Saturday, August 8, 2009

We left home at 11:00 in the morning and had a nice easy drive up to Huntsville. Our intention was to get a hotel room for the night, so we would be fresh and ready for paddling early the next morning. On route, John came up with the idea of camping at Rock Lake (our put-in location) instead. So, when we got to Huntsville we pulled over and called to see if there were any spots available. There was! John also called Algonquin Outfitters to see if we could pick up our ultra light canoe now instead of backtracking in the morning. It was available!

We picked up kd and a can of chilli for dinner and a nice Sawmill Shiraz to sip on from the Independent in Huntsville - cordon blue we are not. By 3:30 we were on highway 60 to pick up our canoe then on to our digs for the night at Rock Lake. Just before we got to Algonquin Outfitters, John told me to look to the right. A black bear had come out of the woods and wandered to the side of the highway, just in front of us. Thankfully he changed his mind about crossing the highway and sauntered back into the woods. We both agreed that this was the only way we want to see a bear this close during our trip.

We picked up our canoe and John was delighted that it was so light, especially taking into account the 70lb load of our own canoe. We continued to the Rock Lake permit office. Because of the injury I had to my knee the previous week, John thought it better if we changed our route a little bit as the two large portages from Gailairy to Pen then from Pen to Welcome would be a little too much to ask of me (what a considerate husband he is). The staff at the Rock Lake permit office couldn't have been more obliging or helpful and were able to accommodate our route change.

Looking west across Rock Lake.      

We were more than glad we didn't ask for an electrical site, as this area of the park is very congested and not at all what we're used to when camping at Arrowhead or McGregor Point, where sites are private and surrounded by trees. We moved on to our non-electrical site and were delighted to find that it was lakeside and much less congested. So we happily set up our tent, prepared our dinner, and settled in for the night .. hoping for an early start to our Algonquin Adventure the next morning.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Had a fitful night on my skinny bed-mat and had to get up in the middle of the night to remove the tarp that had been constantly slapping on the tent (there had been a report of heavy overnight rain). I hoped I was so exhausted tonight that I'd just crash. John slept without a bed-mat, but then again he can sleep almost anywhere and in any conditions - lucky guy.

Had a bagel and peanut butter and piping hot coffee for breakfast then got packed up and ready to go. We drove down to the put-in point at Rock Lake and were all set to go. The morning was warm but very overcast with the promise of rain but it didn't dampen our spirit at all - we were both very excited. Half way down Rock Lake we encounted a very friendly Loon which decided to swim very close to our canoe and then stop to preen himself. Of course, I had to snap some photos of this camera-ready beauty.

We were about three quarters down the lake when a light rain started and the water got a little choppy, but we managed to paddle on. We stopped at the first portage we saw. But it was not ours. It was for Lake Louisa. So we had to paddle on a little more before we found the one to Pen Lake. By this time the rain was coming down heavy. But what's more wet when you are already dripping?

We met up with a couple of families who were coming out of Pen Lake (our destination). The guys, who were on their way back for the rest of their gear, offered to carry some of our stuff back with them from the Rock Lake side to the Pen Lake side - I love my fellow paddlers! My very first portage and all I had to carry was a small soft cooler and my camping pots! By the time we got to the Pen Lake side of the portage, the rain was pounding down and we could hear thunder rolling all around us. We had to make the decision to stay put or go on.

The families we had met told us that they'd just came off a lovely Pen Lake site that was only a 15 minute paddle away. So, we decided just to pack the canoe and get there as soon as we could. So, with the rain still pouring down, we paddled as fast as we could to the small island site they had mentioned and unloaded our gear. There were actually two islands close together, one with one site and the other with two - so we decided to look at all three to choose the one we liked the best.

Pen Lake campsite , with "gift-wood".      

The prize winner on this dreadful, wet day was the site where the previous campers had left a pile of firewood, kindling, and paper - all kept beautifully dry under a cover of tree bark. Have I mentioned that I love my fellow paddlers? We went back to the first site, recovered our gear and returned to our prize site to set up camp for the night. By the time we were finished setting up, the rain and thunder had passed and the sun started to peek out from behind the clouds. We changed into dry clothes and hung up our sopping ones to dry out and laid out our damp supplies. Thankfully we had about three hours of strong sun and managed to get everything good and dry again.

John (of course) got his fishing rod out and happily stood on the rock at the edge of our site enjoying the silence and hoping to get his first bite of the promised Brook Trout. We used a little of the kindling and dry gift-wood to start our fire and keep it going with wood we picked up about the island, preferring to carry the gift-wood legacy on to the next campers. We prepared a magnificent banquet of pork chops with rice and veg (thank you Mr. Lipton), followed by a lovely hot coffee topped up with Baileys. Life does not get much better than this! The arrowheads were in bloom, as were the waterlillies. And it was so quiet, I could hear my eardrums vibrate with the sheer weight of the silence. Dusk settled on Pen Lake and we looked out from our lakeside rock, to a totally still lake. The resident family of Loons was the only other sign of life on the lake and they broke the heavy silence with their calls to one another. It was specially magical to hear their haunting cries in this breathtaking setting.

