One Month Living in the Canadian Wilderness

The purpose of this post is to show just how amazing my Healer and my Creator truly is! On September 1, John and I entered into Quetico Provençal Park in Ontario, Canada with a canoe, 3 fishing poles, dehydrated and vacuum sealed food for one month, a tent and all the bare necessities to stay alive and camp for an entire month in the pure Canadian wilderness! 

This was literally something we have dreamed about for years! Although we have gone into the wilderness for two weeks at a time previously, we decided that if I had the physical ability and we had the time, we wanted to go in for the entire month of September… So we have been planning and preparing for many months to make this happen. 

Finally, the day came and we drove to Crane Lake, Minnesota, and we were picked up by Zup’s Outfitters on Lac Lacroix, who then brought us by boat to the edge of the wilderness where our journey began. 

It is impossible to describe the serenity and the simplicity and the sheer beauty of living in the elements of a wilderness setting for one entire month. The best way to explain what we experienced is to show it in videos and pictures so this will be probably my longest post for those who are interested in seeing what we really did on a day-to-day basis. 

On the morning of September 28th I woke up in a tent next to a massive waterfall in the middle of the wilderness and on September 29th I finally showered with filtered city water vs lake water after a month and had the luxury of sleeping in a soft bed at home. It almost seems like a dream now, but it’s one I’m so grateful to have experienced!

September 30th I had an infusion at The James and the miracles that God continues to do in my life just keep happening every day, but this is a sneak peek of my life in the wilderness in September, 2024. 

Twin Falls where our tent sat perched about 100 feet away from the massive roar of these incredible Falls on our last day. 

Woke up early at Twin Falls at 6 am on our last day and the mist and moon made this surreal sunrise a phenomenal sight to see and during the day and night the roar was soothing to hear!

Paddling every day, sometimes for 6-8 hours if we moved camp or for several hours of fishing, has really built up my strength and endurance. I’m stronger and feel more fit than I’ve ever been in my life!

Waders were needed only for traipsing through the water and rivers where the base of waterfalls made fishing off the charts amazing! Catching and releasing 17”-19.5” small mouth bass was not unheard of and OHHHHH so much fun! 

Jean Creek had at least 5 beaver dams we had to get our canoe over. We would literally paddle up to it and climb over it and lift the boat with all our gear. These beavers are engineering geniuses!!

Every sunrise and sunset was picture worthy and when the wind didn’t blow it was the most beautiful silence ever heard!

The last 2 weeks of the month we had a dear friend join us and he joined me in doing Wilderness Yoga a few times. Getting in and out of a canoe and climbing over boulders and portages can be extremely physically challenging so staying limber is crucial. 

God literally performed so many miracles right in front of my eyes from seeing Him literally calm white capped waves as we crossed lakes to experiencing rainbows at sunrise!! 

Right before this photo was taken the sky opened up with millions of hail balls from marble size to 1.5”-2” diameter and we literally had JUST made it to camp after paddling all day and had set up our tent minutes before these life threatening balls of ice came pummeling down!! Being out in the elements is not for the faint of heart or unprepared. Yet God’s power and majesty and my complete dependence on Him was palpable and comforting. 

Hail!

Again, there were glorious sunsets where all I could do was praise God in response to its beauty! We saw orange moons, the moon rising as the sun was setting, the full Milky Way, shooting stars, heard loons calling and the squawk of several bald eagles and several elegant pair of trumpeter swans taking off in flight! 

Trace and John conferring where we were and where we needed to go to follow our planned route. It’s Wilderness so there are no signs or roads, just trees, islands, points, rocks, lakes and rivers so one better know how to read a map and compass. 

Fishing for these hogs was pure joy!! I think I’m a top water, small mouth bass fishing junkie! 

Yes, I kissed the fish. In fact, several!

When the winds were calm, which was often, the silhouette of the land and shoreline was a mirror image! These reflections were truly so amazing to see that we would just sit in awe of God’s creation. 

Inside of the tent. Most nights were in the 50s but the last night was 46. A bit chilly many nights but my zero degree Big Agnes sleeping bag kept me perfectly warm! Surprisingly although the days were hot we had practically no bugs! But one of the first portages was buggy enough that I donned my bug net, yet the rest of the trip I could count the mosquitoes we encountered on two hands. That’s a real treat to not be bugged by the bugs here especially since we heard that it was one of THE worst summers for them!

So many waterfalls! This one was one I returned to since last time and it made me weep tears of joy to be there again!

Although I prefer catching small mouth bass on top water, landing a fighting Pike can be loads of fun too…If only they weren’t so slimy! But it’s great fun having one hit my lure then landing it! My biggest pike was 33”!

Typical evening of camp fire and fish for dinner. And to my WFPB friends, I chose to eat the fresh fish here but rest assured now that I’m home I’m back to fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts, seeds and grains only!!

Curtain Falls

One sacred place for me. Rebecca Falls!

The entire trip was two 50 mile loops totaling 15 lakes, 4 rivers, 6 waterfalls, dozens of rapids, 4 moose, 0 bear, a couple hundred fish and unlimited praises to God! We carried all our gear over the portage trails and paddled from lake to lake. We double or triple portaged each tail because of the gear we had to carry. John always brought over the canoe and his two packs and I had two waterproof packs weighing 35 and 25 lbs each plus the loose gear like poles and paddles, fuel and my Asea/olive oil/John’s wine. 

Again our first and last nights in Quetico were next to water falls!! 

 I share so you can experience and see how good our Creator is at showing off a tiny piece of His coloring book. The fact that I had the privilege of being physically capable to do this is a miracle in itself and I’m so blessed to have a husband who makes me feel safe and protected because of his skills and knowledge. I’m grateful we had a friend like Trace who could join us to share in this and I’m profoundly grateful to Yahweh for gifting me healing and time to spend my September in Quetico Provençal Park!