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Algonquin Canoe Trip I

Canada's Oldest Provincial Park

Algonquin Canoe Trip I

Postby Dan » Tue May 13, 2008 8:37 pm

ALGONQUIN 1995- 3 WEEK TRIP.

SAT. JULY 29
(10 km. paddled)

Left Toronto at 4 a.m. All are tired after only 2 hrs. of sleep. We’re 1 hr. behind schedule.

finally arrived at Algonquin Pk. Sand Lake Gate; it’s 11:30 a.m.
Looked for campsite on Barron R. at Brigham L. finally found our spot after two bloody hours driving along highway. Left a tent set up there and headed back to Squirrel Rapids to drop off canoes. Shuttled cars and had lunch then headed down the Barron R. about 2:20 p.m. finally we’re on the water.

After much paddling, portages, and looking at cliffs, everyones tired. Reached our site at about 6 p.m. Had a great steak dinner, sat around camp fire and went to bed burnt out at 11:00 p.m.

SUNDAY JULY 30 -Brigham L. to High Falls
(8.9 km. traveled: 3.7 km. paddle/5.1 km. hiked)

Got up at 8:30 a.m. Dan and Helena drove food cache up to the Petawawa R. at Bill Mason Rapids while everyone else made a pancake breakfast. Helena and Dan took to long so everyone else ate and started packing up. Helena and Dan got back at 11:30 a.m. and ate.

The drivers, Mary, Cheryl and Deborah finally left at 1:00 p.m. to head back to Toronto. We’re on our way.

After packing and portaging we’ve started our trip at 2:00 p.m. - kinda late.
In and Out; Out and In... That’s how it went for the next 4 1/2 hrs. We’re Dead. Found a campsite at 6:30 p.m. We’re supposed to be on Stratton L. but couldn’t go any further than High Falls. Ate dinner- decided to sleep under the tarp; too tired to put up tents. After1/2 hr. of being eaten alive by mosquitoes we put up Julian’s tent in ten minutes flat (no fly) and all crawled in; sleep at last.

MONDAY JULY 31- High Falls to top of Grand L.
( 18.1 km. traveled: 17.9 km.paddle/.22 km. hiked)

Got up at 7:00 a.m. Ate, sat in Flinstone chairs, were entertained by friendly snapping turtle. Left site at 10:30 a.m. Had lunch at north end of Stratton L. at 12:30p.m. Started again at 1:30 p.m. Dan and Helena went ahead to dump garbage at Achray campgrounds - Julian continued on up Grand L. Julian is doing great soloing, but it’s windy. After 2 hrs. we stop at train bridge and put Helena in Julian’s bow. We continue on to our next site at the top of Grand L. and make it in 45 min.

TUESDAY AUGUST 1 - Grand L. to Green leaf L.
(19.1 km. traveled: .9 km. paddled/18 km. hiked)

Portage from HELL day - 5630 M.

Got up at 7:00 a.m. Had breakfast, left site and started first half of portage at 10:00 a.m. Very, very hot and sunny. Dropped gear approx. halfway at 11:00 a.m. and went back for rest of gear. It only took us 1/2 hr. to walk back to the starting point. We had lunch and started back out again at 12:45 p.m. It’s still hot but a storm is coming fast. We get to the halfway point and unload gear just in time for it to start raining. We quickly run back a short distance to get our canoes as we left them out in the open hydro field.

Now it’s raining moderately. We start off again with half our gear at 1:50 p.m. Mosquitoes are out and it’s raining but at least it’s downhill. We finally reach the end of the portage at 2:50 p.m. The bugs are hell but we have to head back for our remaining gear back at the halfway point; it’s stopped raining. We make it back in 40 min. ; now it’s uphill, have some munchies, put on bug repellent and rain gear and head out on the last leg of the portage. at 3:50 p.m.

We make it to the other end of the portage at 4:45 p.m. YEH!!! Found campsite and set everything up quickly. Julian and Dan went fishing... oops got to go Dan and Julian are back with two bass for dinner, MMM.

P.S. Dan saw a bear under the hydro lines near the halfway point on the first trip out.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2 - Green leaf L. to Loonskin L.
(14 km. travelled:4.9 km. paddled/9 km. hiked)

Left site at 10:00 a.m. and started first portage of day. It went pretty well taking only 40 min. Paddled to next portage and had lunch. Started out again at approx. 1:30 p.m. Again the portage went well taking only about 1/2 hr. one way. We ran into a group of Pathfinder campers at the end of this second portage. They said that the next portage into North Branch L. is pretty difficult; boy we’re all looking forward to it! At least we got to camp early today- 3:30 p.m.,relaxing and eating early at 6:00 p.m. Later we’ll go fishing.

