The Canadian Canoe Pilgrimage I’ve been following has now traversed the Mattawa River to the Ottawa River. (This leg of the journey might have taken a week or more battling the upstream current in spring, when the water was the highest.) Fortunately the pilgrimage is going downstream, which requires a different kind of skill (and perhaps less stamina).
If weather and other logistical concerns don’t alter their plans, the paddlers expect to be in Pembroke, Ontario, Aug. 6 and in Ottawa, Ontario, Aug. 9.
Samuel de Champlain, Jean de Brébeuf and other early European settlers used this route, learned from the Indigenous peoples. Here’s Champlain’s map, from 1612 
(compliments of Wiki)!
Canoe pilgrimage more than halfway there!
