trip-log#58 - access#27 cedar lake july 30-august 3, …€¦ · trip-log#58 - access#27 cedar lake...

TRIP-LOG#58 - ACCESS#27 CEDAR LAKE

JULY 30-AUGUST 3, 2010 - ALGONQUIN PARK

June 20 - Day 1 - Everything is so green & the bugs are so

mean!

This was a ten day semi-solo trip through Algonquin Park's north end. I had an ambitious plan to paddle and portage my way to Carl Wilson Lake to spend a few days with some friends there, then make my way to Wendigoes Lake via Cedar Lake for two nights with another friend. Finally, portaging back to Cedar Lake to spend my last few nights there, meeting more friends all from the online Algonquin Park paddling community forum, "algonquinadventures.com". My plans were altered on many fronts, from bugs to toothaches.

I arrived around 6:30am after a long drive up from Toronto and fell asleep waiting for the permit office to open at 7:00am. I woke up at around 7:20am and stepped inside to acquire my permit. I was warned that the mosquitos were really 'bad' and thanked the fellow for his warning. I scooped up my permit & garbage bag, then drove to Cedar Lake. The drive to the lake is a long one, nearly forty minutes and the road seemed to me to be in better condition than usual at the time. Be warned though, most of the time it is 'washboard' like and it can be a rough drive in.

By 8:30am I was loaded up and ready to go as I looked upon Cedar Lake's vast expanse. The lake was very nearly glass like with a few ripples in the water and the sky filled with low hanging grey clouds. While I had been loading the canoe, I became covered with a larger than average 'horde' of mosquitos. The little bastards were all over me with the odd black fly thrown in for good measure. I didn't waste any time and shoved off, gleefully climbing into my canoe and paddling away. I was back in The Park! Wooohooo!

I began by paddling West then turned Northwest around the point heading up the lake. I had never been to this part of Cedar Lake before, having always visited the South end. There seemed to be a lot of rocks and a few islets along the East shore as I began to paddle up the lake. I passed a cottage or two and a beach then I passed two campsites almost one after another, then nothing. I was on my own and paused for a

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moment to let the surrounding scene soak through my being. There was green everywhere. Green, green, GREEN! The silence was deafening and I loved it!

By 10:45am I was under attack as I approached the lone island campsite that guarded the entrance to Little Cedar Lake. Not one but two seagulls took turns making bombing runs that made me duck in my canoe. More than once, one of them released a volley of it's deadly poop bombs onto me. Luckily, the seagull's aim was off and I emerged from the attack unscathed; Except for my pride, once again I was humbled by nature.

It was obvious to me that the seagulls had a nest nearby and were defending it fiercely. I have no knowledge of the breeding habits of seagulls, but have encountered this type of behaviour before during the months of May & June. It seems that in June I have more to avoid than just the bugs of the forest harassing me.

The island campsite I approached was quite interesting. It was covered with red pine and loaded with hard Canadian Shield rock. It was one of the rockiest campsites I had ever seen (From the canoe). To top it off, there was a fireplace and chimney on the campsite. I surmised that at one time there was a cottage on the island, although the foundation and any other indications of a cottage were long gone. There was an active cottage on nearby Gilmore's Island, having taken note of it, as I had passed it by on my way up the lake.

Paddling into Little Cedar Lake forced me twice to change my route, the mouth of the lake is filled with islets, rocks & timber. Despite having to adjust my course, it is a pretty area to paddle through. By 11:27am I passed by the portage to Bug Lake. This was one of three possible ways to get into Carl Wilson Lake, but not my way, I had another route in mind. The portage into Bug Lake looked bushy - very bug infested, I paddled on.

Ten minutes later I crossed underneath the old railway bed (Through a tunnel), that runs through this area of The Park. As I was about to enter the tunnel I had to get out of the canoe with one foot placing it on a half-submerged log, while getting around a few partially submerged logs that blocked passage into the tunnel. I lost my footing at one point and nearly tipped my canoe as I clung to it for support as my leg slipped on the wet log. Miraculously, my slipped foot caught on a knot on the log and the

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impending disaster was halted. I gingerly made my way along the log, pushed my canoe along and over another log and got back in the canoe and was on my way. Whew!

With the railway bed underpass completed I paddled onto Aura Lee Lake. The sky was dark looking and I suspected it was going to rain, but it held off as I paddled up the lake heading to the first portage of the day. I passed close to one of two campsites, it had a nice sandy landing but looked too buggy for a June stay-over. There was also a tiny island that sat in front of the campsite, completing the scene beautifully.

12:05pm and I arrived at the 275m portage into Laurel Lake. While crossing the portage I was eaten alive by mosquitos. They really were 'bad' as the fellow at the permit office had described. I also came in heavy, triple portaging. I've done triple portaging once before and said I'd never do it again, but I had some guests coming into camp the next day and I wanted to make them feel at home, so I had brought along many litres of beer in plastic bottles.

Yes, way too much weight I know, but hey I was only going in one direction with that weight so I figured it would be no problem. Neither did the mosquitos as they relentlessly ate me alive, they had no problem at all in making me feel right at home. By the third pass on the short trail I finally 'caved' and dug out my bottle of bug spray and spread it upon myself in generous doses. After this, I completed my third and final pass of what I found to be an annoying trail. Sure the bugs were bad, but it was one of those ankle busting trails, loaded with slippery moss covered rocks that were, if you were not careful, dangerous and capable of bringing a grown man to his knees.

I loaded up the canoe and paddled out onto beautiful Laurel Lake. There is a rather large hill along the Northeast shoreline, one that can be seen as you paddle up Aura Lee Lake. Here on Laurel Lake, it was much larger of course being a prominent feature on the lake. By 1:15pm, I passed by a lovely island campsite that sits almost in the geographical centre of the lake.

