Uganda

Trip Dates: July 11th - 18th, 2014

From Amsterdam we took a 9.5 hour flight to Kigali, Rwanda.  We had a very short, 45-minute layover on the tarmac, before a quick half-hour flight to Entebbe, Uganda.  Our guide collected us from the airport and dropped us off at the Gately Inn, where we'd be spending the night.  In the morning our African adventure would officially begin!

Uganda, officially known as the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa.  They have a population of approximately 35.8 million people.  The capital, and largest city, is Kampala and the official languages are English and Swahili.  We spent the majority of our time in rural areas in the southern part of the country, visiting Bwindi, Queen Elizabeth, and Kibale National Parks.  

Uganda (dark blue) as located within Africa (light blue)

A map of the different regions of Uganda

We booked our entire trip with Bush 2 Beach Safaris, but each tour company is only licensed to operate in one country.  This meant we would be using their sister company, Great Lakes Safaris, for the Uganda portion of the trip.  Our driver/guide was David and he turned out to be really great.  He was very knowledgeable about the country, the people, and the wildlife.  We learned a lot from David over the course of our week together.

Our first full day in the country featured a long drive from Entebbe, up to Kampala, and then southwest through Masaka, Mbarara, and Kabale to Lake Bunyonyi.  We passed through countless small towns and villages and were treated to a few hours of "African Massage", which is the polite way of saying, extremely bumpy roads!  We spent the night at the Birdsnest Lodge on the shore of Lake Bunyonyi, which is rumored to be between 44m (144ft) and 900m (2,952ft) deep.  If true, that would make it the second deepest lake in Africa.  

We spent a lot of time inside this Land Cruiser

We stopped at the Equator on our drive to Lake Bunyonyi

It was the first time any of us had stood on the Equator

Beautiful Lake Buyonyi as viewed from our balcony

Grey-Crowned Cranes are the official bird of Uganda

The next morning we toured the lake via canoe.  Our end-goal was Punishment Island, which is a tiny island with a single tree.  The Bakiga people used to banish unmarried pregnant women to the island so they would die of starvation.  This was done to "educate" the rest of the women not to make the same "mistakes".  If a man did not own any cattle with which to pay the bridewealth, he was allowed to go to the island and rescue one of the women, who in turn, would become his wife.  Fortunately this practice was abandoned sometime in the first half of the 20th century, but it is still possible, even today, to find women who have been rescued from Punishment Island.

Canoe selfie on the lake

Punishment Island

After the canoe trip we were back on the road and heading towards Bwindi Impenetrable National Park; home of the Mountain Gorillas.  Bwindi is also home to 350 species of birds, 310 species of butterflies, 200 species of trees, 41 species of reptiles, 88 species of moths, and 120 different species of mammals.  It was a long, dusty drive, filled with numerous Africa Massages.  We would be spending the next two nights at Mahogany Springs Lodge in the Buhoma region, which was just outside the park's boundaries.  

We spotted this Black and White Colobus Monkey shortly after entering the park

Our main reason for coming to Uganda was to track the Mountain Gorillas.  There are only three countries left in the world where you can trek with gorillas; Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda.  Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to approximately 340 gorillas, which is roughly half the world's population of endangered Mountain Gorillas.  Of those 340, about 116 are considered to be habituated and they comprise 10 different family units.  

We would be tracking the Kyaguliro Gorilla Family, which is one of three in the Ruhija region of the park.  The Kyaguliro Family was just opened for tourist access in July 2013, making it one of the newest families that you can visit.  This particular family has 19 members, including two silverbacks.  The dominant silverback is Rukina and the second silverback is Rukara.  They also had five or six babies that were constantly running around and wrestling with each other.  All of the habituated gorillas are known individually by the rangers and have been given names in order to identify them.  There are strict regulations around who, how, and when the gorillas can be visited and our time with them was limited to a maximum of one hour.  

We hiked for an hour through dense vegetation and down a steep gorge before we found the family

A female member of the Kyaguliro Gorilla Family

This is one of the playful youngsters

One of the two silverbacks.  This guy was estimated to be 200kg (440lbs).

