Churchill River Saskatchewan canoe trip: August 20, 2007

Day 9

We had an easy breakfast of sticky buns that we bought at the store. While packing up, we chatted with our next-door neighbour who was there from Edmonton with his young family. He yearned to come to Ontario some day for its shield country canoeing.

We finished packing and decided to make the short drive back to the Otter Lake Bridge, in case the Ospreys had returned. But all was quiet there.
So we turned around and headed for Stanley Mission, which was a 36-km detour off the route to La Ronge.

We found the public docks easily and could see the church right away across the river. It was really windy, but we decided to paddle over anyway. While Bill was getting the canoe off the car, Barbara was photographing the Pelicans soaring aimlessly in the strong winds.

We paddled across the river to the church, which was the first permanent building in Saskatchewan, built in the early 1850s. The church and graveyard is a national and provincial historic site.

We enjoyed our brief visit, then paddled back (caught a pike), loaded up, and went to the local chicken outlet for lunch. We chatted with some locals and enjoyed the children who seemed to be eating way too may sweets. We bought a few souvenirs at the Northern Store, and then hit the road, stopping in La Ronge for more souvenirs. We did not reach Saskatoon until early evening. We were tired but excited about our wonderful adventure.