These two paintings were inspired by my  first Algonquin experience.

A twenty-eight day canoe trip up the western boarder from Canoe then across to Kiosk, Brent and back down to Opeongo.

I was 17, it was 1962 and me and my fellow CITs  from the rather tough YMCA Camp Wangoma were in heaven.

The  Western boarder at that time was not well mapped for canoe routes. Our mandate was to

was to check it out for future Wangoma challenge trips.

We did not see a soul from Butt to around North Tea. We did however have eight mile portages, discovered relics from the past including what seemed to be a deserted POW camp and the meandering slow South R of 100 ‘ox-bow’ turns.

The rest of the trip seemed easy, not that it was but we had toughened up. It changed my life.

God bless the shimmer and reflections of a northern lake.

R Prouse