A close-up of another member of the family

By far, this was one of the coolest things I have ever done!

After our unforgettable experience with Bwindi's gentle giants, we were given an opportunity to visit a Batwa Pygmy Tribe that was living within walking distance of our lodge.  We were intrigued by them and wanted to learn more about their culture, so we gave David the green-light to set it up for us.

Traditionally, the Batwa Pygmies were forest dwellers who lived in caves and hunted and gathered for sustenance.  For thousands of years they were known as the, "Keepers of the Forest" and they lived peacefully within Bwindi's dense jungle.  In 1992 the Impenetrable Forest became a national park to protect the Mountain Gorillas and the Pygmies were evicted from the only home they'd ever known.  They became conservation refugees in an unfamiliar and unforested world.  Unskilled in the ways of farming and relying on broken promises from the government, the survival of the Pygmies was threatened.  Our guide explained to us that conditions were so bad that a small group eventually defected back to the forest and are now living illegally within its borders.  Missionaries and tourism have helped keep their traditions and culture alive as the Pygmies try to integrate themselves into an unknown world.

The Batwa Pygmy village near the Mahogany Springs Lodge

Our visit with the Batwa people featured a tour of the small village, a hunting exercise using a bow and arrow, a traditional song and dance performance, a fire lighting demonstration, and finally we were given an opportunity to sample some of their cuisine.  We were all given a chance to hunt using the bow and arrow.  Christine hit the target on her first try, but I was absolutely terrible at it!  Sarah and I were each asked to take part in a dance with a few members of the tribe.  We attempted to mimic their movements, but I feel we thoroughly butchered the performance.  Mike was given an opportunity to light a fire in the traditional way, by rubbing sticks together.  I'm happy to report that he was successful at it, but he wasn't nearly as fast as they were!  I fear we would be terrible hunters and would be eating a lot of cold meals if we suddenly had to move into the forest!

The hunting demonstration

After the fire was lit, they proved it to us by inhaling the smoldering embers

 All of us had the opportunity to sample roasted goat meat, which Mike and I happily tried.  It was actually pretty tasty, but the fermented banana beer and the incredibly strong banana gin left much to be desired!  The girls decided not to sample the food and I'm happy to announce that both of us managed to avoid getting sick from this tasting experience.

Roasting some goat meat over an open fire

Before we knew it, it was time to move again.  Our next destination was Kibale National Park, but we had to drive through Queen Elizabeth National Park in order to get there.  This gave us a bit of an unexpected safari and made the drive a lot more exciting.  The park is named after Queen Elizabeth II and is Uganda's most visited national park.  It's home to the unique tree-climbing lions, which, disappointingly, we were unable to see during our brief visit.  The park is home to a variety of other species, however, and we managed to see Black and White Colobus Monkeys, Vervet Monkeys, Baboons, Elephants, Topis, Waterbucks, Ugandan Kobs, and Cape Buffalo.

Queen Elizabeth National Park

Ugandan Kob

Vervet Monkey

African Elephant

 We were stopped for lunch somewhere outside Queen Elizabeth National Park when David was approached by a nun who was looking for a ride to a church.  As luck would have it we would be driving by that same church before reaching Kibale National Park.  David asked if it would be okay if we gave her a lift and we agreed that it would be more than fine.  When we arrived at the church all of these children came running up to the vehicle.  The only English word they knew was "sweets".  They kept repeating it over and over again with their hands extended towards us.  They'd obviously been given treats from tourists in the past, but unfortunately we didn't have anything to offer them.  It was pretty cute interacting with them even though none of us could speak the other's language.

Children running to the vehicle hoping for sweets

Later that afternoon we arrived at Kibale National Park and were greeted by a family of Baboons.  The Baboons are one of 13 different primate species that call the park home.  We had traveled to Kibale to search for another species of primate though, the Chimpanzee.  We would be spending two nights at the Primate Lodge in the heart of the park before making the long trip back to Entebbe.  

