Gallery · The Red Canoe

The Red CanoeViolette & Stan · 2026

The Gallery

Four days on the water.

We paddled the Petite boucle Chochocouane in four days and three nights, July 8 to 11. Rain on the first day, sun on the third, black flies on the last. The photos run in order, from the drive north to the take-out. Click any one to open it full-size, or use the arrow keys.

Getting there · July 7

The red Mad River canoe strapped to the roof of a grey Honda CR-V in a driveway.

Violette standing beside the car and canoe on a Montréal street with a backpack on.

Violette driving on a forested highway with the GPS on the dashboard screen.

Day 1 · July 8 · Put-in to the first camp

Violette in a sun hat and blue life jacket beside the loaded canoe at the launch, holding a paddle.

Stan and Violette in hats and life jackets at the launch, forest behind them.

The empty canoe at a portage landing next to yellow SEPAQ portage and rapids signs.

Stan wading barefoot through a shallow rocky river, guiding the loaded canoe by its bow line.

Stan wading down a rocky stream leading the red Mad River canoe by a rope, a large pack on his back.

Violette wading and leading the loaded canoe across a calm dark stretch of water under a heavy sky.

View from the stern of Violette paddling in the bow across an open lake under dramatic grey clouds.

A rainbow arcing over the spruce treeline at dusk in soft pink light.

Orange and lavender sunset clouds reflected in a calm lake with a rocky shore in front.

Stan and Violette in rain jackets at camp, a glowing sunset sky reflected on the water behind them.

Day 2 · July 9

A cow moose and her calf walking the far shore of a lake, dark spruce forest behind them.

The red canoe pulled up on a rocky shore of a still lake on a misty grey morning.

A mirror-calm lake at dusk reflecting the treeline and clouds.

Day 3 · July 10

The empty canoe on a forest portage trail leading down to a sunlit lake, Violette resting at the water's edge.

Violette mid-jump off a bank with exposed tree roots, a SEPAQ campsite sign above.

The loaded canoe tied up on a fern-covered bank beside rapids under a blue sky.

Stan standing beside the canoe on a sandy lakeshore beach under a bright sky.

The empty canoe beached on a rocky shore, blue sky and clouds reflected in a calm lake.

The red Mad River Explorer canoe beached under overhanging spruce, calm water stretching behind.

Day 4 · July 11 · To the take-out

View from the stern of Violette paddling in a bug head net, gear packed in the canoe.

Stan paddling with a bent-shaft paddle, a calm blue lake and forest behind, clear sky.

Stan and Violette both paddling in bug head nets down a calm river toward the take-out.

Through Violette's lens

Violette carried her own camera. She came back with the wildlife and the quiet light the rest of us missed.

Violette and Stan paddling a calm dark lake, both in hats and life jackets, forest behind them.

View from the stern of a paddler in the bow crossing a calm blue lake under a clear sky, gear packed in the canoe.

The red Mad River canoe pulled up on a sandy shore of a glassy blue lake at camp.

Low water-level view across a lake with lily pads in the foreground and the sun low over the trees.

A bald eagle perched in a tall dead spruce against a blue sky.

A female merganser duck swimming with her ducklings past a reedy shoreline.

A green northern leopard frog on the forest floor among leaves.

Two white admiral butterflies, dark with white bands, resting on rocky ground.

A yellow SEPAQ portage sign with a canoe-carry symbol nailed to a cedar trunk.

Inside the mosquito shelter: the blue food barrel, a stove, and a freeze-dried meal pouch on a lap.

Violette and Stan under the mosquito shelter at a wet forest camp, a fire ring outside.

The mesh ceiling of the shelter covered in mosquitoes and black flies from outside.

A vivid orange sunset over a calm lake with spruce silhouettes and a rocky shore.

A tall spruce silhouetted against a soft pink and blue dusk sky over a still lake.