Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time post... My canoeing prospects this summer is not good so I'm trying to relive the good times back in August long weekend last year. I hope everyone's doing well too! This is probably a very 'basic' trip for the aficionados in this forum but probably my longest trip.
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Day 1 - Canoe Lake to Bartlett Lake. We took the Friday off and drove up early in the morning. We wanted to stay at Tom Thomson Lake but unfortunately it was all booked so we ended up at Bartlett Lake. Last year we paddled past a site at Joe Lake which was closed off for bear traps so we knew there were bears around but this year we heard from some groups that they were being more aggressive (or more friendly) so we were a bit worried. I think most of the activities were reported at Tom Thomson, so perhaps this was a good choice. Other than bears in our minds, it was an uneventful day. It was great to be on the water though.
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day 1.jpg
Day 2 - Bartlett Lake to Misty Lake. Our longest portage awaited us. Tom Thomson to Ink Lake, 2.3 km portage wasn't too bad, likely because we were still fresh. Ended up doing the whole thing in one go. Amazingly, we ran into a group of young novice campers who were carrying aluminum (!!!) canoes. I mean the portage wasn't too hard but that's with a Kevlar canoe! We had a pleasant conversation and gave them some tips (including canoe choices) for next time. They seemed to be in good spirit though and we parted our ways. We also ran into a solo canoer with a beautiful wooden canoe. This was our first time at Misty Lake and without much exploration, we were very impressed with the first campsite on the peninsula that's just off of the portage between Misty and Timberwolf. It was spacious with a nice sandy (and leech infested) beach. Leeches weren't a huge concern as the other side of the campsite had deep rocky waterfront for swimming. This was a beautiful day. Sunny, hot, calm, no bugs. We were so oblivious to the coming weather next few days.
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Day 3 - Misty Lake to White Trout Lake. The morning started with overcast. Last time we checked, rainy days were forecasted so this wasn't a surprise. By the time we started paddling the Petawawa River, it started to rain a bit. Nothing we couldn't handle at this point. By the time we were out the river and into the Grassy Bay, wind was picking up and rain was getting significantly worse. We tried to stick close to the land at this point in case the weather got even worse, but the marshy bay made navigation difficult. We weren't happy with the first two island campsites we passed by as they were too low without much tree cover. We pressed on for another 30 minutes until we reached a site high off the water with good wind cover. By this the canoe collected enough water for the bailer to float around so we were happy to be off the lake. We set up a tarp and drank hot cocoa and turned on our weather radio. Apparently there was a tornado warning just south of the park so we must've avoided the worst case scenario. Rest of the evening was uneventful. Cooking dinner crouched under a tarp, listening to the radio, and reading. Not too many photos were taken on this day...
Day 4 - White Trout Lake to Little Otterslide Lake. Thankfully rain stopped overnight and we were able to have breakfast in relative peace. Still overcast with chances of rain in the forecast, we kept on our raingear and started paddling. By the time we reached Otterslide Creek though, sun was starting to shine again. Near the end of the creek, we were informed with moose sightings "just on the other side of the portage" but they were gone by the time we got there. It's been a while since I've ran across moose in Algonquin so it was a bit disappointing. I was hopeful though as we would be passing by Little Joe Lake the next day, which is the lake I had my first moose sighting. After making camp at Little Otterslide, we attempted to dry our equipment as best as possible with little sunlight we had. Again, rain was forecasted the next day so we pitched our tent on what seemed to be a well drained area (we'll see about that...).
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Day 5 - Little Otterslide Lake to Canoe Lake. We woke up to a light drizzle. No big deal. Our plan was to camp at Joe Lake then canoe out on the next day. We've done this paddle before so we expected a chill day. As soon as we finished our breakfast, the sky started to dump rain on us with as much intensity as day 3. By then the ground was saturated with water and we could visibly see muddy puddles forming.
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Unfortunately, the supposedly 'well drained' area of the site where our tent was on became a small muddy mass. Inside of the tents were mostly fine but our backpacks under the vestibule were getting soaked and muddy. We waited for a bit hoping the rain would stop but it wasn't slowing down. So we made the decision to pack up in the rain, which made things even more wet. By the time we passed Burnt Island Lake, rain died down. However, the radio was forecasting even more rain that evening. At that point we were so close to Canoe Lake so we decided to call it and end our trip short a day earlier.
Overall, I'd do this loop again, maybe the other way around. Or possibly make the loop bigger by going through Potter Lake. I wish everyone a healthy 2021 summer and hope we all get to paddle again soon!