I thought this section of the park was not used much because of the un-maintained portages but we’ve come across three parties today going in the opposite direction- go figure!

The weather was great today but we’re all a little tired. Also we’ve been forced inside early in the evenings because of the ravenous mosquitoes- my brother is bitter.

THURSDAY AUGUST 3- Loonskin L. to North Branch L.
(14.7 km. traveled: 1 km. paddled/13.7 km. hiked)

Started portage approx. 10:00 a.m. We’re doing 4570 m.- it started raining as we began and it didn’t stop. Dropped the canoes at what we thought was the halfway point (HA!). Went back and got the rest of the gear and met a group of campers going the same way as us. They are able to take the portage in one go - must be nice.

Started back on second half of portage - still raining - bugs are bad. This portage was a KILLER. Down and up and up and down; bzzz- smack! We wish we didn’t have to go back again to pick up the last of our gear.

Dan decided to go to the bathroom enroute and stepped into a hornets nest! Way to go. By the time we finished the portage it was 4:00 p.m. We’re all DEAD, WET AND SWEATY. We got to a campsite and set up the tarp; good thing to because it started to rain again and it didn’t stop until 2:00 a.m.

Dan made soupy spaghetti sauce and dumped all of the noodles into the fire by accident so we had to start dinner all over again - so much for an early dinner. At least I had time to take a dip in the lake. Went to bed about 10:00 p.m. Julian stayed up a little later as he was intent on trying to burn the old, torn down dumper. I guess he’s still not too happy about going to bed early.

FRIDAY AUGUST 4- North Branch L. to White Partridge L.
(9.3 km. traveled: 4.5 km. paddled/4.8 km. hiked)

Grey and drizzly for most of the day. The two portages were not too bad. They went quickly but everyone is tired and burned out. Went past two crappy campsites on White Partridge L. until we found a half descent one – besides,
there were none other available. Even so it is cramped and buggy and nowhere to swim. I hope Dan washes his feet today!!

Julian and Dan have gone off fishing before dinner(5:30 p.m.) I’m going to take a nap. At least we can see some blue sky. I hope Julian’s clothes and boots dry out underneath the tarp. Goodnight.

P.S.(Dan): A tree almost fell on Julian while he was enjoying himself on the privy. And Dan and Julian were trounced by a flash downpour while they were fishing. Blue sky my eye!(Helena).

SATURDAY AUGUST 5- White Partridge L. to Dickson L.
(20.9 km. traveled: 7.5 km. paddled/13.4 km. hiked)

Got off to a fairly early start at 9:20 a.m. Three portages today. A 915 m. into Sundassa L., a 2685 m. into Little Dickson L. and a 890 m. into Dickson L. The first one only took us 15 min., but the mosquitoes were hell. The next one was even worse for mosquitoes and we had to be very nimble footed to walk across the beaver dam in the middle. Before the last one we got lost and couldn’t find the portage. Eventually we found it; the portage marker had been torn down. The last portage was nice and easy except for the skating rink like footpaths over the creek - they were REALLY SLIPPERY!

We are all pretty burnt out from all of the walking, total LACK OF SUNSHINE, AND DRIZZLY GREY WEATHER. We’re also all pretty wet and stinky. Oh well it’s only a short paddle tomorrow and then two whole days at the top of L. Lavielle. I think we’ll sleep in tomorrow. Then it’s off to our next campsite and a good bath. Hopefully the sun will come out for us and dry us out.

It’s 8:45 p.m. now. Julian and Dan are out fishing, I’m sitting next to the campfire making sure boots and socks don’t catch fire. I think it’ll be a bit on the chilly side tonight and a wind is picking. See ya.

SUNDAY AUGUST 6- Dickson L. to L. Lavielle
(15.1 km. traveled: 14.9 km. paddled/.27 km. hiked)

YEH! Woke up and the sun was shining. We slept in until 8:oo a.m., had a leisurely breakfast and were off by 11:30 a.m. The crapper on our site stunk to high heavens so Dan wanted to stop in at the next campsite and use that one. We made it to the portage at about 1:30 p.m. and had lunch. As we were leaving yet another curious snapping turtle decided to check us out. We left the portage at about 2:20 p.m. and headed towards our two night site on L. Lavielle. We finally found a site at about 4:30 p.m. or so. After doing a much needed laundry and bathing we lazed in the sun until dinnertime. After dinner we sat out on the rocks and watched for satellites and shooting stars. The moon is 3/4 and really bright- we couldn’t see the Milky Way. The bugs weren’t too bad tonight and we stayed out until about 10:30 p.m.- ooo.

