Thursday 5/25/06
Jonathon planned to attempt to travel upstream again today, cutting portages as needed in order to reach Kenoji. Our group took a vote between two options: A. attempt to forge ahead behind the MNR team to Kenoji, clearing at least two more portages, or B. paddle back to Oliver and base camp the remainder of the trip. The vote was not unanimous, but option B won. I think the group had had enough by this point. Our original itinerary was already shot, and we were worn out from the heavy lifting of the previous three days. Plus we were skeptical that we would even make it to Kenoji, based on the extent of the dead fall in the area and slow pace of our prior work.

With that we broke camp and headed east, back downstream to Oliver. It was a gray day and a steady rain fell all day. We were met by 12-18” waves rolling west as we paddled out onto Oliver. Fortunately, Phil spotted a very nice site only a few km’s east of the river mouth. We made camp and rested under the tarp in the rain. Phil lifted spirits some in the evening with a four course meal.

Friday 5/26/06
Friday broke cloudy and gray. The group had only spent a few minutes fishing all week, so we figured we’d get out and try to catch some walleyes. Ryan and I went fishing in the morning but were held to one small walleye that he jigged up. A slightly larger one was lost at the boat. After lunch we all went out in the canoes to try to fulfill the goal of an evening fish fry. Several hours later none of us had caught anything. Ironically, as Gil and Phil glided their canoe over to ours, a fish swirled right between us. I threw a spinnerbait right into the swirl and caught a small northern pike.

Defeated, we paddled back to camp to start dinner – beef stew. The rain finally stopped though, and the clouds broke revealing a starry night. We stayed up late chatting and looking for the constellations. It was 3am by the time I got into the tent. I always find it tough to turn in on the last night. I find myself looking up at the stars, watching satellites soar overhead, wishing I could get up there more often.

Saturday 5/27/06
Sometime during the early morning hours a substantial flock of geese was heard noisily flying overhead, migrating north for the summer. Shortly thereafter, Gil and Phil believe that a wolf (or wolves) walked right through our camp. They heard an animal immediately outside of their tent, accompanied by what they described as quiet dog-like panting. Whatever the animal was, it had briefly stopped outside of their tent before moving on. Ryan and I slept oblivious to both the geese and apparent wolves.

Saturday morning brought more rain, and the inbound plane was expected to be delayed. We packed up our personal gear and sorted out what of Phil’s would be staying or going. We said our good-byes with Phil before shoving off in the canoes. By 1:15pm we were floating in the middle of Oliver Lake. Sometime around 1:45pm the sound of a floatplane was heard in the distance. Soon Don Elliott was doing his cursory loop of the lake and coming in for his landing.

We quickly paddled over to the plane and tied the canoes off to the floats. The unloading and loading was quick, and we handed over the paddles to trip A2. They remembered the beer, so none of them had to take the long walk off the short float. Soon they were paddling away, and we were taxied down the lake for take-off. The flight back to Mattice Lake was smooth and quick. The Blues, although a tad warm, hit the spot.

We saw a few more bears on the drive home, bringing the trip total to eight bears. The largest was a huge boar that we saw on the way up to Armstrong. Every other bear bolted upon seeing us – not this one. He sat right down and stared at us, which makes for easy picture taking!