Martin I enjoyed your video.  Thanks.

Trip video shows what you will find while canoeing in Atikaki
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Any other sightings during the balance of your stay?

Jimbo    [/quote]

There was the lynx that swam by Nan and Oleg and then climbed out of the water. No pics as at first they thought an Otter looked odd.

Thanks for posting, Marten!

I'm glad you edited the back of my head out of the moose video, though it omits our initial encounter with the critter, before he was aware of our presence.  Somehow he had entered the channel, completely unaware of us.  We paddled surprisingly close before he got wise to us.  Of course, we had the wind in our favor.  Anyway, it was unfortunate the guys weren't sitting out on "the front porch" - as they were 99% of the time - as we tried to shepherd Bullwinkle in that direction.  I believe he should have been visible from our camp.  Oh, well....

Any other sightings during the balance of your stay?

Jimbo   

The first of a few videos I plan to publish on the 2022 Atikaki canoe trip.
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I will get to the video eventually but have some chores to catch up on first. 44 years of stoking the woodstove as our only heat source and SHE wants a furnace before I head up north this winter.

This somewhat complicated trip came off without a hitch. 10 paddlers all made every connection that made the trip a success. Canoes went in on the  Otter with five paddlers on July 13. July 28 Jimbo, High and Dry and Mossback flew out on the Otter that brought in Paula and Dave. Aug. 3 Mike Pebbles came in on the plane taking them out. Aug. 7 Nan and Oleg came in on the Cessna. Then Marten, Kevin, Mike, Nan and Oleg finally left Brad Lake via a kilometer long port age the first contingent opted not to endure with their half ton of gear... The exit flights had allowed us to shed all unneeded food and gear. We camped on another huge 5* camp with even more porch than our Brad veranda soon after the big portage. A number of days there and we did a 13 mile, 6 portage trek to Kawassacheewonk. Four days at yet another 5* camp where we feasted on platters of Walleye and we were picked up for the flight out. The canoes were loaded on the trip out after having served for all the entire trip. A solo, A tandem and a Pacboat set up tandem.

This trip only cost each paddled $515 US dollars. Yes that is the total paid for in and out....No parking fees at the plane base and no camping fees at this time for Atikaki. Two canoe parties passed our camp on Brad on their way to the Berens River. The only other paddlers were a couple I had given info on for Atikaki. The outpost on our last lake did have men there.


So, plans are already in the works for another such trip in 2023 to start on Shiver Lake north of Black Lake. For my part I plan on being solo and moving a lot. So many options and ways to keep the cost down. The key is getting the canoes in and then using the cheaper Cessna flights to move 1 or 2 paddlers in and out with each flight..Pack canoes are harder to portage but really expand how many can take part.

HighnDry wrote on Aug 23^rd, 2022 at 2:08pm:



Well, about all those intentions!!   We did takep Mike, Nan and Oleg for Lake Trout via the creek. Cut the portage to same but that saw died too so I never headed to the Hangar portages. We did have a group of women come by on there way to the Berens. One confirmed that the portage did begin on the big rock that shows on the sat. Images. Then she said their hope was that they could pull their canoes through the long bog with the high water levels this year. That info gave me no reason to go without a running saw. A few days later another group passed on the way to the Berens so the path should be easy to follow.

Editing the first video will start soon. Any pics donated to the cause would be appreciated.

...and when will the video come out?   Winter?

Jimbo 

At the risk of an awkward pivot, I'd like to hear about your adventures, Marten on the "Hangar Portages". Did you solve the mystery.....and are there maps or GPS coordinates 

n,

The explanation is quite simple, really.  There are 2 reasons for your incredible success catching walleyes from camp:
1) You were wise enough to make an appropriate sacrifice to the great Brad Lake Walleye God, remember?  Tossing your 1st pole into the depths (all 7 feet worth) like you did was an incredible stroke of genius OR act of faith for which you were duly rewarded.


Upon further imagination I have come to the revelation that I did not drop my rod out of the canoe,I now am certain that the grandmother of all Walleye came up from the deep and reached up to my jig dangling over the gunnel and quickly pulled my  rig over the side as I put a previous catch on the stringer having been forced to fish as others were having trouble filling out the supper menu.

