We just added a number of jigsaw puzzles from Willow creek Press and this one called 'Northern Renewal' reminded me of a great time spent in Canada with my son Zach in the summer of 2008. Both of us currently live in Florida and decided to make the long trek to the 'Kag' for a week of fishing and relaxation. Kag is short for Lake Kaganagiami located in Ontario, Canada. The Leuenbergers operate a fly-in lodge and outpost camps. We always opt to 'rough it' at the Kag on the American plan, where the crew feeds us twice a day at the main lodge and provides a box lunch for the day of fishing fun. They also clean your fish! The cabins are log construction, utilizing the natural resources around them and the only way to go since you have to fly everything in to the lake. They also have indoor plumbing, yahoo!
This would be our second trip to the Kag, with the first trip in 2004 in which we drove from Fort Wayne, Indiana. Only this time we were going to fly! Zach and I set out from West Palm Beach, Florida KPBI in a Cessna 172RG, which is a four seat single engine aircraft.
The distance from West Palm to Nakina, Ontario is 1500 nautical miles, which is a long way in a small aircraft. The first day of flight landed us in Flint, Michigan where we would spend the night with my daughter and her family. The next day, I checked the weather, said our goodbyes and launched for the Soo, Sault Ste Marie, that is. There we landed and had to wait for customs before we could get out of the plane. Luckily all we had to do was contact them on the radio, answer a couple of questions and we were good to go. Once cleared, we taxied to the FBO (fixed base operator) which is where you fuel the plane and check weather. It was kind of hazy at the time with some rain and a large cell moving towards the airport. If we launched right away we could get out before the rain really came. 3000 foot ceilings and we were good to go, so we headed north. But as we flew along, the clouds kept coming down to where we were scud running. We were flying under VFR flight rules, since I didn't have my instrument rating, which basically means you have to see where you are going and stay out of the clouds. We hugged the shore line of Lake Superior eventually getting pushed down to 500 feet above the ground and it looked like it was getting worse, so we reversed course and headed back to the Soo for the night. After checking with flight services, we discovered the Wawa triangle, which is the normal weather patterns dumping everything into the Wawa, Ontario area. They said it was normal to get low ceilings and fog.
The distance from West Palm to Nakina, Ontario is 1500 nautical miles, which is a long way in a small aircraft. The first day of flight landed us in Flint, Michigan where we would spend the night with my daughter and her family. The next day, I checked the weather, said our goodbyes and launched for the Soo, Sault Ste Marie, that is. There we landed and had to wait for customs before we could get out of the plane. Luckily all we had to do was contact them on the radio, answer a couple of questions and we were good to go. Once cleared, we taxied to the FBO (fixed base operator) which is where you fuel the plane and check weather. It was kind of hazy at the time with some rain and a large cell moving towards the airport. If we launched right away we could get out before the rain really came. 3000 foot ceilings and we were good to go, so we headed north. But as we flew along, the clouds kept coming down to where we were scud running. We were flying under VFR flight rules, since I didn't have my instrument rating, which basically means you have to see where you are going and stay out of the clouds. We hugged the shore line of Lake Superior eventually getting pushed down to 500 feet above the ground and it looked like it was getting worse, so we reversed course and headed back to the Soo for the night. After checking with flight services, we discovered the Wawa triangle, which is the normal weather patterns dumping everything into the Wawa, Ontario area. They said it was normal to get low ceilings and fog.
The next day we got to the airport and checked the weather, which called for rain and fog again. Luckily the briefer suggested we take the southern route, which was to fly along the south edge of the lake and cross over from Houghton, Michigan to Thunder Bay, Ontario. OK, we'll give that a try! It was a very windy and bumpy day, but once we started crossing the lake, it smoothed out, though it was very unnerving crossing that much water in a single engine plane. The Cessna purred along and we made it to Thunder Bay. We kept flying north and the air traffic controller said we would see the runway after the next big hill or very small mountain. We landed without incident, fueled up and checked the weather. The briefer said there was a very large cell with lightning approaching the end of the runway to the west, so we jumped in the plane, got up to 200 feet agl (above ground level) and turned north towards Nakina. We had good instrumentation on board including a Garmin 396 which gave us virtually real time weather. We weaved around the various cells, seeing plenty of lightning, made our way past Geraldton, and spotted Nakina through the haze.
