Trip Log: French River Loop via the Old Voyageur Channel
by Cheryl Stoltz

We had been promising Iain for the past two years that we would take him down through the historic Voyageur route, so that he could see the places we had been reading about. We really looked forward to this time together as a family. Two family friends who have major medical problems but wanted to get back into tripping wanted to come along on this "no portage trip". And we thought we might have time to visit with them!

Frantic last minute check of baby gear, and still packing when Doug arrived at 5 p.m. He had forgotten his life jacket, so was glad that David was late getting home from work so we had time to solve the problem. Managed to dig out my good kayaking PFD, and miracle of miracles, it fit Doug. When David walked in we quickly tried to get Alexander (Sandy-aged 11 mo) fed so we could get on the road. Of course after a week of not being hungry, tonight he decides to eat and eat and eat! Finally get on the road at 6:10 p.m., grab some subs and hit the road. Thanked the heavens we took the van with air conditioning – the heat wave we had been having was a killer.

Quick drive up to the French River, with only one baby break on the way. Pulled in to the Champlain Inn and Restaurant just north of the Hartley Bay Road, and wondered what we had got ourselves into. Tom had booked us in at $20 per person/night including breakfast. He thought that his in-laws had told him that it would be a good place to stay sometime! Bar on the main floor with a restaurant. On the second floor there was a dormitory with 4 rooms on the floor. Each room had 2 double bunk beds and naked fluorescent lights and 1 bathroom. Shower looked like it had not been cleaned in years, the cleanliness of the flannel sheets was iffy, and there was a definite shortage of lumpy pillows and NO air conditioning. David, Iain (aged 10), Sandy and I got the front room with the "breeze" (mostly created by the frantic Hwy 11 traffic that was constant until 4:15 a.m., and then started up again at 4:30 a.m.). Tom and Doug took the airless back room. I was ready to pack up and run for the safety of the Hungry Bear Motel, but I kept saying to myself that this was a place that our departed buddy Hobbs would called a class A adventure. Sandy fussed from 10:30 – 11:30, while the men were down stairs having a great time playing pool! Rained for 15 min at 6:30 a.m., but not enough to call off the fire ban.

We are all up at 7 a.m. after a night of fighting off mosquitoes and whatever else was nibbling at us under the sheets. Everyone really tired, and some very grumpy. Sausage and potatoes over cooked. Sandy’s pablum started to look really attractive. Gave the Inn a rating of 3 cockroaches below a flea-bag.

Sorted gear quickly, and took out the fire pot. Not worried about packing heavy, as have the assurance of Richard Munn (although he made me promise not to sue him!) that it should be an easy "fat" trip with 1 lift over, a little lining and 1 easy board walk 240m portage. Have never carried so much gear before, and never done an extended trip with the baby before it all seemed necessary-especially considering the freezing weather we had in July.

Put in at Hartley Bay and on the water by 9:30. Easy travel west to the Wanapitae River. Sandy could not decide which was upsetting him more: the life jacket; his hat; or not being on my lap. None of these things have ever bothered him before, so maybe it was just the awful heat and lack of sleep. He sure proved the adage that one parent works full time on doing the paddling, and the other works full time with the kids. So glad that Iain is finally at an age to really help effectively with the paddling. After an hour of screaming (despite the back rubs and cuddling), Sandy finally went to sleep and we all got some peace. Iain suddenly conked out on the packs as well. We then turned south onto the Wanapitae River and we saw a whole whack of wildlife: herons; ducks; turtles. Too bad the kids missed it, but Tom got some great photos. River quite shallow, and worked at dodging rocks as we enjoyed the lovely path that the water had carved out over the ages. David had wanted to take the slightly shorter route down Wanapitae Bay, but I had pushed for this route as it was more protected from head winds, as well as having pleasant scenery.

