2022 Canoeing Photo Contest
Winners
Once again I can not thank everyone enough for all of the entries in our yearly photo contest. What an amazing collection of locales, adventures and memories. I also want to thank MEC for the donation of some awesome prizes a Kevin Callan for signing a copy of his book. Without further ado…
1st Place - Brad Lee - Haliburton Highlands Water Trails, On
2nd Place - Kristin Jefferies - Natashquan River, QC
3rd Place - Sharon Jardine - Murtle Lake, B.C.
As the 2022 Canoeing season starts to wind down we look back fondly through the trips we've taken... which means it's time for our yearly photo contest!
The rules are simple...
The contest is open to Canadian residents only (I’m terribly sorry to our U.S. and international readers)
The photo must have been taken in 2022
There are no specifics as to what you have to submit. Send us your best photo of you or your family in a canoe, what you spotted while in your canoe, or even a snapshot of you portaging. What ever you like! Be sure to include where you were too.
It’s always hard to choose, but send us only one photo.
Contest ends November 30th. We'll pick three lucky winners as 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. The 1st place winner will get to choose first a single item from the prizes below, followed by 2nd place and 3rd place winners.
You’ll have to the end of the year to claim your prize (we’ll contact you). In the rare chance prizes go unclaimed, they will be entered back into our prize pool.
How do you enter?
Easy! E-mail us a photo, or send it to us on Facebook or Twitter or tag us on Instagram (and give us a like or follow while you're there!)
The Prizes to choose from…
MEC Fulcrum PFD
The MEC Fulcrum PFD has adjustable sides and shoulders, a front zippered pocket with key keeper, one knife attachment point and reflective piping for better night visibility.
MEC Scully Dry Duffle
Unstrapped from a roof rack, tossed in a cargo hold, and splashed onto the floor of a canoe – just another day for this rugged expedition dry bag. The rectangular shape is stable, stackable and makes it easy to find small items. The upper flap unzips to reveal a wide roll-top closure that can be sealed to keep water out, or strapped out of the way for use as a conventional duffle. Multiple lash points let you secure the Scully to any surface.
Autographed copy of Another Bend in the River, the Happy Camper's Memoir
Outdoor author and educator Kevin Callan (aka The Happy Camper) has always suffered from high anxiety. Where did Kevin go to escape this anxiety? He didn't find relief on a psychologist's couch or popping pills. Kevin found it by heading off on wilderness trips. Canoeing has always been the author's favourite mode of travel, but he's also tried other ways of low-impact travel. Backpacking, kayaking, snowshoeing, whatever. As long as he's outside in nature. Wilderness places are sacred; they need to be loved and protected. But they are also places we need to help ward off our growing issues with mental and physical health. This inspiring, often humorous memoir is full of stories of the ways that wilderness can magically transform and heal our lives. Illustrated throughout, this memoir includes sidebars that give camping, paddling and canoeing advice for staying safe in the great outdoors.
The entries so far…
Dawn Langtry - Milky Way and star reflections. August on Grey Lake in Killarney Provincial Park
Ciaran McIlwraith: This year was my first ever canoe and portage trip...I fell in love! Temagami was a great first trip experience and I feel like I won a lottery!
This photo is our last portage...in a mere 2 hours, I will complete my first trip, 28kms of paddling and portages. 4 days and 3 nights. Rain every night, but as soon as we started to paddle, it would stop.
I'm 51, and I feel unstoppable.
Maggie McMichael: Maligne Lake, Jasper AB when my partner and I drove across the country for the first time ever.
Michael Birks: This was me on Source Lake in Algonquin Park. This was close to the end of my Meanest Link trip.
Lisa Raby: Managed to evade the knee deep mud at this Temagami portage! This 14 day trip threw a bunch of curveballs at me, but I learned a ton along the way. Can't wait to see what next summer brings!
David Bain: Paddling into Nagonosh
Dan Dufoe: a pic of my wife and I taken this past summer. This was her first time out in a canoe, she loved it.
Brett Leslie: October 2022 at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park
Kate Humphrys: My good friend and I, both busy moms of young children, made it out to Frontenac Provincial Park for a quick getaway night- best “girls night” ever- relaxing in hammocks as the sun set over Birch Lake.
Rose Honsberger: Restoule Provincial Park
Alice Herculson: Banning Lake near Atikokan ON
Josie Dinsmore: It's a photo of me from this summer, when my mom and I did a little day paddle along the Mattawa River in Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. We were almost back to the boat launch and the water was so calm that evening, it was mirror like and so beautiful!
