A couple of years ago my brother, Gary, and his two brother-in-laws, Chris & Jim, were going on a fly-in trip to Canada. I joined the trip with my PA buddy, Bill. Mike, a WMU roommate of Gary's, was coming also.
Here is Gary, Chris, Mike, and Bill I was taking the picture and we were waiting for Jim! Note that the cargo trailer is full of fishing gear that will be needed for a week in the bush!
We stopped on the way and bought $300 worth of groceries in 30 minutes without a shopping list. That many hands throwing in favorite items insured we wouldn't go hungry. Remember that we can't run to the corner store in the middle of the week.
This is the main headquarters on Lake Ivanhoe. We arrived here in the afternoon and rented a beautiful room for the night. A great meal and then we are 1st on the list for Saturday take off.
This is the de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver. This is the bushplane that is used all over the world. It was first produced in 1948 and production ended in 1967. 1,657 Beavers were built and hundreds are still in operation. It has a 450 HP Pratt & Whitney 7 cylinder rotary engine and a short take off and landing ability. It can carry 6 passengers.. Empty it weighs 3,000 #s and has a gross weight of 5,100 #s, so it can carry 2,100 #s. That is why everything is weighted and you are limited to 200 #s per person! The Beaver has maxium speed of 158 mph and a range of 455 miles. It can fly to 18,000 ft. at a rate of 1.020 ft./min. There is an oil reserve reservoir in the cockpit and can be filled during flight!
A 1950's Beaver bought for just under $50,000 would be worth $500,000 today.
This is a view from the plane shortyly after take-off. We are still over Lake Ivanhoe.
There are no roads up here and it is pretty desolate territory. It is fun to look out the windows for a chance sighting of a moose.
It is a bit nerve racking to see a few broken guages and switches on the dashboard. No wait, that was the other trip with a drunken pilot....another story. Our pilot was in his early twenties and the son of the lodge owner. These kids are flying up here before they get their auto drivers license.
The cabin is pretty basic. It had a bathroom with toilet, sink, and shower but no electricity or running water. That means you didn't use this room. It was set up for use when they brought up generators. Maybe next year.
The cabin had three bedrooms with bunk beds. We had one big main room and a screened in porch with picnic table. We ate at the kitchen table.
The boats were 14' Lunds with a 15 hp motor. The boat seats were nice to have after fishing for hours each day. We explored the large lake and ended up motoring about 4-5 miles down to the other end of the lake several times a day. The bay down there was always good to us so a 30-45 minute ride down!
Fish on! We were after walleyes and this was a nice one. Note the rain gear. We had some rainy days,so we left the cabin prepared for any weather.
Jim was great at finding the smaller walleyes. Chris & Jim, being brothers, fished together a lot of the time. We could always hear them when they were fishing from any part of the lake. The tinkling sound of aluminum cans in the bottom of an aluminum boat...ah music to the ears!
You might think all we ate up north was fish every meal! You would be wrong!
Well, there is more to this story....stay tuned! Next installment in a few days!
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