Hidayat has on his colored glasses and is ready to go.

We saw buffalo south of Gillette.  It was later in the day that we got started from Boulder so we planned to drive only as far as Gillette and spend the night there.  Unfortunately, they were having an International Methane Conference in town and there was not a single motel room to be had.   We  had not much choice but to drive on further north.  Very “bushed” is an understatement of how we felt by the time we arrived in Broadas, Montana, another 115 miles up the road.  The motel was a bit of a flee bag but we were so tired, it made little difference.   

Birch bark canoe on display at Robertson’s Trading Company in LaRonge, Saskatchewan.  This is a must-see store in LaRonge.  You can buy a wide variety of furs or Native People art and hand sewn clothing at reasonable pricing.

Black Spruce gum is used to water proof all seams on a canoe.  The binding material is black spruce roots that have been spit and “installed” when moist and flexible.

Spruce gum was traditionally collected for this “patching work” by Native Indians, early fur traders and the famed Voyagers as they portaged along trails through the spruce forest.  The gum collects in nodules on breaks in the bark.  Fur traders would purposely nick trees along the trails they frequented to make it easier to collect the nodules.  Indian children will even today use this gum as a chewing gum substitute.

While this canoe is a little short for what was common in the area, it is not uncommonly small.  Historically, canoe length got shorter as the latitude increased.  More northern Latitude canoes we more used to cross rivers, where southern canoes were more used to travel down or up the river length.

The canoes pictured here are a bit longer than what was most common in this area.

These toboggans are popular in this area not for family hill sliding but for towing large loads of gear behind snow mobiles, allowing longer hunting trips during the winter.  The bottoms are covered with ultra modern slick PVC materials.

We drove to Stanley Mission to say hello to Gord Hardlotte.  Unfortunately, he was off at a spring fishing derby.  This shows their famous Stanly Mission Church, the oldest historical structure in western Canada.

While this looks to be a lake scene, it is in fact the Churchill River, opened out into a lake that will a few miles down stream turn into a river, crossed by rapids only to change back into a lake a few miles down stream.  This pattern will continue for hundreds of miles until it reaches the Hudson's Bay.

The primary access to the church is via the pier barely showing to the right.

This is a Cessna 180 that flies out of Otter Lake at Nippawin a few miles south of the Otter Lake Rapids.  Maybe Don will fly to his island this way some time.

Churchill River Bridge at Otter Lake Rapids.  Grandmother’s Bay Indian Reserve is on the far shore.  The Devil’s Hole is barely seen at the bottom of this photo.

Churchill River looking up stream.  The water level is very low.

Don on the way to Dancing Loon Island.  The water was well behaved and made the long water trip more enjoyable than what it can be with a high wind.

A very nice day to arrive at Dancing Loon Island.

The usual supplies get dumped on the beach in preparation for transportation up to the cabin.

On the trail up to the cabin.

A few canned goods got temporarily stalled on the steps on the way into the cabin.

Don surveys the normal “opening-the-cabin-mess”.  Notice the spilled water on Don’s left side.  The battery operated water filter has been used to get a small supply of purified water into the cabin until the water system got plumbed and everything fully functional.

Eventually, we got the mess under control so we could start to finish the stone wall project.

Don has a quite moment before the work projects get started.

The tools have finally gotten organized before the cabin projects got started.

Hidayat finally decides to sleep in the small room off the work bench area.  The lantern runs off 12 volt car batteries that are recharged by the solar cells.

The kitchen is now ready for the summer.

My plan at this time is to install this type of stone all the way to the foof.  It will involve building a lot of scaffolding in order to get all the stones in place.  I figured to start working off the top of the original work bench and the add a semi-permanent structure after the working height on the table became too awkward.