Gerry Carr: McManus Lake Algonquin Park
Luke Hillyer: Taken on a small lake between Artist Lake and Muriel Lake in Killarney provincial park
Nancy Maddock: George Lake in Killarney PP
Stephanie Rider: Picture of the beautiful towering red pines in Temagami. It is the oldest red pine forest in the world! This area is at risk for logging/mining and a special place like this needs protecting. It had also always been on my bucket list to make my own paddle and now comes with me on every trip!
Paige Hossack: Our cats first camping trip and experience in the canoe. Bon Echo.
Pinaki Bhattacharyya: Being an Astro photographer I love night. There is something very special about it. The entire world changes and becomes totally different. All those mythical creatures, those stories those scary thoughts reappears and you start noticing those faintest of the sounds. A falling leaf becomes a big news and your brain starts processing it like “who is there outside my tent, a bear ? A coyote ? Wolf or a Sasquatch ”.
This night was no different. Quiet (super quiet) night with loon calls , bright shining moonlight. I was waiting and waiting to take Milky Way and then Realized that moon was right on course to destroy my shot and then thought let’s take moon as an advantage.
The moon set was around 2am at night. Before the moon set everything in the wilderness was visible and lit by the moonlight and then the night was on it’s full bloom. Now the Loons suddenly became louder, that haunted feeling started again.
This is what I love about night. It has something special, it has something magical, it’s the night that shows you are not alone in the universe. It’s those stars that reminds you how small you are !!
** I actually had a thought in my mind about canoeing at night and then realized it might be pretty dangerous!!
Lindsie Blencowe: Just a lazy Sunday on Sunday Lake, Algonquin PP
Sara Bittle: I have a Bazillion pictures from my canoe this summer. Me and my dog in my canoe. But this one. This one has me in awe every time I look at it. I had no idea what I looked like till I saw this. Lol
This is a picture of me this summer, August, on Redhorse Lake, part of North Frontenac Parklands. A friend and I were headed to site 6, an island, for a few days. She was on a SUP and snapped this. Me and my dog and All of our gear. :) What was I thinking. Lol. Pack light I said. Clearly I don’t understand the concept.
Andrea Lammie: Algonquin at the end of Ragged Lake, just before the portage to Smoke Lake on our last day. This was only our second backcountry canoe trip. The water was so calm! Then we hit a brutal head wind on Smoke Lake. I was so proud of us making it back to the access point considering we are relatively new to this!
Mike Ku: Kawartha Highlands sunset pic in may. No fancy filters or color correction. Just great timing
Anastasia McDonald: Shot from the canoe as we paddled around the island on our first backcountry trip of the season! Algonquin-Little Island Lake
Will Minnery: Temagami
Marci K: My retirement gift to me. A paddle on the Nahanni in NWT.
Jenny Harmathy: Sunset on Nellie Lake, Killarney Provincial Park
Curtis Weatherell: Bon Echo Mazinaw Lake
Dustin Carey: My dog Jasper is in focus on a perfectly calm, hot day on the Ottawa River
Becky Kavanaugh: As we were preparing to head out on Pyramid Lake in Jasper, a beautiful family of elk strolled past us with no worries at all!
Keri-Ann Ward: The morning after my birthday and also the morning after we had a bull moose stumble into our campsite in the middle of the night. Our dog Willow (pictured) immediately let the entire lake know that something was up. After a brief but scary couple of seconds the moose decided to take an alternate route to its destination! I will never forget this birthday! Location: Burnt Island Lake, Algonquin Park
Amanda Tillmann: Paddling Pen Lake in Algonquin Park. Thanksgiving weekend
Marc LeRiche:
Paul S. Billone: Taken at the end of a late October weekend trip to Misty Lake in Algonquin PP. This is our 75 lb son carrying our 75 lb canoe to the car, with a huge smile nonetheless! Our portages might be pretty different next year.
Ann MacLean Young: Keji Lake
Jeff Thorpe: “Sunrise at South End” - South end of Kingsmere Lake, Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan
Ryan Morin: I’ve been undertaking a multi-year population study on Rainbow Trout in northern BC (with proper permits). Due to the remoteness of the site, the canoe was the best and only vessel for the job. I got a pic of this guy awaiting processing.
Harper Everett: September long weekend at Burnt Island Lake in Algonquin. We paddled out to a small island to watch the sunset.