This is an adult male Baboon that we spotted just inside the park

This baby was hitching a ride on the back of its mother

This is a male Agama Lizard.  They were quite common around the Primate Lodge.

As I mentioned earlier, the main reason we were in Kibale was the Chimpanzees.  It is widely accepted that Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to human beings, sharing about 98% of their DNA composition with us.  We weren't really sure what to expect, but to be honest I was a little skeptical about the whole thing.  The idea of tracking Chimps seemed a bit anti-climactic after our phenomenal experience with the Mountain Gorillas.  I was willing to give it a try, however, since the tour had been booked and our permits were already paid for.

During the briefing my fears were confirmed when we were told that Chimps spend approximately 80% of their lives up in the trees.  This meant our chances of seeing them on the ground were pretty slim.  Like the gorillas though, our chances of actually encountering them was around 95%, which was reassuring.  There are approximately 1,500 Chimpanzees living within Kibale National Park, but only a small percentage are habituated.  The family we were after are known as Kanyanchu and they have 140+ members, including an old alpha male. 

Once we were in the forest it didn't take very long to find the rambunctious Chimpanzees.  As we expected they were all up in the trees and we were only able to see a handful of them as they feasted on vegetation.  I had positioned myself on top of a dead log to get a better angle for photographs when the girls began yelling at me to "turn around!".  I was distracted because there was a solitary Chimp looking directly at me, which made for a great photo, but the girls continued yelling at me and they were getting louder.  As I turned around I was surprised to see this...

The alpha male had already crossed the log as this old fellow and a young Chimp followed behind him

 The alpha male of the entire family, accompanied by a two elder statesman and a toddler, were walking across a different log directly in front of me.  They couldn't have cared less about my presence and they just kept moving towards me.  Eventually their log paralleled mine and the oldest members of the family were just a few feet away.  I was looking at them, trying to get some photos, while they glanced up at me and kept right on moving.  This single experience made the whole Chimp expedition worth it...and we weren't even close to being done yet!

This little guy was just lounging in the trees without a care in the world

He posed like that for quite a while.  We were able to get some neat shots of him.

As the afternoon progressed we kept finding new Chimpanzees on the ground.  Our guide was fantastic.  He ensured we left Kibale with several stories and more than a few memorable photographs of the resident Chimps.  The entire experience turned out better than I ever could have hoped for and was more than worth the additional time and money.

This adult female was very tolerant of humans and didn't mind us being close to her

Our time in Uganda was coming to an end.  David drove us back to Entebbe where we spent one final night back at the Gately Inn before flying into Tanzania.  Unfortunately our original flight had been cancelled, so we'd been moved onto a 3AM flight instead.  None of us slept very well that night, but spirits were high as we landed at Kilimanjaro International Airport and the next leg of our journey began.  

Grey Owl's Cabin

Trip Date: August 2013

Mike and I had been talking about canoeing to Grey Owl's Cabin in Prince Albert National Park ever since his parents did it a few years ago.  It seemed like every summer when we tried to plan it something happened and the trip didn't.  During the winter of 2012, we decided that we would be doing the trip the following summer no matter what.  We would plan it, decide on dates, and actually make it happen.  We settled on August 17-20.  It was final.  We would really be going this summer!  As the trip got underway we had no idea what was in store for us...

Waskesiu, in Prince Albert National Park, is about 850km northeast of Calgary and 500km northwest of Regina.  After my nine hour drive, Mike and I made our way to the Parks Canada office in Waskesiu to purchase our backcountry permits.  Using the park's website we had planned in advance the exact route we wanted to take to and from the cabin.  From here things might get a little confusing so there's a map below of the Kingsmere Lake area that will hopefully clear up the next part of the story.  Our original plan was to launch our boat Saturday afternoon and paddle to the Westwind campground.  Sunday morning we would paddle up to Northend, hike to Grey Owl's Cabin and back, and then spend the night.  We would spend Monday paddling back to Southend via the Bagwa Canoe Route, which consists of Bagwa, Lily, and Clare Lakes. We would spend one final night at Southend before getting off the lake Tuesday morning and then driving home.  The plan made perfect sense to us, but things didn't go down like that!

