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ESCAPE to the NORTH


Page 4

Mattawa is located at the junction of the Mattawa and the Ottawa River. The town of Mattawa dates back to the 17th century and is the oldest establishment in the Nipissing District. The original name of Mattawa was Matouan, which originates from the Algonquin dialect which means.."meeting of the waters" or "Forks of the Waters". Explorers, missionaries and fur merchants had sailed up the Ottawa River to Mattawa as they called the camping grounds that was always used by the Indians as a resting and gathering place. It was here that they could replenish their supplies and rest, (Like I had done). People like Etienne Brule, who was the first whtie man, with the help of some Huron indians, who had discovered Lake Superior. Samuel de Champlain, who is the father of Nouvelle-France (New France). Jean de Breboeuf and Lalemand who were Jesuit priests, who went to St. Marie, near Midland. Ont. Later to be killed by the Iroquois in 1649. La Pierre Verendrye, who became an explorer and tried to bring the great plains of the Prairies under the French flag. David Thompson, who was a famous Canadian explorer and map-maker, all had travelled these waters. One can travel up the Mattawa River (Not without great difficulty, I might add,) that leads to Lake Nipissing and then on to the French River to arrive at the Great Lakes.

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On the Ottawa River

As I was paddling towards the railway bridge, there was a light breeze coming from the south. I noticed that the current was quite strong right under the railway bridge. This strong current was coming from the Mattawa River that was just past the bridge, ahead of me. As I got closer to the bridge, I was not making any headway, until a strong gust of wind blew from behind me that filled my sail and greatly helped me get past the fast current. Now that I was past the outflow of the Mattawa River, I was able to ease up on the paddling. I continued up the Ottawa river with the south wind at my back, pushing me along with my sail. I was able to enjoy the scenery as it slid slowly by me. It was a beautiful day to be on the water. I felt at peace being here in this environment as I made my way up the Ottawa River. The name of the Ottawa River conjures up images of the Voyageurs who had travelled here, toiling over the portages, hauling their birchbark "canots de maitre" past rapids and waterfalls, singing as they paddle past the glacier- polished bedrock. This river was a vital link in the fur trade route from Lachine (Montreal) to Lake Timiskaming. To think that I am following in their footsteps, just gives me goose-bumps. The land, from what I can see, has probably really not changed all that much, from what it would have looked like 300 years ago. I bet if I listen closely... I can hear the songs of the Voyageurs echoing off from the high cliffs that surround me.

Map of Mattawa & Ottawa River

By 2.P.M. I had arrived at the Otto Holden Power Generating Dam that blocked my progress. So I landed the canoe at the Antoine Provincial Park on the left bank of the River where there is transportation available for boats to get around and past the dam for those who may want to use the service. I looked around the park, but it appeared to be totally deserted. Then it started to rain and I had to rush back to the canoe and set up my tent quickly on top of a floating dock that was still on the shore. After I got everything into the tent, I made some coffee and had a bite to eat. At least I made it this far before it started to rain. Mattawa is ten miles from where I am now. It had been a good run. As I was laying down on top of my sleeping bag, studying the map, I heard a vehicle come near-by. But by the time I had made my way out of the tent, a pick-up truck was already heading back up the road. At least I now knew that people were around here. After a little while, the rain stopped and I decided to wet my fishing line. I hope that who ever it was in that pick-up truck, they would come back so that I can ask where do I go to see about getting my canoe and gear around the dam. Later that afternoon, a pick-up truck came down the road to where I had my camp. The person who came towards me had a construction hard hat upon his head. I asked the gentleman where and who do I see about getting the transportation to go around the dam? But he informed me that the park was still closed and there was nothing available until the park will re-open in a week's time. Well; I was not in any great deal of hurry so I will just have to wait until the park re-opens and get that transportation that I needed. Guess I must have arrived too early in the season when the park had not opened for the summer season. That explains why the place seem to be deserted. The man, Les Zabek, is one of the head person's that are doing repair work on the hydro dam. Les is with Walters Construction. His home is in Orangeville, Ont. Les offered to take me and my canoe and gear around the dam with his pick-up truck. I said great! I'll gladly pay for his time and trouble. He asked me if I wanted to go now, but it had already started to rain again and I did not want to take the tent down just now. So I asked him if he could come to pick me up tomorrow. It might not be raining then. Les told me that he would drop by tomorrow around noon. I thanked Les for his kind offer. At least I can carry on with the trip. While I was waiting for supper to cook, I got out a child watercolour paint set and drawing pad that I had managed to pick up at a store in Mattawa. I set about to draw and paint the Otto Holden Dam . This was my first time painting in water colour. I had always used oil paints in my entire artist career. It did not turn out very good, at least not to me. I had very limited colours to choose from this watercolour paint set. It did not even have black, to paint with to make the various shades of grey that I needed for the dam, clouds and mist, in this picture. Finally I gave up on it and put it away. It was not exactly how I wanted it to look and feel. But it was a watercolour painting of the dam, never-the-less. I listen to the radio when it got too dark to read. I find it too hard to read just by candle light and I did not want to use up the batteries in the flashlight.