Michael Bibik: Atikaki park, Manitoba. Obukowin Lake
Cheri Villard: Davidson Lake camped on the Ontario side... fishing and paddling around
Paul Henderson: Twice postponed due to Pandemic .. my son Justin and I as well as two other father son teams (Ethan and Chris) .. (Isaac and Greg) set out in late June 2022 for a four day adventure through the lower lake system of Kejimkujik National Park Nova Scotia.
How fortunate we were to share this time together.
My deepest gratitude are extended to my fellow adventures who were determined that our plan born so many months ago should become reality and in particular to Justin whom I have shared so many of memorable life's moments ...I wish all who set out for adventure (whether physically or imagined) may find the peace of heart and mind that the beauty and quiet of nature can provide.
Stephen Perras: After an amazing year of many canoe trips all across Ontario, my last overnighter of the year was in late October on a small, weekend, solo loop through the Haliburton Highlands. I was trying to find a way from Orley Lake to Little Avery Lake that wasn't on my map. Luckily, I found that there was a portage and I turned behind me to snap a shot of Ranger Pond before I carried my canoe into Little Avery.
It was a fantastic moment in time: the cool air was warming up in the morning sun, a bubbling creek descended to a marsh on my left, the reflection of the rocky forest was on display in the water, I was in the quiet solitude of a solo adventure, and the understanding that it would be my last time for a moment like that until the spring. It wasn't the most spectacular view I had on a trip in 2022, but it was one the most special.
Cedar Eagle: Reindeer Lake, Saskatchewan
Trevor Penney: Medway Lakes Wilderness Area. Nova Scotia
Stefanie Willis: the moon rising over Lake Louisa in Algonquin Park
James V: Scouting the Graveyard Rapids on the Spanish River.
Cindy Wright: Six of us canoe sisters paddled the Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit in British Columbia of August 2022.
We saw Glaciers high in the majestic Caribou Mountain range, lots and lots of beautiful waterfalls. We had day after day of glass water that gave way to mirror reflections, It was so surreal! - Issac Lake
Kanu Torripa: Algonquin Park, Mink Lake
Daniel Anderson: A mid-day break on the Hawkrock River, SK.
Sandy Southichack: Northern Saskatchewan at Barker Lake
Megan Wheaton: Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia
Tom And Cheryl Eyers: Fishhog lake with son and grandson.
Brenda & Jim: Portage C ,stopped for lunch at site 27
Greg Gungner: Two happy to be out guys heading into Naganosh
Marianne Reid: Dees Lake in Temagami (Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater Provincial Park).
Dustin Blais: The last canoe trip of the year with my three boys in October. 2 nights on Norway mountain lake, and 1 night on Killarney lake in Killarney P.P. The weather was amazing, and our time together really meaningful.
Ray Piercy: Portage in spring. NW of Poupore Lake in North Eastern Ontario. It's all good when you have a canoe.
Tyler Toohey: Highwood River, Alberta
John Long: Bottle Lake, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park on June 24. First time with the canoe.
arlo_the.good.dogosaur: Adventuring with my hoomans 🛶 Big Dam Lake, Kejimkujik Park
Mike Marsh: Relaxing at camp on Ell Island in Kejimkujik, Nova Scotia. A misty day giving over to a fabulous sunset. Magic!
Carl Pawlowski: This was taken on crown land just outside the Algonquin Park boundary. It was the first canoe trip with our new puppy who did incredibly well. We also had a family of Common Loons on the lake and was able to get some amazing footage of them. This was taken with my drone from above as I was photographing the beautiful scene from the water.
Keiran Florence:
Dee Helseth: My grandson Bentley and I - Clearwater Lake, NW Ontario….paddling to the pictographs to show the next generation
Udey Singh: Algonquin Opeongo lake
Sarah Blais: We were traveling on Tim River in this photo. We had just finished a 4 night trip to Longbow Lake. This is me and our 11 and 9 year old sons. Not pictured is our 7 year old son, 6 year old daughter, 12 year old pup and my husband.
Janeann Whynot: crossing Kejimkujik Lake, Nova Scotia on a beautiful, very hot afternoon in early August 2022. If you look closely you will see our grandson under the umbrella finding refuge from the unrelenting sun.
Amber Barkhouse: Kejimkujik national park. Job well done installation of a loon nesting platform by park staff and volunteers on lower silver
Morgan Gillies: Waterhen river, SK
Joey McCarron: My wife and I along with my mother and her father and our son a daughter. On Rogers Brook at Kejimkujik National Park. We happened by a family trying to get a group picture standing on the bridge. So we took a pic of them and they in turn took one of us.