Don fits a group of rocks along the top, trying to maintain consistent mortar joint width.  Corrugated sheet metal strips are attached to the wooden wall and bent flat against the top of existing stones, thus “tying” the stone wall to the wooden wall.  These straps are located about every 3 or 4 square feet of wall. They tend to slow down the wall building process a bit but seem very worthwhile.  One of these ties can be seen just above the vertical, dried mortar joint on the right side of this photo.

Don leaves about one inch of space between the stone and the wooden walls.  Finding stones that are a maximum thickness of 5 to 6 inches is quite challenging.

Hidayat kept Don supplied with mortar.  The Portland Cement had developed a few lumps over its extended storage time and required considerable pulverizing before using it.  It was a good thing that not too much mortar was required.

The night before this photo was taken, Don had finished arranging the next row of rocks to be installed.  For some unexplained reason, perhaps it was working at shoulder height or perhaps it was dealing with a few larger than normal sized stones, Don had a nightmare dream about the wall.  In this dream, Don had just put the last stone in place when the wall collapsed right in front of him.  The steel “I-beam” under the stone wall had given way to the massive weight of the stone and Don was faced with a terrible clean-up project.  Next morning, Don was so shaken by the dream that he instantly abandoned the plan to run stone all the way to the roof.  Instead, he would stop the stone at a “logical” horizontal line and put wooden paneling above that.  He realized he had not made any calculations regarding what size of beam to employ to support the stone wall, rather he had “eyeballed” the situation and used a beam that was readily available, not necessarily calculated to be adequate in size.  Don felt it would be “folly” to ignore the dream, even though the new plan was actually going to take longer and more effort to accomplish

The new paneled wall above the stone required building a false wall out 6” from the structural wall.  Don had not planned lumber for this project.

Hidayat and Don work on the front deck cutting lumber to support the new wall as well as all the new wall paneling that was required.

We will never know how necessary this change in plans really was.  Fortunately, the new design fits in well with the rest of the cabin and Don and Hidayat are the only ones who know the full story behind the design.

A pretty nice wall, if I do say so.

It is so nice, here it is again!!

Don caught this 2 ½ pound lake trout at he “Honey-hole” fishing for walleye.

Besides being a very petty fish, it was delicious eating as well.

Don usually cleans the fish after the grand children have had ample opportunity to get pretty good at fish cleaning themselves.

We saw an unusual number of geese flying north this year.  Why the flights were so late this year is known only to the geese.

On a few days, the sun was almost obscured by forest fire smole at mid-day.

Smoke in the air provided for colorful sunsets.

Smoke almost obscures the mainland to the North.  The loons must not enjoy fling in the smoke but who knows for sure??

Hidayat at the beach with a nice walleye he caught earier that day.

Ron and Bob Bettinger.  These twin brothers are friends of Don through the Model A Ford Club of Colorado.  We left Boulder, driving north in two trucks.

We sent the first night at Sidney, Montana.  These old combines are displayed along the road south of Plentywood, Montana.

Don and Bob enjoy a road lunch at a roadside park north on Highway 2 off highway 11, 50 miles north of Regina.

The railway bridge crossing the South Saskatchewan River at Saint Louis was modified by hanging a single cantilever auto lane on either side of the tracks.  The North Saskatchewan River will be crossed on the north edge of Prince Albert about 20 miles north of here.  Don’s Suburban is seen here in front of the Bettinger’s pickup truck.

Bob and Ron Bettinger at the Churchill River Bridge, looking down stream..  We spent the night at Brabant, cabin #5.

On July 17 we were at the portage, emptying the trucks and preparing for the usual portage.  Our most challenging item is the 200 plus pound air-tight stove.

The initial portage loads of boat equipment are being collected.  The idea is to get the boats arranged at waters edge before moving all the other gear across the portage.  Although it has yet to happen, one scenario we want to avoid, is to move all the gear across the portage only to find later that there is some problem with the boats that would require moving all the gear back to the trucks.

Ron and Don prepare the stove for the portage by attaching two portage poles to the stove.  We made the portage with Don in the rear, with a pole on either shoulder.  Ron and Bob were in front, each with a pole on a shoulder.  They did the raising and lowering of the load while Don struggled to stay upright with his head between the poles.