Marten,

The explanation is quite simple, really.  There are 2 reasons for your incredible success catching walleyes from camp:
1) You were wise enough to make an appropriate sacrifice to the great Brad Lake Walleye God, remember?  Tossing your 1st fishing pole into the depths (all 7 feet worth) like you did was an incredible stroke of genius OR act of faith for which you were duly rewarded.
2) You traded shrewdly for my golden rod & reel, each of us walking away with much-valued treasure.

With heaven-sent fish and such a worthy weapon, how could you fail?

MikePeebles being cast upon the waters?  I doubt that was by the hand of the Walleye God.  More likely Nanabozho was the culprit.  I had sacrificed my Chota Portage boots & Goal Zero power pack and various other pieces of equipment to the little demon and suggested he have some fun &  provide some  entertainment for those who followed in our footsteps.  Sorry, Mike....

Later,

Jimbo 

....and you said "I'm not much of a fisherman".....I think you're holding out on us, Marten! 

OK.I'm finally home after 39 days in God's country. 39 was because I did not feel worthy to match or top Jesus's 40 days in the wilderness. Special things were happening as has been alluded to in previous post. An oddity was that masters of the art of fishing could catch no Walleye from the long rock porch after the banshee screams had been heard. It was surprising to the third contingent "Mike Peebles" that klutz Marten could stand there flat footed and reelin Walleyes almost at will. Mike even flipped out of the canoe he was attempting to enter as I was on my way to filling my limit in just a few minutes. I have witnesses.

One never knows what will bubble up…

The stew has a kick to it, that's for sure:



Jimbo   

Looks like phlamingo weed...that's some bad stuff.

On the other hand, could all of these manifestations be the result of psychedelics?  Marten stirred some of this stuff (see below) into the stew pot.  Perhaps it has hallucinogenic properties?



Jimbo   

pine_knot wrote on Aug 20^th, 2022 at 9:11pm:


Huh,

And here I thought it would be "awful offal" that would grab you.

Hey, you never know. 

Anyway, we survived our ordeal despite the walking undead and, by the next morning, I was able to comprehend what my colleagues were saying, again.  So, if you can deal with an anomaly or two like that, it's not a bad substitute for Quetico in a pinch.  No smallmouth bass, though.  Just big perch.

More pics, soon.  Only that one zombie shot, however... though I've heard rumors that Mossback caught what might have been Sasquatch in the far left top corner of one of his pics.  Some big hairy thing, anyhow.  Need to check with Marten (when he finally decides to leave the woods) to check HIS whereabouts at the time, however.

Later,

Jimbo   

That musta been one heckuva night there, Jimbo. 

"Pregnant with weirdness".....now that is a phrase I must commit to memory...!!

PineKnot, as they say in the Budweiser commercial, "this one's for you."  It should address your previous inquiry from several posts back on this thread concerning supernatural developments in Atikaki Park.

Banshees howled all around us as the epic storm swept through camp on Day Five.  Afterward, staggering from our shelters, we cleaned up as best we could and hurriedly gulped down supper.  A weird sense of expectation and foreboding enveloped us and grew in the eerie post-storm quiet.  The evening felt heavy, seriously troubled in a manner which I can hardly describe.  Marten and Kevin, both avid bird watchers, argued over the strangeness of birdsong... which only THEY could hear.  Fish carcasses deposited on the offshore rock by HighnDry ("bird wars" were our often our evening entertainment) were completely ignored by scores of gulls, eagles, cormorants, ravens and crows that began to fill our skies.  Rather, these fowl - normally hostile and combative with each other - chose to circle above us , behaving more as "birds of a feather" than as competitors for our awful offal.  An odd night, indeed.  I'll never forget that malevolent, endless circling of birds, etched against the palette of vibrant colors that was our evening sky.  Perhaps more disturbing was Mossback, who began speaking in tongues.  The last straw for me was when the other guys started answering him that way.  That was when I knew it was time for me to pack it in and hit the sack.