June 13th. 2002. This early morning, it was still raining lightly. By 11. o'clock, it had stopped raining. I seem to notice lately, that my left led seem awful stiff when I first get up from bed. I have never felt this stiff before. This is something new to me. Usually, I spring up like a cat and go on about my business. But now, I need to walk around first to get the stiffness out of my leg. I hope this is just a temporary thing. What good is a person in the woods who is so stiff and crippled up, I asked myself? I packed the gear and took down the tent and had it all ready packed for Les to come by to take me around the dam. At about noon, Les had arrived and we loaded everything in the back of his pick-up truck. As we were heading around the dam, Les had asked me about my limping, so I explained to him what had happened. The swelling had gone down quite a lot, but it still hurts when I walk a lot. It is only a matter of time when it will finally heal, I told Les. After we arrived on the other side of the dam, and unloaded the canoe and gear, I insisted that he take the thirty dollars that I would have had to pay for the transportation, but Les would not hear of it. He said that he could not take it for helping me. I dug into my bag and gave the water colour painting that I had made as a remembrance of our encounter. I thanked Les once again for his kindness as he started back to his work place at the dam. I launched the canoe and continued on up the river. There is a creek that I had seen on the map, that drains into the Ottawa River. I want to do a little exploring on this creek. But when I had arrived at that creek, I saw a few houses there, so I just continued to paddle on up the Ottawa River. A light wind blew from the south so I hoisted up my sail and that helped a lot in my progress against the current. Before I knew it, I was singing all the folk songs I knew from the 1960's and 70's with full of joy in my heart. What a beautiful day it was, with that warm sun beaming down upon me. My, this is truly the life! By late evening, I began to look for a place to camp. As I looked along the shoreline to my right and left, I noticed what a rocky tangle of boulders that lined both banks. All along the shore since I had left the dam, the terrain was quite steep, with huge boulders, all along to the waters edge. There was no place that I could see where one could set up camp. Finally I spotted a narrow ledge of rock that was somewhat level, almost large enough to put up my 7X9 tent upon it. I did not want to take a chance to go on, least I could not find another place large enough to pitch the tent for the night. I had come across many waterfalls and had filled up my canteen and water jugs with its crystal clear cool water. As I was setting up my tent, boy, are there a lot of blackflies here! The tent was full of them by the time I got it up. For such small things, they sure carry a big bite. Ouch, ouch and ouch. Finally I found the bug spray and let them have it. Soon, there was not one of those pesky blood suckers left alive in the tent. It started to rain again and the weather report say's we can expect this kind of weather for a whole week. What else is new?

June 14th. This morning the rain continued to fall. So I made breakfast and listen to the radio. Despite the rain, it is quite warm. A far contrast from all the cold days that I had encountered at the beginning of the trip on Trout Lake. The rain stopped by 9 A.M. so I broke camp in hopes of finding a better camping spot that was not so precarious and cramped. I paddled up the river all day without finding a good place to camp. I had to put on the parka every now and then during those times it had rained between spells of sunshine. The shoreline remained quite steep on both sides of the river. Where there was a level open area, there was a cottage upon it. By 4 P.M. my shoulders began to ache, but so far, I have still not spotted any place where I can find an open level area to pitch a tent. Even when the shoreline was no longer that steep, the woods was so thick and wild with huge boulders, scattered all over the whole area, that you would be hard pressed to find any level area, let alone a place large enough to place a dome tent upon. Finally, after rounding a bend in the river, I found a little island that was just large enough to pitch a tent upon it.

Finally I found this little island to camp on.