MONDAY AUGUST 7- L. Lavielle stop over

Yeh! The sun is out again. Got up at about 9:00 a.m. or so and had a great pancake breakfast with fresh raspberries. Then we decided to go fishing. The waves were too big so we couldn’t go on our planned trip to what looked like a set of beaches. There were no fish either so we went back to camp and are now in the process of relaxing, seam sealing the tent and reading the park map. Tonight we have a big Indian curry feast - minus the fish and maybe some more star watching. I hope the waters aren’t too wavy tomorrow as we head out to the Crow R. and the white water portion of our trip.

TUESDAY AUGUST 8- L. Lavielle to Crow R./White Partridge Ck.
(14.2 km. traveled: 7.9 km. paddled/6.3 km. hiked)

Well the day wasn’t too bad. Got off L. Lavielle about 11:00 a.m. and did our first portage- a shorty. Then we walked the canoes down the next three sets of rapids, portaged the next, walked, ran, portaged and did our last portage - a 1280 m.- around 4:00 p.m. All in all a good day. Julian even saw a moose after the first portage of the day - though only briefly. The evenings camp is a bit of a bummer. We’re right at the beginning of tomorrow’s first portage, literally on the side of it. We can hear the river but not see it - trees all around. I think it’ll be an early evening.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 9 - Crow R./White Partridge Ck. to Wagtail Rapids/Petawawa R.
(14.5 km. traveled: 4.73 km. paddled/9.7 km. hiked)

It’s FREEZING! At least that’s how Julian summed up his evenings sleep. After a hasty breakfast we did a relatively straight forward portage to get down to paddling water. As we were getting ready to paddle away Dan noticed what he thought was poison ivy - Julian’s favorite plant - so of course Julian had to wash. I had to wash my pack as I had placed it in the middle of the stuff. The rest of the Crow R. was nice quiet floating, a couple of swifts and a portage were there used to be an old dam. We stopped for lunch there at around 2:15 p.m. and were back on our way about 3:00p.m. We made our way up to the Petawawa R. quite quickly and ran a few more swifts. After getting to our last portage of the day, checking out the rapids and getting to camp it was about 5:00 p.m. Julian and I did some bathing and whirl pooling in Wagtail R. and got cleaned up; Dan didn’t.

Julian and Dan went fishing and Julian caught a smallish catfish; we decided to have it for dinner. As Julian and Dan were cleaning it I took a cast with Julian’s rod. As I was reeling in I felt a tug and then realized I too had caught a fish. Dan ran over to it and as I pulled it into shore we realized I caught a 3 lb. catfish. Well it took quite a while for my fish to cook and we ate in the dark. Afterwards we sat by the rapids and drank our hot chocolate amazed at the lack of mosquitoes.

THURSDAY AUGUST 10 - Wagtail R. to Eustache L.
( 11.2 km. traveled: 6.4 km. paddled/ 4.8 km. hiked)

Slept in until 8:00 a.m., had a leisurely breakfast and left camp about noon - late. Did our big portage, had lunch at Bypass Falls and went down river to Rocky Chute Rapids. After looking them over we decided to walk our gear down to the bottom of the rapid and run the rapid in empty canoes. After a big discussion about the course and getting cameras ready Julian went first - BRAVE. They looked like a class three (looking back they’re really only a slightly technical class two) , and he’s inexperienced. After hastily putting on his adrenaline forgotten life jacket just above the rapid he ran the first section with no problem, amazingly staying out of the roller wave. He didn’t get far enough over to river left to line up properly for the second section of rapids and almost got dumped in the small drop off while he grabbed the gunwales - tsk, tsk. Luck was with him however and he managed to stay afloat and make it to shore - we got it all on high eight video.

Just before Dan and I did our run another couple went down but fully loaded. Right at the top of the first section they seemed to not know which way to go. They ended up going down backwards, amazingly not dumping. We gave them some time to clear out and then Dan and I went. Boy what a blast! The water looked bigger than on shore. I braced like heck going into the first section when the roller hit us and we were o.k. We ferried over to river left and headed for the second set. Just as I was going into the rapid I noticed shallow rocks on my left where other canoes had scrapped bottom. There was no time to worry about it as we were into the rapid again - bracing like crazy. We came out of that one o.k. as well and eddied out to river left shore where Julian was filming us. Then the other couple who were watching us went down the second section. Again they took their time deciding which way to go but they did alright.

