And so it was set. After much banter about changing up camping choices, we were headed to the French River, mid October, to celebrate my 49th. That’s right, 49 years since my first trip in. Up to that point we had only done car camping with the kids and their canoe skills needed some extra practice.
The trip started off a bit later than we had planned but with packs cinched down and canoes loaded on the trailer, we were off.
Just shy of Parry Sound, Steve noticed some shakes and shimmies with his truck so we pulled over to have a look and shortly after that, we enjoyed some GORP and salami while we waited for the tow truck. We scouted the plazas while the repairs were done and then way late in the day the decision to do a re-start in the morning was made.
Day 2 put us up and running and much to do was made as we crossed the Pickerel and then the French River Bridge. We arrived at the Inn at Pine Cove (Pine Cove Lodge 49 yrs ago) and proceeded to sling packs and canoes down to the dock, all the while observing the wind and the waves. As we pushed off, the Mom’s and Dad’s knew it would be a test. On the way to the North Channel, the wind was taking it’s toll on two of three canoes. The Miller’s, in an 18’6″ Swift 3 seater, sliced through the water almost oblivious to the wind. A testimony to Swift Canoe & Kayak design. The Scott and the Langford stuck with it with an adult and child each and by using the islands as windbreaks we came up to the Little Pine Rapids. Rapids? The water was so low, there was barely a trickle so we opted to navigate around Commanda Island and use the Rainy Rapids. What a relief to have the trees block the 45km/h winds and put that breeze to use by sailing part way around the island. The first set of rapids resulted in a brief swim by yours truly (darned slippery rocks), then we ran both the first and second sets. The third set, we lined on the left as it was a boulder garden and a beauty souse hole, complete with a napkin after eating canoes.
Where did we set up? That’s a story for another day.   #frenchriver