solopaddler

Well done gent's, really cool video!

Cool, wtg John!

You're going to make me tear up I think. Pretty sure we used to drag our hut out to almost the exact spot in your first pic. It's been more than 30 years for me but it feels like yesterday.

Likewise bud. You know, but most on here don't...I pretty much grew up on that lake. Your place is very close to the cottage my uncle and dad built back when I was a kid. Really is a small world.

Man, the shoreline in your first pic sure looks familiar. Brings back a lot of memories...

Love it, way to go guys!

Looks like fun Brian, nice to see someone's getting out!

Amazing! Great video

I couldn't wait it out because once I got down the river far enough both banks were burning. I could've went back upstream with extreme difficulty but it made more sense to head downstream to Wabakimi Lake. And no, that story involves Bill and fire LOL!

Not really quite that Spock-like. More just do what you gotta do and do it fast.

Not a chance LOL!

Now there's a good story, and one DEFINITELY not fit for public consumption. Don't think I've ever seen you move that fast before or since.

Yeah, I think an outpost camp on the south shore was destroyed by fire. Pretty sure.

It was part of a 3 month trip and I ate fish pretty much everyday, so yeah there were a few fish caught!

Totally safe on the north shore of the lake. I sat up most of the night watching the forest burn, it was quite the show. At one point early in the evening I saw two woodland caribou then a moose swim from the mainland over to an island.

Years back I paddled solo down the Allanwater River north east of Armstrong Ontario. My second day on the river I paddled through a forest fire, in one spot both sides of the river were blazing. Most of the river I was able to hop in and line my loaded canoe down through the rough water avoiding the fire. However at one point that was not possible as the rapids were too deep and rough. I put on long pants, long sleeved shirt, gloves, then jumped in the river to soak all of my clothes. I had to portage almost a full kilometer through burning forest with no real trail. About ever 10' it seemed there was another smoldering spruce tree fallen across my path at waist height. My first load with canoe and pack number one wasn't too bad as the canoe was sheltering my upper body. When I arrived at the end all of my clothes were bone dry and my gloves had a tinge of brown to them as the back of my hands were exposed to the heat carrying the canoe. Worst was my poor canoe - the gel coat was beginning to bubble and blister from the heat. Heading back up for my second load was tough without the protection of the canoe but I made it there and back. The first photo is a shot looking upstream at the fire after I had paddled through it. The second shot is from my campsite on the north shore of Wabakimi Lake in the early evening as the fire approached the south shore of the lake.

Almost makes me want to go ice fishing, very cool!

Atlantic salmon = instant online drama. It never ceases to amaze me.

Thanks for the info! Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

You guys are definitely dialed in, nice bunch of fish!

Thanks for the laugh.

Thank you!

HAHA! The agony of defeat. Cool vid, you'll get 'em eventually.

What I think is this. However unwarranted, petty and small your comment is, everyone is entitled to an opinion.

Let us know the place and time of the proposed "crash site" so we can all scoot over there a grab one from the side of the road.