{"id":7537,"date":"2018-07-31T19:54:06","date_gmt":"2018-07-31T19:54:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=7537"},"modified":"2018-09-10T00:53:42","modified_gmt":"2018-09-10T00:53:42","slug":"naked-lady-on-the-rideau-canal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/?p=7537","title":{"rendered":"“Naked Lady” – on the Rideau Canal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I’m more likely to see a “Lady with a Parasol<\/a>,” strolling the banks of the Rideau Canal<\/a>…<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/h1>\n

As noted in\u00a0Paddling the Rideau Canal<\/a>:\u00a0 This August my Utah-brother and I will be canoeing \u2013 some six to 10 days \u2013 up the\u00a0Rideau Canal<\/a>,\u00a0from Kingston to Ottawa, Ontario.<\/p>\n

Which brings up the fact that two years ago<\/em><\/strong> this August, we spent two weeks canoeing the\u00a0Mighty Yukon River<\/a>.\u00a0(Also\u00a0in Canada.)<\/em>\u00a0 We paddled 440 miles – from\u00a0Whitehorse \u00a0to Dawson City<\/a>\u00a0– in 12 days.\u00a0 (Not counting the\u00a0one day\u00a0 we took off from paddling – Sunday, August 14 – in beautiful\u00a0Carmacks, Yukon Territory<\/a>.\u00a0 The idea was\u00a0to rest, refit and enjoy an ice-cold\u00a0Yukon Gold<\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n

One result of that trip was a post on August 28, 2016,\u00a0\u201cNaked lady on the Yukon<\/a>.”\u00a0 As noted in the post, the Yukon River was “the last place on earth I would expect to see a lady\u00a0sun bathing<\/a>.”\u00a0 (In the altogether<\/a>, as it were.)\u00a0 <\/em>But I could probably say the same thing about the\u00a0Rideau Canal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

You can read the full story in the\u00a0Naked lady<\/a>\u00a0post, but here’s a short version:<\/p>\n

It was Friday, August 12. \u00a0We were a day away from Carmacks<\/a>, and had been on the river five days already…\u00a0 About 4:00 my brother was way ahead of me, when he went around a right-hand bend and looked like he was heading to shore, for a break.\u00a0\u00a0There followed one\u00a0lo-o-o-o-o-o-o-ng<\/em>\u00a0right-hand curve in the Yukon, that seemed to last forever. \u00a0It was getting late and we were looking for the \u201cgood camp\u201d listed in the guidebook.\u00a0 When I finally got to the end of the long right-hand curve, I could see something, way off, a half-mile or so ahead.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That “something way off” turned out to be one of two canoeists (one canoe)<\/em>, who’d passed us at the north end of\u00a0Lake Laberge<\/a>.\u00a0 (The other person “in the shadows” was her husband,\u00a0methinks<\/a>).\u00a0 So anyway,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>the point is:\u00a0 There – where we’d wanted to camp – lay a lovely young lady,\u00a0face down aside her “grounded” canoe –\u00a0in her\u00a0birthday suit<\/a>\u00a0– “for all the world to see.”<\/p>\n

Which brings up the strong current in the Yukon River.\u00a0 It ranges from four to seven miles an hour, which is one reason you can cover 440 miles in 12 paddling days.\u00a0 That averages out to over 36 miles a day, which is usually good.\u00a0 However<\/em><\/strong>, when there’s something you don’t expect but would like to linger over, that presents a problem:\u00a0 “By the time I recognized the naked lady\u00a0as<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>a naked lady, the current was already pushing me farther down-river.”<\/p>\n

Again, you can read a fuller version of this tantalizing tale in\u00a0\u201cNaked lady on the Yukon<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 That’s along with references to a hike we did on that same trip, four days\u00a0on the\u00a0Chilkoot Trail<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0(The \u201cmeanest\u00a033 miles in history<\/a>,” as seen at right.)\u00a0<\/em> But for now, let’s get back to the upcoming Rideau trip…<\/p>\n

