Day 4 – Monday May 18th, 2015: Daytrip to Barron Lake
I slept like a baby and even managed to sleep in a little bit. By 8am, I was up and out of the tent. I retrieved the food bag and put a pot of water on the stove for coffee. The bugs were getting noticeably worse as the trip progressed. This was our off day, and we had no immediate plans to do anything.
I hung out in the bug shelter and enjoyed a couple of cups of coffee, while I looked over the map and retraced our route so far. I had my eye on one of two daytrips. I wanted to either bushwhack up and over to Lost Lake or visit Barron Lake. The trip to Lost Lake was something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. I made an attempt at this back in 2012 but I turned back as the trip was too risky to undertake while solo, since you pretty much have to climb a waterfall to get there. I had described the idea to Angela the day before, and she mentioned that she would prefer to go to Barron Lake. I was okay with this idea because I wanted to have a closer look at Barron Lake myself. I had passed through the lake last year on a long trip. however, I'd stayed one lake further on (at Loonskin Lake), which was nothing more than a giant, leech-filled swamp. I'd noted to myself on that trip that next time, I would either stay on Barron or continue through to North Branch Lake, but never Loonskin again. I remembered Barron Lake being a beautiful lake, surrounded by giant red pines. There was one campsite in particular I wanted to see. It was on a huge point jutting out into the lake, and had looked very inviting. I poured over the map some more and eventually Angela emerged from the tent. I made her a cup of coffee and asked what she wanted to do. "Drink coffee," she replied. I was okay with that, for now.
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| Shelter from the morning bugs. |
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| The thunderbox is up there .. somewhere. |
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For breakfast we had pancakes and syrup, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Following breakfast, Angela went back to bed as she hadn’t slept very well. While she napped, I cleaned up the campsite, re-hung the food and prepared a day pack to take to Barron Lake. I let Angela sleep for almost two hours and just after noon I woke her up. She felt much better following her second sleep.
We soon shoved off in the canoe on our way to Barron Lake. We took a leisurely paddle down Greenleaf Lake and stopped by the middle campsite, which was now vacant. Angela suggested we could move here, but I wasn’t keen about re-establishing camp only a few hundred meters from where it was already established. I walked the site over and it was just as I had remembered it .. many different levels with the main camping area tucked between two ridges. It would provide decent protection from the wind, but in bug season you don’t want protection from the wind. You want the wind! We jumped back in the canoe and headed across the lake to the portage leading to Barron Lake.
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| The middle campsite on Greenleaf Lake. |
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I’d crossed this portage once before, but didn't remember it being such a challenge. The landing is covered in large moss-covered boulders which makes exiting the canoe a bit of a challenge. Even worse, is the trail itself. It’s a shallow but constant uphill climb and is littered with even more moss-covered boulders. The safest bet was to just take it slow. There were three large fallen trees, but only one of them required me to drop the canoe. About 25 or 30 minutes later we arrived at breezy Barron Lake. My plan was to circumnavigate the lake, checking out each campsite for a possibly future trip. The wind was up by now, but it wasn’t so severe that we couldn’t continue.
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| Arriving at Barron Lake. |
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| Pine and rocky shoreline. |
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| Beautiful hills surround Barron Lake. |
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As we made it to the first campsite on the north shore, I looked below me and there were tons of boulders in the area – but we was probably 100 feet from shore. The water was deep, then shallow with rocks then deep and so on. I was reminded of one of Marc Rubino's trip-logs where he mentioned to stay away from this part of the lake in low water levels. Boy, he wasn’t kidding. We slowly navigated to the campsite and I jumped out to snap a few photos and poke around. The campsite wasn’t overly impressive, just a typical low maintenance site. The view of the lake was nice as the site is situated on a mini point, so you have a near wrap-around view.
Back in the boat, we continued on to the furthest campsite. Angela wasn’t overly keen on paddling in the wind, and there were some dark clouds overhead. I assured her that once we landed at the next site, we could take a lunch break and the rest of the trip would be with the wind. We paddled across to the campsite and once again it was nothing impressive. We opted to keep going instead of having lunch there. Our lunch plan was a dehydrated meal and I brought the stove, so it didn’t really matter where we stopped.
