Hi, Bryan

I am done the Saskatchewan watershed aspect of the river trip only. I still want to paddle to Hudson Bay and will do that via the Nelson River. After that, it's salt water paddling till I decide to either stop or get to Newfoundland via the northern route. Quite frankly, I've had enough of adventure for a short while.

Ken greeted me with a huge smile, a local dark brew and lots of coffee from Tim's. I was sooooo happy to see him and to finally be off that damned Cedar Lake: it kicked my butt big time. Because of my pricey digital camera and my super-expensive hearing aid, I worked phenomenally hard to stay upright during awful conditions. I never did capsize at any time nor did I even come close to such a calamity, but wind driven wave action and some white water during the last 30-kms of the North Saskatchewan River kept me on my toes. I had to deal with so much wind-driven wave action that it became routine for me to watch the VJ's bow to bury deeply into a wave then bob up while I used the appropriate paddle stroke to stablize her so that she remained upright. I now consider myself thoroughly "intermediate" as a paddler and am easily capable of handling many kinds of rough water conditions with high confidence. I got that much from my repeated efforts to run to the end of the Saskatchewan watershed.

The adventure continues...but not yet!

Robert N Pruden