August 10, 2009

I slept okay that night but the sleeping on the ground thing wasn't growing on me at all. The copious amount of alcohol on the camping trips of my youth must have inured my body to the hazards of this activity … or maybe my body is just too old for it. The 6:30am weather was warm and cloudy but no rain, so far. We got water for oatmeal and coffee going. Then John went for a wee wander around the island. He called excitedly for me to follow him, which of course being a good wife I did. A moose and her calf were breakfasting in the marshy area that adjoined our site. Amazing … I was no more than 20 yards away from this creature, and she was calmly chomping away and steadily returning my gaze. We stayed a while and marveled at these gentle animals. But, as we were packing up to move on to our next location, we had to reluctantly leave them to their grazing.

We set off for the next leg of our adventure around 10am. It wasn't until we were trying to find the portage for Welcome Lake, that we discovered we'd packed the map and our "A Paddler's Guide to Algonquin Park" book somewhere in the pack. We assumed we'd be able to find the portage on the hazy memory of what we'd read earlier, big mistake. With a little help from a friendly Pen Lake camper, we found a portage, but to Clydegale, not to Welcome! We knew our portage was before the one for Clydegale so we knew we had to backtrack and John finally relented to my constant requests to stop and retrieve the map and book.

Of course, one quick look told us that we had to paddle through the marsh we had passed by and up the small and curvy Galipo River before we would get to the portage (note to selves, never pack your book and maps). So, off we headed through the marsh and against the current of the Galipo till we came to a fork in the river. Of course, we took the fork to the left into a still tributary that led to a dead end! We retraced our path back to the fork and took the other route to the portage. So far we had added about an extra hour in route errors to our day.

This was not a nice put out .. very rocky and not much room to maneuver at all. The portage itself was fine but hilly, as it bypasses a very beautiful waterfall, and we managed to portage this section in one trip. At the end of the portage, on the other side of the falls, we put in again on the Galipo heading towards the more strenuous 1999m portage to Welcome Lake. The previous short portages showed us that there is no way we'd be able to make this portage in one trip, as we had planned. So we resigned ourselves to making two trips - a perfect example of practice and theory being two disparate things. The Welcome Lake portage taught us two things (1) 50 does feel like 50 and (2) we will never do portages of over 1000m ever again!

On the first trip across, John and I carried the packs and on the second John carried the canoe while I had the tent and lifejackets. It was tough going, especially for John, who now worships the thoughtful people who had built the canoe rests along the way. We had to devise padding for the yolk out of our rolled beach towels as it was pressing painfully into his neck. But this, along with wearing his lifejacket, seemed to do the trick. Our empty trip back to the start of the portage took us 35 minutes and the trip back with the canoe took us 45 minutes. Even for two relatively fit 50 year olds this was an unexpectedly arduous portage, the worst being the copious mud holes around what I suspect was the location of the old pond.

Welcome Lake campsite from the water.      

Regardless, we finally made it in one piece and with all our gear to Welcome Lake at 4pm. And, to top it all off, the sun came out with a vengeance. It appeared we had the lake all to ourselves. A group of young women, who had portaged just in front of us, were heading on to Harry Lake (Oh, how I envy the boundless energy and strength of youth!). John had read on a blog that the first site to the right of the portage was a good one, so that's where we headed. The site was lovely, with entry on a private beach and the site itself on a slight hill above. After our six hour marathon, we decided the best way to celebrate was with a dip in the lake - ah, cool, clear water - just what we needed to revive us.

Feeling refreshed we set about making camp and getting dinner made (a lovely steak and lentil curry). For dessert we took our tea to the outcrop rock to toast the sunset and the end of a challenging and thoroughly enjoyable day. The lake water at the base of the rock was too tantalizing for me to resist, so I slipped off my shoes and lay splashing my feet in the water. That's when we found the leeches - two of them hooked onto a foot each! There is nothing more gross than leeches locked on to your body. So, of course I screeched at John until he got them off me. Once they were off, we had a good look in the water around our campsite and found lots of the ugly little suckers in the first yard of water at the shore. The area immediately surrounding the rock we were sitting on was home to some nasty big ones. Welcome Lake was obviously not the paradise it first seemed to us and I didn't think I'd be able to get back in the water. We had a very early night, turning in at 9:00 pm. John never even opened his book and I only managed a page or two before I dropped off to sleep.

Catching leeches at Welcome Lake.      

August 11, 2009

Our arduous day yesterday had one thing in its favour … I had the best night's sleep of the trip (so did John). I guess the two super strength Motrin I took last night might have helped, as I only woke up once and that was to the sound of wolf howls followed by Loon cries - magnificent! We breakfasted in a cloudy but warm morning on the big rock by the lake and were entertained by our resident family of Loons, after which we took the canoe out on the lake .. John to fish and me to read my Ian Rankin novel. I had more luck with my reading that John did with his fishing though.

View from our Welcome Lake campsite.      