Sandy and Iain woke up just above the widening in the river, in time to check out Doug’s traditional beached whale impersonation as he and Tom teetered on a rock that suddenly jumped out of the river under them. River was not the best place to have lunch-and bugs and steep rock- but the Bay area is really swampy so we picked the flattest rock we could find and dug out the pre-made pizza. With the precipitous drop of the rock the value of bringing the booster seat was suddenly increased. (see note 1)

Our squiggling child decided the he had to have pizza rather than the rehydrated veal/rice/carrots that we had for him, and managed to get hold of and cram in a whole piece! Tom and Doug, despite the humidity and their exhaustion from last night, remained calm when we asked for the "diaper bag" from their canoe for another quick change, just 2 min. after everything was packed up. (see note 2)

We did not stop to find the Indian Burial Grounds, or look at the crops of wild rice coming up, as we hit head winds just above Pig Island. Spotted a large otter, and Tom and Doug got a really good look. Although we hoped to camp at Crombie Bay Point, we started to look for sites along the way. Every site was full, so we were not surprised to find Crombie Bay occupied. Checked out the site right in Crombie Bay (N. side), but found that it was not a site anymore, just a fire pit in a stinky swamp.

With the winds really picking up, we struggled out to the island across from C.B. Point. Tom checked it out and concluded that it "might" work in a pinch. We head down river, checking out several other likely spots, to no avail. Finally took out at a fine campsite on river right just across from the cabin on river left 2km south of Crombie Bay Point. The little cove was quite sheltered, and there was room for two tents (one on the trail to the thunderbox), and set up the Eureka Variable Component Shelter (VCS) with the bug tent on beach. (see Note 3) Iain was thrilled with the great jumping rocks for swimming, and Doug was pleased with the flat rocks up on the cliff that made snoozing in the breeze possible. Covered only 22 km today.

We spread out the 10x10 sheet of plastic in the bottom of the VCS and put Sandy in his huge play pen while we cleaned up glass, a little garbage, cigarette butts, and burned wood and ashes- which were dumped 15’ from the fire-pit from which they had come. Despite the fact that by this point we were all walking zombies, everyone cooperated to set up quickly, and no one snuck off to jump their sweat drenched body into the river. Chores done, we jumped in fully clothed and then sat back enjoyed our huge steak, potato, onion/carrot dinner followed by APPLE PIE made on the Outback Oven. Too bad about the fire ban. Tonight would have been a good night to cook supper over one. Tom really out did himself! Sandy ate it all, and did not (for the first time in a long time) massage it into his hair when he got tired of eating. He only needed a little washing up! (see Note 4). As we ate a flotilla of 4 canoes came by under full sail using an orange tarp. I bet they made really good time! Tom called Pat on his cell phone and found out that it was still 33 C in the shade.

Iain crawled into the tent so tired that he skipped brushing his teeth, and everyone else soon followed. Sandy (as usual) went wild in the tent – race crawling from end to end, laughing and rolling over all of us. He finally settled down (after a massage) as we read our nightly chapter (Frontier Series: The Man with the Pitch Fork (about the rebellion of 1837)). Too hot for any of us to get in a bag (See notes 5 and 6), and a blood red moon came up over the cliff beside the tent. Could hear Doug and Tom laughing over their aches and pains before I drifted off.

Up at 7:30. Another beautiful, sunny day. I drew breakfast duty while David packed. Everyone in this group was easy to please – any food source will do, which was a nice change. We put Sandy in the Trekker (see Note 7) on my back as I cooked bacon and eggs, and toasted English Muffins. He had a great time chortling to himself and calling out "hi" to everyone. Iain bugged everyone to go swimming, but he had to wait until the work and breakfast was done. It was worth the wait though – water wonderful and warm, and a great salve against another hot and humid day (See Note 9).

On the water at 10 a.m. A little slower than usual, but everything slows down with kids. Not as much wind today. The low water made map reading interesting. Reading the topo’s were difficult as many more land features where visible than usual. We missed the entrance to the Old Voyageur Channel by 50m to the left, and ran aground in set of islands. Headed to river right and tried again, this time finding the right path. Almost immediately the scenery changed, and oh it was so beautiful! Steep rock, water mark striations and narrow passages! We stopped for lunch half way through (desperately looking for shade-glad we brought a clip on umbrella for Sandy – See Note 8) and were able to really admire the view as we munched on Doug’s soothing tuna and cucumber fajitas.

