- Camp Wapomeo on Canoe Lake
Algonquin
Journal - 2008
Algonquin Provincial
Park,
July/August
2008
As Chaz and I headed up Canoe Lake, the weather couldn't decide what to do. The sun kept trying to fight its way out from behind the steel-gray curtain of clouds, but it couldn't quite make it. Chaz and I had just embarked on a weeklong journey into Algonquin Provincial Park. We had driven up the day before from Ohio and spent the night at the Tea Lake car campground. This morning we had packed up, called our wives and families for the last time for a week, and headed out by 9:00.
During the paddle up Canoe Lake, Chaz tried his luck at fishing and caught a few smallmouth bass as we passed cottages and summer camps along the way. We had heard that the 295-meter portage to Joe Lake can be quite busy, but it was empty when we arrived. We passed a few people while we made the easy portage. At the put-in to Joe Lake, we came upon a guy, using paddles as crutches, who told us that he had nearly amputated a toe with an axe! The portage is around a dam, so Chaz tried fishing the rapids but with no success.
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As we made our way up Joe Lake, fishing along the way, we heard encouraging news from other canoeists that the water was high and that we would be able to wade and paddle the next two portages (165 meters and 435 meters). Sure enought, after we paddled through Little Joe Lake, we were able to walk, paddle and pull the Folbot over a beaver dam on our way up the creek to Baby Joe Lake. Chaz and I agreed that this creek was one of the most beautiful that we have paddled. It is narrow and winds around among grasses, alders, and large trees. Partway along the creek, we came to Lost Joe Lake (which would be missed if taking the 435-meter portage) and then to Baby Joe Lake, a nice, small lake that has only one campsite on it. We figured that would make it an attractive lake for us to stay at on our way back out of the park.
We pressed on to the 200-meter portage to Burnt Island Lake and cooked up Mountain House "Chili Mac with Beef" (excellent) for lunch. A brief downpour hit us while we ate, but quit as we made the short portage. This portage, as well as one that we skipped, has impressive wooden steps built at one end. Chaz and I had never paddled one of these more popular routes before and had never seen such "cushy" portages!
As we paddled up Burnt Island Lake, we had our eyes set on two opposite peninsula sites at the first narrows as you head up the lake. Both sites were taken, however, but we found a great elevated campsite just to the west of the western peninsula site. From the water, the site looked average, but upon landing, we found that it opened up into a very large site with an elevated tent pad.
After setting up camp (it was just 3:30), we relaxed, read, wrote, fished, and napped. The nice, stiff breeze that had acted as a tailwind to push us down the lakes today, now kept the black flies at bay. What a fantastic afternoon! Then, while walking around camp after my nap, I gashed my big toe on something sticking up out of the ground. I took out the medical kit and quickly had myself patched up. From then on, I needed to make sure it didn't get infected from walking in the lake, river, and marsh water.
As I prepared Backpacker's Pantry "Jose's Chicken and Mole Sauce" (very good) for supper, Chaz went fishing and came back with a smallmouth bass to add to our meal. Boy, was it good! Nothing else tastes quite like fish pulled out of the lake just twenty minutes before!
Shortly after supper, the mosquitoes came out in full force, and we retired to the tent. During the evening, the sky cleared off mostly and gave us a nice view of the stars. We headed to bed around 10:30, and just as they had done all day long, loons called throughout the night. What a fantastic sound!
When I awoke this morning, Chaz told me about a 4-lb smallmouth bass that he caught and released from our campsite while I was still asleep. It's too bad he didn't wake me up, because it would have made quite a picture! After breakfast of oatmeal and a warm bath with water heated over the fire, we packed up and headed out by 9:30.
As we headed down the lake toward the 790-meter portage to Little Otterslide Lake, we were surprised to see many other canoes headed in that direction. We figured many people would have made Burnt Island Lake a destination lake. As we paddled under a sullen, cloudy sky with temporary mist showers coming down, we joined twelve canoes all arriving at the portage at about the same time. Organization reigned, however, and we all got our gear over in about an hour. The portage trail was in good shape, but it got rocky at the other end. During the portage, several people asked and commented about our Knu-pac portage frame and the Folbot. At the portage, Chaz and I met campers from Camp Ahmek paddling three beautiful orange cedar canoes.
