Sask. paddlers return for canoes left behind last month after fleeing wildfire

A group of canoeists has finally recovered the vessels they left behind in northern Saskatchewan after being forced to cut their trip short due to a nearby forest fire last month.

The eight canoeists were partway through their 21-kilometre journey on Clearwater River, as part of a 10-day trip early last month, when smoke began billowing around them. 

They had set up camp at Rendezvous Lake when helicopters began flying in the area. One of them landed, and someone came to advise them of a large forest fire that was only a few kilometres away. 

"They happened to spot our tent, so we were pretty lucky because that whole area might have gone up in flames that night," said canoeist Kathy Jones.

"But unfortunately we did have to leave our canoes and gear."

They were taken to a nearby lodge where they stayed for a few days, hoping to be able to return for the canoes. But when they realized the forest fires were only getting more out of control, they made their way home.

Four of the canoeists left early in the morning of July 24, with a plan to retrieve the canoes. They hoped to tow them out using quads and trailers, but trails were extremely muddy and difficult to find. They ended up setting up a camp about two-thirds of the way to the canoes. 

"The really eerie part was when we got near the canoes, about two and a half kilometres away down the trail, it had all burned," said Jones. "It was just really scary thinking that we could have been in the middle of all of that."

Their canoes came within inches of burning, and Jones is grateful for a helicopter pilot who dropped down and dragged them to a wet, grassy area. 

After realizing that they wouldn't be able to use the quads to get the canoes through the muddy areas, they decided to call a man from La Loche who had a boat. He was able to take all four canoes to the hamlet of Clearwater Lake and look after them for the night. 

The group made their way back to the quads and spent another night at camp, and retrieved the canoes from the community the next day. 

"In the end, we did get everything fully recovered and we're happy. We're safe. We weren't in the middle of that fire," Jones said. 

Jones and the rest of the team are grateful for the help of people in La Loche, and said that they couldn't have finished their mission without them.