The fun began shortly after lunch. We paddled down stream, and came to a dead end. For the next half hour we looked for a way out. Doug and Tom had immediately found a river running parallel to where we were, but the only connection was over a beaver dam with the tiniest trickle of water going through it and dropping 1.5m. We simply could not believe that this was the continuation of the river. We finally gave in and lifted over, waded down stream 15m and then did an awkward portage another 15m down to a tiny river with steep walls. Iain caught frogs, and Doug and Tom saw two snakes, one of which was eating a fish!

The next 1.5km would have made the whole trip worth while even in temperatures in the mid 40 C’s. The channel narrowed to 2m wide and the walls rose to 10m above us. It went by way too quickly. At the end we turned into the West Cross Channel and quickly came to another dead end. It was by luck that I encouraged us to explore a short channel and spotted some purple marks on the rock. Some bushwhacking along the shore showed us that we would have to lift over, and then paddle to the portage. What a deadly rapid this must have been! The rapid was dry, but the razor layers of rock laying perpendicular to the current gave me the chills. You would never want to swim this run! Our first sign of bear appeared on the portage. We put in quickly and then had another hard decision to make – left through what seemed to be an impassible swamp, or right to wade and carry the canoe and gear 50m to another small pond? A single foot print and then a drag mark gave us the clue to go right.

We entered the Jaimeson Bay area and the scenery changed again. How many ways are there to say breathtaking? The rapids entering the area (Lovers Lane, Crooked/Lily Chute) would have been terrific to explore, but it had taken a lot longer to get this far than expected. That and the heat made us decide to take the first decent site. As we approached Devil’s Door Rapid (an easy run at this level, but I wouldn’t want to try it at high levels in our flatwater boat), we counted 15 zodiacs in the area. This was a warm up for our next surprise…the Cross, with it’s lovely high flat rocks, unofficial sites, and pink cliffs had become a tourist resort! We passed yacht after yacht tied up together, or to the sites we had hoped to camp at. Across the bay was a gathering of 30 people in lawn chairs having a meeting. The boats were overflowing with martini glass socializing folks – all of whom claimed they had no ice for available for sale or otherwise. There had to be 25 + yachts in the North section alone!

This overwhelming sight, plus the sounds of the parties and generators encouraged us to drag ourselves on. Just after entering the East Cross, we hit another lift over of 20m, with low water following it. A quick decision had to be made. As it was late in the day, the heat was sucking us dry, and we had no idea what we would find after we lifted over, we turned back. The first (and only site available) was found just inside the East Cross channel, at the end of a line up of docked yachts.

Other than the company, it seemed an ideal site. Flat rock for Sandy to crawl on, room for several tents on only slightly sloped rock, and a large enough site to have the cooking area far away from the tents. We soon learned why no one had tied up there – there was a large winter bear den right beside our kitchen, day old bear scat on the rocks, and lots of turned over rocks and logs in the bushes. Visitors from the boats began arriving to confirm that they had seen bears in the immediate area. Of course no one offered us a bed on their boat!

We found out that all but 2 of these boats were from Michigan, and that some had been meeting "at the most beautiful spot in the world" for over 23 years. It worked out well for them – no customs, no docking fees, no non-resident fees for camping. We could not bring ourselves to join them in swimming in the brackish water. Iain quickly found dead frogs on the shore, and a dead duck and fish in the channel. Did that not tell these people something about what they were doing to the area? After convincing Iain to not touch his "trophies", he went off and made friends with the kids from Georgetown. He grumblingly returned to take his turn as chef and made us Kraft dinner and sausages for dinner. Tom lent a hand as I helped Iain with dinner – Sandy really wanted to take the cook kit apart and throw the little bottles of honey and sugar into the bushes! Doug was a gem at keeping the water filters going and supplying us with hopefully improved water. We were really careful about picking up every bit of Sandy’s dropped food and giving him a good wash in the dishpan before bed!

