Access: No. 22 – Grand Lake / Achray

Specs: 5 Days | 63.1 km | 8 Lakes | 15 Portages | 14,425m

Summary: A 5-day loop on the rugged east side of Algonquin Park in the spring of 2015.

Day 1 – Friday May 15th, 2015: Grand to Little Carcajou

As I awoke just before 7am, I looked up at the ceiling and briefly forgot where I was. After a couple of seconds, I remembered that I was in a tiny little motel in a town named Pembroke. Then a sudden rush of excitement came over me as I realized why I was there. I was about to head out on another canoe trip in Algonquin Park!

I woke up my fiancée Angela, who pleaded for another 10 minutes of sleep. I obliged and took a quick shower. All clean and dressed in my camping attire, I woke up Angela again .. but this time stating ‘Hurry up!! We’re going to be late for camping!’ It always gets her when I say that – a little inside joke I like to use on camping trips.

With us both awake, showered and ready to go, I quickly cleaned up the motel room, dropped off the keys to the owner and thanked them for their hospitality. With the car already packed, it was as simple as hoping in, hitting up the Tim Hortons for some coffee and breakfast sandwiches.

Then in no time, we were headed down the Barron Canyon road. We had planned to hike the canyon trail. But I was eager to get out on the water, so I insisted we hike the trail on the way out. Upon approaching the Sand Lake Gate I was admittedly worried that there may be a huge line-up. After all, this was the Friday before the May 2-4 long weekend, and I knew the park would soon be teaming with 'non-wildlife'.

When we arrived at the gate, I was surprised that only one other vehicle was parked there. Obtaining our permit took less than 5 minutes. We left the gate, proceeded down the gravel road, made our turn on to the Achray road and in a couple minutes later arrived at the access point. The parking lot was half full, but I knew that by tomorrow it would be over-flowing. We made quick business of removing the canoe from the roof rack, outfitting it with ropes, bailing bags, yoke pad and a few other accessories that make canoeing life a little easier.

By 10:30am we launched onto a beautiful Grand Lake. The sky was grey but that didn’t matter. We were in Algonquin Park! The sky could be purple or black and I’d be just as happy. On the drive in I was worried about arriving so late in the morning because the winds on Grand Lake can really be a killer! When we launched the wind was nothing more than a breeze, so the crossing over to Carcajou Bay was both easy and relaxing.

Looking back through the narrows at Grand Lake.

Upon arriving at the mouth of Carcajou Bay, we paddled close to the rock wall where the petroglyphs are located. Paddling nice and slow, we tried to spot them. A few instances here and there produced some ‘maybes’. However, we never saw anything conclusive. The bugs were attacking us because we were close to shore, so we moved on through the bay. We stopped quickly at the first campsite in the bay because I wanted to get out a have a closer look. I spotted this campsite a few years back and thought it might be a nice spot to make camp. We stayed about 5 minutes and remarked how the area must have recently been maintained as there was evidence staff had cleaned up the campsites. Much appreciated!

Back in the canoe, we continued down the bay to the first portage of the trip .. a measly 20m around a swift. I dropped Angela off on the rock and told her I would line the canoe up the little rapid, thus avoiding unloading and reloading all our stuff for such a small distance. However, I neglected to tie a line to the stern of the boat, which compromised my ability to completely control the boat. As I began to line the canoe up the rapid all was going well. Then before I could say ‘Oh Shit!’ the nose of the boat hit the current, and instantly swung it sideways into the swift. The boat rocked to one side and began to fill with water. Not good! I pulled up on the rope as fast and hard as I could, which was enough to bring the gunwale above the waterline and prevented total submersion. It had been an epic mistake that almost caused me to have to take a swim to retrieve all my gear. Luckily, the canoe only ended up with about an inch and a half of water and nothing damaged.

I pulled the boat back to the landing and proceeded to unload it. I did this silently as Angela began to take packs and stuff to the other end of the tiny trail. The only thing I said about the situation was, "Well that could’ve been much, much worse." Angela agreed and that was that.

We pressed on to the beautiful waterfalls. This was Angela’s first time through Achray, and second time on the east side of the park. She kept remarking how rugged and rocky the area was. I explained these were the main reasons why the east side is my favorite place in Algonquin Park. It was still very early (11:45am), so at the bottom of the falls we decided to throw a few casts and try to land a trout. We weren’t serious about it, but figured it would be a good spot to possibly land a brookie. No dice, or fish, but that was okay. We headed over to the 90m portage around the falls and made quick work of it.

Great Campsite on Carcajou Bay.

