English River Maze – Part 2

Once we crossed Goshawk Lake we immediately went ashore and David started a fire.    We soon got warmed up and our wet clothing dried. Note the fresh snow covering everything and which continued to fall to the north of us. William is back in the boat and ready to proceed. Note the square stern canoe and small motor.

We had an agreement that David would run the motor across Goshawk lake and I would then take over. In the distance you will note a log boom blocking our way. In 1958 when the White Dog Falls Dam was built this whole area was flooded. This was one of the areas in which the trees were not removed before the flooding occurred. It has taken years for the trees to rot at the waterline and fall over.

This results in hundreds of floating trees along the shore and tree stumps just below the water surface. Boat travel is restricted to a slow pace as there are multiple collisions between our propeller and the tree stumps. This slowed us down for a couple of  miles. The log booms kept the logs from floating out into the English River and floating to the intakes at the dam.

This map shows how we crossed Goshawk lake and then went ashore. Once we were dry and warm we had to proceed from the fire site through the narrows until we entered Umpreville Lake at the top of the map..

Once free of this section we had to cross the east end of Umpreville Lake then cross the English River which entered it at this location. From there we had to locate the Sturgeon River which flowed into the English River from the North. It was best described as a maze as the route was also confused by many islands and bays.

On the map below the largest section of open water near the lower portion of the map is the east section of  Umpreville Lake. The English River enters from the north and is marked. We then curved to the north east and continued almost east until the opening of the Sturgeon River, shown by a right angle bend near the top of the map.

To make the journey even more interesting we moved north into thicker snow fall and visibility was again reduced to about fifty feet. Since it was my  turn to read the map and steer the canoe my companions began to question what direction I was going in.  We all knew it was going to be difficult to find the opening of the Sturgeon River.

David felt we were going too far to the east while William felt we had gone too far north. These questions, when added to our previous disagreement only increased the tension in the canoe.

Without getting too irritated I said, “It is my turn to navigate and if I fail to find the  Sturgeon River, then someone else can take over.  In the mean time the wind continues on my left cheek while the rising sun shows a slight glow in the snow fall to the east. I intend to continue in this direction until we meet the current of the English River. Once into that current we will follow the north shore to the north-east till we meet the current of the Sturgeon river which enters from the north.”

The rest of the trip was suffered in dead silence and the tension continued to increase as time passed. Finally after about a dozen miles, we hit the mouth of the Sturgeon and there were smiles all around.

Because this river was much narrower we were no longer bothered by the snow fall and restricted visibility.  The temperature continued to rise and the snow finally stopped. I took this photo as we entered the Sturgeon River and the current is obvious. The chance of getting lost was now diminished and we all relaxed. David in particular was not so intense and the rest of the trip looked brighter.