The island looked to be sandy and was heavily populated with red pine trees. The island looked to have suffered some wind damage as well. I surmised this was from the severe storms of 2006. There were several red pines near the landing that had been

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knocked down and some more up along the hill on the island. Nevertheless, it looked to be a perfect summer site and I made a mental note of it.

By 1:30pm I had arrived at the very rocky and foamy portage landing for the short carry-over (130m) into Little Cauchon Lake. I say 'Foamy', as there is a set of falls nearby where Little Cauchon empties in to Laurel Lake. Avoid getting close to the turbulent waters as they are less buoyant. I have heard that this can be a nice spot to fish for walleye. The landing was typical Canadian Shield rock and so was some of the climb as it ascended some 25m in only about 80m or so distance.

On the flip-side, Little Cauchon Lake had a marshy look to it, as a section of the lake had been closed off as the nearby railway bed made a causeway across a bay; Access past the rail bed was underneath a trestle.

On my second carry-over I met a couple coming the other way as I was chugging up the steep incline, I mumbled a 'hello' and kept going. The number of mosquitos there (at the put-in) were surprisingly few, so I decided to take a break replenishing myself with water and gorp. After a break of 15 minutes I loaded up and paddled out into the bay, past a turtle sunning itself (took many pictures) on a deadhead.

Continuing on through the railway trestle, I paddled a short distance and landed at my pick for the carryover into Carl Wilson Lake, the 1070m portage. It was 2:30pm. I ought to mention that I passed by a campsite quite near to the portage, it had some red pine upon it and was set upon some flat rock, all in all not a bad looking campsite from a distance. Looking up Little Cauchon I had the impression I was looking into infinity, the lake just kept going and going all the way to the horizon, very nice.

The landing at the portage was slightly muddy and easy to step out onto; a hop and a half and I was on dry land. I loaded up for the carry and the few first raindrops started to fall upon me. I hurried into the forest.

I remember the portage itself as being easy to traverse by foot, the trail was well trodden with no tripping hazards like roots or rock. However, it seemed to me that it was one of those long and never ending slow ascents. The bugs came out in droves to feed upon my blood and more than once I had to throw off my pack and spray on more bug juice to keep the little devils off my neck and shoulders.

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As I was coming across for my third and final carry the skies opened up. It was just pouring cats and dogs, a torrential downpour. Finally, I reached the end and stood there under the protection of a nearby balsam fir, waiting for the downpour to end. The waiting continued - seeming like forever. The humidity rose and with it the mosquitos were having a frenzy, courtesy of me. It seemed like the world's water supply was being dumped on me, the rate at which the rain was coming down was fantastic and I wondered to myself if this is what it felt like to be in one of those tropical rainforest downpours.

Just after 5pm, it was as if someone or something had turned off a tap. The rain ceased, the sky partially cleared and I launched my canoe onto Carl Wilson Lake. Almost at once it began to rain again, I thought to myself, "Oh well, in for a penny…" The rain increased, beating down on my head. Soon it was a total downpour all over again and I was soaked through and through. "I can't get any wetter." I thought.

I paddled on and through the rising mist and raindrops I spied a campsite off to my left. Actually, it turned out to be a portage with a campsite next to it. This was the trail from Ironwood Lake via another portage from Bug Lake, then onto Cedar Lake - The route I had opted to ignore. I still thought my way was technically shorter, believing I would have suffered more by going the multiple-portage route through low maintenance trails. The month of June can be unforgiving.

In the pouring rain the campsite looked undesirable, so I paddled on. Eventually, I emerged onto the expanse of Carl Wilson Lake when suddenly the rain stopped again and it looked like it was for good this time. I headed for a campsite that to me looked good on the map. Sure enough, it was a good looking campsite (along the Northwest shore). A nice sandy landing with a path up an eroding bank to a large flat open area - where numerous people were milling about. One of the people there came down to several canoes parked onshore to grab something and head back up to the campsite. Sigh… I moved on. I did not like the next campsite. I found it stifling, the bugs were really bad in there so I headed over to the East shoreline.

The next one looked like it would do... Essentially a big hole in the forest. Still, I had time to look around and more choices ahead of me. I paddled on soon coming to a bend. I rounded the bend and a lovely cliff face came into view. Suddenly, I was jolted as the canoe scrapped a rocky shoal, forgetting in my awe of the cliffs ahead me to

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watch the waters below me. There was an extensive shallow area that was littered with rocks. I paddled around this and came upon two more campsites; One looked really terrible and the other one probably hadn't been occupied in ten years or more. Pity though, would've been a nice view to wake up in the morning and see those cliffs there in front of one's self.

I headed back to the 'hole in the forest', landed awkwardly and pulled the canoe up over rocks and aways from shore. I then unpacked and went through the process of setting up camp. By 8pm, I was cooking chicken and rice on the fire (In my fry pan - no grill on site), while I was covered with black flies and mosquitos. This was the worst.

I ate my dinner, cleaned my dishes and had a few stiff drinks and went to bed… It was nice to get away from the little devils.

June 21 - Day 2 - Canoeguy & Swede Arrive!

I made a breakfast of eggs & bacon over a morning fire while I sipped at some really good instant coffee goo. It was so wonderful to wake up to nature. Soon after breakfast was done though the skeeters came out. It was a sunny beautiful day and I thought I'd head out onto the water to get away from the bugs.

Before I did this though, I needed to make a trip to the thunder-box. I will tell you that it was a trip through hell. Sitting on the thunder-box with my pants rolled down, it took literally five minutes to kill and clear the cloud of roughly 50 mosquitos that threatened me and the black flies were coming out too as it really was starting to get nasty out. My business done (in record time), I came away with at least 15 bites and ran back down the trail for my tent.