If I clear away some of the dead branches that is scattered on the ground, I will have enough space to set up the tent. It is not much, but it is the best that there is compared to what I have seen so far since I had paddled this morning. At least for once, I will be able to sleep on level ground. In the other places where I had made camp, I was always at an angle that when I woke up, I had slid down, during the night, balled up into a heap on the very edge of the shelf. Only the tent had prevented me from going all the way over the ledge. The weather looks like it wants to rain again, so I had decided to land here and make it ready to receive the tent. After clearing away the dead branches and moving some rocks out of the way, I was ready to set up the tent. Just then, it started to rain which soon became a downpour. I had only managed to get the sleeping bag and the duffle bag that contained the cooking gear into the tent before the heavy ownpour began, so I had to leave the rest of the gear in the canoe. It continued to rain heavily all through the evening so I had to go out to the canoe and get the rest of the gear, least I would find the gear swimming in water by morning. The wind rose up to cause white streaks to form along the river. I checked the canoe to make sure that it was clear of rocks, least they damage the hull. Then I changed into dry clothes and called it a day. I cooked some ham, along with eggs and made some coffee. I listen to the weather report on the radio while smoking a cigarette. The weather report called for more rain and cool weather for the next three days. It seem like we get one good day of sunny weather and a week of rain. This June has been one of the wettest months I had ever seen for a long time. And to think that I had to pick this year to do this trip. Hummmmmm. At least there is good, water run off, on this little Island during this heavy downpour. Everything went so well today that even this heavy downpour has not dampened my spirit. As I lay on my sleeping bag, I cannot help but contemplate on the wounder of GOD's Creation, who had created all the beauty that surround me and all that I have encountered during this trip. The river from Mattawa to Holden Dam is between 5 to 30 fathoms deep. From Holden Dam to the town of Temiskaming the channel is 10 meters + (5 1/2 + Fathoms) with a depth of 3 meters (1 1/2 Fathoms) along the shoreline. As I write this, all is well with me and the world.

June 14th. It continued to rain and I decided to stay put where I am. I decided to spend the day going over my gear and re-packing it so that I will know what is where, when I want to get my hands on it, without having to go searching through all of the bags. Then I cleaned up the place so that it was neat and tidy. I did some reading about Joe Lavally and the Paleface in Algonquin Park by Bernard Wicksteed. It is about a man taking people on canoe fishing trips during the 1940's. It continued to rain all day and through the night.

June 15th. Today is much like yesterday, it continued to rain. I made some breakfast from the picnic ham that I had left over from yesterday. This along with eggs and potatoes, toast and coffee, topped off with a cigarette made me feel great. I had forgotten to buy one of those real large frying pans when I was in Mattawa. I will have to pick one up, along with some more bug killer, at the first town I come to. I played the harmonica to pass the time away. Not that I can play it all that well, but who cares, there is no one else around here to hear it. I had bought it in Mattawa. It is a lot easier to pack around than a guitar. I had to chuckle at an incident that had happened at the Riverview Snack Bar back in Mattawa. I was looking to buy some fishing flies at the section where Jane has all the native crafts. A women had come in with a little boy to browse at the native crafts while her food order was being prepared. Her little boy had picked up a flute and began playing it to the point that it was driving Christy, who was looking after that section, right up the wall with his endless and erratic playing of the flute. So I went over to the little boy and told him that he had better be very careful about how he played that "Indian" flute because it had great magical powers. I told the little boy that he could call the rain to come down and cause a flood. No sooner I had uttered those words, down came the rain in a great downpour. I told the little boy, now you done it, you had brought this heavy rain with your flute playing. The little boy quickly threw the flute down as if it had suddenly turned into a snake and looked at me with those big brown eyes, saying... WoW, I really did cause this rain to come down, Huh?. He ran to is parents car to hide. I was just thinking what that little boy must be thinking about right now, with this steady downpour of rain we have been having for the past few days. He must think that he may be the cause of all this rain that may cause a flood. It looks like I will have to just stay put and sit this rainy weather out. Why get cold, wet and miserable when there is no need to. At least it will be +10 degree tonight. To pass the time away, I sketched a nature scene that I was able to see through the back of the tent window. I read a little until it was too dark to read. Then I settled to listen to C.B.C. on the radio and called it a day.