We spent the night at a Nakina bed and breakfast, then got a ride to Leuenbergers' sea base the next morning. From the Nakina Waterdome, we flew on a Turbine Otter float plane 45 minutes to the Kag. Leuenbergers Air Service transports guests to various lakes with their gear, as well as operating as a taxi service. We are limited in the weight of our gear and everything is weighed and calculated for weight and balance of the aircraft.
There's Zach all back of the bus!
I got to ride up front and watch the pilot navigate the rainy and foggy weather at 1500 feet.The Otter uses a swing arm yoke so no dual flight in this baby.
We were delayed in launching because of low ceilings and we still did a little scud running at 1500 feet. It was a very smooth flight and fun with checking out all of the lakes and forest along our route. The only roads we saw were logging roads.
Time to get unloaded with Derek and his friendly team. They took great care of us and were always helpful. Wednesday evening Derek's team offers a fish fry with everyone chipping in a couple of fish. Every dish was delicious and would be the only time that we ate fish. The balance of the meals at the lodge were excellent and our box lunches kept us going for the days of fishing.
Here we are, 'Home Sweet Home' for the next week. Daily maid service made our stay very comfortable. Time to get on the water and wet a
line.
Remember the puzzle reference? I know it is hard to see, but here is a loon in the left center of the picture.
We got to see many bald eagles and other wildlife. And the scenery was fantastic!
I should have been a photographer!
Of course we caught plenty of fish, all keepers! Not as big as our first trip when Zach caught a
41" pike, man that was fun.
The Kag is a very large lake with about 100 miles of shoreline. It is very important to keep a map with you. Maybe next time we will try GPS.
Smooth sailing on a sheet of glass and beautiful blue sky.
The water at the Kag is very clear and you can see some major boulders under the surface. Derek and his team place buoys to mark the boulders close to the surface. It's a lot of fun just to explore the lake and see all of the various areas, such as the river that feeds the lake. You really can't see it all in a week.
We also got a chance to catch some Lakers. Lake Trout are usually pretty deep, anywhere from 30' to 100' down, so we had to use down-riggers to get the lures to the fish. They were fun to catch but we weren't fans of the taste. Maybe need a different recipe. We did love the pike and walleye, good eating!
And then it was time to head home after a week of fishing, boating, and relaxing at the Kag. I titled this last picture 'great adventure' and it was just that, a little northern renewal for the soul.
We spent the night at a Nakina bed and breakfast, then got a ride to Leuenbergers' sea base the next morning. From the Nakina Waterdome, we flew on a Turbine Otter float plane 45 minutes to the Kag. Leuenbergers Air Service transports guests to various lakes with their gear, as well as operating as a taxi service. We are limited in the weight of our gear and everything is weighed and calculated for weight and balance of the aircraft.
There's Zach all back of the bus!
I got to ride up front and watch the pilot navigate the rainy and foggy weather at 1500 feet.The Otter uses a swing arm yoke so no dual flight in this baby.
We were delayed in launching because of low ceilings and we still did a little scud running at 1500 feet. It was a very smooth flight and fun with checking out all of the lakes and forest along our route. The only roads we saw were logging roads.
Here we are, 'Home Sweet Home' for the next week. Daily maid service made our stay very comfortable. Time to get on the water and wet a
line. 
Remember the puzzle reference? I know it is hard to see, but here is a loon in the left center of the picture.
We got to see many bald eagles and other wildlife. And the scenery was fantastic!
I should have been a photographer!
Of course we caught plenty of fish, all keepers! Not as big as our first trip when Zach caught a
41" pike, man that was fun.
The Kag is a very large lake with about 100 miles of shoreline. It is very important to keep a map with you. Maybe next time we will try GPS.
Smooth sailing on a sheet of glass and beautiful blue sky.
And then it was time to head home after a week of fishing, boating, and relaxing at the Kag. I titled this last picture 'great adventure' and it was just that, a little northern renewal for the soul.
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