I changed into swimming trunks and dove into the water. Ahhhh… Relief! This was the June hell that I had expected but never liked. I had brought an extra can of bug spray just in case and as I emerged from the water a horsefly of all things landed on me. I panicked, those damn things bites' are vicious. I hurriedly brushed it away, sprayed myself silly and got in the canoe and paddled away; My campsite was a

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deathtrap. I am not exaggerating. Some years the bugs are worse than others and this was one of those years and it was June.

I decided to paddle over to the campsite directly across from me on the West shoreline to see if I could find a camp grill; Steak was the meal of the day and I didn't want to have to pan fry that. I arrived and was soon attacked by hordes of black flies & mosquitos. It was even worse over here than on my campsite! There wasn't even a breath of fresh air at the site; It was sheltered from the wind and was just like a sauna in there.

I found a grill near the fire-pit, feeling bad about taking it for one-second and then thought, "I need this". At the same time I wondered where the grill from my campsite had gotten to? I retreated to my canoe and paddled back to the safety of the open water. It really was a nice day and to spend it in the forest among the hordes of blood-thirsty bugs was just plain torture. I made sure my hat was on, coating some sun bloc onto my arms and legs and headed over to the cliff face.

Paddling along the shoreline of the cliff face I felt dwarfed by the large boulders and the towering cliff above me. I also tried fishing but under the mid-day sun caught nothing. I eventually made my way back to camp fishing over the shoal that I paddled onto the day before. Again, I caught nothing - Not even a nibble.

It was around 12:30pm when I returned to camp. I had spent the better part of three hours paddling the shoreline back and forth around the cliff face and the neighbouring bay. There was quite a lot of large rock and boulders below the cliffs and the neighbouring ridge. If you enjoy climbing over and around rocks, looking for nests, plants or whatever; Then this area of the lake would keep you happy for hours at a time. I had a quick lunch of sausage, cheese and bread and washed it down with water. The skeeters were back but only a fraction of their strength from the morning attack by the thunder-box.

I was expecting some visitors this day; Two fellas I had met on the online algonquin camping forum "algonquinadventures.com". I was awaiting the arrival of "Canoeguy" and the "Swedish Pimple". I liked to call him "Swede". Neither of them had still not arrived by the time I finished my lunch and I was getting anxious. I waded out several feet into the lake and checked to make sure that some beer I had sunk into the lake

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was still there. It was and I decided to climb back into the canoe to keep my distance from the bugs and to keep an eye out for my friends.

Even though I had neighbours up the lake from me, I hadn't seen a canoe on the water since I arrived. So, as I headed up the shoreline a few hundred feet from the campsite, puttering around in the shallows, I was surprised to see a green canoe sneak up on me from out of nowhere. It came across from the West shoreline and with the green colour of the forest behind the canoe, it had been hard to spot. Canoeguy ("Darren" is his real name) & his son "Kevin" made a beeline for my campsite as I called out a greeting, they replied back and I got into my canoe and headed back to camp to meet them.

I received a warm greeting from Darren as we shook hands and talked about our respective journeys into Carl Wilson Lake. Darren and Kevin had come into the lake via the Bug Lake portage and the aforementioned lakes/portages route. Darren talked about the steepness of the first portage up to Bug Lake and the amount of mosquitos on the trails, with the remaining portages along the way being much easier in terms of elevation and terrain.

Darren & Kevin soon busied themselves as they pitched their tent and emptied their canoe of gear. I busied myself by going down to the lake and fishing the beer of out of the water, serving up semi-cold beer for refreshments. A nice surprise was a gift from Darren; A t-shirt that he had labelled himself with ironed-on logos; Canoeguy's website, the Algonquin Adventures Website and even my own website. Pretty neat, thanks Darren!

It was 3:45pm when relaxing by the fire-pit, all of us with several beers in hand that I became aware of a noise. It sounded like 'white noise'. I looked down the lake and to my surprise I saw a white wall coming down the hillside towards the lake from the South end. It was pretty creepy to see and hear the storm of rain coming for us. We scrambled to get things in order, with me flipping the canoe and making sure my tent fly was secure. Then I sat under the tarp (over the fire-pit) to prepare for the coming downpour, we all did.

I was surprised at the strength of the accompanying wind and watched as my tarp over the fire-pit flapped crazily in the windstorm. I got the dumb idea to put a log against

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the tarp to prevent it from bucking wildly any further, hoping the tarp wouldn't tear as the winds really started to pick up strength, gusting chaotically. When I am solo I usually think things through twice - sometimes three times, as one cannot afford a mistake when solo. Thus with my friends around I didn't think twice at what a dumb thing I had just did.

So I sat there with this huge log leaning up against the tarp, right in front of me. I looked at it uncertainly, then Darren says to me, "That might not be a good idea, you are sitting right in the path of that log". Darren was right of course and no sooner had he said that, that I got the idea to get up and as I did so the log fell forward and landed right where I had been sitting a half second before. Whew! Thanks again Darren!

The wind and rain intensified and I decided to wait it out. Darren and Kevin went to drier ground, namely their tent. After waiting half an hour with no sign of the rain letting up, I gave in also and headed to my tent to change. I was pretty much soaked and was getting chilled. The storm lasted well over two hours and after it was over I stepped out wearing shorts and a t-shirt. All my long pant clothing was now soaked; what I had been wearing plus the gear the day before was hanging on the laundry line now soaked, again.

I was only out of my tent two minutes when I looked down to my legs, to find them covered with mosquitos and black flies. This was silly, the amount of bugs was just crazy. I went down to the lake to get away from the bugs and to fish out some more beer. It was then that I heard a noise and looked up. It was Swede, paddling along the shoreline, solo in his canoe.