Lining up the swift.

So far so good!

OH GOD, NO. PLEASE NO!!

We stopped at the top of the falls for a little break and snack. The pools above the falls here are very beautiful. Massive flat rocks slope gently to the water’s edge all around this area. It’s very scenic and very beautiful. After a quick snack we loaded the canoe and made the 30-second paddle over to the next portage – a 220m trail leading into Carcajou Creek. As we passed the lone campsite on this portage, a few guys called out and asked about the weather forecast. I told them it was supposed to rain a bit this afternoon, but then clear skies for the next 5 days. They seemed happy at the sound of that, and why shouldn’t they be?!

When we arrived at Carcajou Creek, the bugs were a little more annoying than they had been elsewhere. So we didn’t hang around too long and began our trek to Lower Spectacle Lake. The section of creek between the last portage and Lower Spectacle Lake is stunning. It’s only a few hundred meters at best, but just stunning. It’s a small sample of the entire east side.

When we arrived at Lower Spectacle Lake, I was surprised to see it was vacant. I'd checked the online reservation system before leaving and all the sites in this whole area were supposedly booked up. I'd even modified our route to account for that unavailability. It turned out to not be an issue, I had expected it to be crammed! I pointed out the campsite on the east shore, telling Angela I had stayed here once back in 2012 (See my website's TR17: The Barron Canyon to Greenleaf Lake). She mentioned this lake was unremarkable and I agreed – it was very shallow and lacked the giant features usually associated with the east side.

Just after 1pm, we arrived at the take out for the short portage between the two Spectacle Lakes. We did the short, flat, pine-needle covered trail in about a minute and launched onto Upper Spectacle Lake. While paddling up the lake, I pointed out the burned-over east end of the lake and mentioned it had been like that since I passed in 2012. We passed the first campsite and eventually the second. The second campsite was occupied and the group was busy getting tents and tarps put up as we paddled by. I’m not even sure they saw us. We landed at the take out to P2180 to our destination for the night .. Little Carcajou Lake.

High Falls on Carcajou Creek.

High Falls on Carcajou Creek.

Mini canyon on the way to Lower Spectacle Lake.

Creek to Lower Spectacle Lake.

Before taking this short but very rugged beast of a trail on, we decided to have a quick lunch. I ate a few granola bars and meat sticks and Angela had some decanted lemon tuna and a couple of granola bars as well. We topped off with a huge swig of water to lighten the load and began to suit up for the trail. I gave Angela fair warning about this trail. I told her it’s full of ankle busting rocks, narrow passages and flooded out areas. She was game.

The trail starts off easy enough, a nice flat section through a beautiful stand of red pines. But it doesn’t take long for things to take a turn for the worse on this trail. We needed a break by the 500m mark, then another one 400m after that, then 200m after that. We seemed to be getting tired and our food pack was at its heaviest, so it was beginning to take its toll on us.

When we arrived at the pond, I told Angela that I wasn't interested in skipping it. The previous two times I'd crossed this trail, I hadn't made use of the pond. I don’t see value in re-loading then unloading the canoe, just to save a measly 300m. We pressed on and took a few more breaks. It took us a total of nearly 90 minutes to get across that trail. Considering I average about 20 minutes per km when solo, this took way more time than it needed to. But considering Angela was still very new at this and it was the longest and most difficult portage she'd attempted, I had to commend her on her completion of it.

She kept complaining to a minimum and was mostly frustrated at how the trail would just disappear in some areas, or be underwater in other areas. I said these are the costs of spring tripping! We arrived at the end of the trail just after 3pm and both of us were very happy that our portaging for the day was complete. The landing here is a little steep, but after walking the rough trail it’s not so bad to work with. It didn’t take long for us to paddle up the lake and to land at the campsite.

The campsite was missing its sign, but it was obvious that this was the right spot. The fire pit was located fairly close to the shore. This campsite is situated on a little slab of land jetting out from the main shoreline. The site has one, maybe two tent pads and is fairly small. It's great for a couple or a soloist.

I began to set up the tent and tarp while Angela got a fire going. It wasn’t needed yet, but it was a bit chilly and damp, so I figured why not. Usually I’m opposed to an unnecessary fire, mostly because it just means I have to get more wood for when we actually need it, but I think new campers find comfort in fire. I say this because every new person I’ve brought out to the back country, the first thing they do is get a fire going. When I’m solo, I’ll have a fire on a cold morning, when I’m cooking, or before bed. To each their own. With the shelter set up, Angela began to work on the inside of the tent. Mattresses rolled out and inflated, sleeping bags ready to go!