We started on what was supposed to be our last and fairly easy portage of the day but we soon discovered that the two campsites were taken. We had no choice but to hoof it into Eustache L. a day early. As it was already late - 5:30 p.m.- we hurriedly hid one canoe and some food and gear so we could do the 2650 m. portage in one go. Even though we got rid of stuff Julian still had to take his pack and the canoe: Dan and I had heavy packs as well. It was really tough but we made it leaving the canoe 3/4 of the way in; Dan went back for it after we got to the end. We hurriedly set up camp and cooked dinner - again eating in the dark - this time with zillions of mosquitoes. We had hot chocolate in Julian’s tent because we couldn’t stand it and then went to bed. What a day!

FRIDAY AUGUST 11 - Eustache L. stop over

After a thundery and rainy night we woke up late. It took us a while to get dry wood and a fire going for breakfast. At about noon the sun broke through the clouds. We have spent a gloriously sunny afternoon fishing and swimming and relaxing. The lake is beautiful and the water deep and clear. We have a great swimming spot.
Hopefully it won’t be so buggy tonight - we’ll be eating earlier that’s for sure.

TUESDAY AUGUST 15 - Natch Rapids

I’ve not written for the last three days as I couldn’t. I sprained my right wrist the morning we were leaving Eustache L. Below is a brief summary of the past three days.

SATURDAY AUGUST 12 - Eustache L. to Devils Cellar Rapids
(3 km. traveled - Hiked)

Left Eustache in a.m. after another stormy night. Sprained wrist around 9:30 a.m., left Eustache approx. 10:00 a.m. Julian carried the canoe and a lightened pack. He saw a bear on the railroad tracks and almost whistled to it until he thought about the possible consequences. Spent rest of day sleeping and relaxing. Julian and Dan saw great shooting stars in p.m.

SUNDAY AUGUT 13 - Devils Cellar Rapids to Big Thompson Rapids
(17.7 km. traveled: 10.6 km. paddled/7 km. hiked)

Did two portages and picked up the food cache. Everything (food) is o.k.
Had lunch near radio observatory on L. Traverse. Left spot about 2:30 p.m.
Made a mad dash to Big Thompson Rapids to secure a campsite. Arrived there about 4:00 p.m. Watched a canoe swamp above rapid. Guide held onto canoe safety rope heroically but in the end had to let the canoe wash down the rapids. Everyone in his group is o.k. We decided against running this rapid. Watched another canoe go down successfully.

MONDAY AUGUST 14 - Big Thompson Rapids to Natch Rapids
(15.2 km. traveled: 10.3 km. paddled/ 4.8 km. hiked)

Dan and I played a little at the bottom of Big Thompson Rapids doing an upstream ferry into an eddy then doing an eddy turn left into some fast water. Ran Little Thompson Rapids and all the rest until Crooked Chute. Met up with a nice couple - Tim and Carol - along the way. Tim ran Crooked Chute as we watched with his partner.

Checked out the old rangers station below the chute. Portaged Rollaway Rapids but we should have run the last half of it. Sawa moose just before Rollaway. Set up camp about 5:00 p.m. It poured rain about 7:00 p.m. and we ate dinner under the tarp. Went to bed about 9:30 p.m. while it still rained.

TUESDAY AUGUST 15 - Natch Rapids stop over

Got up really late and lazed about. Watched Tim go down Natch Rapids and said good-bye. We’ll call him when we get back to Toronto. Watched another couple of canoes haphazardly go down the rapids. We’ll run the second part tomorrow.

Just waiting for laundry to dry, have dinner and go to bed. Maybe we’ll see more shooting stars tonight.

WEDNEDAY AUGUST 16 - Natch Rapids to five Mile Rapids
(13.2 km. traveled: 12.9 km. paddled/.3 km. hiked)

Dan has come down with something so we left late in the morning, 12:00 p.m. Ran second section on the first part of Natch Rapids and then the rest of the Natch.
Checked out the cliffs and the natural spring just past the Natch - way cool.

Schooner Rapids was long and fun but we had to go slowly which made it a bit tedious.
Made it to our campsite about 4:30 p.m. and are all fairly tired. Julian made great grilled cheese sandwiches for a snack, later we went fishing. Dan and Julian brought in about five large bass but they were all wormy so we threw them back. Had dinner about 7:30 p.m. but Dan didn’t/couldn’t eat. He went to bed feeling really ill.
No star hunting tonight. We all went to bed at about 8:15 p.m.