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| Unmarked and probably closed campsite on Barron Lake. |
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| Campsite with big rock out from on Barron Lake. |
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| Small & secluded campsite on Barron Lake near the portage to the hydro field. |
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| Portage to the hydro field. |
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| Angela waited in the canoe while I checked out each campsite. |
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I must say, Barron Lake is very beautiful. However, our visit was somewhat tarnished by the bugs. Oddly, they seemed to be much worse there than on Greenleaf. Each time we checked out a campsite, it wouldn’t be long before we had to jump back in the boat and move on to avoid the bugs. While paddling to the middle of the lake to lose the bugs, I quickly boiled some water and tossed it in the dehydrated meal bag to let it cook while we crossed the lake to visit the final campsite. As we approached the eastern-most campsite on the point we could see that this was definitely the one you would want to stay at. A large point of land covered in red pine, but also sparse in some areas which would allow a nice bug-moving breeze. While at the site, we ate our lunch of pasta primavera and decided to head back to Greenleaf.
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| Beautiful Barron Lake. |
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| The best campsite on the lake. |
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It was getting late in the afternoon and we were both a little tired. It wasn’t long before we landed at the portage and we crossed it about 5 minutes quicker than we did the first time around. I attribute this to the downhill grade. I should mention that at the time of writing this report, both the trailhead and trail alignment are not true to Jeff’s Map (v5) and the trail is closer to 1800m in length. We arrived at the landing and carefully launched the canoe onto Greenleaf.
Once we got into the main channel of the lake, we were hit with a very strong headwind. It was being funneled down the lake and we had to paddle fairly hard just to maintain some speed. It took about 15 minutes to get back to camp and when we did, Angela went straight for the tent. Though I was tired, it was the last evening of the trip and I didn’t want to miss anything by taking a nap. I relaxed in my chair for a while and the black flies kept me company.
Up to this morning there had been little to no mosquitos. But today they really came out. I didn’t do much, and before I knew it a couple hours had passed. I decided to wake up Angela for dinner time. I whipped up two loaves of bannock, which took nearly an hour as I only have one stove. Next I heated the chili and moments later we had fresh hot bread to dip in our steaming spiced chili. I absolutely love chili and fresh bannock while camping, and so does Angela! After dinner, we relaxed around the fire and pretty much called it a night. We were in the tent and in bed by 10pm and I couldn’t have been happier to lay on that air mattress – I was pooped!
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| Beautiful view looking up Greenleaf Lake. |
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| Beautiful view looking down Greenleaf Lake. |
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| Evening at camp on Greenleaf. |
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Day 5 – Tuesday May 19th, 2015: Greenleaf – Grand
Having woken up a little earlier than usual because it was very windy, I was out of the tent by 6:30am. I couldn’t help but notice the wind, though earlier than usual, was headed in our direction. It was sunny with only a few clouds. After putting the water on for coffee, I began to dismantle to tarp and get all the minor things in order and ready for packing. I sat in the bug shelter enjoying a coffee while looking at the map and thinking about the trip. I was sad to be leaving, but I was thankful for the cooperative and favorable weather we'd had.
About an hour after me, Angela woke up and headed straight for the bug shelter. The bugs were bad today, even with the wind. For that reason I was ready to leave. We made a quick breakfast of oatmeal and coffee then began the process of packing up. While I took down the bug shelter, Angela took care of the interior of the tent. It wasn’t long before we had everything packed up and ready to go.
By 9:30am we hit the water and by this time the winds really picked up. We had a fairly easy paddle for 2km down Greenleaf Lake. As we approached the log jammed take out to the portage, I realized we have a small problem on our hands. We were now at the end of the lake where the wind was blowing hardest. The waves were at a point where you really needed to stay in control. There were sunken logs jammed up to the little dock at the portage landing and the waves were slamming directly into them. So for us to come in parallel to the dock, we would be continuously smashed by the waves. Unfortunately due to the shoreline's topography and plants in the immediate area, there was no other way to take out.