Rising from my sleepless stupor a short while later, I summoned the courage to open the flap of my tent to look about and confront the strange total silent stillness.  The bizarre camp chatter was gone as were my comrades.  And, those fowl which had so recently fouled and blackened our colorful dusk? There were totally absent, too.  If ever a moment felt pregnant with weirdness, it was that one! Then, suddenly, I heard a dripping of water, as if from a large animal, shaking itself off after a swim in the lake.  There was a distinct shuffling of feet over grit and pebbles at the water's edge.  It was but sheer luck that my phone/camera was in hand (and functional) as I got out of my tent and beheld the aberration!  The emergence of the undead from the depths of Brad Lake!

I was so petrified in my astonishment that I nearly missed the chance to snap this single pic, proof that the coming zombie invasion will originate in the lakes of northern Manitoba. 

Satisfied with this singular bit of photography, I managed to avoid joining this newcomer for dinner (this zombie wasn't particularly fast) and retired to my humble abode to finish my night cap, my reward for having survived this strange day.

So, PineKnot, this is the story you have heard rumors about!  And HERE is my proof:



Jimbo   

A banshee favorite, I'm told!

Jimbo   

...there were rumors of someone or something belting out "Oh Canada"....but these stories cannot be confirmed at this time...

Here's a close up shot of "home sweet home" for me on Brad Lake in Atikaki Park.  I rode that nasty electrical storm out sitting under that tarp in nothing but my bathing suit & sandals.  The sticks propping up the tarp up blew out, of course.  So, I bunched up the material in my left fist and held on for dear life.  A Nalgene bottle nearly full of Maker's Mark was conveniently - and firmly - grasped in my right hand.

It went a long way towards minimizing my rising stress levels.

My esteemed colleagues were tucked away safely a little deeper in the woods.  Afterward, they reported hearing intermittent screaming of banshees, off and on, throughout the tempest.  I, myself, cannot corroborate these claims.  During the first blast of the storm, I was much too preoccupied to notice much of anything beyond my grasp.  By the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th iterations, I was singing much too loudly to have heard any banshees who might just happened to be nearby.  Let the danged banshees fend for themselves!   

I'll simply say I came away from this experience with greater appreciation for the old phrase, "three sheets to the wind." 

Holding just one sheet in that wind was plenty enough excitement for me!



Jimbo   

We subsequently "relocated" Mossback to the spot in the forefront of the picture & out of his swamp.  HighnDry's humble abode lies just behind MB's:





Jimbo   

Behind me, deeper in the woods, old Mossback and HighnDry were somewhat better protected but camped in a slight depression that collected water.  As it turned out, most of that water collected in Mossback's tent, however.  He hauled his gear out to our "front porch" after the storm to sponge down & dry out:




Jimbo   

Of course, when all hell broke loose late one afternoon, my margin of protection from 55 mph storm blasts and 3/4 inch hail was a tad slimmer than I might have wished (see below).  It was REALLY rockin' & rollin' out there! The deluge was so heavy that I couldn't see the shoreline just a few feet away.  It was a Top Five storm for me.  I know DentonDoc & MagicPaddler can appreciate what it takes to get THAT high on my "Wrath of God Storm Rankings":




Jimbo   

A 1/2 mile across the bay (on the right in the distance, as seen in this view from our 1st camp) promised to be a better spot... and it was, by far.  It offered access/egress from BOTH sides of the peninsula and a decent place to bathe on the far side.  Breezes more easily filtered through the trees, keeping down the mosquitoes.



Jimbo   

We picked up a few ticks at our first campsite.  In fact, it was a regular "tick factory:"




Jimbo   

HighnDry,

Stu from the BWJ, despite the fact that he has used nearly a dozen of mine over the years.  Interestingly enough, nearly half of those pics have ME in them, a feat requiring exceptional photography skills (or sloppy crediting; I prefer the former explanation, of course)!

Pics were taken on my Samsung Galaxy S21 which, as you know, went largely "unpowered" for several days due to technical "charging" problems.  Happily, those issues were resolved and I did manage to snap a few shots... including one "supernatural shot", taken that one spooky evening, after the big storm.  That was just pure luck, of course, having the phone/camera up & running when the anomaly occurred.