Paddling up Little Carcajou Lake.

A look at the entrance to Stone Chute.

A nice view down Little Carcajou Lake from the lone campsite.

Around 5:30pm, I decided to get a good pile of wood going. Angela tossed a few logs on the fire, as we needed a good bed of hot coals to cook dinner. I made a few trips back and forth with wood from the forest behind the campsite. One thing I like about spring camping is the ease of finding firewood. Fast forward to October and I bet this site will have been picked clean. While looking for firewood, I also tried to locate the thunder box. I went up a really steep hill, following what I thought was a trail but then it just stopped. No box. Ah well, no problem – we had a mini shovel for digging cat holes anyway.

On one of my trips back with wood, I noticed a bunch of white fur on the ground. Then I saw more fur, and followed a furry trail to a spot where it was obvious a deer had been eaten. Nothing but hair remained .. nothing! It had the stench of death in the area, so I moved on. With the fire down, we tossed a pre-made foil package of potatoes, onion and jerk seasoning, and a second foil pack of jerk seasoned broccoli. That along with our steaks and dinner was ready to go! Steak is a tradition on the first night of many camping trips. I can’t think of a single trip I’ve taken that didn’t start out this way.

With our dinner finished, the dishes washed up and the food sack hung, there wasn’t anything left to do except pour a drink, sit back and enjoy the fire. We chatted about our journey so far and I found Angela was in good spirits. This was especially good because on previous trips, we would base-camp for 4 nights and complete day trips. On this trip however, we would be moving each day with a rest day at Greenleaf – so I was happy to learn she wasn’t exhausted or wanted to call it quits!

Our campsite on Little Carcajou Lake

Around 9:15pm something odd happened. I heard loud noises from the south end of the lake. “What was that?” Angela inquired. "No idea, but it kind of sounds like people." Sure enough, about twenty minutes later, a canoe was approaching our campsite. When they were close, they asked how much further to the portage to Wenda. I told them not much, maybe 5 minutes of paddling. I assumed they were staying at the cabin and when I asked them, they confirmed it. Angela asked how I knew they were going to the cabin and I told her it was just a guess because the cabin is one lake over and it’s pretty late to be travelling to a campsite, then having to set up camp as opposed to open a cabin door. They continued on and another canoe followed just behind them. I certainly wouldn’t want to be travelling in the dark, but sometimes you do what you gotta do. Maybe there were highway delays, maybe one of them had to work late.

We continued to enjoy the fire and about a half hour later I could see headlamps at the portage to Wenda. "They must be double-carrying," I said to Angela, "because it shouldn’t take a half hour to paddle to a trail and start down it." Eventually their lights disappeared into the bush, and we both decided to retire to the tent for the night. All in all, an awesome first day in Algonquin Park.

Enjoying the fire.

Day 2- Saturday May 16th, 2015: Little Carcajou – Carcajou

We awoke a little early, at 6:30am. I wanted to quietly duck out and paddle down to the Stone Chute to check it out and get some photos. I put on some water for coffee and had the boat in the water ready to go. Coffee done, I poured a cup and jumped into the canoe. Just as I was pulling away from the campsite, Angela emerged from the tent. She hadn’t slept well and was in desperate need of a coffee. I swung the boat around and headed back to camp. I really wanted to check out Stone Chute, but Angela was awake and I didn’t want to leave her at the campsite all alone. It’s one thing if she’s sleeping. It’s another if I ditch her to go explore while she’s awake at the campsite.

We decided to get a fire going and enjoy some coffee. It was overcast and looked as though it would rain. We made a breakfast of BLT’s on bagels and enjoyed some more coffee. As I began to take down the tent, I mentioned I’d like to get an early start because Carcajou Lake was fully booked and I wanted a very specific campsite .. one that I had seen previously when passing through the lake. It was a beautiful long rocky outcropping, really high above the water and an amazing vista views of the lake proper and the giant bay heading south. Knowing how awesome this campsite was, I also assumed that the other two parties booked on this lake were aiming for that campsite too.

We took everything down and had our bags packed fairly quickly. With the boat in the water, we began to load it for the day’s journey. It was just after 11am – so much for my early start! Just as we were completing a final walk around the campsite checking for misplaced gear, I spotted a red canoe coming our way. As they passed the campsite, I greeted them and we had a quick chat. "Where ya headed? Carcajou Lake?" I asked. They replied with a "Yup!" And that was it – the race was on! I told them we were headed there as well, just for a night then would continue to Greenleaf for two more nights. They had mentioned they will be on Carcajou for two nights, with a possible day trip to Greenleaf.

