We were up for another sunrise. This time over the Sturgeon River next to our campsite. The wind was light so getting a semi-early start on paddling down the river seemed like a good idea. The weather was a little chilly but we set out around nine a.m. after fortifying ourselves with some hot beverage. We launched by the swim slide and paddled down the glassy waters heading the two miles plus to the mouth of the river. A variety of homes, cabins and trailer sites peeked out from between the trees here and there. Old rotting docks and boat houses in disrepair gave a rustic vibe to the relaxing paddle.

PJ set a brisk pace and pulled on ahead as I poked along behind snapping photos and watching the quiet world flow by. An occasional boat would motor past sending a set of ripples our way to test our balance. At the delta the river split into two forks and we took the left fork into the tulles.

Nipissing Lake is huge and much more exposed to the wind. We set our course towards a large island at the end of the guiding buoys leading out of the river. About a mile out, we realized that the island was further out than it appeared from our initial assessment. We were an hour and a half into the paddle and the return portion was going to be into the wind so we scrapped the mission and turned back and paddled hard towards the mouth of the Sturgeon.

Once safe inside the calmer confines of the river, we cruised a bit more and since we were heating up inside our wetsuits, a jump into the water was proscribed to help us cool down. Whoa, that water is cold! A definite wake up. After that we were motivated to paddle a bit more vigorously. A three hour journey in the beautiful fall foliage.

We reached our campground beach and the kid in PJ escaped her tether and had some fun on the slide. Each trip down provided a new jolt of coldness upon splashing into the river. We carried our gear up to our lawn area and took a short break out front. The only other camper in our row had vacated while we were out so we had plenty of elbow room.

I got busy on some projects. I tightened the screen door with some larger screws in the hinge and replaced the anode rod in the water heater. Lots of crud and build up. The old rod was nearly spent, so it was a timely bit of maintenance. I kept planning for a nap but never seemed to get there. PJ did laundry then we drove into town to grocery shop only to find all of the grocers closed at six on Sundays. We treated ourselves to Beyond Burgers at the A&W drive in. When was the last time I had an A&W root beer? I couldn’t tell you, but it went down easy. Quiet night at Sturgeon Falls.

Pink yesterday, golden today