On a side note, since our return, I have been asked, "Jimbo, wasn't it a bit unusual for you to be doing a base-camp trip?  Don't you usually do much more ambitious treks?"  So far, my response has been, "Well, um, we DID move camp once, about a 1/2 mile away, across the bay."  Perhaps a more satisfying explanation can be found in the picture, shown below.  As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words... OR, aptly enough, in this case, a thousand pounds (not including canoes, pakboats & people... two of whom whose Chota portage boots had disintegrated by Day Two):



Later,
Jimbo   

Who says that you "take bad pictures"? Those are stellar!  Are those from your phone or a separate camera? I can't remember what you were using on the trip....must've been all that scotch...

pine_knot wrote on Aug 6^th, 2022 at 3:53pm:


PK,

I will neither confirm nor deny the rumors at this point.  Some of our group is STILL on the scene (believe it or not), possibly dealing with the aberration.  Upon their return, I may gain permission to release what, er, "evidence" I may or may not possess, AS WELL AS any additional pics, etc., they may have obtained since the evening of the original anomaly.

I'm not sure the world is ready for what might be revealed.  Stay tuned....

But, most of the time, the camp was zombie-free and looked more like this:



Jimbo   

db,

That was a POST-fillet pic.

As is this one of contented, walleye-filled bellies:




Jimbo   

Did that canvas bag have fillets in it?

All I know for sure is your recent rainbow shot would would be an awesome catch.

... and to batten down the kitchen area to protect it from the ever-gusty winds (clue: that white canvas bag in the forefront should be hanging straight down, right?).




Jimbo   

Occasionally, skies would clear long enough for us to charge our electronics (& air out our boots)...



Jimbo   

We kept a wary eye on the skies as there always seemed to be that next rain squall somewhere on the horizon.



Jimbo   

A little later, despite the extreme soaking, Mossback decided he was thirsty and had better filter something to drink:



Jimbo   

And, even after the darkest storm (55 mph wind, 3/4 inch hail, torrential downpour, and debris from trees becoming missiles blasting through camp accompanied by incessant strobe-like lightning bolts fully in-sync with instant thunder exploding directly overhead), we had these:


Jimbo   

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And actually I am quite interested in the rumors of zombie-like creatures apparently rising out of Manitoba lakes at night and raising havoc along the shorelines, including Atikaki lakes.... 

Patience is my thought....after a trip, it usually takes me a couple months before posting a formal trip report....some interim highlights and pics is nice though....thx for taking the time, guys.

HighnDry wrote on Aug 4^th, 2022 at 2:16am:


A few thousand words would be nice… 

Time to post up some pictures.....of the sunsets and more.....

Ditto.

Plus:

a) If you enjoy walleye suppers, this might just be the place for you.
b) Electrical storms appear to have a bit of an extra "zing" to them.
c) Chotas mysteriously disintegrate in this park.  Happened to two of us with boots that weren't very old.
d) Furthermore, the park sports an interesting "juju." Equipment failures occurred regularly.  Nanabozho?
e) Didn't see another soul outside of our own party (unless you count the moose) during our 16 day stay.
f) Our two resident birders/ornithologists were utterly confounded & baffled by strange, enchanting birdsong serenades every evening and every morning.  Again, Nanabozho?
g) They say if you don't like the weather in Quetico, just wait 5 minutes.  In Atikaki, you need wait only 4.

More learnings later, maybe.  Still in recovery mode....

Jimbo   

...a good time was had by all....
...tons of walleye...
...lots of rain...
....lots of sun...
....bugs on the decline....

Just got back
From Atikak-
i.

HighnDry wrote on Jun 19^th, 2022 at 8:09pm:


For sure, I like to study the maps in camp and then use the routing feature to lay out the next days travel in the gps. You then have a line to follow. Especially nice amongst the islands.

Thanks Marten! I'll take you up on it (I'll still bring my maps and my compass though).

Terry, I can loan you a Garmin 60csx loaded with topos and all my info for Atikaki. It uses AA battteries.

HighnDry.....

I have a little DragonX foldable solar panel that has worked very well for me over the years. I have a Garmin InReach Explorer+ that I pair with my I Phone which I use mostly for satellite texting....it seems the older I get the more some folks are concerned as to my well being on my journeys.   Any technical stuff about how to load data is way beyond my pay grade.  I still very much prefer paper maps and a compass for navigation.

