Paddling in La Verendrye Park, QC: Day 3

Day 1 - Part 1            Day 1 - Part 2           Day 2

Our luck finally ran out today. The wind that had picked up overnight was still at play ruffling the surface of the big lake into waves we would have to battle for the 6 km paddle back to Le Domaine. It was still another nice day weather-wise.

It was a slower morning, with just a short paddle, we could take our time getting going. Mark made the most delicious pancakes I think I've ever eaten. He uses my sister's recipe, I'm going to have to ask her for it. Once he mixes the liquids with the dry ingredients, he lets it sit for a while. It almost rises a bit like bread dough. Yum! The pancakes were served with butter and maple syrup, better than a restaurant even.

Really huge rock at our site

It was seriously big!

Rock sandwich

We took a self-portrait before setting off.

I was paired with Mark again in the canoe. The wind was coming at us at an angle, which can be tricky. Once we got closer to the end point the wind was almost at our backs.

One of the features I liked about the set-up at Le Domaine is they have hoses with running water available to wash your canoe off before putting it on your car. It's a good practice to make sure your vessel is clean before putting it in a different body of water.

We loaded the cars, returned the canoes (Mark got dinged a few dollars for a ding on one of the rental canoes - we never even noticed it), and used the flush toilets (YAHOO).

Julianne and I had to tie the canoe on the car, which I've never done by myself. I tried my best to get it tied down tightly. However, I don't think I got it straight enough. Mark had helped tie up the straps at the back and they were tied a bit differently. I think once I hit the highway, the wind caught the front of the canoe and twisted it to the right a bit. I could see the straps in my back window move over slightly to the left. I was worried, so stopped safely off the side the highway and checked all the straps. They seemed super tight, so I just got back in and prayed all the way home.

We met up with Mark in the other car in Maniwaki (I was also a slower driver than him) where we stopped to have poutine and Coke. Well, I was the only Coke drinker. Mark paid for everyone, including me. Coke has a promotion where they put people's names on the cans. My Coke can said, "share a Coke with your SISTER"! Awwwwww, I kept the can as a souvenir.

One item Julianne brought along that I would bring on my next trip is one of those little bottles with flavour drops you put into water, Nestea iced tea flavour. It was nice to have some flavour to hide any lake taste. Mark had borrowed a food barrel with a harness from a neighbour. I liked the convenience of having all the edibles in one place. But the downside is that what you're looking for in there is often at the very bottom. Also, I wasn't in either canoe where it was loaded, so I never had to carry it on a portage. Although our portages could not be classified as difficult on this trip.

It was a great trip, my brother's family are a sweet group. No one argued once during the whole weekend, no one was in a bad mood, no one pouted, everyone pulled their weight, no one complained about a single thing (okay, someone may have said something about mosquitoes, but to be fair, they love her). Everyone conducted themselves in a safe manner, there were no close calls, nothing was lost and everyone's skills were well developed for the tasks at hand. And I was the slowest paddler, LOL. Hopefully my chow was yummy enough to get me invited on the next backcountry canoe trip they plan.