The Kingsmere Lake area.  The red "P" is where we parked and launched the boat, the Smith Portage is the 1km rail-car portage, the red arrows indicate our actual paddling route, the green arrows are where we hiked, and the yellow star is the approximate location where we capsized.

The Parks Canada employee informed us that Westwind was reserved for educational group camping only.  Despite my charm, she insisted we didn't qualify even though I am a teacher!  Since Southend was full that night, she recommended we paddle to Lily Lake and was certain we'd make it before nightfall.  She also mentioned that there were two portages; one between Kingsmere Lake and Clare Lake and a second one between Clare Lake and Lily Lake.  Our new itinerary was basically in reverse from our original plan.  We would spend our first night on Lily Lake, our second would be up at Northend, where we would hike to the cabin, and our third and final night, would be spent down at Southend before getting off the water Tuesday morning.  Before leaving the Parks office we also opted into their volunteer program that required us to check-in and check-out of the backcountry.  If we didn't turn up in Waskesiu on Tuesday they would send Search and Rescue out within 24 hours to look for us.

The next stop was the Waskesiu Marina to pick up our canoe.  We rented the boat in advance and were expecting to get at least an 18-foot canoe for our three-day trip.  The boat we ended up with was quite a bit smaller and was the last one they had.  It required us to re-pack most of our stuff because some of our gear wouldn't fit.  After we got that all sorted out it was finally time to launch the boat.  The boat launch is on a small creek between Waskesiu Lake and Kingsmere Lake.  We immediately started paddling downstream, which promptly got us lost!  We were looking for the 1km rail-car portage that you have to take to get onto Kingsmere Lake, but instead ended up on Waskesiu Lake!  After turning around and paddling back upstream we found the rail-car and finally gained access to Kingsmere Lake.  By this time, however, the sun was getting pretty low in the sky and we still had a fair distance to go before reaching the campground.

This Marten was watching us as we loaded and launched our boat

We paddled the southwest corner of Kingsmere Lake, past the Warden's Cabin and found the portage trail to Clare Lake.  I forgot to mention above, but that same Parks Canada employee told us, "the portage trails had a bit of mud on them and that we'd likely get our boots a little muddy and smelly!"  This was her idea of a bit of mud!!

The beginning of the muddy section on the first portage trail.  The mud was up past our knees in places!

There was ultimately enough mud and water to float the fully-loaded canoe and it allowed us to just push the boat instead of carrying everything.  Needless to say it did take a lot longer than either of us had expected and it was very smelly!  We re-launched our boat on Clare Lake and paddled as quickly as possible because the sun had already set and it was getting dark fast.

We reached the second portage between Clare and Lily Lakes and prayed for no more mud!  We also immediately remembered that there was a Black Bear in the area of Lily Lake due to the healthy berry crop.  We had to unpack some of our gear to find headlamps and bear spray, which was quickly secured to my PFD for this portage.  By the time we finished carrying the last load it was pitch black out.  The moon was hidden behind thick storm clouds, which gave us a little extra motivation to find the campground as quickly as possible.  We did not want to be stranded in our boat when the lightning got closer!  We were also hoping that the other group of people staying at Lily Lake campground had a bonfire going so we would be able to see where the campground actually was.  Thankfully they noticed our headlamps as we got closer and came down to offer a hand pulling our boat and gear ashore.  After setting up our tents by firelight and eating some snacks, sleep came quickly for both of us.  We were hoping tomorrow would be a better day!

Our campsite on Lily Lake

Each backcountry campground in the Kingsmere Lake area has a bear cache

Someone carved this into our picnic table and it's exactly how we felt after our first night!

We were back in the boat by 10:30AM on Sunday morning and paddling for Bagwa Lake.  We had our fingers crossed that there weren't anymore portages as we'd gotten our fill of those the night before.  We found our way through to Bagwa Lake and ultimately back out to Kingsmere Lake.  The weather was perfect on this day.  The sun was out and there wasn't any wind, making the paddling quite enjoyable.

