Churchill River Saskatchewan canoe trip: August 24, 2011

Day 4, Wednesday, August 24

A beautiful sunny day. After a hearty breakfast of eggs (powdered), bacon and toast we set out to find a pictograph across our bay. A large pelican flew over our canoe.

We paddled past Shooting Up Rock and the Holy Trinity Anglican Church (oldest building in Saskatchewan) to the Stanley Mission Cree community and arrived at 11:45am, just in time to buy a cold coke for Bill to have with his lunch. We took photos of a small shorebird which landed on the beach nearby, probably a Least Sandpiper.

On our way again, we continued downriver, travelling through some swifts. We noticed a large osprey/eagle? nest.

We enjoyed examining a detailed set of pictographs on a large rock face.

When we arrived at Little Stanley Rapids, we scouted them, noting that the well used portage rollers were flooded. Some Spotted Sandpipers were hopping about at the shore. Bill also saw a Belted Kingfisher and a Cooper’s Hawk. We decided to run the rapids, cheered on by a family of paddlers in three canoes.

We camped beside Big Stanley Rapids, another fishing hotspot where Bill quickly caught a nice eating-size walleye, followed by a larger one which he threw back. Here we were entertained until dark by motorboats bumping up the rapids in motorboats, going home to Stanley Mission. See video of motorboat rapid running

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