Swede had camped on Laurel Lake, that same beautiful island campsite I had spied on my way in. As Swede had come onto Carl Wilson Lake he got a rainstorm just like I did when I came in and he waited it out, thus his late arrival.

We sat down around the fire-pit enjoying some beer and watching the sky fill up with clouds again. I realized then that it wasn't just me as Swede also commented on the ferocity of the bugs. Darren & Kevin didn't seem as affected by it, but then again they were spraying themselves silly and they were wearing bug jackets. All in all it was a good evening around the fire, although it wasn't as long as I had liked. I think you might know why too, need I say more?

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June 22 - Day 3 - My first “Laker”

During the night two thunderstorms rolled through. Swede who slept on beside me, claimed he didn't hear a thing. That's probably because he had brought ear plugs. I suppose he had heard about my infamous snoring abilities! At one point the rain came down pretty hard and I was worried about rain coming into the tent. My fears were unfounded though as my tent was pitched quite well and both of us had a dry sleep.

The thunderstorm was relaxing to listen to despite a few nearby lightning strikes, the kind that make you jump. Morning came and breakfast was gobbled up and I headed out onto the lake early wasting no time to get away from the little devils of the forest. Darren had wanted to explore the Southern portion of the lake and a marsh at the very end of the lake to look for wildlife, particularly moose.

I made my way down the East shoreline passing by the cliffs, taking my time as Darren & Kevin slowed their progress to permit me to catch-up. Swede had stayed behind for the time being. It really was a beautiful day and I have to say at this point that Carl Wilson really is a very pretty lake. The campsites might not be much, but it was a nice lake to paddle on with nice shorelines to explore. I thought about this as I rounded a shoal on a point and headed east into the last section at the bottom end of Carl Wilson Lake.

The winds had shifted and picked up a little as well, it was one of those rare moments when I had the wind at my back as I was getting a free ride! I lightly paddled as I steered my way to a campsite near the end of the lake. Mother nature called so I made my way up to the thunder-box, past a quaint little camping area, large enough for a few tents and a comfy fire-pit, but bushy enough to keep the elements at bay. It really was a nice campsite.

My experience at the thunder-box was even worse then the one at my campsite. I was like a child let loose upon the world, as I sat there and sprayed (ineffectively) at the rising clouds of mosquitos around me. There had to be over one hundred mosquitos. That guy at the permit office wasn't kidding. I finished my business quickly and admired the campsite once more before leaving. I took my time though. I wanted to

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exit the campsite with dignity. It wouldn't do to see me running and screaming bloody hell from the campsite chased by skeeters! I would like to camp there sometime, possibly in the fall or spring. It was an out of the way campsite with a sheltered view of the lake, sweet.

I rejoined Kevin & Darren who waited in the shallows nearby. We continued east, our destination was the marsh that marks the end of the lake and runs north up behind the cliffs (More or less) of Carl Wilson Lake. We didn't get very far perhaps 10 minutes in but no more. It was quite shallow in there and well I hate to say it again, but the bugs (Deerflies this time) were thick in there. We didn't see any moose, so we left in a hurry heading back to the open lake. It looked kinda nice in there to paddle, but maybe another time eh?

Heading back to the main part of the lake was hard work as I now had the wind in my face, Darren and Kevin breezed by, two paddles are better than one sometimes. Ahead, I could see the bright yellow canoe of Swede, as he tracked south across my path in the distance, paddling for the bottom shoreline. I headed towards Swede, when I realized I was centred geographically on the lake's Southern end.

There was a light breeze against me as I looked up the length of the lake. This could be a good chance for me to get a troll in for some trout; Light breeze with minimal waves, as long as the wind didn't shift I could keep a nice track up the lake. I prepared my line and went about the business of letting out my line slowly.

I hit bottom at 38 feet, reeled in a few feet and started to paddle up the lake. Not five minutes into my troll, my rod started to bend precariously into the water. I tossed my paddle into the canoe and lunged for the rod, and began to reel in. There was alot of resistance but I definitely had a trout on the line, it just hung there - Very heavy feeling. As the end of the line got close to the canoe I felt a tug, then another and it was gone. Just like that, my lake trout drought continued.

I looked about and noticed Swede was still down at the Southern end of the lake and Darren and his son were up ahead of me, approaching the campsite. It appeared no one noticed my failure. I let my line out again, hit bottom at around 35 feet, reeled in a few feet then started to paddle. I paddled for about 10 minutes when my rod bent downwards again. I grabbed the pole and started to real in immediately.

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The drag on the line was not as strong as before but the fish put up a fight as I brought it to the surface. Once on the surface the fish started to put up a good fight and it took three tries before I got the fish into the net. I brought the fish into the canoe where I tried to subdue it. It tried unsuccessfully to get away from me, but I prevailed and rendered the fish unconscious.

I hooted with glee as I paddled back to camp. Upon arrival I found canoeguy already cleaning a fish, a brook trout that Kevin had caught! I held up my two pound trout with pride. I finally landed my first lake trout all on my own. Not being skilled in cleaning fish I asked Darren if he would clean it for me while I observed. He was already messy from the first fish, so I caught him at a good time.

Swede arrived, hearing the commotion and wondered what all the fuss was about. Swede congratulated me on my first catch. He was all smiles and I think he remembered what it was like to get your first one. Swede knew I had being trying unsuccessfully for a few years. Swede asked Darren if he could 'butterfly' Kevin's trout; It was some technique where one can fillet the trout without the use of a knife. It looked tricky as it required three hands instead of two. It worked partially but in the end a knife had to be used to complete the task.

