In the morning of June 9 we motored back to the landing to collect the roofing deck material and all the other supplies left in the trucks and large trailer. Just west of “Eagle Island” in the main lake, we spotted another boat up ahead of us. It soon became obvious that the “boat” was really a cow moose swimming across the lake. We got several close pictures and as usual everyone was surprised at how fast the moose could swim.
Doug States is running the boat in the background.
The hair on the moose’s back hump tends to stand up straight when it is “stressed” as in this type of encounter.
Don has met a man from Minnesota that claims to have jumped from a boat along side a swimming moose onto the back of the moose and rode it for some distance, capturing the event on 8mm film. We never considered doing that.
The moose was left to finish its journey, hopefully not too stressed.
David, Don and Andy on June 11. These grandsons are the ones that enable Don to get to Canada. They shoulder the physically straining task of setting up the boats and motors plus all the work on the island. In the process they have learned how to do a lot of things not common in the modern suburban life style.
David, Andy and Scott Ury tow Rod Ury during a swim break on June 25.
It is hard to estimate how fast they were moving but considering the big load they were hauling it was faster than you might think. Notice the smoke in the air. With so many fires around us all summer, there was not too much blue sky this summer.
Andy is getting ready for a mighty leap into the lake.
Now Scott prepares for the leap.
Scott, Andy and David are caught by Don in the air as they leap into the lake.
Rod continues his sun bathing on an air mattress. Terry Brown looks on in the background.
Terry Brown enjoys a swim.
David and Andy carry some roof decking from the landing area up to the cabin.
David shows off one of Andy’s giant size pancakes. Andy is always looking for ways to improve his pancake menus.
Andy specializes to cooking breakfast and has pancake making down to a fine art.
David seems uncommonly happy with what is on his plate. He went through several peanut butter containers in the course of the summer.
A little syrup work for David too.
David normally devours the center of the cake before attaching the crisper edges.
A pancake eating contest between Andy and David was held later this summer with Grampa cooking.
Anyone who sat at any meal with David would not be surprised at the outcome of the contest.
While Andy represented himself admirably by devouring 6 pancakes, David won by eating 8 ½, no small feat for a skinny looking guy.
Doug Chisholm (pilot from LaRonge) holds Don's model bark canoe that he and Scott Robinson (Robinson Trading Company Ltd, LaRonge) "rescued" for Don after he (at the end of the season) had inadvertently left it hanging in the cabin . Don had asked Scott to stop by the cabin on their way in late August to locate an old Hudson's Bay Fort on Reindeer Lake. Don was originally scheduled to accompany them on this adventure but his earlier than planned departure from the island caused him to miss this side trip. Note how low the water level is in front of the beach. Doug has a side business of installing plaques on remote water sites in memory of Saskatchewan WWII service men killed in action for whom the site has been named. Doug installed the often photographed plaque at the entrance to the Campbell River. The canoe is now hanging in the Robinson Trading Company store in LaRonge with a "not for sale" sign on it.
Scott and Doug found two 1700 era copper Hudson's Bay Company trade pots commonly traded to the local Indians for furs. These pots were located within 50 feet of where they had beached their plane. Also found were the remains of over twenty log cabins. This site had been searched for by Scott in the prior year on his annual fall canoe trip. Don and Scott had many discussions about the potential location of this old "fort" as the fur traders grandly called their rough log structures. The site is mentioned by David Thompson in his exciting narrative. He was searching for a new route into Lake Athabaska where independent traders (later the Northwest Company) were siphoning off the prime beaver pelts that formerly were transported by Indians to the Hudson's Bay post on Hudson's Bay. Accompanied by two young local Indian boys, he successfully reached Lake Athabaska in 1797 via the small Swan River, Wollaston Lake and the Fond Du'Lac River. They were nearly killed on the return trip after losing much of their gear when their canoe capsized. Later that year he attempted to retrace the same route but was thwarted by lower water levels. A "fort" was constructed near the entrance of the Swan River on a small island that is now part of Bedford Island. Don had heard from local Indians who had seen the site as well as friends who had visited the site by canoe in the 1970s. The exact location was hard to tie down owing to the many similar islands in the area. David Thompson was the most famous cartographer in Canada and included the Latitude and Longitude of his fort in his published narrative, however, a slight error in time accuracy (no quartz or atomic clocks then) resulted in the longitude being off by a couple miles and Google Earth shows his location to be inland several miles. His Latitude was quite accurate but fit three possible locations, the real location being the last to be examined.