THURSDAY AUGUST 17 - five mile Rapids to McManus L.
(13 km. traveled - paddled)

What a night. Woken up about 2:30 a.m. by Dan barfing. Cleaned him up and then Julian crawled out of his tent saying he knew how Dan was feeling. Great now they’re both sick!!!

I woke up about 8:00 a.m. and proceeded to make breakfast. Ate alone as Julian and Dan are still in agony. Julian surfaced about 9:30 a.m. for a small bite to eat and Dan at about 10:30 a.m. for some tea. Both went back to bed afterwards. Dan barfed again about noon - I feel fine. Cleaned up dishes and campsite on my own and talked to some M.N.R. workers as they passed through.

Dan got up again about 12:30 p.m. feeling a little better and we started packing gear. We didn’t bother Julian until the last minute. I felt we couldn’t stay and let Julian and Dan convalesce just in case they only got worse. I’d rather be closer to help and at an easier access place if there is an emergency.

Finally left site about 2:15 p.m. - late; but better late than never. I sterned Julian’s canoe as he really is not well. Dan feels better but his stomach is still upset.

Carefully ran the rest of five Mile Rapids. Had a poop stop on Smith L. and made it to McManus L. about 4:30 p.m. Boy my arms were about to fall off. Julian valiantly tried to help paddle but to little advantage. RATS!! Our nice sandy beach campsite was taken so we had to park at the parking lot - I’m not bitter!

I ate dinner alone - almost. Dan and Julian crawled out of their tents as M.N.R. workers and other campers were making a racket; I love this site. They both tried some of my dehydrated chili dinner but didn’t eat much. Later Dan and I watched some stars and went to bed about 10:00 p.m.

P.S. We have developed a crises. We have run out of toilet paper. What a bummer.

FRIDAY AUGUST 18 - McManus L.: end of line

Awoke to the sounds of artillery blasts from the Petawawa Army base. Dan is feeling better but still has shits and stomach cramps. Only had coffee and hot chocolate for breakfast and a little gorp. Sat around for most of the morning feeding chipmunks. Julian went back to bed about noon but only for a short while.

Later we started heating up water so we could do laundry and have warm pot showers - boy did that feel good!

We rested on the beach in the warm sunshine and had soup for a late lunch around 2:00 p.m.

After waiting around for a couple of hours for our pick-up drivers to arrive we headed out to do some fishing. Even being sick won’t keep the rods out of their hands. We didn’t catch anything worth talking about but we did see a bear crashing around in the woods.

As we got back to camp about 7:00 p.m. we saw a familiar dog on the beach - our drivers had arrived; Yeh! After many greetings and tent setting up Cheryl and I drove off in search of much needed dodo paper (poor Julian’s daytimer is missing the complete months of January and February and the first few days of March). Everyone else back at camp started to prepare a B.B.Q. steak dinner. It was dark by the time we got back at about 9:30 p.m.- everyone was worried about us because Cheryl was driving but it did take us a while to secretly unroll (abscond with) the toilet paper from the outfitters outhouses. We were fully prepared to buy it but they were closed and we were in dire straits.

Ate dinner about about 11:00 p.m. or so and then sat on the shore and watched stars until 1:00 a.m. It was a really noisy night with other campers coming and going but eventually I fell asleep.

SATURDAY AUGUST 19 - McManus

Our drivers are nuts - well one of them is. Mike got up at 6:00 a.m. to go fishing. The rest of us got up soon after and Cheryl cooked us a lovely breakfast of eggs and peameal bacon, fresh orange juice and toast.

After cleaning up we all piled into our canoes to spend the afternoon fishing. Cheryl spotted a young moose on the shore - no mother to be seen. Cheryl also put up a valiant effort learning how to fish; she did manage to catch some small bass. Mike caught a small pickerel and Julian some bass; me nothing. After a glorious afternoon we headed back to camp about 2:00 p.m. It was a tough paddle because it was windy but we endeavored.

We packed up camp for the last time, loaded up the cars with gear and canoes and headed out about 6:30 p.m. Dan drove us off into the sunset - it was sad to finally be going and leaving our beautiful adopted home of three weeks but the call of a hot shower and fresh fruit was just as enthralling.

The drive home was un-eventful until we hit the city limits and the D.V.P. What a wild ride; the cars, the pollution the bright lights. It’s always a rude awakening to get back to the city. We got home about 1:00 a.m., sat on the sofa and commented on how small everything looked. Had a hot shower, not really as satisfying as swimming in a clear northern lake, and crawled into bed to dream of all the wonderful things we had just left behind seven long hours ago.

Oh well, until next year - happy paddling.
Dan
 
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