Sunday Morning Canoe Adventure in my own Backyard, showcasing some Canadian Wilderness.

I had a rare chance this morning to explore my back yard in my canoe. My wife was at work and the kids are spending the weekend with the grandparents.

I debated on how to spend my rare free time this morning, with some much yard work and chores I did feel a little but guilty not being productive, but I think it's important to just relax sometimes and take a moment to enjoy life. I was still transitioning from my week of night shifts so I overslept yesterday, then woke up at 5am today. I decided to start my day then. I did some cleaning then took the chance to make a full breakfast for my wife before she had to head to work at 0630h. I was hoping to hit the yard for sunrise but looked like I was a little bit late.

I live in rural Northern Ontario on a 70 acre lot. I know it probably sounds like I'm some crazy baller but this type of land is pretty cheap in rural Canada. Over half is just mixed bush and rock, but I would say I have about 15-20 acres that is flat at the front of the property that I am slowly clearing and leveling. This middle has a series of ponds/swamps that cover approximately 10 acres, then the back half is rugged bush with some rocky outcrops. This is an aerial photo from a a few years ago, but it gives you an idea. I do own more to the left which is not in the photo and that is the more mountainous portion.

It's been a couple years since I have explored back there on the canoe and this year the water level has been extremely high with all the rain and beaver activity so I wanted to check a few things out and have a better look. This is certainly something that would have been impossible with the kids, I did try to take them out on the canoe a few months back and it was a total disaster. They wouldn't stay still and almost dunked us in the murky swamp a couple times.

Anyways I started down here in what we've always kinda called the lower pond. I was surprised to find the water was well over the paddle depth and I had previously estimated it to be 6 feet deep at the max spots, so it is likely a foot deeper now based on the water level. There is definitely a lot of duck and bird activity there. We have a large crane that comes back annually as well. I often see many small feeder fish and minnows and always have wondered if there are any larger fish or if it would support stocking with some local fish. You probably can't see but it did come across some ducks here, they are just taking off behind the tuff of grass.

I then made my way to what we've called the upper pond, I was surprised to find that the water levels in both have equalized. This is new from this year and there was usually a couple foot difference so I think the water level may have been higher in the lower pond then I first realized. This was exciting because I could just slip the canoe though a gap in damn here that had formed.

The beavers were out in the morning I had the pleasure of passing a couple of them out for there morning swim as well

I had always though this second pond was deeper since it really doesn't have any growth or trees sticking out, but I quickly found that the entire thing was only about 2-3 ft deep the whole way.

I was able to quickly cross this second pond into the 3rd pond. This one was actually quite a bit higher and there was a substantial damn keeping the water level about 2-3 ft higher then the second pond. I am also so amazed by the construction of beaver damns. They are able to hold back such large amounts of water with only sticks and mud. I have often tried to block a bit of water in certainly places and it is so difficult.

I was easily able to drag the canoe up the little path/spillway in the photo and get into the 3rd pond. It was quite large and deep and had a lot of active beaver activity. I was able to snap this great panoramic photo.

The depth here was well over the paddle in most places, it had 4 beaver lodges I could find and two seamed to have active feed beds suggesting at least 2 were occupied. There was also an occupied lodge in the first pond as well, but I was unable to find one in the second, which makes sense since it no longer seamed to have a damn. Beavers are usually quite territorial and usually live one family/pond, unless the pond is very large so I'm unsure if both were in fact occupied, but the pond was quite large. I also found remenants of an old damn which leads me to believe it is also two ponds that have merged over time as well. It is also common for muskrats to inhabit abandoned beaver lodges and they have very similar behavior so that may have been what I was seeing.

This pond actually had quite a bit of tree life and plant growth, which made me suspect the water level has also risen substantially this year. Even though I was fighting my way through lots of sticks and trees, I was routinely unable to find bottom with the paddle.

The ponds seamed to end after this third one which is consistent with the aerial photograph so I was satisfied with my exploration and made my way back to the start. I did consider trekking out on foot, but I do need to head out and pick up my kids and also wanted to fit in time for this blog for everyone. (can you say steemit addiction...lol).

Of course I also brought my coin with me for the pocketsilverchallenge but I'll do a full blog about that fun little photo shoot and adventure separate.

Thanks for coming with me on this adventure and hope you enjoyed some of our rugged Canadian Landscapes.

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