Algonquin Park 2006

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This is the same loop I did in 2003. It was planned to be just Emily and I, but Emily came down with a flu, so I did the trip with my younger brother Nick.

Our loop was as follows.
  1. Rock Lake to Lake Louisa
  2. Lake Louisa to Welcome Lake
  3. Welcome Lake to Rock Lake
Here is a brief journal of the trip. Photos are found by the link below.

Photo Jornal

May 20 - Rock Lake to Lake Louisa - 1 portage totalling 2895

Got up at 05:00 and drove to Manotick to pick up Nick. Switched the Eacrett's car for my Dad's van and drove to Arnprior in the pouring rain. Arrived at Algonquin Park, got the canoe and loaded up at the Rock lake launch point. Paddled out onto the lake with a light tailwind and light rain. The lake was fairly crowded despite the weather with other canoes and power boats. Music was playing from one of the cottages as we passed. It was going to be a relief to get on the first portage. We landed and hiked for about a kilometer before stopping on some downed logs for lunch. Several people passed on the trail as we were eating, but all were travelling the opposite direction. We continued on down the smooth trail without incident, except for one of the bridges that had been smashed by a falling tree. Fortunately there was anm easy trail around this obstacle. We reached the end of the portage to a small group of people eating lunch. Since we had already eaten, we simply put in and headed out onto the lake with little delay. We paddled for a couple kilometers, battling a mild headwind now, and then found a suitable campsite along the southern shore. We set the tent up in a clearing a little ways from the fire pit, but then noticed a dead tree that looked like it may fall, so we moved the tent to another spot. This was quite easy top do with a free standing tent. Simply pull the pegs and carry the entire unit assembled. There is a small lake some 800m south of our site which is inaccessible by any canoe routes so I decided to try out my new compass to navigate across country to. We found it without any difficulty, and then I gave Nick the compass to navigate back to the campsite, which he did with little difficulty and pin-point accuracy. SUpper consisted of spagetti, after which we lit a fire with rotten wood we scavenged. Everything around this area seems to be rotten and does not burn very well. The sun came out though while the evening wore on, and it looks like it may even be a nice day tomorrow morning. The night sky was filled with stars as the clouds had completely dissipated.

May 21 - Lake Louisa to Welcome Lake - 2 portages totalling 2045m

It rained during the night but awoke to a patch blue sky and a large black cloud bank receeding in the distance. During breakfast, it started snowing... hard. Snow on the 21st of May! We ate breakfast and then packed the gear as the weather alternated between sunny breaks and snow storms. We paddled out onto the lake where the weather switched between snow, sun, and rain, a pattern that continued throughout the day. The wind was in our face as we slowly paddled down the lake, hugging the shoreline for a little relief from the wind and waves. Another canoe joined us for a while, but then pulled ahead as they had three people paddling on board. Finally we rounded the end of the lake and turned into a bay where the wind was now at our backs. We sped down the length where we reached the portatge over to Florence Lake. The portage went smoothly. We stopped for a snack of dried fruit and nuts along the way. We put in on Florence and then a short paddle brought us to the next portage, a short 300m one. I got Nick to carry the canoe, and except for a downed tree and a section of mud, it was an easy carry. At the far side we met a couple park maintenance guys with a canoe, motor, chainsaw, several tanks of gas, and other supplies. They were portaging all this gear across and cleariing the downed tree as they went. I think a light kevelar canoe, folding saw, and a couple paddles may have been more effective, and much easier to carry. As we paddled into the next swampy section, we could hear the reports of chainsaws from behind us. We then had a beaver dam to cross which had a two foot drop over the edge... how did the maintenance crew get up this with their heavy boat? We paddled onto Rence lake and through some meandering swamp streams over to Harry Lake. At this point the wind was pushing us along nicely, so we rested, ate granola bars and pumped some drinking water as we drifted across. The going got rough near the end as the waves built up, but then we entered another meandering stream which took us to Welcome Lake. As we negotiated the twists and turns of the swamp, we saw hundreds of trout swimming in schools. The fishing must be really good here. We also saw some neat looking ducks. Once on Welcome Lake, we paddled over to the first camp along the eastern shore as we figured that this would be the most sheltered from the wind. We ate lunch in a glorious sunshine, and then quickly set up the tent in yet another rain shower. While trying to get the food rope over a tree, I got the rope stuck in the branches of another tree. I pulled on the rope to free it, but the entire tree fell over, and narrowly missed me. We are camped along a beach and I tried to read down by the water, but the constantly shifting weather patterns and mosquitos forced me to retire to the tent where I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, snoozing, and writing. It got very cold so I got out of the tent to get the Indian buffet supper going and a fire to ward off both the chill and occasional snow squalls. Retured to the tent early as it was fairly miserable outside, even with the fire for comfort.

May 22 - Welcome Lake to Rock Lake - 3 portages totalling 2840m

Got up to a thin layer of snow on everything, more snow falling from the sky, and the sun shining through a hole in the clouds. It was also very cold, so I put on the coffee and cooked up breakfast without delay. Packed up camp, took a compass bearing across the lake (my new compass has an automatic adjustment for magnetic declination so the bearing was much better than the trip I did a few years ago...) and then paddled out. It shortly began snowing very hard and the wind picked up blowing the snow into our faces. Canoeing across a lake into a blizzard on May 22nd is definately a unique experience. At least it was not raining. The bearing proved true, and we reached the opposite shore within meters of the portage point. The group of three others that we had met yesterday arrived, and we ended up sort of travelling along with them until Pen Lake. This portage was fairly long with a few technical sections. At the end there were several downed trees. The first was a big one that I managed to shuffle over while continuing to balance the canoe on my head. The next several trees had fallen in a big obstacle course which required two people to manover the canoe over and under the various trunks. A trek through a meandering stream and over a couple beaver dams, which could be traversed without stopping, brought us to the second portage whihc was short as it descended a waterfall. A rocky put in was followed by more meandering stream until we reached Pen Lake. Now we had to battle a wind as we slowly climbed northward. We stuck clos to shore and took advantage of small inlets and bays to help break the wind as much as possible. After about an hour and a half of paddling, we reached the final portage. Unfortunately so did another half dozen other canoe parties. We quickly traversed this 400 meter, and then had lunch on the far side as the other groups trickled in. They were carrying loads of gear including coolers full of beer which they broke into to celebrate the portage completion. We quickly finished up our meal and then got on the water. Another long haul into the north wind now lay before us. The weather continued to shift with bouts of rain, sun, snow, and heavy wind. Forunately the wind would die off every so often and allow us to make a leap in progres. Motorboats buzzed around this lake. A canoe in front of us had a small motor off the side, allowing the occupants to travel at the same speed as us, but with no effort. To big hunter/fisherman type guys paddled past us, then rendevoued with a motor boat and got a tow. Other canoes were also being towed. Then even the canoe with a motor got a tow. Two women in a canoe overflowing with coolers, pillows, and other equipment spun around and around in the wind as they lost control of their boat did not get a tow. Anyway, after paddling across this crowded lake we finally arrived at a crowded parking lot. We quickly packed up the van and left. Stopped for lunch in Whitney and then drove home.
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