Terry Majer: Portaging the trail from Freeland Lake to Killarney Lake.
Ted Johnson:
Melanie Hardy: Kejimkujik
Jennifer Strong-Klefenz: Kejimkujik
Peggy Birr: The Kopka River
John Birr: Wabakimi!
Gerry Carr: McManus Lake Algonquin Park
Tania Gollan: Contau Lake
Christopher Steckly:
Luke Hillyer: Killarney Provincial Park
Mike AndCat Graham: Opalescent lake, Algonquin
Maddi Empey: Kawartha Lakes
Bob Robertson: Kawartha Lakes
Derek So: Rosebary Lake, Algonquin Park
Tom Podsiadlo: Seven Sisters Kopka River, Wabakimi
Talia Silva: midway through a 10 day loop in Algonquin. Packing up the canoes just after one of many portages! We started and ended at the north end of Opeongo (water taxi'd to the start and again on the final day - well worth it)
Tents and Timber: a whitewater canoe trip we did this year down the Noire River in Quebec. We were half way through a class 3 rapid known as 50/50 and the river decided to join us in our canoe.
Chris Harris: Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park this summer. Just before a golden hour paddle on a glass flat lake.
Renel Maillet: That was in front of my garage after a trip to tobeatic,my son was soo happy to see me. In nova scotia
Jim Hendry: Algonquin park, Opeongo Lake, East arm.
John Gall: Lake Meade Arizona in October during a trip to Vegas
Christina Scheuermann: a gorgeous hot summer day in the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails while solo camping on Buckskin lake. There was barely a breath of wind, which made the bugs happy, but it also provided some mirror water for this image of my beautiful H2O canoe. Add in some white puffy clouds, and you end up with a pretty picture.
Susan Kilburn: Paddling across the sky as my brother Tom and I exited Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park
Cassie Pellerin: Our home amongst the stars for the night, captured in French River Provincial Park in August!
Iyebah Fadika: Three generations paddling out in the Salish Sea mid island off of Nanaimo. We paddle with outriggers which is quite a joy to feel the ease of skimming along, our boats full of grandkids, pets and gear returning back from camping.
Amy Des Roches: My daughter Iyebah and our dog Cali paddling across from Nanaimo to Saysutshun Newcastle Island for a camping trip with family. The weather was beautiful! Don’t they look proud of themselves.
Michael Grieve: A fall paddle down the Black River in southern Ontario.
Pete Kuryluk: Canoeing on Comox Lake, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, In the background is the Comox Glacier.
Levi Vu: French River Provincial Park backcountry camping. It was such a greatest trip I ever had, everything was beyond all my imagination.
Laura Thompson: Here’s some good old loons. Blueberry lake, Temagami.
Jennifer Hall: My name is Jen and I was very proud to take 12 of my grade 12 students to Kejimkujik Sept 2022. Many of the students had never slept in a tent, paddled a canoe or cooked over a fire. They successfully did this for 3 days all while supporting each other. There were ups and downs, as expected, but I was so proud of them for challenging themselves and working together- and having fun!
Steven Martin: Philip Edward Island
Sage: Squamish, B.C.!
Luz Meyer: a week long trip on nanika-kidprice provincial park in BC
Sylvia Jager: A beautiful spring paddle on the Eramosa River in Guelph, Ontario.
Khai Toh: Nottawasaga River close to Edenvale, Ontario.
Sharon Jardine: Murtle Lake. Amazing log sitting picnic with legs in lake cooling off on such a hot sunny summer day! Bees and frogs in the area. Calm waters, no wind and delightful surroundings! A glorious 5 night 6 day trip in the family’s old Chestnut. We were blessed with all the beauty that Murtle has to offer and the great weather was a bonus!
Coral: This is my 10 year old son this September camping via canoe in salt lake on the north side of Prince Rupert harbour. Salt lake was once a popular swimming and recreation destination in the early days of Prince Rupert, A provincial park was established in 1925 however interest in the area waned after the Second World War when a highway was built allowing land access to neighbouring communities. The area is no longer a park but the remains of cabins and equipment can still be found in among the moss and trees.
Emily Cole: on the headwater lakes of the upper Stikine River this year.
Steve Thompson: This photo was taken one morning while my buddy and I completed “The Meanest Link”. We had camped on a small rocky island on the Big East River. We were wiped after wading up stream all day. When I woke up in the morning, I rolled over to see this. And it’s been my favourite canoe photo this year.
Jim Durnford: Sand Point Next on Slocan Lake BC this summer. It was also Izzy's first backcountry adventure with us.