So hot we didn’t even put the fly on the tent, and with the blood red moon shining, the bay took on an interesting aura. Doug and Tom both suffering miserably with sore muscles, limbs and various aches, and not enough drugs in their personal medical kits to fix them up. They were sure glad to be out, but the aura around their tent tonight was not a good one!

Aug. 4

The temperature did drop a little last night, giving us a bit of a break. Sandy awake at 6:45, and he soon had everyone up with his shouts of joy at another great sunny day arriving. We had a few more visitors, including a huge black poodle who gave me quite a scare as he came crashing through the brush. His owner soon came after him and stopped to visit with the baby as I prepared Muslix with dried strawberries. David risked the water, and had a good chat with the boat owners from Newmarket across the way.

Shuffled of down the East Cross again at just after 9 a.m. Did the 20m lift over and paddled on. Shortly came to another lift over of 15m. Continued east wending our way through nooks and crannies until we couldn’t go any further. Made a jog to the south and then hunted for another passage. Found a beaver dam and then a lift over that would take us through. Had a good laugh a few minutes later when we found out that we could have dragged through a narrow channel 10m to our right – but the entrance was totally hidden from us by weeds.. A minute later had another easy portage (100m) along the rock. Iain was so good with Sandy. They had a great time playing catch with stones as we moved the gear. Sandy flushed red from the heat despite frequent "wettings". Estimated that the bottom of the boat was at least 40 C. Broke down again and took off Sandy’s life jacket and harnessed him up with his leash tied to me. Once he cooled down, he felt better and had a nap.

Reached the end of the East Cross Channel and began looking for a route that would keep us to the inside Islands. Tom and Doug explored a passage for a bit until we realized that it was the creek that ran up for at least 3 km before ending. After another couple of false starts into impassible swamps, we concluded that the water was too low, and we would have to head right out into the Bay. The weather, wind, and Sandy sleeping all made the idea look good, so everyone took hold of their rumbling stomachs and we carried on. As we approached the open Bay and could see Northwest Bank (Islands) we caught up to our purple-mark guiding friends. They too had found the low water passage "interesting". We soon parted as we dodged the rocks. Iain was thrilled to see the beautiful clear water and feel the big waves as we entered open water. Unfortunately, so was Sandy! It took a bit, but once he got used to the rhythm of the waves, he treated it like a jolly jumper and had a blast bouncing, until he realized that it was way past his lunch time. The wails that came from our boat rivaled any fog-horn! Doug and Tom became separated from us as we worked our way out of the last low lying water in the low islands, and by the time we were within a kilometre from our destination of Sabine I., they were at least 1.5 km away heading to the S. It became clear that Sabine Island was occupied, so a quick change of plans had to be made. Frantic waving of paddles, screams from Sandy and signaling brought us all together as we looked for the High Cliffs site. Richard has said that you could "fit 5 tents here if necessary, but it would look like a refugee camp", and he was right. It was a very exposed site, although level and good swimming area for kids.

We pulled up and had lunch (yummy black bean and corn salsa with black bean dip on tortillas), watching the constant boat traffic go by. Spoke to several paddlers, and a common question was about bear sitings. We decided that this was not the place that we wanted to have a layover day at, so we headed back and found our site at island above the "G" in "Magee I". The East side had a sheltered sandy cove for taking out into a low wet area (that would usually be under water). There was one good spot for a tent. Both the tents and kitchen were in very sheltered areas. Nice high cliffs for jumping into deep water, low isle to the North to swim to, and nice flat rocks to the South to sit on and swim off of. Even had rock depressions that we filled with water for Sandy play in.

