All's Well That Ends Well
Hello! This is the blog post for our last journey on Path of the Paddle. What a wild, exciting adventure this summer has been. So many memorable moments and so many experiences that are unparalleled. Without any further ado, let’s get to trail!
Our last trip was doing work on the Omimi section of the Path of the Paddle, specifically from Arrow Lake to Northern Light Lake. This was a section that had not been worked on in awhile so we were doing campsite maintenance and placement, signage work and GPSing the route. The whole enchilada!
We launched on Tuesday afternoon from Arrow Lake and found out it was a little windy once we got out there, nothing we hadn’t encountered before though. Once we got to the shore out of the wind things were moving better! We slowly made our way to the connection between Arrow and Rose Lake and didn’t know what to expect! It turns out it was a tiny, shallow river! If we got out of the canoe it was deep enough to float so just walked the canoe through the river and into Rose Lake.
This is where the trail begins to border Minnesota, as the north shore of the lakes and rivers was in Canada while the south was in Minnesota. We paddled through Rose Lake, Rat Lake, Southern Lake and finally got to Northern Lake! This did involve a number of portages but none of them were very long and we found them to be beautifully maintained. The water in the lakes was also wonderfully clear!
Before getting into Northern Lake we did the height of land portage, meaning for the first time on our adventures the water was flowing in our favour! We camped on Northern Lake and in the morning went on to Little Northern. Between Little Northern Lake and Little Gunflint Lake was a small set of rapids that we could portage or ride. We chose to ride them and found it to be quite fun, definitely a nice change of pace!
On little Gunflint Lake we saw lots of beaver homes and spooked a beaver that was swimming a couple feet from our canoe! Little Gunflint Lake went to Gunflint Lake then Magnetic Lake at which point it switched from being lake dominant to river dominant. We followed the Pine River, portaging numerous times and getting to see some exciting rapids and scenic falls like Little Rock Falls. Again all the portages were beautifully maintained, definitely some of, if not, the best portages we've done on trip. We passed through Clove Lake and Granite Lake that day, camping close to Gneiss Lake.
The next day we took off and got to shoot some more rapids, didn’t have to portage them! Like before, it’s a great change of pace! We were on the Granite River and after a couple more portages, mainly around the Horsetail Rapids and Saganaga Falls, we were on Saganaga Lake! This is where we stopped following the border and were firmly back in Canada the rest of the way.
Storm clouds were starting to converge behind us but we pushed on, hoping to beat the rain. After a brief detour into a bay that didn’t have a portage, whoops, we were back on track and almost at Northern Light Lake. Just as we finished our second last portage the storm caught us. After 2 hours in the rain and thunder it cleared and we were back on the water, ready to get moving!
We took off like a shot and were on Northern Light Lake in no time, getting there after doing our last portage at Northern Light Falls. We navigated through the islands and channels of Northern Light Lake, knowing we were so close to the end of our journey. We finally arrived at the beach where our pick up was waiting and that was the end of our last paddling day!
Like we stated earlier it's been a wild, crazy, fun and exciting adventure! We have all kinds of memories from this journey and I guarantee anyone who paddles part of the Path of the Paddle is bound to make lasting memories and have a hell of an adventure! There's something for everyone, you've got big lakes, small lakes, fast rivers, slow rivers, all different kinds of rapids, and that’s not to mention the different sights you'll see! Fantastic sunsets, amazing waterfalls, wildflowers and wildlife, and so much breathtaking wilderness it'll captivate you.
If you get the chance to do any of the Path of the Paddle I’d highly recommend it! Shout out again to everyone we met on the trail, everyone who helped us out there and a huge thank you to our friends and family. I apologize in advance because you'll be hearing about this adventure for a while!
A BIG thank you to ourdear followers for joining us on this journey. We hope you've enjoyed our tales from the trail and maybe you'll feel inspired to get out there and experience the path! If so, we might just see you out there! Have a good one!
Written by Andre Nault
Edited by Tanice