Today the five of us (and Angus) set off in our old white Nova Craft canoe and brand new Souris River on Meditation Lake. It was a long (1 km) portage from the parking area to the first lake. After an easy sandy put-in, we headed across the lake about 2 km. The water in meditation lake is very green with algae and there are warning signs that the lame water is unsafe to drink even with boiling! Toxin from the algae. We portaged across an easy up and over trail to horseshoe lake. There were two other parties ahead of us heading for the islands so we weren't too hopeful to get a great spot. We also found a mother and daughter pair at a shore site. They told us that one of the other canoes we had seen was with them and they planned on heading to the island if it was open. We paddled to the islands and found that they were in fact there so headed back to the shore site to claim it when they left. Nice little peninsula with good swimming rock.set up camp and had supper and off to bes early.