Don and Ron sort out the boat situation at the landing.  The “pier” that Don is standing on has since been moved to where the photographer of this photo is standing.  Joseph, Don’s Indian, moves this pier around from year to year depending on the lake’s water level.  The only constant is that it’s location will change yearly, as well as how many Indian boats will be left at the landing.

Don starts the motor as our “train-of-boats” finally get properly aligned for departure from the landing.

Don and Ron are happy to have the portaging finished and to be underway in good weather for our trip across the lake.

As usually is the case, we had to refill the gas tanks before reaching the island.  The brothers shifted to the boat being towed to retrieve the spare gasoline.  The motor would not start after filling the tanks.  The problem was that the spring loaded electric start gear would not engage the drive shaft.  A little tapping got it un-suck at this time.  A permanent fix was administered the next day with a few drops of light oil on the gear shaft. 

We are only two miles from the island at this time, the usual spot for running out of gas.

Don shows Bob the bones used for the moose blessing.

Ron and Don survey the abandoned cook tent.

Don and one of the brothers work at adjusting the water pump inlet line and floats/markers.

Don gets the water pump running, always a priority when first arriving at the island.

Ron and Don with a northern caught just north of the island.

Bob shows off a stringer of Northerns kept for their trip home.

Ron is enjoying the fishing as well.

Bob checks out a walleye at the “Honey-Hole”.

Ron forgot we were fishing for Walleye, not Northerns.

Don and Ron with a nice string of “supper” walleye.

Don registers a “thumbs down” for Bob’s undersized  Walleye.

Don shows Bob the proper sized Walleye to catch.

Don winches at the thought of the damage his snagged lure could inflict if not delicately removed.  It was all a show and no damage was done.

Don demonstrates how to filet a walleye.

Ron tries his hand at fish cleaning.

Don is cutting the filets into smaller chunks for frying.  He likes to slit the thickness of the filet, then cut it into three or four lengths.  This yields about six to eight pieces for each filet and the are very easy to batter up and fry.

A typical breakfast pancake.  The syrup is pure maple sugar type mixed with an equal volume of “Mrs Butterworth”.

Bob and Ron at the top of what is now called “Bettinger Hill”.  They were itching to take a hike.  Don chose this particular hill because the hill came right down to the shore and would reduce the length of hiking in the bug choked trees.  The serpentine Campbell River is just above their heads.  Dancing Loon Island is on the far horizon about three miles away.

Looking the opposite direction, to the Southwest, the island in the middle is Jay’s Island.  The island to the right of Jay’s Island and almost obscured from view by foreground trees is Cedar Island, where most of the cabin logs we cut.  It is quite low and laced with water channels that breakup the permafrost and allow for better tree growth.

Panning a bit left, the entrance to Wilson Rapids Bay can be seen.  Following along the left hand shore and turning left into the bay is our usual route to the “Honey-Hole”.  About ½ hile further beyond the point on the left is the location uf the Indian Fish Camp.

Looking back up the northeast direction of the lake, this telephoto shot more clearly shows Dancing Loon Island in front of Indian Island with North Island off to the left.  The point on the right side of the channel is where we have over the years cut most of the saplings required for railings and bracing.

Bob and Don at Bear Beach, casting footprints and taking photos of the process.  Visitors to the cabin find these castings very interesting.

The airtight stove is getting installed here.  The doors are not yet hung or the fire brick (cardboard boxes) installed.  Eventually, Don will build a stand to get the stove off the floor and the 6” stove pipe, a left over from the cook tent, will get replaced with a 7” pipe.

Bob is painting on another coat of polyurethane.  He joins a long list of painters who have over the years applied many gallons of polyurethane to the log surfaces in the cabin.

Bob hauls ugly rocks off the rock pile near the steps on its final trip to under the cabin.

Ron joins in the work as well.