So I waited for a lull in the wind and waves and made a break for it. We were still hammered sideways from the waves and got a bit wet. I jumped out onto one of the logs to guide the canoe next to the dock. Angela quickly jumped out and we rushed to get the packs out before everything was soaked. I was disappointed at having to get my feet wet before a 5.5 km portage, as the trail is pretty long and it’s less than ideal to have wet feet for it. We were happy the wind kept blowing, as it kept the bugs at bay and we figured it would also help us as we paddled down Grand Lake. We loaded up and began down the trail.
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| Elevated view of the campsite on Greenleaf Lake. |
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| Sad to be leaving this beautiful place today. |
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| I love my Kipawa! |
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| One final look up Greenleaf Lake. |
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| Greenleaf cliffs on the west shore. |
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| Greenleaf cliffs on the north shore. |
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| Headed down Greenleaf Lake. |
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| Ready for the big one – 5600m from Greenleaf to Grand. |
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| A little over two hour later and we were on the other side. |
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I couldn’t help but notice the scars on rocks along the portage, left behind by snowmobiles accessing this lake in the winter. I have witnessed these scars on rock in other areas of Algonquin too. We took a break at the portage intersection and we didn’t stay long – the bugs were really bad here. I ate a few meat sticks and Angela had a granola bar, then we moved quickly. While headed up the trail I recounted my trip across this same portage back in 2012 when it was completely devastated by blow-downs. As we walked the trail Angela took note of all the cut stumps that would have otherwise blocked our path.
After crossing the hydro field, the trail begins a very steep incline and that doesn't stop for about 1km. The trail is along a hydro maintenance road (a very rough road) so it’s easy to follow, but it is just insanely steep. The overall height gain from Greenleaf to the top is nearly 450 ft! We had to take breaks every 300 meters or less, as it was just too much. As we were getting closer to the top of the ridge, the winds picked up and allowed us to rest with a bit more ease due to the lack of bugs. Eventually, we reached the peak of the portage and when it flattened out we were able to cover much more distance.
According to the GPS, we did three sets of 1 km runs for the rest of the trail. When the trail began its decline, we found it was not as bad as we had anticipated. This was my 3rd time crossing this portage. Angela thought I was crazy for doing it more than once. I told her this portage was likely the reason we were able to catch trout in Greenleaf Lake. So I’ll take it any day. Two hours and ten minutes after we started on Greenleaf Lake, we arrived on Grand Lake. Just as I had suspected and one of the reasons I planned the loop in the direction, the winds on Grand Lake were blowing hard in the direction we were headed! I told Angela this was awesome because we wouldn’t have to work as hard and we could probably make the 11km paddle back to the car in about 90 minutes.
We launched onto Grand Lake around 12:20pm and started our long journey. The skies were overcast but it didn't look like it would rain. The paddle was uneventful but I enjoyed it like I would any other lake. There was no one around. No campsites we passed were occupied. Nor did we see any boats on the lake. By 1:30pm we were at the railway bridge that divides the lake. Not bad! We took a short break after going under the bridge. The railway embankment across the lake provided a wind block and a chance to have a snack.
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| A choppy & overcast Grand Lake. |
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| Headed down Grand Lake. |
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| The railway embankment provided a wind-break for a quick snack. |
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As we continued down the lake the wind became even stronger. Angela was a bit nervous, but I told her not to worry. I had control in the stern and if it became too much, I would pull over. We flew down the lake and landed at Achray just before 2:00pm. Not bad! 11km in one hour and forty minutes. I told Angela that if the wind had been blowing in the other direction, we would have had a real problem! Luck was on our side, and in this case it paid off to go up Carcajou Creek and down Grand Lake.
We unloaded the canoe, topped it on the car and made a quick stop at the Out-Side-In cabin and the Barron Canyon Trail. Overall I was really happy with this trip. The days weren’t too demanding and I think Angela really did amazing for her first loop style trip. She’s an amazing bow partner and I can’t wait for our next trip together.
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| Out-Side-Inn – Achray, Grand Lake. |
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| No trip to the east side of Algonquin Park is complete without a visit to the Barron Canyon. |
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