A quiet morning on Little Carcajou Lake.

Nice view down the lake from the campsite.

As they pulled away, Angela and I got in the canoe and began our journey for the day. A sense of urgency came over me. Something told me that if I didn’t get to Carcajou Lake before they did, the dream campsite would be taken and we would be stuck somewhere in the buggy forest. Angela didn’t seem too concerned at first, but when I explained the geography of the potential campsite she immediately recognized why it was imperative we get there – bugs! We started towards the end of the lake where the portage to Wenda Lake beings when we noticed they were headed off in the wrong direction. When we landed at the portage I realized these guys weren’t taking the portage, they were taking the creek and fishing. ‘Oh good! We don’t have to rush!’ I said to Angela.

We made a quick crossing of the 380m trail and arrived at Wenda Lake by 11:40am. I looked down the creek – no sight of the red canoe. I looked up the lake – nothing there either! Not seeing the red canoe led me to believe these guys were fishing the whole way up the creek and weren’t in a rush to get to Carcajou Lake. As we paddled up Wenda Lake and reached the cabin, the group from the night before was outside the cabin getting their gear in order. I said hello and asked if the cabin was in good shape. "Yep" they replied. I was happy to hear that, because when I stayed at this cabin last July, it was a total mess. My friend and I filled 2 green garbage bags with all the garbage left behind .. from food to gear to clothing.

We continued up the lake and arrived at the take out to the 180m portage. I looked down the lake and still could not see the guys in the red canoe. All pressure was relieved at this point. We crossed the trail without issue and launched on the creek. Less than a minute later we arrived at the 80m portage – once again crossing it with no trouble at all, except the landing on the other side was tricky. Shortly after this portage we encountered a beaver dam. Having crossed literally hundreds of these, I pulled up to it and said ‘Okay, hop out!’. "Hop out onto what? This dam? Are you serious?" Angela replied. I was rather confused by this, "What do you mean am I serious?" What I forgot was, this was the first time Angela had encountered a beaver dam, and wasn’t aware you could get out and stand on one without getting soaked or attacked by a beaver. I laughed a bit and apologized, then gave her instructions on how to deal with beaver dams and eventually helped her up onto the dam.

Just as I was pulling the canoe up and over the dam, I hear voices behind me. I turned around and looked, ‘Oh shoot!’ It was the guys in the red canoe. I couldn’t believe it. I was a bit mind-boggled because when I had looked down Wenda Lake, I couldn’t even see them. And here we were not even a half hour later and they were right on our tail! We chatted again and they had mentioned they have not portaged since the 2180m. Awesome I said! So far they saved 3 portages, and would likely save 2 or 3 more. We paddled side by side for a minute chatting.

When we approached the 110m portage, I told them I was going to take a page out of their book and jumped in the water to start creek walking. I let Angela out at the trailhead and told her to walk the trail as it follows the creek anyway. She wasn’t thrilled with the idea, but she wasn’t wearing a pack either, so it seemed okay for now. As we continued up the creek, I saw a huge beaver dam where there had once been a logging dam. This beaver dam was at least 3ft high and had a rush of water flowing over it. The creek in that spot was also studded with rocks and boulders and after what had nearly happened on the 20m portage the day before, I opted to take the portage for the final 30 meters or so. As I landed and proceeded to unload the packs, the guys in the red canoe hauled themselves up and over the beaver dam and continued on, leaving us in the dust! Well, that was it. We'd lost the race. The awesome campsite only a couple km’s away would definitely be occupied. Oh well, no biggy. We'd have to make do with whatever campsite we got.

Carcajou Creek exiting Wenda Lake.

Portage landing from Wenda Lake north to Carcajou Creek.

Carcajou Creek south of P110.

Since we were no longer in a race, I decided we should take a break at the former logging dam site. There is a giant rock overlooking the creek right at the dam and I’ve sat here before on previous trips to take a break. This particular spot was especially interesting because it is thought to be the site of a Tom Thomson painting called ‘The Drive’. We hung around for about 15 minutes but the bugs started to ‘bug’ us so we decided it was time to move on. Since my feet were already wet from creek-walking, I told Angela to stay in the canoe for the next portage, and I would drag her and the boat up the creek.