Emmett: Solo trip Bowron Lake Canoe Circuit August 2022 with a moody sky.
James Brown: Fall Sunrise in the Kawarthas
Patrick MacLachlan: Tom Thomson Lake during a 5 day solo circuit in Algonquin Park
Rich Eady: Afternoon paddle around the aptly named Emerald Lake. (North-East of North Bay, ON)
Brad Lee: small sheltered cove and canoe landing area of Site 71A on Gun Lake in the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails. It was early October and warmer water temperatures mixing at the surface with frigid air created long mornings of thick mists lifting off the lake.
I remember paddling in from Herb Lake in shorts and shirt sleeves, then precipitously overnight the temperature touched zero with a windchill to -5C, requiring every extra layer we had to keep warm.
Connor Furneaux: Paddling though Mini Gate on the Pı̨́ı̨́p'enéh łéetǫ́ǫ́ Deé (Broken Skull River)
James D McMahon: A heavy fog rolled in on us when out on Dunlop Lake in Algoma.
Kristin Jefferies: This is an unedited and spontaneous photo of the final night of our canoe trip on the Natashquan River, QC in August 2022. The river flows south through traditional Innu territory and means where one hunts bear; fitting since we saw more than eight black bears cruising the sandy shorelines.
Deryck Robertson: Fishing day on Lake Opeongo.
Sean Pedersen: Killarney
Derek So: Astrophotography of the Milky Way at Rosebary Lake, Algonquin
Larry Hilborn: Vixen Lake, Kawartha Highlands
Kevin Drysdale: Nice little day trip on the North side of Algonquin Park. Was even blessed to see a young bear swimming along the shore on the way back.
Keith Columbus: Nipissing River
Brian Wall: McCoy Island, Georgian Bay
David Queroub: Ice out
Tim Good:
Jo Berger: Grand lake
Johnson DiCola: Was out and about last weekend
Gino Santi: My home refinished “Bob Gainey #23”
Jenna Stevens: Nice Cast - action shot!!! Samuel De Champlain Provincial Park.
Fiona Burdon: Three Mile Lake, Algonquin
Jeff Graham: Algonquin park
Jenny McKinnon: Sunset on Nellie Lake, Killarney
David Watson: Algonquin Park Aug 16th Amable du fond river
Kris Gross: That time five dudes and I completed the Bowron Lakes circuit. 116km, 7 portages, 6 days, 4 bears, 2 birthdays, and 2 tiny humans. I’ll be telling the stories from this trip for years to come. Thank you crew for an absolutely incredible time! ✨
Nancy A Bartok: Algonquin Park
Jane Michaud: Nope, the photo isn’t upside down. It was a one nighter but much needed last September weekend at Whitefish Lake in Algonquin. The water was glass and the reflection amazing.
Shaggy Shades: Somewhere near timmins
Danny M: Harry Lake
Anabelle Bray: Kiosk Lake August 2022. We did the Erables lake loop. Tobi my 8y Border Collie loving the canoe!
Pete Dinsmore: Rain Lake, Algonquin.
Brock Gillespie: Puk also
Kristina Alkabani: Lake Superior
Todd Swanton: Stratton Lake, Algonquin Park. 6 Scouts, 5 days, one heck of an adventure!! #scoutsdostuff
Jesse Stanson: Killarney
Andrew Paton: Haliburton Area
Steph Lara: All tuckered out after hiking Silver Peak in Killarney Provincial Park, ON
John Long: Bottle Lake, Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.
Wendy Chang: Killarney
Koen Tholhuijsen: French River
Rob Gold: Sunset Kokoko lake, Temagami
Beth Shallhorn: A scenic paddle down Barron canyon
Ally Billings: Complete fog @ Massasauga
Heather Kiely: After heavy rains...Grundy area
Rhonda McMahon:
Chris Shelly:
Mike Lortie:
Brad Tremblay:
Erika Blakeman:
Nathan Pray:
Stephen Patenaude:
William Minnery: south end of Obabika lake
Ken Cox:
Tim Heyland: Noganosh PP
Richard Helmy:
Marsha Lee:
Brent Powers:
Paul Bisson:
Christina Niergarth:
Omer Stringer: Chasing the sunset at the end of September. My 75 year old dad backcountry camping for the first time, as my son sterns a canoe for an entire trip for the first time. My son is scouting for a site with binoculars in this photo. Algonquin
Cathy Redden-Thomas: Kejimkujik
Emma: A sunset fall solo paddling practice on Upper Campbell lake
