Lake Timiskaming is part of the Ottawa River system. It is about five hours north of Ottawa, between Mattawa and New Liskard, straddling the Ontario-Quebec border. Fort Timiskaming is located about half way up the lake on the Quebec side at a strategic location where the two sides of the lake come together and almost meet.  The fort is a National Historic Site.
     The land on which the fort is built has a long history as an economic, social and cultural centre of the local Aboriginal people. Archaeological evidence indicates that this site has been used by the Algonquin and their ancestors for over 6,000 years. It was a focal point of their cultural, political and economic life. They would come here to fish, hold councils, arrange marriages & alliances, and plan for the coming year.
     Fort Timiskaming was a major commercial centre during the fur trade. It was part of a large intertribal commercial network that stretched as far as the Atlantic coast. The first fort was built by the French in the 1700's, and later operated by the North-West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company. Fort Timiskaming played a major role in the fur trade up until the start of the 20th century.

Expedition Dates
September 2 to September 13, 2006

Our Canoe
We used a brand new birch bark canoe for this expedition. She was built by John Zeitoun, a very competent builder and a great guy to boot! His company is called River Wood Works. To Learn More About Our Canoe and John Click >> HERE

Our Journey
Expeditions 'per se' cannot fail, they produce results, knowledge, and learning. Well I learned another lesson, in fact many lessons on this trip. Allow me to summarize please.
#1 - My thanks go out to Christian Pilon, my Voyageur partner on this trip. Chris was one of the original guys on the DNO 2005 trip to Winnipeg. His ability to paddle, handle the canoe, and persevere, are noted and appreciated. What started as a testy relationship in 05 has turned into a neat friendship.
#2 - We started by camping out at the Fort for two nights and then paddled south on Lake Timiskaming which is in fact part of the Ottawa River. We made it as far as Fort William on the Ottawa River. This old Fort is an ancient Hudson Bay Post on the Quebec side, opposite the modern day military base of Petawawa. Not as far as planned, but a beautiful trip all the same.
#3 - As in all things it is always the 'people' that make the experience worth it all. Besides Chris I'd like to thank - Marlyn and Josee at Fort Timiskaming - Diane my Voyageur friend and her husband Paul - Danielle, at the radio station - Marie-Pierre at Charbonneau productions - Al, Roger and Mike in Mattawa - Doreen for her driving and her patience. Met lots of many other very generous people as well. My thanks goes out to all of them.
#4 - When it comes to a contest with mother nature, mother nature will always win - always. It is really quite fascinating to enter nature as naked as the voyageurs did. Our equipment was early voyageur, about 1800, nothing modern - only wool and cotton. We encountered some very heavy winds and some serious rain at the end of the trip. In fact I'd say we finished the trip 'soaked to the bone'. It was the weather that finally did us in. We had a choice, sit by the river and wait till the end of the bad weather or wrap it up and head home. We went home!
#5 - As always, we packed too much. Keep it simple and basic. I learned a ton 'once more' about what to bring and eat (or not) and how to pack it. I'm continuously amazed at how little the Voyageurs 'made do' with. In fact this was an VERY valuable part of the learning curve for me. What I learned will help me big time on the next expeditions.
#6 - I'd say that a realistic expectation for an expedition like this would be about 40 klms per day. No matter which way you slice it there are about 12 useable hours in a perfect weather day. Out of those twelve you'll be able to paddle about 10 at best. I'd say that a reasonable average would be 3.5-4 klms per hour. There you have your 40! You can do more but it will take a toll on you physically! Really depends if your destination driven or journey driven.
#7 - Being realistic about what one can do physically is crucial. We hadn't paddled hard in a year. We had hoped to do 60 klms per day on this trip - stupid or what?! My gut tells me I'll plan the next expedition with a slower start, and build from there.
#8 - We live in an incredible country, with unbelievable resources, built by amazing people. I'm so looking forward to seeing more.

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