Lily Lake on Sunday morning

The channel between Bagwa Lake and Kingsmere Lake was filled with Lily Pads

It was neat to paddle through all of this

We weren't in a big hurry to get to Northend, so we took our time.  We stopped for a break at Pease Point and again for lunch in Bladebone Bay.

The view from Pease Point looking towards Kingsmere Lake

Lunch break at Bladebone Bay

Looking east out of Bladebone Bay

We arrived at Northend campground and began setting up camp

Northend even had a shelter in case of inclement weather

After dinner we relaxed by the lake

This Gull spent most of the evening searching for food

This Sandpiper was busy searching for its next meal

Another Gull along the shoreline

Lesser Yellowlegs

Sun setting over Kingsmere Lake

The next morning we got an early start to Grey Owl's Cabin.  The hike was only 6.4km round trip, but we didn't want to be paddling late in the afternoon.  Kingsmere Lake is notorious for changing quickly.  One minute the lake could be glassy and calm, but the next moment it could be churning with white-caps.  We wanted to do the hike and be back on the water before the afternoon wind picked up.  

Trail marker for Grey Owl's Cabin

Someone lashed a Moose antler to a tree along the trail

A section of the trail

Ajawaan Lake, where the cabin is located

"Far enough away to gain seclusion, yet within reach of those with genuine interest prompts them to make the trip, Beaver Lodge extends a welcome to you if your heart is right."

-Grey Owl 

Archie Belaney, more commonly known as Grey Owl, has been called many things since the time of his death; a fraud, a bigamist, a drunk, a scoundrel, and a liar, all of which might be true, but he was also a realist, an author, a lecturer, and one of Canada's "most effective apostles of the wilderness."  He was born in 1888 in England, but immigrated to Canada in the early 20th century.  Soon after arriving in Canada he met and married an Ojibwe girl named Angele Egwuna who introduced him to the wilderness and the Native way of life.  This was his first of three marriages, but only one divorce, and at least two common-law relationships.  Between 1907 and 1927 Grey Owl lived in the northern Ontario wilderness, making his living as a trapper, guide, and forest ranger.  He took on the identity of an Indian, suppressed his English accent, and proclaimed Apache ancestry.  In 1925 he met Gertrude Bernard, who he referred to as Anahero.  She played a key role in his transition from trapper to conservationist.  In desperate need of another source of income, Grey Owl began publishing his writings.  The Dominion Parks Service, what would later become Parks Canada, became aware of Grey Owl through his articles.  He was eventually hired as their first naturalist.  In 1931 Grey Owl, along with Anahero and their two beavers, Rawhide and Jelly Role, moved to a small cabin on Ajawaan Lake in Prince Albert National Park.  His popularity rose quickly with the publication of his bestselling books, Pilgrims of the Wild, Sajo and the Beaver People, and Empty Cabin.  As his fame grew, more and more was expected from him.  Hundreds of people visited Beaver Lodge during the summer months and he also went on two lengthy speaking tours to England in 1935 and 1937.   It has been reported that Grey Owl always had a taste for alcohol, but it was during the demanding years of his popularity that he increasingly abused it.  In the spring of 1938, Grey Owl returned to Beaver Lodge a tired and weakened man.  His death, on April 13, 1938, was attributed to pneumonia, but was also the result of a demanding speaking schedule, his ruinous lifestyle, and the fact that his past was catching up to him.

Grey Owl's Cabin, also known as Beaver Lodge

A beaver lodge directly inside Beaver Lodge.  The beavers, that Grey Owl and Anahero considered to be part of their family, could gain access to this cabin via an underwater entrance from the lake.

The lakefront cabin, complete with indoor beaver lodge, was the first cabin to be built on Ajawaan Lake.  As the frequency of visitors increased, so too did the number of people spending the night, and not everyone, not even his common-law wife Anahero, wished to share accommodations with an active beaver family.  For these reasons Anahero's upper cabin was built sometime in 1932 about a year after their arrival in Prince Albert National Park.