June 16th. Today is Sunday and it is still raining. It looks like a repeat of yesterday, and the weather report calls for more rain tomorrow. The temperature today is +10 with an expected high of +15 cel. about 50 - 55 degrees F. Not very warm for the middle of June. By now it feels quite cold and damp and I am getting a little weary of all this rain. I am wondering when are we going to get a long succession of warm or hot summer days and be free of all this rain? This awful weather system has to break soon. This rainy weather is beginning to wear me down. I will just have to find something to do to keep myself busy to pass the time away. At least I am dry and warm in my sleeping bag as I wait out this weather. I turned on the radio, but because today is Sunday, most of the broadcasts have these miss-guided people preaching their perverted religion of Christianity. What I hear them preachers say is..." If those people who do not ascribe to the Christian religion, or believe in another religion, then these people are of the devil." These deceitful people used this old scheme, which is an old tactic that Christians have always used since ancient times to frighten people into adopting their perverted religion. I have had my share in dealing with these type of people. How often have I heard these babbling noromic people say that those people do not ascribe to their "Christian perverted faith", or belong to another religion are doomed to hell because they belong to the devil. And if anyone should ever dare challenge or speak against their religious beliefs, they will promptly be label as being an abominable messengers of hell and as such impute these people as witches or sorcerers, who use black magic, cast satanic spells on people, spawning fear among gullible people so that they will give no ear to what is being said about these priests and preachers relioious teachings. These statements I have personally heard coming from the mouths of catholic priests and protestant preachers. Christianity in reality is nothing more than a fanatical and predatory religion that had spread its perversity throughout the whole world. Personally, I have found these phony priests and preachers who dupe the unwarey with their phony religion, to be very abnoxcious. I take a very dim view on their religion. People have been lied to by these deceivers that people no longer know what the truth is, or what to believe. I tuned the radio to CBC so that I can at least listen to something more sensible.

June 17th. It rained again throughout the whole day and night. My only solace is that their are people in the west who are praying for some rain to ease the drought that is in that part of Canada. At least this rain will cut down on the threat of forest fires. What I had noticed up to now is that I had not seen any kind of wildlife or even so much as a log cabin where I might find a trapper during all the time I was paddling through this true wilderness area. But that is probably due to the steep terrain that was all along the river since I had left Mattawa.

June 18th. I woke up this morning with the sound of rain beating upon the tent. By now, I am not really surprised. The weather report calls for sunny weather for tomorrow. I will finally be able to break camp and get on my way. Maby I will even be able to reach the town of Temescaming tomorrow and get that large frying pan that I want to get, along with the bug spray. All I can do is sit tight and wait for this weather system to pass over. The sun broke through the clouds by two P.M. while it continued to rain. What a beautiful rainbow that I can see before me. This is a good sign, for the weather is about to break up.

June 19th. This morning the sky is cloudy but the sun breaks through from time to time. There was thick fog this morning so I waited to break camp until it lifted. By 9 A.M. I had bailed out the canoe from the rain that had gathered in it and packed all the gear and loaded these into the canoe. I then set out up the Ottawa River. I thanked GOD for that little Island being there when I needed it the most. I was passing through some beautiful, wild, wilderness country. By 4 P.M. I spotted an excellent camping spot on a sandy beach to my left. On the Ontario side of the river. The town of Temiskaming is about eight miles north of here, on the Quebec side of the river. I did not want to pass up this lovely spot in case I would not find anything better. All during the day, the shoreline I had took notice, was very steep and had big boulders scattered all about the woods. It is really a chore trying to find a decent camping spot around this whole area since I had left Mattawa. Most times, I had to clear a spot among huge boulders, barely with enough room to erect the tent fully. The mosquito and black flies were also pretty bad back there but now in this open area, it is free of them. Oh how nice it is to lay down on a flat, smooth, soft surface. I just know that I will have an excellent sleep tonight. I decided to explore my surroundings but I soon found out that my ankle began to pain once again which made walking very difficult to get around. Given that, I headed back to camp. There was no point exploring with a lame ankle. I turned on the radio just in time to hear the weather forecast. Tomorrow, the weather forecast calls for a sunny, warm day. I thanked GOD upon hearing this. It will be 26 cel. tomorrow? Wow! I got my fishing rod out and caught a nice five pound fish for supper. I want to get to the town of Temiskaming early during the day because there is another dam there that is blocking the passage. I Know that I will have to spend some time trying to find a way to go around it.

Jornal to be continued....

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