...I should specify that I'm posting this here in this thread because I'm trying to figure out how to get Atikaki maps downloaded onto a device that I can take with me for navigation up in the park.

The search continues.....

Thanks Jimbo!

I have a Garmin etrex 30. It's a handy little unit but it only displays a map that I have to download. My other limitation is that I have a tracfone which doesn't get cell phone service in Canada and I frankly don't know if it could pull in a wifi signal up there. It also is of that age where it's going to need to be recharged daily. So I'd be looking at some USB chargers and a portable solar panel.....hmmmmm.

I'll keep looking around for options for electronic maps. Maybe there's something else out there that I haven't considered without having to 1) buy a new GPS device and/or 2) buying a new smartphone 

HighNDry,

I typically alternate between my Garmin and Gaia Topo Maps apps, both of which have worked well for me in the past using my Smartphone's internal GPS.  I probably operate with the Gaia app more than the Garmin.

The main reason I keep the Garmin subscription is for the text message capability with folks back home.  Years ago, that didn't matter so much and I would go a couple weeks at a time without contact.  That changed in recent years as the health of aging relatives became more precarious and needed monitoring, even from a distance.

I use a Garmin Mini in conjunction with my Samsung Android phone.  The view screen on my cell phone is considerably larger than what I had on my old regular Garmin device so, when it was time to buy something new, I opted for the mini which does everything I need it to do while minimizing bulk. 

Jimbo   

GPS (electronic) navigation: ideas? My Garmin has dropped birdseye mapping which was about 30 bucks a year. Is there a better & still cheap option for navigation. I'll still have my maps and a compass....but....

I received my topo maps a while back.  Been looking at them a little  .   I'll be heading in on Aug. 3 and coming out with any survivors on the 20th .   I gotta say....I'm truly looking forward to heading into Canada again and introducing myself to some Manitoba walleyes!

My maps arrived this past week from maptown. Time to start marking them up.

I should expand on this to say thanks to Jimbo for the link to Maptown. I picked up Manitoba Topos 11 and 12 which kind of cover Atikaki from Sassaginnigak L. to a midpoint in that northern part of the park and over to the eastern boundary with Ontario, north of Woodland Caribou.

Thanks to Marten for generously sharing his gpx file with campsites and routes so that I can mark up my maps and....hopefully not get lost when I'm out there!

When you fly in from the Bluewater base in Bissett there is no parking fee there. If you enjoy enter  from Wallace Lake you need to purchase a yearly parking tag to hang on your mirror. Last I bought was $40 Canadian at a license vendor like a gas station.

As I understand it, there are NO camping or permit fees required.

Re: obtaining a fishing license, it can be done in advance on-line but, apparently, you can't get the one we'll need for this summer before May 1st.  So, I left myself a calendar note to get it then.  I did, however, create my "profile" on-line (see: (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) ) which should simplify matters when I make the purchase.

Here's another useful tidbit gleaned from multiple conversations with our leader: "bring your own favorite paddle", as those otherwise available may not measure up to what you are used to.  Presumably, that goes for life preservers, too.

Jimbo   

P.S.  Any participants electing to fly in on Thursday, July 28th, will likely find their "fly-in" expense significantly reduced since a couple of us intend to "fly-out" on that very same plane.  FYI

Well...there is that!

I'm looking at fishing licenses and any park permits I might need at the moment. There is no camping fee/permit for Atikaki, correct? Would I even need a permit for Atikaki at all..

Update:
I'm looking at some of these sites as needed.

Leave No Trace: leavenotrace.ca
Be Bear Smart: gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/
Manitoba Provincial Parks: manitobaparks.com
Manitoba Eco-Network: mbeconetwork.org
Canada Map Sales: canadamapsales.com
Woodland Caribou: ontarioparks.com
Canadian Heritage Rivers: chrs.ca
World Heritage Site Nomination: pimachiowinaki.org
Travel Manitoba: travelmanitoba.com

HighnDry wrote on Mar 26^th, 2022 at 3:10am:


...except on those two nearby lake trout lakes.

Jimbo 

I think that there will be plenty of fish left over for you when you get there!