The wood-burning stove in Grey Owl's Cabin

Shelves on the wall above the bed

A paddle, complete with Grey Owl's signature and the date; Dec. 10, 1937.  Most of Grey Owl's belong's were pilfered after he died.  This  paddle was carved by a visitor to the cabin and left as a memento.  The date signifies a great triumph in Grey Owl's life; a Command performance for the Royal Family at Buckingham Palace.  The signature and date, obviously, were not written by Grey Owl himself, but by a visitor marking the special occasion.

There was a small desk in the corner of the cabin.  Sitting on top was information about Grey Owl and the cabin, as well as as guest book that we could sign.

An old pipe tobacco can

His small bed made of pine saplings

A beautiful lakefront view

Anahero's upper cabin

The inside of her cabin was completely empty

Say a silent thank you for the preservation of wilderness areas, for the lives of creatures who live there and for the people with the foresight to realize this heritage, no matter how.  

-Inscription on a plaque near the gravesite 

The nearby graves of Grey Owl, Anahero, and their daughter Shirley Dawn

The following pictures are of Grey Owl, Anahero, and two of their beloved Beavers.  I found the photos online and they are courtesy of Parks Canada.

After thoroughly exploring the area around Grey Owl's Cabin we hiked back to Northend, broke camp, packed the canoe, and launched the boat.  Our final destination for the day was Southend campground and we would be paddling down the eastern shore of Kingsmere Lake.  After about an hour of paddling the wind picked up quickly.  Before we knew what hit us we were being hammered by white-caps and one of those large waves capsized our boat.  Luckily we were close enough to shore that I could immediately touch the bottom, but it was a scramble to pull everything onto the rocky shore, including a canoe that was three-quarters full of water.

Trying to wait-out the wind after we capsized

The shoreline around Kingsmere Lake is dense Boreal Forest that grows almost to the very edge of the lake.  With that being said, there's not much in the way of an actual shoreline, just a narrow strip of large rocks.  We ended up hauling all of our gear into a very small clearing and thought we'd wait-out the wind.  We were hoping that the wind would die down as quickly as it arrived or, at the very least, it would calm down in the evening, giving us a chance to paddle to one of the three campgrounds along the eastern shore of the lake.  After 4.5 hours of waiting in the woods we knew we had to make a decision.  We could either (A) camp right where we were, (B) bushwack our way through the woods to the hiking trail that we knew wasn't far behind us and hike back to Northend for the night, or (C) attempt to paddle to Sandy Beach, which was the next campground down the lake and a distance of about 1.5km.  Neither of us wanted to spend the night where we were, and the wind wasn't dying down, so we decided to hike back to Northend.  In the middle of organizing our gear for the trip back we both looked at each other and basically said, "this is ridiculous.  Why are we backtracking?"  After mutually agreeing, we re-loaded the canoe and would attempt to paddle to Sandy Beach.  Once the boat was in the water we quickly realized there was no way that we could possibly get into the boat and paddle it without capsizing again and again.  The waves were just too big.  We were both soaking wet at this point so we just decided to push the boat to Sandy Beach!  This decision was far from fun, but it allowed us to make forward progress to an actual campground where we could build a fire, dry our clothes, and eat!

Pushing the canoe for 1.5km to Sandy Beach.  This picture doesn't do the size of the waves any justice, but you can see on Mike's PFD just how high the waves were hitting him!

After drying off, warming up, and filling our bellies we made the decision to get up bright and early the next morning to try and get off the lake early that afternoon.  We were a bit concerned that our families were expecting phone calls from us on Tuesday morning, but we assumed they wouldn't panic as long as we called them at some point that day.

