[URBAN NOTE] "Making the Davenportage"

[rfmcdonald]

Torontoist's Josh Wise writes about the aftermath of the Davenportage, up the length of the old First Nations route that is Davenport Road.

This Sunday marked the second, now annual, Davenportage—a 16.5 kilometre portage from the banks of the Humber River skirting the top of downtown Toronto to the Don River. Yes, that’s right: a trek across a significant portion of Canada’s largest city with a canoe on your shoulders.

My love of all things canoe, Toronto and quirky piqued my curiosity enough to participate in this year’s Davenportage. I was able to convince a few buddies to join and we met the group gathered at Etienne Brule park on the shores of the Humber River just north of Bloor to begin this bizarre journey.

We were met by organizer and Davenportage founder Michael Bumby, who, along with two others, began his journey hours earlier by paddling down the Don River, across the Toronto harbour and up the Humber. Bumby and his crew, already 19 kilometres of paddling into their day, were set to complete their loop back to the Don along with four additional canoes and 19 so-called “historian athletes”, ranging in age from eight to 60.