We are confident in saying 15" of rain over the course of July! Although...we did a few nice days in what felt like an eternity of rain!
There were some great guests and friends through camp and over to Wathaman Outpost this month. The Dixon group from Saskatoon are serious about fishing Wathaman. They come in for a week and cover the majority of Wathaman lake to find their big trophy pike and boy did they deliver me some beautiful monster pike pictures. They currently have the Davin Lodge record for 2018 and you can see her picture under 2018 pics!
We had a couple good friends come up to stay with us towards the middle of the month....just as the rains and storms started. Tons of rain in multiple storms passed through...the lodge windows bowed under the 90km/h gusting winds...swamped boats washouts on the runway and huge trees blown down in camp.
We took advantage of any nice days and scooted over to the portage and Wathaman to bail and move boats multiple times....
but then we took advantage of the lakes rising and went up the Pink River to Collins Rapids. The multiple narrows are generally very shallow and rocky, we had planned to take the zodiac but with the amount of rain, we were able to take a 14' Lund with a 15Hp (and a spare prop). The falls were beautifully secluded, leaving us privileged to witness them this year. There is little tourism venturing that far out into the wilderness to see them...multiple canoe groups frequent the Pink River, Collins Rapids and Wathaman Lake on what I'm told are 30-day excursions! The portage around Collins Rapids is overgrown but still used yearly. We were lucky to be able to take the kids and our friends over to see that part of our playground...it was a wonderful day full of site seeing and enjoying good company!
The end of the month finished off with more rain and wind, but the skies parted the day before our annual bus trip which allowed us to check out shore lunch and find this destruction by a bear who probably had a tummy ache!
There was beautiful weather for our annual bus trip from Melfort and Prince Albert. It was extra special for me because my oldest sister and her best friend were on the bus and she is the first member from MY family to see our beautiful summer home and the surroundings.
Charlie's Charters from Tisdale SK provides the safe and reliable transportation to and from Davin Lodge year after year. Many of the guests were returning fisherman...Humbolt Strong and full of Rider Pride...and it was nice to see their familiar faces. Lots of good laughs and fun had by all. The fishing was a little tough due to the amount of rain we had and the amount the lake had risen, but in the end the walleye fishing was hot and they brought in quite a few beautiful trout too!
We normally get a big group picture in front of the bus before it leaves, but it started to downpour and everyone bailed on....until next year all! Super big thanks to everyone for joining us on the bus trip this year...tentative dates for 2019 July 25-28. I will confirm things in October when I get home.