One of the nice things about a canoe trip, as opposed to a hiking trip, is you don't have to be nearly as worried about weight.  With that fact in mind we packed a flat of water for the trip instead of purifying lake water as our main source to drink.  When we capsized, the only items we lost were the remaining bottles of clean drinking water.  Luckily I had packed some AquaTabs in case of an emergency and they came in very handy.  Before going to bed we filled a bunch of empty water bottles with lake water and purified a few litres so we had enough to get us through the next day.  From hearing horror stories of other people catching Giardia (Beaver Fever), neither of was was too keen on drinking lake water to begin with, but we didn't have much of a choice at that point.  After establishing a supply of drinking water, combined with the fact the wind hadn't really died down at all, we called it a night and crashed hard.

Panoramic view of Kingsmere Lake after a frustrating day

We were up at 6AM, but the wind was still blowing strong.  We didn't think we'd be able to paddle out, so we went back to bed for another hour.  At 7AM we decided we'd make an attempt to paddle at least to the next campground, but upon launching the boat and getting absolutely swamped by waves we pulled the plug on that plan.  It was now time to hike back to the vehicles.  Once back at our cars we would have cell reception so we could call our families, check the weather report, and then make an informed decision about our best course of action.  It was a 12.7km hike to the cars.  We prepped day-packs for the hike and began our journey.

The hike out was pretty monotonous and uneventful.  We passed two different groups of hikers who were heading in the direction of Grey Owl's Cabin, but otherwise we didn't see anything.  We only listened to the howling wind that was ripping off the lake directly towards us.  Once back at the vehicles we headed towards Waskesiu.  We stopped at the marina on the way to let them know that we wouldn't be returning their canoe that day.  The lady working there was very helpful and even offered to pick up the canoe, using a 40hp fishing boat, the following day if the wind died down.  She didn't mention us or our gear so we kind of assumed that her offer was only for the boat. We left the marina and promised to keep them apprised of our plans.  We then drove into Waskesiu to speak with Parks Canada.  This was an exercise in extreme patience.  We informed the woman of our situation and that they shouldn't dispatch Search and Rescue because we were fine, just stranded.  We also told her that we would have to go back into the backcountry at some point to get the boat and our gear.  Her response was, "okay I will de-register you so we won't send out Search and Rescue.  There's really nothing else we can do though."  Our response to that statement was something along the lines of, "okay, but what happens when we go back to retrieve our gear and then something serious happens to us?  There's currently no record of us being in the backcountry because you've already de-registered us, so there wouldn't be anybody looking for us at all."  Her response, "ya I guess that's right.  So do you guys have jobs and stuff?  What do you guys do?  You probably need to get back home, hey?"  Mike and I looked at each other in complete disbelief.  We had hoped to come to some sort of agreement with Parks Canada about re-registering us once we headed back out, but it was obvious this employee wasn't fully connected with reality.  We went into the Parks office knowing it wasn't their job to get us out of our situation, but we didn't expect anything like that.  It wasn't worth our time talking with her anymore so we left without any type of resolution.  We were never re-registered for the backcountry, so ultimately nobody within Parks Canada knew we would be back in the park in the near future.  After leaving Parks Canada we made the necessary phone calls to our families and let them know about our situation and that we were alright.  We also talked about our options and checked the weather report.  The day's weather was sunny with wind blowing at 30km/h and gusting up to 50km/h.  It was supposed to diminish to "light wind" in the evening and then steadily increase to 20km/h the following day.  We both felt like our best option was to head back to the campground that afternoon and if the wind died enough we could paddle out in the evening.  Neither of us really wanted to hike another 12.7km, but it was a necessary evil if we wanted off the lake.  We bought some more food, as we were running low, and headed back to the trailhead not really knowing what to expect.

We saw this large bull Elk on the side of Kingsmere Road on our way back to the trailhead

The hike back to Sandy Beach was long and very uneventful.  We did spot some fresh bear scat that wasn't there on our way out, but that was the extent of our excitement.  When we arrived at Sandy Beach we noticed that a pair of the hikers we passed on our way out had set up camp there.  One of the first questions they asked us was, "did you guys see the bear?"  Thankfully, we had not, but I guess shortly after we passed each other they rounded a bend and a Black Bear was sitting in the middle of the trail.  Luckily he ran away shortly after being spotted, but we now knew there was definitely a bear in the area.  We had a quick bite to eat and tiredly waited for the wind to stop blowing.  As the sun was setting and the wind didn't seem to be letting up we made a plan to go to bed and get some rest.  We would get up every two hours to check the wind and the waves to see if it was feasible to try and leave.  Laying in the tent, listening to the fly flapping around in the wind, neither of us felt great about our chances of paddling that night.