We set up the bug tent in the marsh, and placed the canoe in its shade. A few buckets of water in the canoe made a wading pool for Sandy to play in as we set up. He had a ball rolling his ball up and down and soon his big brother couldn’t just watch him any long – he had to climb in too. Too wet an area to set up our tent, so we moved it to lumpy spot for a second tent. Soon found that this spot had no thunderbox and really no good place for toileting. Glad we brought the coffee can for carefully burning the TP. Also had a zillion ants in the kitchen area!

Everyone settled down to relax for the next day. The swimming was perfect – although I made a critical mistake by jumping in without shoes at Iain’s urgings to hurry up. Slicing my toes on zebra muscles was not my idea of fun. The location of the bug tent was perfect for catching a breeze. We gravitated towards it to nap and play with the kids. Doug found shade on the high rocks and worked with his Apple Newton on organizing his book collection and reading one of the five books he had on file. He took delight in teasing me-I was so indignant over anyone bringing a computer to cuddle up with on a canoe trip! Tom took advantage of the time to read up on the workings of his spiffy camera with all its different lenses. Doug made a one pot supper (ha!) of meatballs, rice and gravy with a nice cake that disappeared in a hurry.

A lovely lay-over day. Everyone lazed about after the big pancake breakfast that Tom whipped up, until it became too hot, and then we slipped into the water. Iain shed his clothes and did not put them on again until Monday. Ten year olds-one minute so modest they will die if you look at them fully clothed, and the next minute running around with the joy of a three year old! I insisted he put his shirt on and sunscreen, but the shirt kept being "lost", and he got burnt in places that the sun doesn’t usually shine! We were treated to a very red "moon" by mid evening. Everyone napped in the afternoon except Iain, so we were refreshed and ready for supper and then to watch the sunset. Sandy helped Daddy by emptying out the food barrel as he cooked. The lemon pudding cake turned out just right.

Packed up and ready to go at 9 a.m.– and then –big surprise- another last minute diaper change. Kids bowels seem to be timed to release with the words "Let’s go!" Duct tape does very well at holding on a diaper that has to be repeatedly adjusted due to a baby doing the "diaper dance". Just don’t plan on getting it off again in a hurry! Very windy, so put our shoulders to it and headed for Bass Lake. Met people coming over the portage with 20-month old girl, and a boat with a teen. Everyone advised taking the first available site as the river was very busy. The boat with the teen was soon back to look for a misplaced piece of gear. David laughed at me as I set up the sail in the hopes the wind would blow in our direction. Take the sail down – it blew, put it up-it died! Found the pass on the left side of Bass Lake, and then was able to sail all the way up to just before the Elbow! Sandy was having fun as long as we kept him supplied with rocks to drop over the side and wave "bye-bye" to, and the sail for him to bat at.

We stopped for lunch just short of the Elbow on an island on river left when he ran out of rocks yet again. Doug didn’t let us down, as he gave us a good show as he fell fully into river on the very slippery rocks. Always afraid he has really hurt himself, but he just laughs and carries on. Enjoyed lunch in the view of a headless moose carcass. This site would be very nice (lovely fire-pit!) if it wasn’t for the fresh bear scat in the middle of the one good tent pad and the rotting moose carcass.

We put in and continued to sail right on past the Elbow. Even though the good site on the SW corner was free, the wind was so good we kept right on going up to Bad River Turn. Enjoyed watching 3 helicopters buzz in, circle and put down a few kilometres to the NW, and we all hoped that it wasn’t a fire.

Decided to stop at our favourite site on the SW corner. What a shock awaited us! Glass, cigarette butts, bits of garbage and many more baby poisoning/choking hazards EVERYWHERE. Far too much to even begin to clean up! The thunderbox had overflowed, so someone had picked it up and moved it to another spot 2m away, and now it was overflowing too. The whole area was covered with human waste and flies. I was really upset over the damage done to this site, and could not bring myself to say I wanted to stay even though I did not want our trip to be over. David was willing, and Doug and Tom were neutral, so I left it up to David. We still had a great wind behind us, but the weather looked like it might be changing. Taking out a day early meant a day to unpack and rest before going back to work. A hard decision, so we swam on it, and then decided to keep going.

