Happy Canada Day! 🇨🇦 July 1st sure arrived fast! I have spent this entire day playing catch up here at the outpost. I’m calling my base camp at the outpost Camp Sparrow Song. It’s connected to the random arrival of white throated sparrows at the Homestead back in the spring and the one who remained behind singing each morning for a it longer before heading north. I decided to join my bird friends here ultimately. One white throated sparrow greets the daylight here most mornings and the message wasn’t lost on me. Hence the name. I hear them every day here and they always boost my spirit energy.
Things get busy when I am chasing adventures and the campsite can get rather untidy. Not with garbage or anything like that but rather disorganized in a gear sense. Some things had never gotten unpacked since I arrived even. Wow! I sure did bring a lot of gear! But my adventures are rather multi faceted I suppose. And being prepared makes for the best possible experience! Things are flowing rather well as a result I’d have to say. And the details are numerous to say the least. Where to begin?
Getting the Airstream here was just step one of a bigger plan. I still needed my boat and motor here. I rented a boat from the outpost owners on my first two full days here so that I could begin to learn the lake. That was quite the experience unto itself! Kipawa Lake is huge! And while I didn’t get lost out on it, I did have trouble finding the narrows that I wanted to explore for a bit. It was a little intimidating out on the big water in a small boat that I later named “The Cork”. When the wind blows here the waves get big in a hurry! I tried a little fishing for lake trout after rigging up my portable down riggers and auction bargain fish finder. No luck catching trout but I got back into running my old lake trout fishing gear that has sat idle for 20 years give or take. I spotted fish on my sonar at a depth of 70’ mostly but they didn’t bite. I had to take a break from the waves in the afternoon but got out for the evening walleye fish. That proved unproductive as well unfortunately. But I had found the narrows and learned the lake some. It was enough.
Sunday would find me out again exploring further up the lake with my rented boat fishing for trout again. Boats were constantly running up the lake to the north past me. Apparently the walleye were biting in a place other campers called Sunnyside. Everyone said that the walleye wouldn’t bite down by the outpost until July and August. Strange to me really. Weren’t there walleye everywhere in the lake? But the boats ran north with a predictability that soon was commonplace. I got no trout that day either and I was the only boat fishing below the narrows for walleye that evening. This was proving interesting! The once elusive narrows was now mapped out in my memory and I had explored quite a big section of lake before heading down closer to the outpost. This place was huge was the revelation!
Monday was a rain day and I used it to my advantage to research the ZEC territories. The ZEC’s are controlled harvest, public access areas where permits are required to camp, fish, or hunt. I was curious about one in particular. ZEC Restigo. The closest to my location. I picked up a map from the nearby ZEC office in town and began my research. The ZEC Restigo isn’t entirely unknown to me actually as we have passed through it the past three summers to reach our bush fishing outfitter each August.
Tuesday would bring more rain and I would venture up the wide logging road known as the 819.It starts out paved for a few kilometers then becomes dirt for the duration. It’s a wild ride! Sometimes smooth and other times rippled from traffic. It takes focus not to spin out sometimes as you careen downhill at about 80 kilometers per hour. 48 miles for you non metric folks. I do the math automatically these days in my head as I am too lazy to switch my truck’s dashboard over to metric. It’s easy really! Multiply .6 to the metric speed limit and you have your answer.So 80 kilometers per hour equals 48 miles per hour. Easy right? No one follows the speed limit on the 819 anyway. Crazy drivers will pass you like you are standing still,flinging rocks and dust. Full glass coverage on your vehicle is optional but highly recommended. I love speeding down the 819 to a degree. It’s rather infectious in a dangerous way. And really gives you a true bush driving experience if you are into that sort of thing. Which I am, btw.
So I spent the day exploring all sorts of back roads off the 819. Some were decent while others needed occasional grooming. I carry a bow saw and trimmers for just that sort of thing. I learned that 3 years ago. Trees and bushes are often lying across the these little traveled roads. Experience is a great teacher!
The week would continue to be rainy and not great paddling weather. I had brought my canoe and was wanting to use it back country. A nice lady at the ZEC office had mentioned free map downloads of the ZEC territories using the Avenza app. Totally free so I downloaded everything. I also got turned onto the GAIA app. GPS mapping that works even when you don’t have cellular service. Avenza works in a similar fashion. I suddenly became armed with a modern, double edged sword of modern technology in a remote part of Quebec. Always under the satellites that marked my location, I felt secure yet left with a pensive feeling. Not to mention that I was carrying. No, not a gun but something equally powerful. My Iridium 3 satellite phone that’s in my survival gear pack. It could be a game changer in an emergency. I came here to have an adventure not be a statistic. And while I know that I could die out here in a remote place, that wasn’t part of my plan. So the questions begin then. When I wear my blanket of technology am I a true adventurer? I suppose if I am not totally dependent on it. Let me tell you something! If you got lost in this bush, you would be really hard pressed to be having a great time! I love the bush. And I respect its power. It could break the strongest person with ease. And that’s the draw for someone like me. The power of nature outside my norm. Humbled and submissive to the environment. My technology is only as good as my battery supply after all. Chew on that for a moment. I stand humbled before the bush. It could break me like nothing.
Armed with my apps, I set off one morning with my canoe intending on paddling somewhere. The places I reached just didn’t feel right for some reason. There were camper villages set up next to the boat launches. Absent of people yet not exactly what I had expected. I kept moving and eventually settled on a quiet river landing near a bridge. We had been there in 2022 when we were hopelessly lost trying to find the way through to reach our outfitter for a fishing trip.What a day and what a story! I told that story in an older blog post.
My river destination was known as the river Pin Blanc. It connects two lakes as it meanders through bush country.On the map it looks tiny. It’s actually much larger. But that’s what I am learning here. Everything is huge! Lakes. Rivers. The bush. Gracie and I set out to explore the Pin Blanc and did some fishing a long the way. I got bites immediately that I soon learned were tiny, voracious northern pike! Slinks or hammer handles we call them back home. I ended up catching five of them eventually. Fun as they are scrappy rascals! And it grew late and the skies were gray and ominous. The bush seemed oppressive then and the water was almost scary suddenly. And I felt small and insignificant in the midst of it all. It was humbling yet empowering in the moment. Thrilling in the intensity of my fragile nature. Nighttime was approaching and I would be miserable if trapped here. The truck was a welcome sight but ironically I was still many kilometers from civilization.
It was Thursday night and I needed to return to New York on Friday to grab my boat and take care of business back home. Step one had happened. The Airstream parked and my base camp was established. The realities of the size of this country were just beginning to sink in. Had I made a good decision to come here? It was far too early to say. And there was work to do here still. A big lake to learn. Rules and regulations as well. Was the romantic dream still the same? It’s the kind of thing that can’t be answered overnight. It will take time and living the life to know for sure. Deeds not words some say. My days are measured differently here far from my comfortable surroundings in the St. Lawrence Valley. This country will measure my true resolve of that I have no doubt. Will I hit the “slot” or become a throwback? Time will tell. It is on. ✍️