecting to find a warm fire and strong coffee. Instead, Jim was pacing back and forth, waiting for us to get up so he could say goodbye.
He was going to head off with wet clothes, empty stomach and rescued canoe.
We frowned and told him to stay put. To Jim’s amazement, we (two little old ladies) hustled up a fire, brewed a cup of coffee, cooked a big pot of porridge, dried out everything that was wet including Jim’s sleeping bag, washed our hair and put on clean clothes before starting another day’s adventure.
Vivien Lougheed of Prince George is a freelance writer and frequent traveller. She is also the author of Central America by Chickenbus, now in it's third edition.
Quetico Park in northern Ontario offers 1,750 square miles of unmarked, wilderness canoeing. Trips down whitewater rivers, along tiny creeks, and across clear lakes can take anywhere from a couple of days to three weeks. Some inexperienced out-trippers (usually from the southern U.S.) have no idea what it means to travel in northern Canada and often come unprepared. They treat the back country the same as they would downtown Chicago.
Joanne and I planned a 10 day trip through Quetico that took us 13 days to finish because wo ran into bad weather and had to hole up in our tent for a couple of days.
After the storm, we were quietly paddling down a lake imagining how terrible it would be to see a hand floating on the water above the mist. Instead, we saw a couple of young men waving frantically from the shore. They were wearing green garbage bags and standing beside a crunched aluminum canoe. The holes in the boat were plugged with twigs to keep some of the water out and they had only one paddle.
The two young (less than 19) men were from Oklahoma and were in Canada to experience a few weeks of wilderness canoeing. They had never canoed before but the man they rented the canoe from gave them a few lessons before setting them loose. The boys enjoyed themselfs for a few days following all the rules the outfitter had given them. But they soon became bored with caution so when they came to a set of rapids that did not look too intimidat-
Top photo, this young man from Oklahoma and his companion had to be rescued from a wilderness canoing expedition by “two inexperienced, little, old ladies." The two Americans lost all their gear when their canoe suffered a battering and overturned in whitewater.
Below, the still waters make a striking scene, but northern Ontariofs Quetico Park has a more serious side.
photos courtesy of Vivien Lougheed