Source to Cedar

CanadaOntarioAlgonquin
Submitter & Author Information
Route submitted by: 
CJ Lenahan
Trip Date : 
July 5th - July 10th 2022
Additional Route Information
Distance: 
78 km
Duration: 
6 days
Loop Trip: 
No
Portage Information
No. of portages: 
25
Total Portage Distance: 
22419 m
Longest Portage: 
2345 m
Difficulty Ratings
River Travel: 
Novice
Lake Travel: 
Intermediate
Portaging: 
Moderate
Remoteness: 
Advanced
Background Trip Info
Water Levels: 
Medium
Route Description
Access to Put-In Information: 

Started from Camp Pathfinder on Source lake. 

Technical Guide: 

Route: Source, Bruce, Raven, Owl, Linda, Iris, Alder, Birdie, Burnt Island; Little Otterslide, Otterslide, Pond, Shiner, Happy Isle; Merchant, Blowdown, Hemlock, Deer Yard, la Muir, Little Madawaska River, Hogan; Manta, Newt, Sunfish, Catfish; Narrowbag, Petawaw River, Cedar; Truck back to soure

Trip Journal/Log/Report/Diary: 

Staff: CJ Lenahan, Ander Gustafson and Will Damen.

Campers: x6 (11-12 year olds)

Day 1 (Source to Burnt Island): Left camp around 10:30 am. First day of tripping of the season for every one one the trip so everyone was a bit rusty with paddling and portaging. Typical day however, getting to Burnt Island took a while, but nothing was abnormal in the terrain. Stayed on the site third left of the portage going into Little Otterslide. Got in late around 7, so had a 8.5 hour day and most sites on the lake were take. The site was small and only had enough room for two tent sites. Super buggy site and had a dead deer carcass off the the side on it. 

Day 2 (Burnt Island to Happy Island): One of the smaller days on the trip with only 4 portages. Got off the site around 10:30, needed the rest from a longer Day 1. Poratges were well maintained and easy going all the way. Last portage is a bit of a hill, but easy trail to follow. Stayed on the point site to the right of the portage going into Merchant. Super open and wide site. Views of the entire lake around the site. Had an Ok fire pit but had no grate. 

Day 3 (Happy Isle to Hogan): Longest day of the trip so we woke up early to get moving. Easy going until the portages from Merchant into la Muir. Maybe some of the wost maintained portages in the park. The 380 from Blowdown to Hemlock took 30 mins becasue it is just a hill and we had to walk off the path due to massive wind falls all over ther trail. These span of 4 portages were super buggy throughout the entire portage. la Muir to Hogan was a much easier task for everyone and we stayed at the southern point site in the middle of the lake. Smaller site but still managed to get 3 tent sites. Steep landing on the site, tough to get gear from the boats up. Tall fire pit with no grate. 

 

Day 4 (Hogan to Catfish): Another big day but much more paddling. Woke up early to start the day. bit of an up and down with the portages getting to sunfish, but nothing to challneging. By now everyone is back in tripping form and everyone is moving pretty fast. Navigating Sunfish was a bit diffcult becasue you cannot see the water with all the reeds, follow the map and go right coming out the bay at the start of Sunfish. Once into the channel its very easy to navigate through it. Once we got to Catfish, there was a massive head wind, so it took us a while to maek distance along the lake. Got to the end of the lake and scouted the second to last site on the lake. It was very small, had a bad fire pit and no grate, so we stayed at the northerth most site on the lake. This site had a great fire pit with a good grate. It had two large wide open flat areas big enough for two tents each. 

 

Day 5 (Catfish to Cedar): Woke up early again, started to become a habit even though this is the shortest tripping day of the trip. The Petawawa river is super easy to follow. The 170m portage was a little tricky to find, but it is on the river left shore just before the elbow and rapid in the river. The 2345m portage was completey down hill and very easy the entire way. All of the portages were well maintained and down hill all the way to Cedar. Once on cedar we stayed on the second point site to the right after the portage in. It was a large and open site. Had good shade cover throughout the site and lots ot tent sites. It had a good fire pit and grate and the landing was a beach so easy for boats and great for swimming. 

 

Day 6 (Truck back to Source): Woke up around 8 and got off around 10:30. There was no wind at all on the lake. Paddled over to the acces point were we waited to be picked up to take us back to camp. 

Maps Required
Other Maps: 
Used a THE ALGONQUIN PARK CANOE ROUTES MAP the entire time. Adventure maps and Jeff's maps will make it a lot easier, but not necessary.