Don was at the end of the “Stone Brigade”, building up the foundation support under the cabin.  It is dirty work all around but certainly was nice to finally get all the rocks out of the way.

Bob and Ron at the new shelter at the Indian fish camp.

Don and Bob at the Esker Lake nature hike photo op spot.  Dancing Loon Island is in the upper left.

Headwaters of the Campbell River.

Near the end of their week at Dancing Loon Island, it came up in conversation that we had not yet seen any moose.  Don suggested they take a quick boat ride into Northern Bay where they might find a moose.  After circling around the long peninsula and into a bay only a few hundred yards from Dancing Loon Island, upon retracing our route back out of the bay, we encountered a cow with a calf who had been chased off the peninsula by our boat ride.  The cow and calf were crossing the lake to the mainland on the left.

Moose are very strong swimmers and a mile or two of water is not much of an obstacle to a moose.

Another beautiful sunset.

Don assembles a new kitchen stool made in Boulder, using cedar limbs cut along the North Platte River bottom.  These Cedar trees are considered a noxious plant that consumes precious water and crowds out pasture land.  The wood also makes great furniture as long as you don’t insist on using straight wood only.

Don and the Bettingers left Dancing Loon Island early on August 1..Don needed to get to the LaRonge Airport by 3:45 PM to pickup Betty.  He was about 30 minutes late but Betty’s plane was even later so Don was there before Betty after all.  Supplies were purchased in LaRonge and they spent the night at the harbor Inn, hoping to get out of LaRonge early the next day.  The cabin got restocked and we looked forward to a quite stay for 10 days before Jim, Julie and family were to arrive at the island.

Another quiet sunset.

Sunday, August 11 we were visited by James Mckenzie  (2^nd from left), his wife (left) and two children.  They had encountered Jim and Julie in their canoes.  The small outboard motor that Don had left for Jim to help him cross the lake was not working and Jim was not happy with not having the motor to supplement their paddling.  This was cutting into their planned fishing time and they were not happy with Grandpa.

Gord Hardlotte (2^nd from left) and his wife Isabelle (right) are shown here with their sons Gavin and Justin.  These two families had come from Courtney Lake where they were attending an annual Stanley Mission Gathering.  The older residents of the community are transported to a lake site where they “campout” for 6 or 7 days.  The younger men go out to surrounding areas to hunt moose.  The moose are brought back to the gathering where the women further process the meat for community consumption.  Moose hides may be processed for use in making clothing.  Oral traditions are passed on and many successful hunt of old is retold in the process of recalling how things were done in the past.  The local Cree carry on in modern times their historical respect for the elderly by providing them with the best living accommodations in the community as well as community wide supported “Gatherings” or special chartered plane flights to take physically handicapped elderly men on “one last hunt”.

The kids were of course caught in the bear trap for a photo op.  Isabelle had brought us moose jerky in their typical sharing tradition.

Their day had started early in the morning at Courtney Lake a one hour drive north of the Wathaman landing.  They had to drive down the 4-wheel track, portage their canoes/motors and cross the 25 miles to Dancing Loon Island.  Now they were retracing their steps and would clearly be portaging in the dark.  They would not considered it to be a very challenging trip, much more of a “lark” or holiday than a challenging wilderness adventure.

Young grouse covered the island this year.

Don shows off a nice walleye.

Walleye fishing was great and we enjoyed a very low key time on the island.

More beautiful sunsets.

On August 10, Jim, Julie and the kids crossed into Canada on their way to Dancing Loon Island.

David gets a large hug from Brittney as Jeffery relaxes atop their canoe.

Jeffrey, David and Jim team up in the sports canoe for a fishing trip across the lake.  They are planning on camping along the way.

Brittney and Julie feel certain they can out paddle the men.  Here they are about 1 ½ miles down river from the landing.

