JOURNEY #35 - June 13, 2003

"Searching For Otters" (Bonnechere, Turner's Road To Couchain Lake return)

MAP

Much of the Bonnechere River in this area is too small to appear as much more than a thin blue line on most maps. The best map is from The Adventure Map series by Chrismar. We purchased it at Bushtakah for $7. It is waterproof which is handy, but more importantly, the scale is such that you can make out islands, points, and bays which don't appear at all on other available maps. We aren't allowed to reproduce the Chrismar map here in any way, shape, or form, but the topo map for the area is reasonably useful. You can look at an online version at http://toporama.cits.rncan.gc.ca/images/b50k/03/031f12.gif.

PICTURES

Julie Paddling In The Rain
White Mountain

TRIP REPORT

There was some consideration given to sleeping in all day Friday, but it was also our last chance for paddling, so we eventually got going. We cleaned up the cabin first, which was quite a lot of work after four days of crashing through the door and throwing clothes and gear about in a random fashion.

It was another pleasant overcast day. We set off about 1:45. The plan was to head towards Couchain Lake with the specific intent of seeing if any otters would come out and play. We thought the best spot would be the long stretch of river between Curriers and Couchain, some 11 km away.

Of course, nature doesn't give a damn what we think. We encountered an otter within 2km of the cottage, in a spot that neither of us would have considered otter habitat. He or she kept their distance, but left us with that patented otter move, thrusting high out of the water to check us out. Otters do this in a fashion that resembles a groundhog sitting up in a field.

We saw only one boat, operated by a solo fisher. He was trying for northern pike, but wasn't having any success, despite the ideal conditions. That was pretty much it for human contact. No boats, a couple of people spotted on shore, and no moving cars sighted along the visible sections of Basin Depot Road.

When we reached the section of the river that we considered "otter country" we were greeted instead by our friend "the angry beaver." He slapped his tail at us in both directions and from different locations. It's an interesting behaviour to be sure.

We had a quick onboard lunch of cucumbers, tomatoes, and feta cheese, drank some water, and started on the return trip with a wind in our faces and some light rain starting to fall.

Without question the week had taken a bit of a physical toll, but the reality that this was our last day had us savouring all 12 km. As the bridge came in sight, signalling about 2km to go, a bit of sadness set in. But as we flopped clumsily onto shore, we knew that it was time to go.

The basic stats for this trip were:

Total distance: 24.5 km

Total time: 4 hours 30 minutes

Average moving speed: 5.4 km/h