"Swede the bushmaster", where does Swede learn all this stuff? Very cool. Both trout were wrapped in foil and cooked over the fire. We ate Kevin's trout first and by the time mine was done cooking we were all full, so I packed mine away for a meal the next day. Kevin was complaining about a toothache that had been building over the last day. I gave him some "Ambersol" to numb the pain though Kevin reported that it didn't do much to relieve the pain.

Swede remained in camp while I joined Darren & Kevin in their canoe for an early evening paddle and another try at fishing. We didn't catch anything but the paddling and weather was fantastic. It was a fine evening that night as the sky was clear and my clothes were dry so I was able to cover up, although we all had to spray ourselves silly. The bugs were bad, but manageable.

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We had a nice sunset and as dusk settled in Darren spotted a moose swimming across the lake. What a treat, the king of the forest out in the water, probably getting some relief from the bugs for a few minutes as it made it's way to the opposite shoreline, where we could hear it enter the forest than disappear into the night.

June 23 - Day 4 - Where’d everyone go?

None of us wasted time making elaborate breakfasts. I made oatmeal and coffee and then packed up and we all were on the water by 8:15am. I was scheduled to make my way back to Cedar Lake and then paddle its length down to the bottom, portaging my way to Wendigoes Lake and staying there for two nights. I figured I'd be there between 7:00 & 8:00pm, with it being June I had daylight on my side.

I had decided to change my itinerary. Forget going to Wendigoes Lake! It would be a death trap with the bugs being as bad as they were. I decided I would spend the rest of my trip on Cedar Lake instead; Big lake, big breezes, it would keep the bugs away.

Darren & Swede both agreed and we made our way back to Swede's camp on the island on Laurel Lake where we had a lunch break. Along the way on the 1,070m portage, Swede found a spring that is at the halfway point right where a canoe rest is, very nice! It was while we were on Swede's Island campsite that we heard thunder from the Northwest. We looked up and saw a large cloud mass moving in. Time to go!

Darren and Kevin went ahead, they knew where we would meet up so they took off with me following a few minutes later. Swede told me to go on ahead. I told him I'd wait for him at the portage. I got to the portage amid a rising cloud of bugs.

I carried my gear over, then headed back and grabbed my canoe and heading back once more to complete the carry-over. I waited for Swede to appear. I waited perhaps 15 minutes when more thunder crackled, I waited no more and headed back to my canoe and paddled down Aura Lee Lake.

It looked to me like a super cell thunderstorm was building. The cloud kept billowing outwards and upwards. So I had time, just how much I wasn't sure. My portages were

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done for the day, I just had to get to my camp on Cedar before the thunderstorm struck. I paddled as fast as I could and by 2:00pm I had reached Little Cedar Lake.

By 2:35pm I reached Cedar Lake and scanned the Northeast shoreline, much farther down the lake I could see Darren and Kevin paddling. I estimated they were about 45 minutes ahead of me. More thunder and I looked behind me, the storm was getting closer, rising above me. I still had time but the storm was closing in and so I skirted the shoreline.

More thunder and fear started to push me faster, closer to shore, so close to the shoreline that I started to bottom out, scraping rock. I paddled hard and after an hour of this I passed by a launching point where a soloist in a cedar-strip canoe was preparing to launch on a trip. The sky turned black behind me, the wind rose, gusting onshore... Thunder rolled.

I was minutes from the landing, would I make it in time? Paddling in a fury I rounded a bend and saw the access point. I finished my paddle, pulled up my canoe and hopped into my car to wait out the storm. I made it! I looked around, and didn't see Darren around at all and wondered if he had pushed onwards down the lake? I waited perhaps an hour and during that time just a handful of raindrops struck the windshield of my car, the black clouds rolled out over the lake.

The storm never transpired! It just blew right by and as I watched, some clouds reached near the ground on the opposite shore and through my binoculars I could see a dust devil of debris being sucked up into the air, It was 4:45pm. This was the closest I've ever come to seeing a real tornado. The dancing debris cloud made it's way inland then lifted and was gone. I waited for perhaps another hour walking around the campground for a little bit, waiting for Swede to catch up, maybe then we could paddle down to the campsite together?

Finally at 6:30pm I decided to push off. Swede or no Swede I had camp to set-up and I was tired of eating gorp, I was getting hungry. Within an hour I arrived at camp, it was 7:30pm and the site was deserted, no Darren. I began setting up camp. The evening was warm and humid and by the looks of things the rain was still going to drop in on me.

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By 8:45pm the sun was going down and I had gathered, chopped and burned enough wood to cook by as I heated up my fish and rice. As expected the bugs weren't as bad as they were on Carl Wilson as I walked the beach in evening shadows. I set-up a lantern on shore all night in case Swede or Darren decided to drop by, I retired at 11:00pm and still no one had come by. I hope neither had suffered because of the storm?

June 24 - Day 5 - Jim Cavers arrives!

It was a beautiful warm morning on Cedar Lake and I loved walking around camp with shorts on and coffee in hand and only less than a handful of skeeters to swat at...ahhhh freedom! It was great to be back on Cedar Lake. Carl Wilson was beautiful, but boy in June it was hell, plain and simple!

I did a morning paddle around my island and fished the shoal up at the tip of the island to the north of me. As expected bass were everywhere and that's all I seemed to catch so I stopped fishing, as bass season wasn't open for another four days. I headed back to camp to lounge around on the beach and also explore the immediate surrounding forest.

