Greetings Kenora - KENORA - Day Sixty Three

14,552 islands are spread across Lake of the Woods, and while we only camped on a few, we got disoriented by many. On the final day on the lake, with 20k to go before Kenora, there was a new small island every time I turned my head. While Erik knew where we were and where we had to go the whole time, you could have spun the boat backwards and kept paddling and I wouldn't have had a clue.

Eventually, as we neared the city, we were able to abandon maps and follow instead the continuous stream of motor boats flooding in and out of the channels. We thoroughly enjoyed getting waked out by monstrous boats zipping full speed right past us. We saw motors so obscenely large I hadn't known they existed and boat storage buildings larger than the houses along the rest of the route. As we entered the final channel towards town, we saw as many as nine boats at once crammed into the small space. While we hugged the shore to stay clear of their high speed lane ways, the other boats weaved about each other, even overtaking boats in sharp, blind, high speed turns. We were baffled and happy to land at the other end of Devil's Gap.

We have spent a lazy day in Kenora to rest up before the final leg of our adventure and the conclusion of the trip just 5 days from now. We watched the Olympic closing ceremonies and slept under a roof and caught up on the summer's world events. Upon repacking our barrels, we discovered 2 onions, canned mandarins, a bottle of salad dressing, and a container of peanut butter (in addition to 24 meals) hidden away and carried since Atikokan. Love it when you discover the uneaten weight you carried for thirty four days.

This evening we went to Anicinabe Park to participate in a voyageur canoe paddle on the lake and present in the park about our journey. It was fun hopping in a boat with some new people and getting a chance to share our videos and stories. After gorging on the timbits and children's juice boxes at the event, it is time to head to sleep so we can have an early start tomorrow.