Sturgeon-Weir River

By paddle: 277km; By air: 178km.

Used by both Hudson Bay and North West Company fur traders to reach the upper Churchill areas from the Saskatchewan River on their unending quest for larger catchment areas, the Sturgeon-Weir River is a little river of big historical significance. After paddling across Namew Lake to the tiny community of Sturgeon Landing, it's difficult to believe that this sometimes shallow, narrow flow has seen so many grand figures from Canadian history pass by—it makes you "think upon Mackenzie, David Thompson and the rest" 1. At the time, though, we didn't care about history—we were just appreciative to be on clear water. The silty soup of Lake Winnipeg, the Saskatchewan River and Cumberland Lake were playing havoc with the water filter!

Ascending the Sturgeon-Weir River is quite arduous. The lower third of the route, between Namew and Amisk lakes, called the South Weir, is a series of gentle rapids, nothing scary, but too fast and/or shallow to paddle up. It must be fun to descend.

If you know how to pole a canoe (like punting, only less serene) this is an opportunity to show off your talents. We, on the other hand, didn't know how to pole, and although we carved ourselves two poles from the forrest debris and gave it a good go, we still don't know how to pole. However, we have acquired a lot of wading experience. When it's sunny and warm, dragging and pushing a canoe ankle, knee or waist deep through rapids or fast flowing water, is an exhilarating experience. When it's cold and wet, it's not. We had both.

Beyond Amisk Lake, the central section of the river, the West Weir, offers contented flat paddling, interupted by short portages around picturesque rapids and falls. Stretches through quiet, intimate scenery are savoured after the struggles behind.

The tranquillity is short lived—the final section is less a river and more a series of connected lakes. Mirond and Wood Lakes, sandwiching the town of Pelican Narrows are big enough to be testing in a breeze. Sure, they're nothing in size compared to Huron, Superior and Winnipeg, but this is September, and the wind's picking up!

A delicate winding waterway through small grass-filled lakes leads towards the head of the Sturgeon-Weir River and the Frog Portage. It's not a long portage, and there's a railway trolley to assist you (though it's more trouble than it's worth,) but this is a huge milestone on the route. Geographically, it's a significant watershed: two droplets of rain, falling in close proximity, may travel greatly differing routes on their return to the sea in Hudson Bay—one via Lake Winnipeg, down the Sturgeon-Weir, Saskatchewan, and Nelson Rivers, and the other straight down the Churchill. But it's much more than a geographical abstraction—mentally, it's the halfway point in the journey—everything before has been about penetrating into the heart of Canada. From here on, it's about working through to the other side—the Pacific.

1 Northwest Passage (1981), by Stan Rogers.

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