I had the good fortune today to be part of the Kirk Wipper Portage, which was a tribute event to Kirk Wipper, who was the founder of the Canadian Canoe Museum, and a huge influence on a generation of canoers and campers. I never personally had the pleasure of knowing him, but was aware of his influence on the sport of canoeing in Canada.
Andy Forgrave asked me last week if I’d be interested in taking part in this tribute which consisted of teams of volunteers portaging a canoe from Hart House at U of T to the Canoe Museum. A distance of 130 kms over 4 days. It sounded like a great event and tribute, and I agreed to help. Andy sent out a few more emails and he assembled a small team of families to pull off our section. In the end, we carried the canoe about 6 kms, and most of the crew carried it solo, including some of the sons on our team. They were all super troopers and did an amazing job. The route started up HWY 7 just west of Peterborough and took us into town where we passed off the boat to the next crew who headed down the busy Lansdowne Street to the museum. The above picture is me on the shoulder of HWY 7. Not a typical portage trail to be sure. 
We were joined by Alana Callan and 6 year old Kyla who became the youngest member of the portage team. It was such a cool moment when Kyla rested the canoe on her head and headed down the street with her mom. Truly a rockstar!
Makes you realize the kind of things that are important and leave a lasting impact.
Thanks to Andy for seeing and seizing the opportunity for the rest of us!
More pics on my Flickr stream here.
Powered by Qumana
Thanks so much for helping out on the portage….just a couple of things to add: Kyla was the youngest to portage the canoe….and in the same final section there was also the oldest person too (82 years young)….this portage was great way to pay tribute to Kirk….thanks to Neil and Tim for hanging in for the whole route….a huge thanks to Swift Canoes for donating the canoe….and to Badger Paddles for donating the paddle everybody got to sign
Thanks for the info Mike. And you’re absolutely correct, huge thanks to the organizers and sponsors. Wonderful event!