Here we are on Lac Saint Denis. Kyra gave us the idea to take a photo of the name of the location to use as a title. I like it! Here we are lunching on an island. We've canoed 1 of 3 km at this point, into a strong head wind. (reverse angle) We parked our canoe in a little harbour, out of the wind. We've arrived at our campsite. The first thing to do is to set up the tent... ...and the second is to pump water for drinking and cooking. (the pump filters the water) Day 2: The view from our campsite. The island shrouded in mist is the place I camped with my parents when I was 4 years old. It must be from the wet summer, but I noticed a lot of neat mushrooms this trip. Mother & Son This one is about the texture. On the water Exploring the North/Western perimeter of the lake, we spot a yellow sign in the distance... ...it's the portage to Lac Monjoie. I've taken it several times. We're poking the nose of the canoe into a tiny river. From our campsite, if the wind is calm enough, we can just hear a distant waterfall. It's not "The" waterfall, but this smaller one. It's the middle of August, but for some reason this one branch thinks it is mid October instead. Approaching the bog just East of Cedar Point, we twice spotted this Heron in the tall grass. He didn't hang around. Entering the narrow river which flows through the tall grass, we made our way up to a view of the small beaver pond just up river. I love this shot of me. (thanks Jenn!) We're near the end of the tiny river in the previous photo. Leaving the grasses and river behind us, we travel South East along the shore. This loon popped out of the water fairly near our canoe. He was clearly checking us out. Often the highlight of trips to Lac Saint Denis, we arrive at The Falls. The three of us played in the current of the river's outflow, in the foreground. Since it has been a very wet season, including recent rains, the waterfall is unseasonably high right now, and is too dangerous to play in with 5.5 year old Graeme. We stopped for lunch at the end of the portage, near the falls. A family portrait, at lunch on the portage near the falls. Graeme clowns as we warm up the water for soup. An only slightly posed shot of Doug/me. You can see the river "outflow" current in the background. Graeme took this shot of the two of us. If I look uncomfortable it's because I'm about to jump for the camera. Finished lunch, we head back to our campsite. On our way back, we stop at the island just off "Cedar Point" which I camped on, with my parents, when I was about Graeme's age. Some people call this "Blueberry Island". This was the only blueberry we found. The island was full of beautiful shapes, colours, and textures. Here is a broken egg on a pillow of moss. There is little sense of scale here... for all you know, we may have sheltered under these for the night. This little guy pushed up between the ground and the rock. The variety of mushrooms was quite interesting. There were not a lot of any one type, but many different varieties on display. This one looks like an outcrop of an alien landscape. It wouldn't be a canoe trip without at least one leech. This one was on our canoe. The sign at our campsite shows erosion in strange patterns, from many canoe trips before us. I recognize many of the names. I'm curious to know who put the "Tooley" one on there. Graeme's balancing act, for hand washing. All clean. Supper time at the campsite. Ah, the son learning about fire at his father's side. Very touching. Big hugs! Jenn is a happy camper. This little toad was nestled into the tiny hollow of a fallen log. Daybreak. The fire begins our day. The sun burns through the morning mist. Exposure on the oranges made the rest seem darker than it actually was. I like the colour. A self-portrait. Those who claim loons are solitary animals have never been to Lac Saint Denis. Graeme and Doug/Dad/me in the morning sun. At 7:30am, the mist is still clinging to the hills on the far side of the lake. A textbook morning view from the beach. When explaining why we go camping, this is a big part of it. Graeme, washing up after breakfast. Our faithful axe. We did our chopping to the left of this tree. This is Graeme's photo of a minnow (center). Doug, in the morning sun. On our last day, we had bannock for breakfast. It was *perfect*, in that it was cooked just right, and it evoked memories of bannocks past. We had our bannock with honey. Mmmm... tasty. The secret ingredient is "campfire smoke". (true!) Breaking camp, the morning of our last day. The view of our campsite's beach, as we leave for this year. We took our time, paddling back to the car, exploring all the nooks and crannies along the shore. The adventure isn't over. Our egress is blocked by this excavator. "5 minutes" the guy tells us. Can it be true? (it was!) He's burying a few dozen new culverts down the length of the road between Lac Saint Denis, and the Park office near Duhamel. In Duhamel, we stopped for the traditional post-canoe-trip meal: Poutine and steamies at a casse-croute. It doesn't get better than that. (These guys made an awesome poutine.)