Julie and Brittney, paddle partners for life!!  Don and Betty decided Sunday night to motor down the lake toward the landing to intercept Jim and deliver a different small outboard motor for them.  We encountered them as they were beaching on Ice Island.  Everything was under control and they were happy to get a new small outboard.  They spent a fun night camped on Ice Island and enjoyed a nice evening around the camp fire as they we treated to a brilliant Northern Lights display.  Don and Betty returned to the comfort of their cabin.

Jeffery, Jim, Brittney, Julie and David before the last leg of their canoe trip.

Next morning, they canoed 4 miles toward Dancing Loon Island when they were again met by Betty and Don in the big boat.  Unfortunately, the new outboard motor also did not work well and they were stuck with more paddling than the wanted.  Julie and Brittney were not about to accept a tow to Dancing Loon Island as the men had chosen to do.  They were on a mission to show how superior the girls were when it came to canoeing across the lake and they did just that!!

Brittney and Julie as they leave on the last leg of their canoe trip.

Brittney and Julie arrive at Dancing Loon Island with a very strong finish, showing how good at paddling they really were.

Brittney starts strong with a nice Northern.

David and Jim enjoy a Northern double.

Jim loves catching Northerns.

David will not be out fished by ANYONE.

Grandpa and Jeff are working on getting a plate of Walleye bites for the table.

Don works on fishing gear.

Jeff sets a record for the smallest fish caught while casting for Northerns.

Jim and Julie enjoy a game of checkers.

Jim, Brittney and David enjoy breakfast.

Jeff and Julie at breakfast too.

Grandpa and Jim as breakfast winds down.

Jeff has a Walleye at the “Honey-Hole”.

Betty has a Walleye.

Don, Jeff and Betty at the “Honey-Hole” as seen from Jim’s boat.

David, Brittney, Julie and Jim at the “Honey-Hole”.

David, Brittney, Julie and Jim prepare to leave the “Honey-Hole” as dark clouds roll in.

Betty and Jeff show off some Walleye that are destined as “limits” on their way to the USA.

Jeff and another nice Northern.

Another beautiful sunset.

On the way back to the landing, Jim commented to Don that he had not been looking for Moose along the way out and with only four miles left, he needed to start looking.  He immediately spotted a bull moose swimming along the north shore, off to the right of four-mile Island.  We turned 30 degrees to the right and got onto an intercept course with the moose.  Don was uncomfortable because he did not have his depth finder running and this new course soon moved us out of our normal “known-to-be-free-of-rocks” course.  Additionally, we were towing boats and this made us quite un-maneuverable, should the moose decide to come at us.

This was one big moose.

At Robertson’s Trading Company Don took a photo of this picture of Isaiah Roberts.  He was the Indian builder of" My Last Canoe" that was documented by the University of Saskatchewan.  He is also the grandfather of Isabelle Hardlotte and Joe Roberts.  Betty and Don spent the night of August 16 at the harbor Inn.

Betty and Don the next morning when Betty flew out of LaRonge.  We had run into Jay, the night before and we all ate supper together at Subway before Jim and Julie started their drive home. After taking Betty to the airport we took Jays Toyota to a garage to repair a bad h-joint, we then bought groceries, drove to the landing, portaged our supplies and boated to the island.

We had good weather for a trip with Jay.  No rain, snow or wind.  It was a good omen.

Don at the rear of the cabin.  The time had come to do some clearing of the trees and brush behind the cabin.

We spent a lot of time cutting wood for the stove and filled up all the storage spots under the cabin.  Jay displays some pretty remarkable abs for a man his age.

Cabin front, left side.

Cabin front.

Cabin front with flags blowing in the breeze.

Don preparing to take Jay Northern fishing near the island.

Don snagged a good Northern.

This was a good fish for Don to end the season on, so he did just that.  On August 26 we left the island and spent the night at the Riverside Motel in LaRonge.  Next day we picked up Jay’s truck with a new universal joint and split for our drive home.  Don drives too slowly for convoying with Jay.  There were no problems getting home.