AFTER EIGHTEEN ROUNDS OF 100 BOTTLES OF BEER ON THE WALL, WE HEAD IN FOR LUNCH. PHOTO: GARY MCGUFFIN
mentum requires prying my two-metre-long ash paddle off the gunwale; sometimes a little too much. Too often I find myself over-correcting and causing the canoe to track a meandering course. Sunset finds us several kilometres offshore and squint-
ing into the horizon, looking for the cliff-lined entrance of Old Woman Bay. The voyageurs called the unpredictable wind of Lake Superior La Vielle—the Old Woman—so it’s apt that we encounter southeasterly gusts and choppy waves as we approach. The wind hits the boat at a diagonal and a metre-high
chop has us fishtailing even more than usual. It’s all I can do to lever the canoe back on course before we wallow and spin out again. All singing on this bus has ceased by the time darkness
falls. We’re still 25 kilometres from Michipicoten, and Old Woman Bay is our last possible pullout.
We’ve paddled 55 kilometres and we’re lagging, despite
all the high-energy designer snacks we’ve eaten. All is quiet until someone offers a carefully formed argument for calling it a night. Despite a few half-hearted objections we decide to head for Old Woman Bay’s beach where we haul the canoe beyond Superior’s reach, flip it over and curl up underneath. As we find space to sleep with our heads under the
overturned canoe I look around and see a group of weary, wet and hungry paddlers looking more like voyageurs than I thought was possible. The only thing missing is the pork lard. While the crew dozes off one by one, a few of us pass
around a bottle of rum. Staring at the lake I think I catch a glimpse of a big canoe still braving the wind and waves. After a quick tip of the bottle it’s lost in the inky darkness.
—Conor Mihell interned at Canoeroots last fall. C A NOE ROOT S n 3 3
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