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As on the previous day, the sun kept trying to come out, but to no avail. We made our way down Little Otterslide Lake, through a beautiful waterlily-lined creek, and onto Otterslide Lake as sporadic showers came down and a stiff headwind tried to blow us backward. A small island campsite near the portage to Otterslide Creek intrigued us, but it was alreay occupied. We decided to look at the two campsites (both unoccupied) on the big island. When we arrived at the more northern of the two sites, we loved it! It is big and spacious, has great views of the lake, and has an incredible amphitheater-like firepit set up behind a huge granite boulder. Chaz couldn't wait to make one of his specialty fires!
We had made it to the campsite by 1:00, so we made lunch of Mountain House "Lasagna with Meat Sauce" (excellent) and set up camp. Chaz and I noticed that the campsite was full of mushrooms: several types of russulas, amanitas, Indian pipes, and many others we couldn't identify. We had been told before entering the park that it had been a cool and wet summer, and so far we had noticed many more mushrooms on the trip than usual. During our lunch, the three canoes (with three paddlers each) from Camp Ahmek made their way to the other campsite on the big island. Algonquin Park rules state that no more than nine people may stay on a campsite. This originated from the tradition of the summer camps traveling in groups of three canoes with three paddlers each.
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Chaz and I followed our own tradition of loafing (taking pictures, writing, reading, napping, inspecting the map, etc.) around camp in the afternoon. Later we took a hike to the high point of the island. There was a great view from the top cliffs, and I wished that I had brought my camera up with me. We also discovered rock-cleft caves very near our tent site. This is a great site and an interesting island!
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For supper we had Mountain House "Polynesian Chicken" (very good), and then we paddled out to try some fishing (no luck). All during the afternoon, Chaz had been collecting firewood, and he built a great roaring fire as the sun went down. We laid out by the fire on our Therma-rest pads and watched the stars come out and listened to the loons. Eventually sleep and the tent called to us around 10:30.
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Eager to attack the five-portage day ahead, Chaz and I arose around 7:15, ate breakfast, packed up, and were out of camp by 8:15. We seemed to be the first people to the portage for the day, but we were joined by other groups (many campers from Camp Wapomeo and Camp Ahmek among others) throughout the series of portages. Many of the campers were traveling light and quickly passed us by as they single portaged.
The first three portages (250 m, 390 m, and 265 m) are relatively flat (albeit rocky) portages separated by short stretches of Otterslide Creek. In between these three and the next two is a seemingly interminable, meandering, but beautiful stretch of Otterslide Creek as it wanders back and forth across a marsh. Quite often we would paddle 500 meters to achieve 10 meters of progress! During this section, and in fact during the whole of Otterslide Creek, we encountered numerous beaver dams and lodges. Some of the dams we had to pull over while others we were able to charge over with a little pushing from our paddles (this was possible because we were going downstream with the current). The 730-meter portage was not fun; it seemed longer than 730 m, went up and down some steep steps, and was loaded with black flies and mosquitoes! Chaz and I were pretty tired by the end of it.
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Before continuing on, we ate Alpine Aire "Honey Mustard Chicken" (fair). After a short paddle, we tackled the last and shortest portage of the day, the 105-meter one to Big Trout Lake. This seemingly easy-length portage is almost straight down. Chaz and I agreed that it wouldn't be fun going up the other way on our way out! The portage bypasses a scenic waterfall that we paddled up to after completing the carry. The tannin-laden waters rushed and tumbled over blocks of granite creating one of the largest and most beautiful waterfalls that I have seen in Algonquin.
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From there, it was a short paddle out into Big Trout Lake and to a site that we liked. We decided on a site on a small peninsula on the northwest point of the large peninsula jutting north from the southeast part of Big Trout Lake. The site features a tent site at the top of the peninsula with a magnificent view of the lake! After unloading and setting up camp, we laid our weary bodies down and took a well-deserved nap!
Our naps refreshed us some, and our supper helped some more. We ate Mountain House "Macaroni and Cheese" (excellent) and Alpine Aire "Black Bart Chili" (excellent). After supper we fished, read, wrote, and enjoyed the view from the point of the peninsula. The angular, granite-block point extends out into the lake and provides an excellent place from which to survey the surrounding natural splendors. Attached to the granite by large, gnarled roots is a red pine bent like a bonsai by the harsh growing conditions on the point. What a grand campsite!
Later we read in the tent until about 10:00 and fell asleep to the ubiquitous calls of the loons.
