Update: 7 p.m.
Dave and Daniel arrived safely at the Sault Locks this evening, and had their journal returned to them. Watch for an interview on SooToday tomorrow.
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Original story: 12 p.m.
A chance find on a quiet stretch of beach in Agawa Bay, and a resulting viral social media post has people up and down the shore of Lake Superior keeping an eye out for a pair of paddlers.
Village Media's Jake Cormier, camping in Lake Superior Provincial Park, came upon a waterproof bag containing navigational charts, floating near shore near the mouth of the Agawa River on Thursday.
Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that on the back of the charts was a detailed journal of an epic canoe trip along the coast of Superior starting May 25th from Thunder Bay.
The narrator, believed to be a Dave Gardner from Southern Ontario, celebrated his 65th birthday a few days into the trip. He is making the trip with a Daniel Gardner, believed to be his son.
Upon realizing the value these journals would have to these men, Cormier put the call out on Facebook to try to track these men down so the journals can be returned to them, and further, to ensure that they were safe and the journals were the only thing that went overboard.
The last entry, dated June 12 from Cape Gargantua, ominously began with "The day from hell". The weather that day was foggy and rainy.
Saturday afternoon, Ellen VanLaar reported seeing two men paddle past Old Mamainse Harbour, and Andrew Spooner saw them go past Coppermine Point in a green canoe.
On Sunday, someone in Goulais Bay reported seeing a pair of men go by in a green canoe at about 6 p.m.
"They yelled to us, 'hey do you know who won the basketball championship?', so I stood up and shouted 'we won!' They told us they had been on a paddle from Thunder Bay and had no idea about the outcome of the series!"
While there is no reason to suspect these men are in danger, especially now given these sightings, the OPP have been in touch to try to confirm their safety.
Given the timing of the sightings, they should be pulling into the Sault on Monday or Tuesday. If you should encounter these men, please have them contact Jake Cormier at [email protected] so we can reunite them with their journals.