Amazingly enough we sailed all the way up Wanapitae Bay until we had to turn west. Must admit that Tom and my arms and legs were getting sore from fighting the wind in the sail and holding the boats together. The wind suddenly dropped and when Tom tried to readjust we all almost went over! We parted company and paddled back to zoo of people taking out at Hartley Bay at 4:30 p.m.. On the way we saw a dock with 8 people all soaped down to take a communal bath. As they jumped in the river I wondered if our small contributions in trying to keep the environment clean were worth it!

After a quick pack up, we headed to the Hungry Bear for supper. Sandy treated us to a monster poop that went all the way up to his neck, and required a full bath. A smooth ride saw us home at 10 p.m.

General Info

The Palmer Hartley Bay House and Marina
1-705-857-2038
-Cost of Put in and take out at - $5/canoe
-Cost of Parking - $4/day
-Canoe Taxis available for 4 people and 2 boats. Depending on where you want to go, prices range from $50-120.
There are no overnight accommodations. Cottage Rentals have a 3 day minimum.

French River Trading Post (Hungry Bear Motel) 1-705-857-2115
-colour TV, coffee, Kitchenettes in some . Kids 12 and under free,
-CAA/Seniors rate is 10% of: Single $58, Double $64; Triple $ 73; 4-$82; Rollaway $9 Add $9 for Kitchenette; Queen sized bed $67, other wise it is 2 doubles; none smoking rooms available. Clean spacious rooms.

French River Inn (Motel, Dining Lounge and Lounge) 1-705-857-2788; 1-800-660-2788 web: zip411.net Located just South of the Hungry Bear
Same conditions as French River Trading Post : Prices start at: Single $48; double 53 etc. Kids 12 and under free; No A/C; Some Adjoining rooms; non-smoking rooms available. Restaurant is licensed.

Tips on Taking an Infant/Child on an Extended Trip

Note 1: We agonized for months over how to keep Sandy still long enough to eat. This booster folds flat and is the type that you can hang off of a table, dresser with the drawer removed, etc., or sit on the ground. David took a cafeteria tray and drilled holes in it, and then we just twist-tied it on to the arms of the seat, and voila a safe secure "low" chair. When we started paddling with him at 17 days old, we used the removable top part of the 3 in 1 Prego stroller that we used as a bassinet, daybed, pram and stroller. This fit nicely in the bow, and provided an elevated seat/reclining bed with protective hood. The straps made it easy to carry on a portage, and the baby always had a warm, dry, clean place to sit and be changed. With the addition of a tray, we also had a high chair. We stopped using it when Sandy started to stand up in it in the boat. Another great $12 garage sale find that quickly paid for itself around the house as well as out in the bush!

Note 2 : In a Duluth pack we had put an olive barrel double lined with garbage bags and baking soda in the bottom. We put up to 4 dirty diapers into a newspaper bag (re-twisting and knotting it after each diaper was put in), and then put these into the garbage bags, which we then twisted and knotted off. The olive barrel came home, and was odourless after a good rinsing. Beside the olive barrel was a dry bag containing: diaper wipes in a slide lock; 2 face clothes; newspaper bags; a spare hat; a change of clothes; baby soap and zincofax (both travel size); waterless hand disinfectant; disposable diapers (on a longer trip I might have considered investing in cloth); small diaper change pad; 2 flannel flat diapers (I always have large diaper pins on my lifejacket as I find them handy for emergency repairs); 1 diaper cover (these last 2 to be used in the event of running out of diapers, or for bum airing if diaper rash occurred). There was lots of room in the Duluth pack for other gear as well.

If the weather had turned cold, I would have done what I did for our winter trips. The diaper wipes would have gone into my inner coat pocket beside a hot pack (the hand or feet warmers that you break or mix to start the exothermic chemical reaction).