I've gotta order some maps as well.  Still working out a few logistical problems but am committed to going.  Looking forward to exploring some new territory!  Leave a few fish for me!

You're right Jimbo...and thanks for the travel dates and map links. I have maptown waterproof maps on the way. I'm going to keep sorting through my potential trip dates for my other trips (one hopefully in the Q, and one or two into the bwca). Crowds may drive me off of at least one or two of those. Atikaki is the better option for this summer.

HighnDry,

I've mostly used MyTopos in the past, too; for non-Quetico travel, anyway. Their ability to "customize" map coverage & detail was a real plus.  This time, however, I got a little frustrated getting it to work the way I wanted to regarding Atikaki.  Also, a couple years back, a security breach occurred on the MyTopo website.  Apparently, hackers got into their database of users' personal information.  Appropriately enough, an alert was sent out to users, urging them to reset passwords, etc. Since then, though, I've been cautious about using them.

Bottom line: I looked elsewhere and found what I was looking for in Maptown, making it an easy decision.  Mossback jumped on it & got us both laminated sets of each.  I've been eyeballing mine for a month and they look great. 

Regarding travel dates, I'll defer to Marten.  Our tentative plans are to fly in with him @July 13th and fly back out @July 28th.  There will be some west-to-east travel in between.  I believe Marten intends to stay in the park a few weeks longer.  His specific dates will likely depend upon the logistics of other possible participants flying in or out. 

My thinking: pent-up camping demand for Quetico competing over diminished campsite availability (due to last year's major fires) may lead to something less than the wilderness experience I seek.  Atikaki appears to be a very attractive option.  Having a knowledgeable leader in Marten seals the deal for me. 

Let's just hope neither flames nor virus bugs mess it up for us.

Later,

Jimbo 

Good map source Jimbo. Thanks. I've used mytopos or something similar in the past to get topos for Canada but I like the maptown versions, especially if I can get them in waterproof versions. And now, thanks to Marten, I think I can locate Shiver (more or less). I'll have to ask Marten to remind me of the timing of the trips. I'm assuming they are going in around mid-July? to mid-August. If that schedule is different, I'm sure you both will let me know I'm looking forward to being part of this, this summer.

HighnDry,

Try these two:
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If they are incorrect, well... I guess Mossback and I will be headed in the wrong direction this July... not that it makes much difference to me.  Wouldn't upset me terribly to stay away from Florida a few weeks longer than expected during the "hot season."  Of course, I'd have to stretch my food supply a tad but, hey, I can afford to shed a few pounds.

Later,

Jimbo   

Thanks guys. I'm trying to find customized topos online to order next.

Jimbo is  correct about the trip starting on Brad Lake which is just under 50 miles. First change out is from Shiver Lake (north of Black Lake and east of Giraffe Lake. There are many route options around Shiver Lake so other flights may center there. It is also just under 50 miles one way.

HighnDry,

I believe this year's first flight will be into Brad Lake.  I'm told that is @ 50 miles from Bissett.  Marten is up at his cabin this week so it may be a while before he notices this post and either confirms or denies.

The game plan for our "exit lake" (ie. pick-up) this year will be further east, closer to Black Lake.  I believe Marten calls it Shiver Lake but he has also mentioned Giraffe Lake as another pick-up lake.

You may be thinking "Black Lake" because it has been mentioned so many times in the videos.  Then, again, I could be wrong.

Later,

Jimbo   

Are all the flights in/out of Black Lake? I think that's the one that you mentioned at 'copia. What is the mileage, roughly from the flight base to that lake? I'm just trying gauge costs....

I am working with Bluewater Aviation to set up our July-August canoe trip in Atikaki. There are going to be planes coming and going when all plans are settled.

Rates are basically $6-7 dollars a mile for a cessna and can carry three and 800 pounds but not canoes on that plane.

The Turbo Otter can carry 2000 pounds with two canoes on the floats and is about $11-12 a mile. You pay both ways with a 40 mile one way minimum. Our plan is to have the needed canoes taken in on the first flight in mid-July. Two hard sided sided on the floats and one or two PackBoat 165s as needed carried as baggage. Last flight of the trip will bring out the canoes on the Otter.