By lunchtime I kept an eye out for Jim Cavers, a fellow paddler who I had invited to link up with me on Wendigoes Lake. Jim had his own Algonquin blog site, entitled Algonquin Canoe trips, his blog has lots of interesting tidbits on it that many fellow canoeists would enjoy; food tips, health & fitness and gadgetry. I wasn't at Wendigoes Lake, so I was hoping to catch sight of Jim as he went by. Around 1:10 pm I spied a red canoe in the distance. It was a soloist. I waved my hands and stood on shore seeing where the canoe would go.

Sure enough after awhile it was obvious the canoe was coming my way, so who was it? Within fifteen minutes Jim Cavers landed on the beach and we shook hands. How did he know I was here? Darren had left a message at the permit office for Jim that I had decided to camp on Cedar instead. Good man! Thanks Darren! It seems that Kevin's toothache worsened and Darren had the opportunity to take him out of The Park, so he did. I know tooth pain can be the worst.

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While Jim set up his hammock, I talked his ear off, as I often do when I met a fellow Algonquinite. Jim had brought along the best tasting marinated steaks I have ever had the pleasure of eating as we cooked them over the fire-pit. It was a lazy evening as we related to each other our experiences of Algonquin Park. Neither Jim or I knew what became of Swede.

We had a great sunset and I had promised Jim some more company as some more folks were supposed to come by. But no one did that day and as night set in, I left the lantern out again, just in case.

June 25 - Day 6 - A visit to Wendigoes Lake and area

It was a beautiful morning and it was decided that after breakfast we would paddle over to the portage to Wendigoes Lake. If we came all this way, we might as well set our eyes upon it. At least we weren't crazy enough to camp on it in June (Well, almost!). Shortly before 9:30am we headed out onto the water first in Jim's canoe, which was a nice red Langford canoe. However, something was terribly wrong. Jim couldn't steer the canoe, he'd steer and steer but his canoe wouldn't respond, slowly we started to drift off course.

We headed back in to shore. The problem was me... I was too heavy for the front and I felt awkward about paddling stern in Jim's canoe. I offered to use my canoe with me in the stern. Jim agreed and we set off again with me the 'fat bastard' in the rear, the canoe was quite easy to steer and we headed out onto Cedar Lake proper.

We stopped by at a nearby island campsite and found of all things, a broken portable picnic table that someone had left behind. Being an access Lake I couldn't understand why someone didn't bother to bring it back out. I grabbed it and threw it into the canoe, I was mad at the filthiness of some people.

As we passed by another island campsite, Jim pointed it out stating it was his favourite campsite in The Park. I knew that campsite, having camped on it myself six years previously in the month of August. This was when the planet Mars was at it's closest approach to earth (At least I think it was).

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The pleasant memory of that stay returned to me as I walked around the campsite as Jim and I dropped in for a quick tour. It certainly was a nice campsite, high above the water, rocky and with great sight-lines of the lake. We hung around for fifteen minutes then made our way back to the canoe paddling in to "Bonanza Bay" in the Southwest corner of Cedar Lake.

We skirted a rather large marsh and with the shallow waters I got the impression that this area of the lake is rarely visited by motorboats. In about half an hour we arrived at the bushy looking low maintenance 2,650m portage to Wendigoes Lake. I lead the way and with deer flies being the main pest of the day on the trail as I moved along the trail at a quick trot. For a low maintenance trail it was in fairly good shape with only a few minor blow-downs and one major blow-down zone that took a few minutes to climb around.

It took us about 36 minutes to make the trek to Wendigoes Lake. There was a fairly new bench system situated around a medium sized level fire-pit. The surrounding terrain was very level and populated with many trees, so much so that tenting opportunities were limited. There was one really good tenting spot and that was it. The fire-pit was located close to the water, and while we puttered around the campsite for about 15 minutes, many deer flies paid us a visit. I was glad I had changed my mind about camping here (At least in the month of June), as well the lake itself was unremarkable. We headed back and arrived at Cedar Lake at 12:35 pm.

I had never visited the two island campsites at the South end of the lake and asked Jim if he wanted to paddle over to them for something to do. Jim agreed and I got the feeling that it just wasn't me, but that alot of people who visited The Park spent alot of their time visiting other campsites. It was something to do and always gave options for a future trip.

As we paddled over to the first island campsite, the wind picked up and we were practically blown ashore as we approached the landing. We arrived at 1:03 pm amid fallen tree branches on a windswept campsite. We surveyed the campsite for a few minutes then scooted over quickly to the second nearby island campsite. I liked the second campsite better. Again, it was a small windswept island campsite. The proximity of the neighbouring island campsite added to the beauty of the area.

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The fire-pit was well built for protection from the wind. There was good level ground for pitching a tent, as well as lots of young pines that gave a bushy feel to the campsite. There looked to be some good swimming off of the landing as the water depth dropped off a short distance. All in all a campsite I wouldn't mind camping at in the future, it certainly had the seclusion factor, as long as no loud people camped at the neighbouring island.

It was around 1:45 pm when we decided to head back to camp as we were both hungry. I felt uneasy as we paddled out into the wind and waves of Cedar Lake. Like Lake Opeongo, Cedar Lake can get rough and when it does (On Lake Opeongo) there is usually places to hide. Out here on Cedar Lake there was nowhere to hide (Except at my island campsite). The wind just roars down the lake.

I expressed my fears to Jim and he just laughed, he was in his element and I relaxed a little bit and joined in on the hard paddle against the wind. I still had concerns though, there was something about Cedar Lake that commanded more respect from me then Lake Opeongo ever did. We made it back to camp and ate lunch and relaxed the rest of the afternoon.

During the late afternoon, Jim and I had a disturbing encounter; A motorboat pulled up to our campsite and a man got out. A woman remained behind in the boat. The fellow had asked if we knew where the Nippising River was. I brought the fellow up to our kitchen where I had a large map of the area printed from Jeffrey's Free Algonquin Map, that my friend Sean(of Ajax) had given me for the trip. With the map I showed the guy where he was in relation to the Nipissing, obviously this guy and his friend were way off course.