Note 3: We settled on the VCS after months of research. It has 4 nesting poles, a 12’x12’ tarp and a clip in 8.5’x8.5’ bug house (with roof and 1 zippered door). Centre height is 6.5’. It has the vista para-wing shape, so the low sides have a height of 3.5’. With the plastic down it was a perfect large playpen for all of us, not just Sandy. We assembled it before leaving home and even left the 8 ropes tied to it. Total weight was just under 10lb.

Note 4: We brought a rectangular washbasin that just fit in our day pack for bathing Sandy. Pots + Outback Oven, trowel, kids broom and dust pan (for cleaning up glass etc), 1 lb coffee can with lid for burning TP, fire gloves and water-filter all fit in it nicely.

Note 5: Sandy has a –5 sleeping bag made by Chinook. Double zippered, short shock cording so he won’t get tangled and well fitting double hood (with an elasticized flap that you can slide clothes or a pillow in). Size infant – age 3. I bought the prototype at Greenland Sales in Markham for $25. To keep Sandy from roaming the tent at night, I have 2 strips of cotton that I pin into the bag, so that it fits him like coveralls. He can turn over and roll around, but he cannot crawl out.

Note 6: Sandy has never taken a bottle, but he does take the Rubbermaid drinking boxes (with the straw in it), and the Gerber sports bottle. He had to be weaned just before this trip, and we made sure he was taking his drinks cold, with only water at night. If he had been taking a baby bottle with formula, I had planned to take the wide mouth metal thermos into the tent with hot water in it with the powdered formula measured out into a small container floating in it (this is how we rehydrate and keep his food warm – and it would keep the smell from bears), and his bottle. In the middle of the night it would be simple matter of fishing out the formula, dumping it in a bottle, adding the water and shaking. Alternatively, placing the baby bottle with the water in my sleeping bag also would have kept it warm with my body heat, and then I would just have to dump in the formula and shake.

Note 7: I tried out 7 different types of "snugglies"/slings before deciding on the Trekker ($89). It paid for itself a hundred times over in the first month of use. It is easier to use than anything else I had tried (by Cosco, Fisher Price, Baby Bjorn etc), and is very easy on the back - which is good since David has a bad back, and I am still recovering from a break in my lower back. I can put it on and slide Sandy in and out facing in, out, or laying him down. I started using it when he was 3 months old, and for the next 6 months he could ride in it and nurse sitting; everyone just thought he was sleeping. It left both my hands free, and I could shift him to a hip if necessary. It can also be used on your back (child facing in or out), although it is easier to have someone help you get the child in and out. The Trekker is good to 46 lb. We chose to use it rather than our backpack carrier, as it is so flexible, and I can carry Sandy in front for portaging packs or canoe, and put him in back for cooking. It also stuffs into it’s own pocket for compact carrying.

Note 8: A cheap clip-on umbrella ($8) was a lifesaver. We were able to clip it on to the seat of the canoe and his chair to give him shade, as well as hold it over him when he puddled about in the water.

Note 9: The Pack Towel had not made it into a pack – and I hate foo-foo (loose gear)- but this time it was a good thing. Sandy was sweltering in the boat, despite my dipping his MEC flap hat ($13) frequently in the water, and wetting down his sun suit. I wetted the Pack Towel and hung it across the boat over Sandy to give him shade. As the water evaporated out of the towel, the temp. also dropped underneath it (a simple scientific principle). All Sandy wore the whole trip was a diaper and his sun-suit (extra long sleeves and legs – for coverage of hands and feet if needed as well as comfort- full zipper, elasticized cuffs to keep out bugs and make rolling them up easy, and a hood which could be used in lieu of his hat, made of Sunsense fabric (98% UV reflective). The fabric was super quick drying, still looks new despite a whole summer of dirt and crawling out, and washes up like a dream. It was however hotter than Sunveil, which has the same benefits, but is more expensive. We decided to make our own suit as Sunveil no longer makes 1 piece infant suits. Their 2 piece suits start at size 3. To his hat I had sewn 2 elastics. One went under his chin and one behind his head, so that the wind could not blow it off and he could not pull it off.