Atikaki. This summer. Now I have to re-start the research that I began a few years back to get ready for a trip in late July or early August.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time working at the Scout Base in Bissett, and taking canoe trips into the Atikaki Park.  I really miss being able to canoe there.

Hey Marten,

Sad to hear about the tragedy.  Earlier in the year I was in contact with them about a potential trip into Atikaki next year. 

Later.......Mike

Marten,

Terrible news about Johnathon being killed this past October.  He flew in two groups of Boy Scouts for a two week high adventure trip we did to Atikaki Park back in July 2016.  He was an experienced pilot, a good pilot, and a nice guy.

The picture is Johnathon along with my son.

Dave

Thanks for the camera info.

A mid-air breakup is a terrible thing. I'm sure there will be a lot of questions asked about the age/maintenance on that plane. Being a family business that has to be extremely painful.

The camera is supposed to handle 64 gig cards but I find I have a hard time reviewing shots after about 30gigs so I switch. Total trip was about 50 gig on the cards.

The reports first said the plane hit a tree but that was wrong. Now they say it was a mid-air breakup.

That's terrible news about that pilot. I know those planes have a very good safety record but bad things happen when you fly low and don't have to room to recover if something goes bad.

Thanks for the info on what camera you use.
Are those videos all on one memory card or do you use multiple ones?

You did good  if you made it through that much video. The flight videos are usually over done but my reason for this one was for those doing research and wanting to know what the forest cover looks like along an intended route. There have been lot of fires in the boreal the last few years but the ones in Atikaki have not been total burnouts of large areas.

My camera is a little Panasonic Lumix ZS100. It fits in a shirt pocket, has a big sensor for better images, enough telephoto power for getting wildlife and more bells and whistles than you can imagine. I use the camera a lot so have practiced using a lot of the features.

On a sad note I learned this morning that our pilot Jonathon was killed in Oct. when that plane crashed on Family Lake on the Berens River. Still a little numb from that news. He has flown us for years in that plane.

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I want to compliment you Marten on those excellent videos. I just finished watching them all.

My favorite was the slideshow featuring the melodic piano music. My least favorite that you had cautioned about was that plane video.

  I usually like aerial videos and did enjoy the scenery and how you highlighted in red major landmarks. I only made it about 2/3's thru and couldn't watch anymore. 

  I realized as soon as the slideshow with music came on what my problem was. It was the monotone drone of that bush plane engine. 

The few times I've flown in bush plane's I put earplugs in unless the pilot was talking about something.
 
Maybe I'll find some soothing piano music and re-watch the aerial with the sound off. 

  All in all, it was well worth my time to watch your excellent work! I doubt I'll ever have the patience to film like that, but if that changes, I'd like to know what you used to film with?

It is always nice to learn something new to try out on a canoe trip. One of my partners noted near the end of our trip that no directions on the package were followed.

My favorite relaxation position is against a propped up rock slab with a  Crazy Creek chair for padding. With a waterside view of course.

I just watched your Pizza Night video.
You cook things much like I do.

  When you made that camp bread and used the oiled spoon to flatten your bread dough out I thought I was looking in the mirror. 

I make the dough almost the same way but instead of the flour, I use this Irish Soda Bread mix they sell at my local Aldi's. It calls for milk so I add some of that dried milk and also some different spice packets I bring so I can have Garlic/Pizza or my favorite Dill.
Sometimes I'll add some Lipton Onion soup/dip mix which makes a great onion bread.

The soda bread mix rises nicely too. I thoroughly enjoy seeing how others do some of the same things I do but with a different twist.

I learn a lot watching other's successes and failures too. 

I'm hungry for some of that camp food too. I think I might need to make some of that camp/fry pan bread this weekend. 

Watched the Black Lake video.

Man that's what I call base camping in style. 

  I liked the Double Paddles and EVERYONE wearing their PFD while on the water. 

A good example for paddlers who hope to NEVER use that emergency communications gear you guy's had.

  I didn't see any napping hammocks? Maybe for the best after what happened to me on my FUBAR trip. 

Now that the season is over I offer these videos
to tide you over until the ice melts next spring. These videos are the other end of the spectrum form Back Country Angling Ontario. We eat a lot, do not run whitewater, sleep in tents etc.

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