Things are starting to wind down at the school. Preparing students for exams, finalizing attendance reports, getting ready for the grade 9 graduation, etc. It has been a learning curve, but all is going well.
The school provides a teacherage beside the school for teachers. There are 2 rows of 1-BR apartments, and 2 duplexes of 2-BR apartments. It is very convenient to live here.
They also provide canoes for staff to use. Since ice-out was late this year, I have been taking advantage of the canoes by going camping during the weekends. My last trip was a circumnavigation of the southern basin of Gods Lake.
Gods Lake is the 7th largest lake in Manitoba. It is a large, deep lake, with parts of the lake over 150 metres deep. The lake is divided into two basins by the narrows: the larger, deeper northern basin, and the smaller, shallower southern basin.
It was a four day trip, as Aboriginal day was a holiday here. The weather was pretty calm during the trip, except for the second day.
Map of canoe route
The first stop was the Wasachuan River. The river is located on the western edge of the reserve. There are several cabins there, but all are vandalized. It is easy to see why they selected this area as part of the reserve, because the river is literally full of walleye. You can catch them one after the other. This river is a favorite of the locals. Boats are stopped by the first set of rapids, but there is a short portage that takes you above the rapids and finally into Touchwood Lake. Hopefully, I will get in there next year.
The second day, I traveled from Wasachuan to Kanuchuan River at the very southern tip of the lake. It was windy that day, but luckily it was a north wind that blew me into the southern bay. This river is much faster than the Wasachuan, with steeper, wider rapids. This river is the closest river to town that has brook trout. There is an old tractor trail on the west end of the river that used to take you to the generating station for the Elk Island gold mine that used to be in operation on Elk Island in God's Lake in the 1940s. Elk Island is in the north basin of the lake!!!! The old tractor is still there, parked by the entrance to the trail. The generating station is still there, but I could not find it. A reason for a return visit.
The third day was ideal canoeing weather, as the lake was like glass most of the day.
I decided to make the best of it by exploring the southern part of the lake. The southern part of the lake is different from the rest of the lake because it is made up of mostly glacial till - sand, clay, gravel, rubble, cobble, eskers. In the northern part of the lake (including God's Lake Narrows), it is mostly smooth rock and large boulders. There are many stretches of sandy beaches along the southern basin shoreline - ideal places to take a pit stop.
Long sandy beach
Fish fry
I paddled to a small island in Father's Fishing Bay. It was a great site, as I could look over the southern basin from a smooth rock perched above the lake. The full moon made an appearance before the storm clouds rolled in. The wind picked up overnight, but it did not rain. I awoke to a glass lake again and paddled home.
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