De Pan

Mystery Canoe Paddle Tripping Map

A post by JClearwater on the WCHA forums documented a mystery canoe paddle with a tripping route painted on the blade. This antique paddle was traced back to an estate sale with unfortunately no details known by the original owner

From the throat down to the mid section of the blade are vertical letters spelling out "CANADA"  with a faded "63" on the tip so the obvious assumption is that the trip map is from somewhere in this country's vast paddling network during a trip in 1963.

It is longshot, but the new owner is hoping someone might recognize the route based on the shape of the lakes and a few marked rapids. Note that on the far right there is an orientation arrow pointing north so the horizontal images of the photos reveal the rough layout of the route.
Possible campsites are identified with a circled X and a straight line denotes a portage connecting the two lakes on the far right.

Here is the full image of the blade...



For more detail, additional photos have broken down the paddle into sections from throat to tip...








Apparently JClearwater wrote an article about the paddle that appears in the December 2016 issue of Wooden Canoe Journal. I haven't received my copy yet to get any more details but will update when it arrives in the mail.

So far on the original thread, the best guess seems to be Rob Stevens with the Magnetewan River Circuit but it doesn't seem to be a perfect match. The owner is offering a cold lager at the 2017 Wooden Canoe Assembly as a reward to the successful researcher who can solve this mystery.