The French River, Episode 11

 The French River is a trip we took (for the third time) just 6 months before I became paralyzed, so I have lots of photos from that trip.  I can also tell you about the original trip Thr French is set in granite and pine country, and features long narrow channels carved out of the bedrock.  It's a key part of the original fur trade route followed by the voyageurs starting in the 1600s.

Here's one of the first channels you come to, granite rocks covered in pine trees providing your scenery.

If you're headed west, out toward the outer delta, you would start at Hartley Bay Marina, located some distance south of Sudbury.  As you can see lots of people start here.  There are few cottages, most of the area is now a provincial park, but it's popular for fishing.

On our final trip we opted to avoid portages and whitewater, and stayed at an old fishing lodge, approached down one of these bedrock channels.

I could just stop paddling and coast for hours, absorbing the classic northern Ontario scenery.

The French River Lodge is a typical northern Ontario fishing lodge, with one large building, but several smaller cabins.  We rented a smaller cabin for five days, planning to paddle out and back in each day.

The old boathouse/workshop was a treasure trove of everything you might need for fishing and fishing boats.

On the second day we set out to do a little very local exploring, as the lodge was very close to some interesting bedrock channels.  More on Tuesday.

The Original French River Trip

The original French River trip went mush further than this one, paddling down one long narrow bedrock channel after another, following what we thought was the probable route of the voyageurs.  We had a provincial historian on that trip, so we learned a lot about the fur trade.  Eventually we came to the outer delta.

It was here we were told, that the voyageurs had a large campsite, just before they headed out into the open waters of Georgian Bay.  We got out of the canoes and wandered for an hour.  We thought we found the location of the site, but no artifacts.  In another location there's a short rail track for hauling larger boats up the slope.

We explored along the shore heading east to look for an alternate channel to return.  There we ended up among the 'Fingerboards', short narrow ridges of bedrock, as short as a few feet long and one foot wide, just rising above the water.  It was fascinating!  This is where I borrowed a one=person canoe and went for a paddle.  That settled it; I was getting one of these for myself!

This was by far my favourite trip of the ten I did with my friends.  I think it was a combination of several things.  By this point, after several trips, I knew what I was doing (mostly).  It was a landscape embedded in history.  And it featured that classic northern scenery, bedrock and pines.  I'd go again in a snap!