Being the touchy feely people that we are, we wanted to completely experience Lake Superior – the last of the Great Lakes we will see before heading off across the plains – we decided to rent a canoe so that we could go on the water and explore the lake. Well, at least part of it! This Lake is the size of Ireland.

The overcast day and drizzly rain didn’t deter us, so we drove the 40km out of town with picnic packed to the canoe hire place which according to the website map is on the Goulais River which flows into the lake. Not quite! At least the rain had stopped, but the launch and landing was back breaking and a tedious 30 minutes of heavy labour. The launch is on the lake to which you must first carry the canoe. This is not a simple kayak, but a full Indian style canoe and with all the gear is too heavy for me to lift one end, nevermind carry. We made it, but we had to stop every 100m. Then, the lake is so shallow that you drag the canoe out for about 400m before you can get in and start paddling without running aground.

Once out, we had a fantastic paddle across the lake, into the headwind and over some pretty high waves, but after an hour and a half of paddling, we made it to the river mouth. Once up the river mouth, the going got easier and we enjoyed some nice stops on sandy banks, watched a fisherman catch a fairly large pike and added a new bird, the Turkey Vulture, to our growing list of Canadian bird sightings.


After a difficult landing and five hours of paddling, we ended our day, but it sure was worth the effort and we loved it.