Canoe trip Stories

It was time to take a break from paddling. We had been in the canoe for a few hours and needed a place to stretch our legs and relax before continuing on our journey. I had a stringer full of fresh fish to cook up for lunch and just needed to find a suitable place on the shore to do it. For years my wife Anna and I had discussed exploring this chain of lakes and had finally found the time to do it. After a four-hour drive...

Dara sat near the edge of the lake, looking out between two white birch trees at the flotilla of canoes moving away from the island. The visit with her mother had helped, numbing the pain with touches of anger that had gripped her the day before, but certainly not erasing it. Watching Chase lead his friends across the lake brought some of the sting right back. Thirty years old and I’m acting like a schoolgirl being ignore...

The honking calls of geese sounded from overhead, a prelude to their splashdown on the lake some distance away. In the circular pool, large, dark shapes cruised just below the shimmering surface of the water. Here and there, a fin or tail appeared, giving further hints of the exceptional size of the fish that dwelled in the secluded pool. The sun shown down bright and warm, slowly evaporating the dew that clung to the lea...

Sitting around the fire at Wade’s camp that evening, Mara glanced at her furiously blushing father and stifled a laugh. Her great uncle continued the story, much to her father’s chagrin. “Now, I didn’t see Steve’s gallantry, so I had no idea what was going on when I paddled up. There he was, standing on the bank holding his paddle planted in the ground like a knight with a lance, lookin’ for all the world like he’d thrash...

Wearing a half-hearted smile, Mara looked out over the lake, trying to enjoy the beauty of the Minnesota morning. The laughter of a loon in the distance accompanied an earthy smelling breeze that rustled her golden blonde hair. Mara’s arm whipped, and the flat stone she held skipped out across the water, surpassing her earlier toss by several hops. Just around the bend of the shore, she heard her younger brother whoop, he...