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May 13, 2025 - Rabbit Lake Road
As we had decided that we were going to try to get
out today, and it was forecast to be a very hot one, we hit the trail early at 06:45. The climb out of Boulder Creek
valley had us down to our t-shirts as we quickly gained elevation up to the ridge above Lake Temiskaming. Lots of
blowdown slowed travel as we made our way towards Pretty Pond. In fact it was so slow going we thought we had missed
it entirely, until out of the blue we passed the side trail marked to this campsite. Not wanting to spend more time on
this section, we bypassed the side trip and kept going to Fleury Lake where we took our first real break.
Blowdown a plenty
It was now getting very hot and we stopped several times along the next section to rest and rehydrate,
finally arriving at Cascade Creek where we stopped for lunch and to refill the empty water bottles. The following
stretch of ridge had several steep climbs, but included a lovely walk through an area of hardwood forest which gave
a bit of
reprieve from the blown down pine forests encoutered everywhere else. Second lunch
was had at Owain Creek where we dunked our
hats and t-shirts in the frigid water to cool off. Over the span of two days we have gone from frozen water filters
and hypothermic swimming adventures to a sweltering thirty degree heat wave!
From here the trail took a meadering inland route with many steep climbs and descents over the next four kilometers.
As we were now very tired this took us quite a bit of time. We paused for a break on top of nearly every hill, tried
in vain to figure out where we were in this featurless wilderness, and then pushed on. The noted viewpoint on the
map came and went without us noticing, then finally the trail turned downwards, and at that point I knew we were nearing
the junction to Rabbit Lake Road.
Reaching the junction, we hugged each other as it meant that we now had hiked the full length of the trail
from end to end over the course of our two trips
together. We then sat down again to rest and rehydrate for yet another break.
Now all that was left was a three kilometer trudge back out to the truck on a trail that we were familiar
with from last year. With the stifling heat and our exhaustion, this took
more time than it should, but after a couple more breaks we eventually found the truck! A jug of water stashed in the
box quenched our
thirst and then we hit the road for the bumpy crawl out Rabbit Lake road and finally celebratory burgers in North
Bay before driving the rest of the way home.
Beaver bridging
A weary stumble to the truck
Happy hikers
Hike Time: 9.5 hours
The End
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