Dropped By Train Into The Wild

A train drops us at Cartier, we heave canoes and packs onto the gravel, and suddenly we’re committed. No road noise, no easy exits, just a rail stop, a portage, and the start of our Spanish River canoe trip. We’re Tim and Thomas, and we’re recording from camp on a cool, overcast June day in Northern Ontario with rapids behind us and a whole lot of bug pressure in the air. 

We break down the travel day in plain language: the train timing, meeting other riders, unloading fast, and paddling roughly four to five kilometres into a beautiful campsite with space for tents and the all-important no-bug zones. If you’re planning a backcountry canoe trip, you’ll hear what actually mattered for comfort and safety, from bug shirts and spray to the raincoats we ended up wearing despite the forecast. 

Then we get to the good stuff: camp food that keeps morale high. Think ribs, sausages, cornbread, and a next-morning breakfast wrap that makes getting on the water feel easy. From there, we shift into whitewater canoeing practice, using simple shore-side explanations to talk eddies, crossings, and the fundamentals we’re trying to nail down, including momentum, initiation, tilt, and hold. Yes, there’s intentional swimming, and yes, there’s also the other kind. 

If you like real-world trip reports, practical canoe camping gear talk, and honest paddling lessons, hit play. Subscribe, share the episode with a paddling buddy, and leave a review so more Canadians can find the show.

Transcript

Welcome And Quick Reset

SPEAKER_01 0:00

All right, we're recording. Good day, eh? Welcome to the Supergate Camping Podcast. My name is Tim. And I'm Thomas. And I have no idea what else the panelists says at this point, so we're gonna launch right into trip report from

Day Count And Catch Up

SPEAKER_01 0:14

Spanish River.

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Yeah. So we are now how many days in?

SPEAKER_01 0:18

We're technically day two, but could be said day three, because we started out at the organic boat shop cabin on Friday. This is now Sunday, and we're just busy and stuff and rain, and we couldn't listen to our wonderful instructor. Uh so the day dragged a little long yesterday and tired and didn't didn't feel like recording. So we're gonna do a bit of catch up right now. Uh what did tell us what we did yesterday?

Train Ride From Cartier

SPEAKER_00 0:43

Uh yesterday was just sort of uh getting in, getting to our site, but obviously the main event was our train ride. We started in where did we start? Uh Cartier. Cartier. Right. So started in Cartier, waited around for the train, which uh should have arrived at 9 50. Arrived, what, 30 minutes after that? Yeah, 1020-ish. So not too bad. Gave us a little time to uh stand around and chat with uh some of the other people also waiting for the train. Some coming up here, others going further, I believe. Um the others coming up here.

Landing, Paddle In, Camp Setup

SPEAKER_01 1:19

We're we're not we're not doing the same thing as we're doing. Kind of, but not in the same way.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Um we don't bring coolers of beer with us. No, no, we do not. So train ride in, we got dropped off just sort of middle of nowhere, uh, which is where our portage in was. Hopped off the train, unload canoes and bags, sort of get ourselves situated, and then into the lake. Paddled for how many kilometers?

SPEAKER_01 1:55

Four or five. Four or something. Four or five, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:57

Yeah, shouldn't take too long. Got ourselves up onto

Bugs, Rain Gear, And June Reality

SPEAKER_00 2:03

our campsite, beautiful campsite. We've got a great view of some rapids behind us, which if you're watching this, you may be able to see. I'm not sure. There's a little bit of glare on the camera. If you're listening to this, you won't be able to see, but you may be able to hear. Uh we've got a whole bunch of space. There are one, two, three, four, five, six tents set up and two. Two no bug zones.

SPEAKER_01 2:27

Highly important, probably the best equipment on this trip.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Yeah. Uh although I won't say they're necessarily bug-free. We do our best and then we kill them once they're inside. Yeah, it's definitely better.

SPEAKER_01 2:40

Um we're in the middle of June uh 2026, just so you know, and we're we're doing our best to keep these bugs fed.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

Yeah. Bug spray, bug shirts, very important.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

Raincoats have also been pretty important.

SPEAKER_00 2:53

Yes, raincoats. Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_01 2:55

Quite zero chance of rain. They lie. So they say. Just like the weather network. Yeah, so

Ribs Dinner And Big Breakfast

SPEAKER_01 3:03

that pretty much. Oh, we had a wicked dinner last night. Yeah. Dinner was ribs. Ribs and sausages and cornbreads. Very, very good corn cornbread. Yep, so and then a good good sleep last night, much better than the previous nights. Uh started out this morning with again a uh killer breakfast. With more ribs, more sausages, but just sort of chewed up and stuff. Um did but eggs and did them all in a wrap. There's also the option of uh oat cheese and peppers, so we eat well when we do when we're on trip. Uh most of the food is thanks to Bill Wilkie, so he gets a shout-out. The ribs are you though, and that was amazing. They're they're they're they're yes. We uh I like making ribs because people like to eat them. So that's kind of the point. Uh and then we spent,

Eddies, Technique, And Swimming

SPEAKER_01 3:55

what did we how did the morning play it? We spent a little bit more time doing theory, right? Like instructional sort of uh sand drawings would be a good way to to do that with with a very cool little carved boat. Uh so we would learn about uh eddies and how how we should cross into them and uh mist, mist, myth, darn it. So uh momentum intent. Intent? No. Initiation. Initiation, tilt, hold, hold. Oh, that's what that's probably the worst thing, is I never got to the hold part. Um and then we did some, we ran some uh Whitewater and Swiss level two and then level one stuff. Uh we did do some intentional swimming. We did plenty of unintentional swimming. And yeah, now we're here for I don't know, a very late lunch, perhaps, or or some yaking, or some snacking and some yakking. Who knows? Uh and we'll update you again, probably not until tomorrow because I don't feel like doing it.

Weather Outlook And Trip Pace

SPEAKER_00 5:06

Yeah. Uh the weather is currently decent.

SPEAKER_01 5:11

Currently holding off although overcast. Probably looking at, I think when we looked at the weather report, it chances of rain for the next three days, which is what we're here for, or another two days after today. It is very cool for this time of year. But no complaints.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

Yeah. Uh cool. That's it for us for today.

Where To Find Us And Email

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Uh don't forget to check us out on all the social platforms, Instagram, Facebook, yada yada yada, not truth social. Um, no. Where else? Uh YouTube, wherever you find your podcasts. You name it. Spotify, Amazon Podcasts. Are we on there? We're we're on everything, all of us. Uh yeah, feel free to reach out. You can send us an email at oh, hi at supergoodcamping.com.

SPEAKER_01 6:02

That's H I at Supergoodcamping.com. And we'll talk to you again later. Bye.