For starters, only 12 of the 125 miles are actual “canal.”\u00a0 The rest are woodland rivers and lakes, including\u00a0Big Rideau Lake<\/a>, 20 miles long and over three miles wide.\u00a0 But this water route has one thing the Yukon River didn’t:\u00a0 Plenty of places to stop for the night and shower<\/strong><\/em>, along with a goodly number of\u00a0bed and breakfasts<\/a>\u00a0along the way.<\/p>\n

So here let me try a bit of\u00a0prognostication<\/a>\u00a0– or guesswork –\u00a0for the first two days of canoeing.<\/p>\n

Our plan is to average 15 miles a day, and thus cover the 125 miles in eight days.\u00a0 (That’s not counting the total 677 miles of shoreline along the way, full of nooks and crannies<\/a>\u00a0we may choose to explore.)\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0And according to Google Maps, it’s roughly 17 miles from the\u00a0Doug Fluhrer Park<\/a>\u00a0in Kingston, to the\u00a0Rideau Rendezvous Bed and Breakfast<\/a>, also listed as Kingston.\u00a0\u00a0Or it’s a mere 14.5 miles if we start out at\u00a0the Belle\u00a0Island\u00a0(Cataraqui\u00a0Park)<\/a>\u00a0location.<\/p>\n

\"ChaffeysThen – if we make the\u00a0Rendezvous<\/a>\u00a0that first day – the next “pleasurable” stop up could be\u00a0Chaffeys Lock (37<\/a>).\u00a0 That was<\/em> <\/strong>the location of Chaffey’s Rapids, “333 yards (304 m) in length, descending about 13 feet … where Indian Lake flowed into Opinicon Lake.”<\/p>\n

And as such it used to mean a 1,500-yard portage, which would have required unloading both our canoes, carrying them and all our baggage those 1,500 yards, then packing up and setting out again.<\/p>\n

Of course if you really want<\/em><\/strong> to you can still do that.\u00a0 However, we’ll<\/em><\/strong> pay the small fee…<\/p>\n

But once again there are some comfy lodgings there too.\u00a0 (For a full list see\u00a0Rideau Campgrounds, Cottages\u00a0& Lodges – rideau-info.com<\/a>.)<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0And according to the Rideau Canal map in Wikipedia<\/a>, it’s 28 miles from the starting point in Kingston to Chaffey’s Lock.\u00a0 Which should be a do-able enough starting-out pace for two old guys, aged 67 and 72.\u00a0 Now, whether we see a young lady sunbathing\u00a0In the altogether<\/a>\u00a0those first two days is another question entirely…\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A\u00a0bowdlerized<\/a>\u00a0version of what I saw one day on the<\/em>\u00a0Yukon River<\/a>\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

* \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 *<\/p>\n

The upper image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article on\u00a0sun bathing<\/a>.\u00a0 The full caption:\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>“‘La promenade’<\/i>\u00a0(1875) by\u00a0Claude Monet<\/a>.\u00a0 At that time in the West, the upper social class used parasols, long sleeves and hats to avoid sun tanning effects.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>(More’s the pity.)\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0See also\u00a0Woman\u00a0with a Parasol – Madame Monet and Her\u00a0Son –\u00a0Wikipedia<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Re:\u00a0 The Chilkoot Trail.\u00a0 See my posts,\u00a0On the Chilkoot &^%$# Trail<\/a>,\u00a0Part 1<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Part 2<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

The lower image is courtesy of\u00a0Sun tanning \u2013 Wikipedia<\/a><\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0The caption:<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0\u201cA woman sun tanning on a\u00a0Portuguese<\/a>\u00a0beach.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

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I’m more likely to see a “Lady with a Parasol,” strolling the banks of the Rideau Canal… * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * \u00a0 * As noted in\u00a0Paddling the Rideau Canal:\u00a0 This August my Utah-brother and I will be canoeing \u2013 some six to 10 days \u2013 up the\u00a0Rideau Canal,\u00a0from Kingston to Ottawa, Ontario. Which brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7537"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7678,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7537\/revisions\/7678"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/georgiawasp.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}