What happened next was odd; The fellow pulled out a pack of smokes and lit a cigarette (I had quit smoking the year before) and just stood there. He wouldn't leave. I thought this behaviour rather odd and rude, but said nothing. The fellow continued to stand there, curiously looking around. I started to get the feeling that there was ill will afoot, I looked over at Jim and he agreed by signalling me. I decided to head back to the beach towards the man's motorboat, maybe he would follow?

After a minute or two the man did follow and eventually got back in his boat but he continued to stand there, looking around, puffing away on his cigarette, not saying a

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word. I had just about had enough and was going to ask the guy to leave when he decided to fire up his motorboat and leave, not saying a word of "Thank You" or "goodbye".

I asked Jim what he thought, he figured the guy was high on drugs, I figured he had been drinking. I also feel that the guy hadn't been truthful. I believe he had been planning to camp at our campsite and unexpectedly found it occupied by us. We had every right to be there. Although I had altered my itinerary, I was scheduled to be back on Cedar Lake that day and we would've arrived much earlier in the day then when this guy had shown up. So in this I knew I was not in the wrong here.

This story of not being able to find the Nipissing was just a story, to be that lost on Cedar Lake with a motorboat is absurd. We were in the complete opposite direction from the Nipissing when one launches from Brent. Thankfully, I've not had any similar encounters since then. It made both Jim & I fell uneasy. Very odd and unnerving it was. We never did see them again, whew!

The evening sunset ended up being obscured by cloud that moved in. Despite this, it was another fine evening on Cedar Lake. The bugs came out in force, but they were nothing compared to what was experienced on Carl Wilson Lake. Jim couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.

June 26 - Day 7 - More Thunderstorms

It was a very warm and hazy morning and I decided to go for another solo paddle first up to the shoal then around the island. I discovered a nice bass hole along the shore of the island as it was teaming with bass and filed it away in my mind for future reference. Bass season was still two days away.

By 10:30am I arrived back at camp. Jim was hanging out on the beach, he showed me his 'spot' device. I was skeptical of it thinking one would be 'leashed' to such a device, but have since then met many others who use it and am getting one myself. It really is a handy device to have, I am now sold on it.

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By 12:00pm we heard thunder and saw dark clouds approaching from the Southwest. The clouds were blowing up quite large and we watched as the thunder and lightning blew south of our position. After 4:00pm it had begun to cloud over to the West and north of us and the air became still and thick, the lake becoming like glass.

Just before 5:00pm I saw one of the creepiest things I had never seen before in weather. A large low hanging black cloud appeared, moving in from the East (In the opposite direction all the other clouds were moving). I surmised this was the right ingredients for funnel clouds and possibly tornadoes.

As I watched, the dark cloud moved closer while expanding, Jim who had been through a tornado in Algonquin Park before (on Pen Lake), was relaxed and watched the clouds with interest. It actually looked like this was the beginning of the formation of a funnel cloud and as it started to form the funnel, clouds moved out of sight behind our island.

As the funnel cloud disappeared lightning struck the island next to us. I stopped filming (I had brought along a video camera) and brought the camera gear inside my tent. Another lightning strike on another nearby island... Time to get off the beach! It then began to rain and the bugs came out, but they were no where near as bad as Carl Wilson Lake. It didn't rain long or hard and by 6:45 pm, the rain had stopped and the sun peeked through more darkened clouds.

It remained warm and humid that night as we had a great fire. I kept the lantern out just in case any of the other people who were expected to drop-in, did in fact drop-in. I was amazed that the light had stayed on all night for three nights; That was over 25 hrs of burn time using 3 "C" batteries. LED lanterns work very well, I just don't enjoy the particular colour of light they emit. I prefer the glow of a gas-fired Coleman lantern.

June 27 - Day 8 - Jim departs, Jeff & Sean arrive!

Jim had stayed three nights and sadly it was time for him to head home. By 7:45am Jim was underway. It was great to meet him and I was sorry Jim didn't have the chance to meet so many others that were expected to be there, but had been unable to make

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it. I bid Jim a safe journey out and waved good-bye as I watched him depart. It was another warm hazy morning with some mist in the surrounding hills.

An hour after Jim left I got in the canoe and headed out to the shoal at the tip of the neighbouring island. I liked to hang out there because it gave me a good view of the lake proper and if the weather should turn foul, I was seconds from the safety and protection of a neighbouring island and minutes from camp with protection (From the neighbouring island) along the way back to the beach. The water was like glass and was a joy to paddle. I moved north out of the protection of the island shoal and headed to some nearby islets and onto the open expanse of Cedar Lake.

The lake really had an intimidating effect on me, yet there was a duality about the place that seeped into my soul and urged me on to explore and so I paddled on. I pulled out the zoom lens on my camera and focused in on the access point. It looked to me like I could see Jim loading up his red canoe. So he had reached the access point safely and was about to be on his way.

It was 9:15am, about an hour and a half after Jim had left. Fifteen minutes later a white vehicle pulled up and I surmised that it was Sean(of Ajax). Sean along with Jeff Proppe both had their own respective Algonquin Park orientated web sites and both deserve a look, one being a photography site, the other a blog site.

They were both expected to join me on the lake today, pity though they didn't get to meet Jim. I paddled around the nearby island and made my way back to camp and 20 minutes later at 11:00am Sean made his appearance as he came around the shoal on the point of the neighbouring island.

I hailed Sean as he pulled up to the beach. Sean without wasting any time set up his tent and in less than an hour we were out on the water together in his canoe out fishing behind our island. Sean told me that he did in fact get to meet Jim briefly at the launch point and that he had found Swede's bug tent under my car with a note, explaining he had left The Park early.

