I had not canoed French Bay since about the 29th of October, 2008 so I was happy to have this chance. As you can see from the one photo the Marsh Marigolds were in full bloom. The water was clear enough that I could see the Yellow Water Lily, reddish looking leaves, emerging on the bottom of the lake.
For this paddle I canoed along the west shore of French Bay and then around the point and followed the shoreline past Pelican Rock. I didn't quite make it all the way to the mouth of Long Bay before I turned back. Naturally I had a calm day to do this but I did not want to push my luck. As it turned out a bit of a breeze did pick up but it did not cause me any problems.
I was struck by the amount of refuse that collects along the shoreline of the lake. Plastic garbage of all sorts and aluminum cans. I picked up some of it but there was lots that I couldn't reach. This can not be healthy for the plants and animals that live in the lake. You have to paddle the shoreline to fully appreciated how much garbage there is so I feel that perhaps people in power boats have less of a sense as to the amount of refuse is getting into the lake.
As a rule I do not make many notes about these activities and so I am relying on my memory recall a lot for what I observed. Beavers in the back bays of French Bay. A whole host of waterfowl, Grebes for sure. An Eagle on the first point coming out of the bay.
Total trip 13.1 km
Moving time 3 hours 20 min
Stopped time 24 min
My moving average was 3.9 km/hr
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