By noon, the sun had come out with a vengeance - too bad I was way too wary to swim with the leeches. It was a case of "twice bitten, once shy". So, we decided to just settle on the beach for lunch and relaxation. It fealt strange not to have to canoe or portage that day, though it was good to rest up for our one-day return trip the following day. John, as usual, couldn't sit still very long and was soon up and about, doing John stuff. He was disappointed that there was no good shoreline fishing. The afternoon eventually got too hot even for me and we seeked shade and a breeze among the pines at the campsite edge of our rock. As the cloud begin to roll back in, we decided to take the canoe out on the lake one more time to search for John's elusive Brook Trout. Poor soul didn't have any luck though he did at least get a bite this time. After giving up hope, we returned to our site to prepare dinner (Thai noodles and sausages), after which we took our cup of tea to our rock and watched the sun go down while listening to the total and complete silence of the stunningly beautiful Ontario North. This would have been the first night of our trip that we would have been able to see the stars, had we only been able to stay awake!

August 12, 2009

We got up about 7:00 am and had our coffee and bagel by the lake, which was magnificent this morning. It is so easy to see what inspired the Group of Seven when you look out onto an isolated Algonquin lake in the cusp of a beautiful day. The water was a mirror with mists dancing like wraiths on top and creeping in, out, and over the unending towering pines. The sky was just awakening in subdued blue tinged with pink. It doesn't get any better than this - absolutely awe inspiring!

John commented sadly on the many fish that were jumping in the lake on the morning we were leaving. We reluctantly headed back to our site to pack for our trip home and thankfully found that our pack is a good deal lighter, since we'd eaten all our food. The canoe was packed and our campsite cleaned and readied for its next guests and, by 8:00am we were ready to set off on the first leg of our return journey.

Mother loon feeding her young on Wecome Lake.      

Our first portage, from Welcome Lake to the Galipo River, was the most challenging and we were glad that we get to do it while we were still fresh and enthusiastic. Our first trip of this portage took us 40 minutes, with John carrying the canoe and me carrying the large pack. John only had to stop to rest twice this time. He found that both our towels rolled and wrapped around his neck and shoulders along with wearing his life vest relieves a lot of the pressure of the yoke. It took us 30 minutes to return to Welcome Lake free of all burdens and 30 minutes to return to Galipo with the rest of our gear. We had a much better portage this time than on the way in. By the time we started on the first leg of the Galipo, the sun was shining and the sky was bright summer blue.

This time, we decided to enjoy the scenery that the marsh and meadow section had to offer and were delighted to spot many animal trails leading to the river. The put-in for our trek around the falls was very muddy and I had to get out of the canoe to bring it in, quickly sinking up to my knees in the stuff. It was a major challenge just to move without losing my shoes to the suction. We handled this short portage with no problem, specially since John did the double trip on his own, while I washed my muddy legs and shoes in the beautiful cold, rushing water of the falls.

We continued paddling the Galipo on other side of the falls portage and though the marsh out onto Pen Lake. The weather gods were with us. There were white fluffy clouds in a bright blue sky, providing us with a perfect mix of sun and shade. Pen Lake was smooth as silk and there was only the slightest of breezes, just enough to cool our faces. As we headed up Pen towards the Rock Lake portage we couldn't believe our eyes. There was a group of 10 Loons cavorting just in front of us. We have never seen this many Loons together before. It was a totally awesome sight! By now our shoulders and bums were sore and stiff and we were actually looking forward to the portage from Pen to Rock Lake, just so we could be upright and using different muscles.

The sunshine was welcome!      

The put-in at Rock Lake was very busy and we had to maneuver canoes and gear very carefully. John and I took the canoe and the large pack first and met a group of two families on the trail on their way to Pen. John and I decided to pay back the wonderful paddlers who helped us (on this very portage) and we carried the remainder of their gear on our empty return to the Pen side. If feels good to return the favour. When they gave their thanks we told them it was our pay-it-forward gift and explained why. Hopefully, they'll experience their own pay-it-forward moment. Once we finished this, our last portage of the day, we stopped for lunch (water and a granola bar) and a much needed back stretch.

Rock Lake was also smooth and calm and we were thankful not to be fighting strong winds on the final leg of our return trip. The good weather had obviously brought out the day paddlers and boaters and it was a much busier route than when we'd paddled down it a thundery four days ago. We were almost at the end of our adventure and it was starting to tell - our backs were sore, our shoulders sore, our calves stiff, and our patience with one another was waning. At last we entered the smooth channel into the final Rock Lake put-out. Our total travel time that day had been six hours and 45 minutes - broken down into a 15 minute lunch break, three hours of portaging, and three and a half hours of paddling.

We unloaded the canoe for the last time, packed up the van, and strapped the canoe on in record time. We made a stop at the Rock Lake welcome station for a hot and much appreciated shower and grabbed two ice cold drinks from the vending machine - bliss! We headed home with a heightened appreciation for this absolutely amazingly beautiful area of an incredible province and country - thank you Canada.