The day was just too good to pass up and it sure beat sitting around camp swatting bugs. We ended up catching a few bass and numerous whitefish, all were returned. I love June, the longest days of the year, endless sun and that's what it seemed like when

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http://www.ragingriverstudios.com/

http://www.ragingriverstudios.com/

http://algonquincanoeing.blogspot.com/

http://algonquincanoeing.blogspot.com/



we returned to camp around 3:00pm to find Jeff Proppe had arrived and made himself at home, pitching his tent on the sandy beach, wisely setting it back up from the water about 15 meters.

Around 8:00pm all three of us went out for an extended evening paddle. The conditions for water travel were perfect; Not a breeze or a ripple in the water! Some days Cedar Lake can be a real dream to paddle.

We stayed out for well over an hour before heading back to camp at 9:30pm. Though there was no sunset with the extensive cloud cover, it was a fantastic warm evening. We had another nice fire that night, though I elected to go to bed early.

June 28 - Day 9 - Turning a rainy day into a sunny day

Rain. I was getting tired of all the rain I had experienced lately. This seemed to me to be the wettest June around. I was fully prepared to waste my day moping about camp. Sean changed all that. "C'mon... Come with me, let's go fish - You'll have fun".

I hopped into the canoe with Sean and we paddled over to where the Petawawa emptied into Cedar Lake. By the time we arrived, there was already a few motorboats there blocking access to the rapids. Sean blinked an eye and kept us going, we headed for the Nipissing River instead.

Well, it started to pour rain and about halfway up the delta into the river, we were both soaked. Then I perked up as we spotted a bull moose. As we approached the moose a motorboat came roaring to life and headed out of the marsh back towards the lake. This startled the moose and it immediately headed deeper into the marsh making it's way to the marsh edge, heading for the forest. Oh well... We paddled onwards heading up river. We paddled till we could paddle no more and hit some rapids at the beginnings of the 915m portage. Here we began to fish and we both started to get bites immediately, but they were all whitefish.

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We drifted back fishing some more and not catching much... Just the odd perch and a few more whitefish, which were all were returned. We headed back to a campsite to rest and have some lunch while it started to pour rain again. Here in this small bay, there was another bull moose feeding in the marsh next to the campsite. The whole area was very moose-ie. After lunch we decided it was time to head out and try the Petawawa again.

It rained again and as we arrived at the rapids a motorboat was leaving, giving us the chance to move in. Immediately I got a really good strike, reeling the fish in as it nearly broke my wrist with the fight it put up. I hauled in the fish; It was a nice sized walleye with Sean nodding his head in approval. As I went to unhook the fish, it jumped off and was gone.

Sigh. "Ya gotta be quick", Sean reminded me. I was surprised at the strength of the fish, to me they were like fishing for bass, only the walleye seemed to fight much harder than any bass I had ever fought. It was my first time fishing for and catching walleye. Sean caught a walleye too, but it was too small in his mind and he threw it back.

After that all we caught was whitefish after whitefish. Then around 5:00pm the sun came out and dried us off. We fished for another half hour to no luck and decided to head back to camp. On the way we trolled for lake trout but caught nothing as we fought a strong wind all the way back to camp amid moderate waves.

Sean was wishing he hadn't put his walleye back commenting that it would've made a good meal. We arrived back at camp at 6:20pm to a sunny beach where Jeff was sunning himself. It turned out to be a beautiful evening as the clouds broke up. Sean was right; I did have fun. It was a terrific day after all.

June 29 - Day 10 - Exiting Cedar Lake

We paddled out under strong Northwest winds, Jeff with his new Langford canoe was able to keep a straight line with the wind and in no time at all was well ahead of Sean and I. Sean too had found the sweet spot and was chugging along. I found the sweet spot too, then lost it and got pushed into shore.

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I kept fighting it then gave up, electing to paddle along the shoreline. As it was I arrived 30 seconds after Sean landed at the access point, it was only 11:00am and it was one of those gorgeous sunny days when you didn't want to leave The Park, especially after seeing a few groups of people preparing to launch on a multi-day trip - I just wanted to go back.

I found out afterwards that Swede had come out late from Laurel Lake and when he got to the access point, he loaded his gear and went home. Swede told me that the bugs had really gotten to him on Carl Wilson Lake. I understood this and it was no laughing matter. Sometimes they really can get too be too much and then you've had enough, if you really are not enjoying yourself, then why stay?

It was too bad really, cause once on Cedar Lake the bug problem diminished just as I had thought they would. Just as the previous trip with Mike B in the spring trip to Birchcliffe cabin, Swede had missed the good times. Darren told me later on that Kevin had an abscessed tooth that had to get removed. It was a good thing that he left The Park when he did as Kevin was in a lot of pain.

It was a good trip and I got to meet many friends (Old and new) from the online world, in the the real world. My only complaint really was the over-abundance of rain and skeeters, but Cedar Lake was good to me nevertheless!

Below are two pictures I took at home of the broken portable picnic table that was left behind on a campsite on Cedar Lake. To this day I just do not understand the mentality some people have. Trash like this really sad to see. Please, if you cannot haul stuff like this out of Algonquin Park, then please don't bring it in the first place. "Pack it in, pack it out." What really irks me, is that this is an access lake where it is no trouble at all to bring it out.

It was a good trip and I got to meet many friends (Old and new) from the online world, in the real world. My only complaint really was the over-abundance of rain and skeeters, but Cedar Lake was good to me nevertheless!

THE END

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trip-log#58 - access#27 cedar lake july 30-august 3, …€¦ · trip-log#58 - access#27 cedar lake...

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