Sunset over Kingsmere Lake just before hitting the hay around 9PM and praying for calmer weather!

I woke up around 11PM and could still hear the wind blowing outside the tent.  I didn't even bother getting up, I just rolled over and fell back to sleep.  At 1AM, I again woke up, but couldn't hear the wind at all.  I got up and walked down to the lakeshore.  The waves were still a decent size, but by far the smallest we'd seen since the wind started blowing.  I came back to the tent and basically told Mike, "I think it's now or never."  We packed up the tent, loaded the canoe, changed into our paddling gear, and launched the boat around 2AM by the light of the full moon.  We really lucked out that it was a clear night, because our headlamps wouldn't have provided nearly enough light to navigate our way back.  We paddled for 2.5 hours without stopping for a break, a drink of water, or a snack.  We didn't want to take the chance that the wind would start to blow again and we'd be stranded in the middle of the night.  It wasn't a relaxing ordeal either.  We were both worried about taking our paddles out of the water for fear of capsizing in the darkness.  Finally we reached the small creek that would take us to the 1km rail-car portage.  It was a great feeling being off Kingsmere Lake and knowing now that our trip was finally coming to a close.  

Upon reaching the rail portage there was a sudden change in temperature and both Mike and I began shivering uncontrollably.  Neither of us were cold while paddling on Kingsmere Lake, but as soon as we got to the rail portage we could instantly see our breath.  To be honest I don't know why there was such a shift in temperature, maybe it was the fact that we both relaxed when we reached the portage and the adrenaline that had been pumping earlier was now gone.  Whatever caused the dramatic change in temperature though wasn't welcome.  To make matters worse we also needed to hike the 1km portage trail to get the rail-car that was at the opposite end.  So by the time we collected the rail-car, pushed it back to the waiting canoe, loaded the boat, and then pushed it back up the trail again the sun was already starting to rise.  

Tired, cold, and hungry, but almost off the water.  All that's left is the 1km rail portage and another short paddle downstream to the take-out point.  We're going to make it!

Our loaded canoe sitting on the rail-car.  The 1km portage actually turned into 3km because the rail-car was at the opposite end when we arrived!

We finally reached the take-out point at 5:30AM; a full three 3.5 hours after we made our moonlight escape from Sandy Beach campground.  We immediately changed into warm, dry clothes, and then set about unloading our gear into the vehicles and finally securing the canoe to the roof of Mike's Jeep.  We dropped the canoe at the marina and left them a note saying we'd made it off the lake safely.  All that was left was a five hour drive to Regina for Mike and a nine hour slog back home for me.  Mike texted me after he got home and said he figured between canoeing and hiking we put on about 75km over the course of the four days!

Despite what you've read here, and what you might be thinking, we actually did have a lot of fun on this trip.  Standing inside Grey Owl's Cabin was worth the effort required.  It just goes to show that having a trip plan while in the backcountry means very little as nobody can control the weather.  There are just too many intangibles to accurately predict the outcome and you need to be flexible.  We both definitely learned a lot and I know we'll be back out there sooner than later, although, after hearing about our trip, I'm not sure my wife will ever join us on another adventure again!  I think it's also safe to say that we'll be talking about this trip for years to come!

I wanted to finish this post with a great quote that summed up the adventure we had.  When I asked Mike about it, he jokingly suggested, "If you don't laugh, you'll cry!"  We both seem to think this one is a little better though...

"An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered."

-G. K. Chesterton 

An abbreviated version of this story was featured in the May 2015 issue of Our Canada magazine.  You can view the photo slideshow on their website right here.