Chaz and I arose to a nice sunrise (from our site we could see both sunrise and sunset). Chaz tried his luck at fishing, and then we ate our usual breakfast of oatmeal. By then, our usual steel-gray overcast had moved in. When a light, misty rain began to fall, we retired to the tent for some loafing (hey, what are layover days for?)!
After lunch of Backpacker's Pantry "Cajun Chicken" (very good - excellent), Chaz fished, and I took the boat out to filter water and paddle around. While I was out, a loon came up to about thirty feet away and stayed close to the boat for awhile. The beautiful bird eventually dove and surfaced much farther away. Later, when Chaz and I got ready to go swimming off the rocks at the point, a group of five loons swam around the peninsula (more than I thought I had seen together before).
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After a very refreshing swim (we estimated the water temperature at about 15° C (about 60° F)), we dried off and warmed ourselves around a fire. More loafing followed! It was great to have a rest day!
In the late afternoon, while we read in the tent, Chaz and I heard the distant rumbling of thunder. As it grew closer, it resounded off the surrounding hills, rumbling down the lake! Soon after we had quickly battened down our campsite, the storm unleashed a fury of lightning and rain! We huddled in the tent during the onslaught, and soon the storm passed.
When things had settled down, Chaz and I enjoyed an excellent meal of Mountain House "Turkey Tetrazzini". Chaz then tried some fishing while I took some pictures of the lake at sunset. Shortly thereafter, mosquitoes and a horde of devilish no-see-ums drove us into the tent to read and write for the rest of the night. We got to sleep around 10:00 with a brilliant show of lightning to the north as a backdrop.
Chaz and I decided that we should visit the marsh that lies on the route to Merchant Lake. We hoped to see a moose, so we got up relatively early (7:00), ate some oatmeal for breakfast, and set off. We paddled our way across Big Trout Lake under another steel-gray sky with a cold wind blowing at our quarter from behind. Chaz threw a line in along the way, but he had no bites. Once in the large marsh, we were surrounded by pickerelweed, waterlily, cattail, and other flowers, grasses, and sedges (but no moose!). Way back in the narrow waterway, we found a serene world that was both beautiful and relaxing.
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After paddling for awhile and Chaz doing some fishing, we headed back to camp. On the way out of the marsh we met several canoeists who asked hopefully if we had seen any moose. By this time, the wind had picked up a bit and was throwing one-foot waves at us on our front quarter. It made for an exhilarating, albeit slower, paddle back. By the time we arrived at camp, the waves were crashing against the nearly sheer rock face that makes up the west side of the peninsula. Some of the rocks are undercut, and the slamming waves made booming sounds in the caves like a miniature version of Thunder Hole at Acadia National Park in Maine.
After the usual loafing, Chaz and I wolfed down a Mountain House "Sweet and Sour Pork" (very good - excellent). Then I went swimming (which was fun in the waves!) and paddled around taking pictures when the sun finally came out. Later, as I am sure you can guess, Chaz and I spent some more time loafing (hey, what are vacations, even backcountry ones, for?). For supper, we had an excellent meal of Mountain House "Oriental Chicken and Rice" and Mountain House "Chocolate Mousse" for dessert.
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In the evening, we enjoyed a beautiful sunset (the first one of the trip), Chaz made a campfire, and we stargazed once the sky cleared. Through all of this, we were serenaded by loons and a bullfrog. What a wonderful evening! We finally went to bed about 11:00.
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Chaz and I awoke to the realization that it was time to start heading out of the park. After the usual breakfast of oatmeal, we packed up camp, and about 9:00 we started backtracking our route. We repeated the five portages from the other day, but in reverse order, so we had to paddle and portage upstream this time. As before, the two hardest portages were the 105-meter one (nearly straight uphill, it seemed) and the 730-meter one. The rest were quite easy. Chaz and I both thought the forest that the 390-meter portage winds through was particularly beautiful. Along Otterslide Creek, we counted nine whole or partial beaver dams (five of which we were able to get through without getting out of the boat), but we again saw no beavers. Most of the way along Otterslide Creek, Chaz and I were treated to beautiful, partial sunshine (we had been treated to very little of that on the trip!).
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At various points during the day, we passed campers from Camp Tamakwa and Camp Arowhon heading the other direction. Neither Chaz nor I had ever had a chance as a kid to attend a canoeing camp, but Chaz had at least had a chance to be a camp counselor in his teens. I envied the kids getting to do this for the summer!
