Short Day, Long Grind On The River

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A “short day” on the Temagami River can still knock the wind out of you. We set out expecting easy miles and found five portages, two line-throughs, low water, and a masterclass in patience instead. Between scraping rental hulls and threading skinny lines through swifts, we had to read the river moment by moment—scout when the tongue vanished, line when rocks stacked too tight, and save our pride for camp. It wasn’t epic in distance, but it was rich in decisions, teamwork, and small wins that add up.

We walk through how low water changes everything: where V’s lie, how eddies give you breath, and why a gentle pillow can signal a lurking boulder. You’ll hear our decision tree for run vs. line, how we split loads on back-to-back portages, and the subtle cues that tell you when to step out and rope the canoe. We also talk mindset—keeping humour when progress crawls, measuring success in clean ferries rather than kilometres, and staying safe without killing the fun. The Temagami River demanded respect; we paid it with caution, conversation, and a few fresh scratches.

The day ends the way river days should: at Greg’s Escape from Reality cabin, warm food on the way, and a quiet room that lets the stories breathe. We share shout-outs to friends like Thunderbox Diaries, compare notes on route choices, and build a few takeaways for your next trip. If you’re planning a canoe route with variable water levels, you’ll pick up practical tips on scouting, lining, and pacing a team through “short” days that aren’t. Hit play, settle in, and then tell us your best trick for tight, rocky swifts.

If you enjoyed the journey, follow along on Instagram, Facebook, BlueSky, YouTube, and Spotify, and send us a note at [e-mail]. Share the episode with a paddling friend, and leave a quick review—it helps more campers find the river.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Good day.
Welcome to Super Good CampingPodcast.
My name is Tim.
And I'm Thomas.
And this is our third trip vlogedition for our Spanish nope.
Tomoganish River.
Tomogamy trip.
Yeah.
Mostly Tomogamy River.
Uh today, today was a slog, man.
I think we did five portages.

(00:21):
Five portages and two linethroughs.
Something like that, yeah.
Crazy.
It's uh foolish leaf.
Somebody said, Oh, it's it's ashort day.
But apparently short and easyare different things.
We didn't go very far, we justspent a lot of time going
distance.
Going there, yeah.

(00:42):
Yeah.
But we did get to do some coolthings, and uh we did still run
some uh some swifts and stuff,yeah, yeah, some rapids.
Uh water levels were a littlelow, so we did a lot of scraping
on Greg's boats.
But you know what they say?
It's a rental.
Drive a little bit rental.

(01:03):
Uh yeah, so we finished up.
I actually have no idea what thetotal total distance of the trip
was.
Try to find it at some point.
Uh, and we're back at Greg's uhGreg's wonderful uh cabin.
Uh Escape from Reality.
Escape from Reality.
We're gonna we're gonna take onemore night.
Yeah, yeah.

(01:24):
Bill from uh Thunderbox Diaries.
Yeah, Thunderbox Diaries.
Uh uh I'm tired of brain's.
That's right.
Uh he's he's gone off to get afew uh things.
We're gonna have a have a mealand uh sit around and yak until
life starts snowing, and then itwill be bedtime.
That will be it.
Yeah, we're gonna we're gonnamake some dinner.

(01:44):
And then I'm probably not farbehind you.
I'll be I'll be asleep prettysoon too.
And then back to this big citytomorrow and uh on on with life
as it is.
Thanks for tuning in.
That's it for us.
Uh you can find us on all thesocial medias, you know,
Instagram, Facebook, Blue Sky.

(02:07):
I feel like we're still on Xsomewhere, YouTube.
If you are watching this, youare on likely on YouTube.
And uh Buzz Sprout, Spotify,email.
Hi at supergoodcamping.com.
That's H I atSupergoodcamping.com.
And uh yeah, we'll talk to youagain soon.

(02:29):
Oh, and don't forget about ourFacebook groups.
Oh, yes, the campfire.
Check that out.
And you'll hear from us nextepisode.
Bye bye.