It was a hot day, so I had no problem jumping into the cold creek. I walked the canoe and Angela up the creek and into deeper waters where I jumped back in the boat. Not bad! Two portages skipped! Only one left for the day. Just beyond the 115m portage, the creek becomes very narrow and rocky, so I jumped out again. There was a fairly large beaver dam so I remained in the creek until I was able to drag the boat passed the dam. A little further up and we arrived at the take out to Carcajou Lake. I was happy that we were at our final portage of the day, but still a little bummed out about the prospect of losing the awesome campsite.

We crossed the 220m portage with ease and proceeded to load the boat. When I looked around the lake from the portage, I noticed some boats around the giant rock outcropping .. our targeted campsite. It wasn’t the red canoe, so I turned to Angela and said, "The race would’ve been in vain anyway, the site is already occupied." I then noticed the red canoe on the shore at the first campsite on the east side. They were skunked too. I guess someone was up super early to get here, or they were camped there from the night before. We started up the lake and I noticed the second campsite on the east shore was also occupied. "That’s odd." I said. "Why?" Angela asked. "Well, this lake only takes three reservations and it has four campsites." I replied.

"Why is that weird?" She continued. "We can see three campsites from here and the fouth one is up a little further. Of the three campsites we can see, all three are occupied – which means someone is here when they shouldn’t be." It didn’t matter because there was still a fourth campsite, but I felt the lake was too crowded. As we were passing the big rock campsite, Angela noticed a canoe pulling away and thought it was now vacant. I told her that canoe was fishing out front of the campsite, and likely not staying on it – it very likely still has occupants. We couldn’t see anyone, so we decided to paddle over to check it out. Just as we arrived at the campsite, a canoe came around the rocky point and greeted us. We asked if the site was vacant and to our delight – it was! These guys were just on a day trip down from Greenleaf Lake and stopped to have lunch at this campsite. How funny is that? Had we rushed and actually beat the red canoe, we would’ve assumed the campsite was occupied and made camp across the lake – just as they did! But instead, we took our time after admitting defeat only to be rewarded with the campsite we were targeting.

I have to admit, I felt bad for the guys in the red canoe. I just know they were aiming for this campsite – who wouldn’t?! We were so happy to get this site – but at the same time and as uptight as it may sound, I think a rule about occupying campsites for lunch needs to be created. It isn’t fair (though it worked out positive for us this time) that people are deferred to less desirable campsites just because someone on a day trip is having lunch. There is no way of knowing, without asking, if the campsite is vacant or if the occupying parties are just stopping for lunch. Chances are, if you see people walking around on a campsite, you’ll just move on, assuming it’s occupied. It is what it is, but I’m sure a lot of people get short-changed like this.

The dam at P110 where we were overtaken in the race to Carcajou Lake.

Carcajou Creek above P110.

It was just after 2:00pm when we began to set up camp. There was a nice breeze blowing through the campsite, so I delayed putting up the tent. Even with the breeze, the bugs were making more of an appearance than on Little Carcajou Lake. So I busted out the bug shelter. I decided to gather some firewood. And just like on the previous lake, there was plenty of wood to be found. It didn’t take long to get a pile bigger than I needed. This allowed me to leave a bunch of wood for the next group who would visits the campsite.

I walked around the campsite a bit more and realized it’s a kind of island .. only connected to the main land by a very thin stretch of marsh. If the water had been 2ft higher, it would definitely be a full-fledged island. On one side of the campsite, the view up the lake was amazing and on the other side the view down the long bay was equally impressive. Little rock outcroppings covered in white & red pines could be seen all the way down the bay. It was just beautiful. I went down to the shoreline to cast a few but after looking in the water decided against it. I would surely have become snagged among the rocks and would have had to get out into the canoe to free my lure.

The prize: The great campsite of Carcajou Lake.

Another view of this awesome campsite.

By 5pm the wind had died down a bit so I decided to put up the tent. Seeing how the whole campsite was one giant rock, I first had to collect 8 big rocks to keep the rain fly ‘pegged-out’. There were big rocks scattered all throughout the campsite so it wasn’t an issue. With the tent ready to go and firewood already collected, there wasn’t much left to do. Angela and I entered the bug shelter and began to cook dinner. Tonight it would be butter chicken on a bed of Indian rice. While it may not look like much, it sure tastes amazing. With a big hot meal in my stomach, I sat back in my chair and just relaxed for a bit, hands clasped together behind my head. I was in heaven. Evening arrived and we got the fire going. I said I wanted to have a nice big fire because I had too much energy for going to bed early tonight. So, we hung out around the fire for a good while, eventually retreating to the tent just after midnight.

Company at Carcajou Lake. The fire on the right is the guys in the red canoe.

Evening fire on Carcajou Lake.