Canada Canoe Trip

I just returned from a canoe trip to Quetico Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada.  You have to ask yourself, why anyone would want to spend a week living in a tent, putting on the same basic clothes every day, in a place filled with mosquitos and leeches, with the possibility of encountering bears, moose, and wolves.  The answer is the awesome beauty and unspoiled wilderness, the extremely quiet nights, and the great company.

Some of the best memories were:  the unbelievably quiet nights except for the occasional calling of Common Loons, the breeze rustling the birch leaves, and waves licking the rocky shore; picking wild blueberries and putting them in your pancakes the following morning; and eating Walleye caught from the lake and in the frying pan in less than two hours.

One afternoon, a porcupine wandered into camp and swam across the lake.  Another evening you could hear the calls of Gray Wolves somewhere across the lakes.  Overall, wildlife was sparse due to the immense expanse of thick wilderness – too much space and cover to hide in.  I did manage to see or hear approximately 50 new species on the trip.

Many thanks to Bill and Diana Carriger, and Diana Busey for organizing the trip and letting me borrow their equipment.

A family of Common Loons cruising by our campsite.

This is a timid Eastern Chipmunk that wandered into camp.

Here is a Green Frog. The call of this species sounds like a loose banjo string

This is one of several Red Crossbills that frequently visited our camping sites.