The Plan: Source to Salt

The last post was kind of heavy, and mostly canoe expeditions are great fun, so I wanted to move along with a new post....two in one day. This painting is "Devil's Cap Falls" August 30, 2001; 16"x 28" acrylic, on the Missinaibi River. The Missinaibi flows for 300 miles from a bit north and east of Lake Superior to its confluence with the Mattagami, where they form the Moose. The Moose flows for 50 miles to Moosonee (the largest town in Canada unconnected to civilization by road), and another 10 miles to James Bay. I had paddled the upper (southern -- it flows north) part of the river three times, variously with my father, brother and ex-wife. I had wanted to paddle the entire river for several years, but something always seemed to come up.

"Devil's Cap Falls" acrylic by Rob Mullen

Finally in the fall of 2000 I decided I was going come heck or high water; I wasn't getting any younger, though at 44 I was still reasonably strong and fit. The Missinaibi flows across remote country on the Canadian Shield to the small town of Mattice, Ontario where the northern spur of the Trans Canada Highway crosses. North of Mattice the real wilderness starts, with no access to humanity until the Cree village of Moose River, 170 miles away. 35 miles north of Mattice, the river dramatically plunges off the Shield onto the Hudson Bay Lowlands through Thunderhouse Gorge.

At the reception for Art of the Animal Kingdom in June of '01, fellow Vermont artist John Pitcher asked if he could come. He is a highly regarded painter but had little whitewater canoeing experience. However, he has extensive experience in wilderness travel and being a Vietnam combat veteran, I figured he'd be up to about anything. As you can see above, he can paint. That is a self portrait he did of a rapid he changed his mind on and let me run both boats.

I had planned on going alone and only had a solo canoe that was good for wilderness travel, so we needed another boat. I had paddled a Mad River Courier for years and Mad River Canoe Company was a local Vermont company (just bought out by Confluence Water Sports at about that time), so I called them up hoping for a discount on a demo or something. Got the President on the phone and he offered to give us two new canoes...GIVE! I was shocked. Mad River Canoe Company has sponsored me ever since.
"Change of Mind" acrylic by John Pitcher

John and I had a tough time with very low water which created numerous rocky rapids where normally the current was smooth, and made many of the known rapids difficult because of the narrow rocky passages such as in John's painting. We had a good time though and the river was beautiful even if rough going. We made it to Mattice in 9 days; 130 miles. In Mattice John decided to head home. He was having great difficulty with his hands going numb from the constant and difficult paddling....... a disconcerting malady for a painter. I tussled with my qualms about going on alone over beers in the local bar. After 3 bottles (or so) I decided to continue. It had been one thing to bravely talk of going solo at dinner parties and show receptions. Actually facing the prospect of being alone in a total wilderness for 170 miles was a different matter. But Mad River Canoe Co. was supporting the trip and I had gotten a magazine to promise a story of nationally known artists going from Source to Salt on a deep wilderness river to the Arctic Ocean. Somehow I didn't think it would bode well for continuing these trips (as I was already dreaming of) if both of us went home early. Some fool had to finish it.