When Chaz and I arrived at Otterslide Lake, we saw a float plane land and then later take off again. Some campers explained that the plane was airlifting a camper who had seriously cut his leg with an axe. Something like that may have explained the float plane that we had seen earlier in the trip that landed and then took off from Burnt Island Lake. This incident and the one with the man we saw on the first day of the trip just reinforced what I had read about the most likely way to get injured in the backcountry is with an axe or a hatchet.
After packing up the Folbot for the last time today, we paddled across Otterslide Lake to the same campsite at which we had stayed on the way in. We arrived around 2:00 and began setting up camp and making lunch. As we were eating our Alpine Aire "Pepper Steak" (good; very peppery), it began to rain again. This was followed by periodic thundershowers and more rain. Therefore, Chaz and I did what we had done a lot of on this trip, we read, wrote, and napped. It was still showering at 8:30, so I cooked our meal in the rain (Mountain House "Chicken a la King with Noodles" (very good - excellent)). The stove (an MSR Whisperlite 600 Internationale) worked great in the rain. After supper, it was back to the tent for the remainder of the evening. What a difference from the previous evening. We finally got to sleep around 11:30.
In the morning Chaz and I awoke to ... you guessed it ... an overcast sky! We got up around 7:00, ate some oatmeal, and broke camp by 8:00. The previous evening, while pinned down in our tent by rain, Chaz and I decided to change our planned leisurely two-day trip out to a one-day push to the Canoe Lake access point. We wanted to avoid camping again in the continued rain predicted by the forecast we had heard on the weather radio. This meant paddling about 25 km and carrying over three portages, but we decided to go for it.
So it was with a sense of urgency and determination that we paddled away from our campsite. Most of the day was a blur as we pushed hard the whole way out. As we paddled down Otterslide Lake, the overcast opened up into partly-sunny skies. On Little Otterslide Lake we spotted a rare and magnificent bald eagle! As we pushed on and made quick work of the 790-meter and 200-meter portages and the long paddle down Burnt Island Lake in between, clouds moved in and took over the sky.
At the end of Baby Joe Lake, we paddled through the creek to bypass the two portages leading to Little Joe Lake (as we had on the way in). It was much different, however, going in this direction because we were now going downstream and the recent rains had raised the water levels significantly. We flew along in parts of the creek with the thrill of barely controllable fast water (at least in a 17-foot touring kayak)! The creek was exhilarating, but short-lived, and soon we were deposited in Little Joe Lake. Chaz and I were tempted to portage back up and run it again just for the fun of it, but we resisted the urge and continued on.
As we headed across the lake, rain began to fall. This just confirmed our decision to push out of the park in one day instead of two. During the entire paddle down Little Joe Lake and Joe Lake we passed a never-ending stream of canoes heading into the park. On most trips out of the park we would have felt jealous of them, but with the rain and the forecast of continuing rain, we just felt bad for them. Many seemed woefully prepared for the rain as they covered their supplies with garbage bags, tablecloths, or umbrellas.
The portage from Joe Lake to Canoe Lake was like Grand Central Station; people, canoes, and supplies covered the take-out! By this point, the rain had tailed off, and people were portaging, eating, drinking, smoking, and chatting everywhere. Chaz and I landed and unloaded at an open spot a little ways from the hubbub. We quickly portaged our boat and gear to a little-used and somewhat-hidden access just below the dam. We saved ourselves a slightly longer carry, but more importantly, we avoided a similar crowd at the Canoe Lake end of the portage.
As we paddled the last leg down Canoe Lake to the access point, the clouds began to dump rain on us, and the wind began to build (luckily it was a tailwind for us). As the deluge continued, Chaz and I continued to pass a steady onslaught of canoes plowing ahead into the park battling the downpour, a steady headwind, and in many cases, insufficient paddling skills for these conditions. Amazingly (and fortunately) we saw no one capsize.
Chaz and I were thoroughly exhausted, but stoked, as we finally made it to the access point at 2:00. We had paddled 24 km and completed three portages in six hours! Boy, were we elated as we packed our gear into the car while the rain continued to pelt us! After a stop at the Portage Store, we began the drive back to Ohio. Chaz and I had a good time, but we were happy to be in dry clothes, in the car, and on the way home to our families!
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