Triplogs / Triplog#36 / Days 3&4 / Days 5&6 / Days 7&8 / Day 9 / Days 10&11 / Days 12&13
Lake Opeongo(IN) - Merchant L - Big Trout L - Hogan L - Big Crow L- Lake Lavieille - Dickson L - Lake Opeongo(OUT)
Day 12 - Tues. September 19th
Temperature Readings:
7:30am: 13.6°C
11:30am: 15°C
7:30pm: 11.7°C
We got up shortly after 7am. Both of us, had the sleep of a lifetime. There's nothing like a day of hardship, to make one appreciate the simple act of sleep. Both of us got up feeling weak but rejuvenated. It was warm, but cloudy and windy, and as the day progressed the wind increased. Joan and I set up the tarp, in a spot that was too highly exposed, she wasn't happy with it. So I took it down. We ate breakfast, then lounged around the campsite in the high winds.
Late in the day the sun came out, Joan searching with her binoculars
Lake Lavieille was more like a sea than a lake this day
By lunchtime, a couple in a canoe showed up(on the east side of the site), oddly asking where our tarp was? I mentioned that we had taken it down and hadn't decided where to put it up next. They asked if the campsite on the next island was occupied. I didn't think so, but couldn't be sure, and told the couple thus. They had probably intended to land on our campsite, and were bothered by no outward sign(from a distance) of occupation of the campsite. They decided to make a break for the next island, in which we could now clearly see the campsite, the one we could not find the night before. It seems that the official canoe route map that I have is completely wrong, according to our map, we should not be able to see the campsite in question from our campsite, but it was in plain view on a point, whereas on the map it was not. If the map had been correct in the first place, we would've found our campsite with no problem. We watched with fascination as the pair paddled the strong winds and waves hitting them broadside. I was in awe of their paddling skills, obviously these were expert paddlers. Joan brought out the binoculars. She watched them as the reached the shore of the island. The winds over there looked to be quite strong. So strong in fact, that they pulled ashore and began to line the canoe onwards towards the campsite. Both were falling and tripping over rocky terrain that looked slippery and difficult to navigate. Eventually they landed about 10 meters from the rocky landing of the campsite, and bushwhacked the rest of the way to the campsite, it looked rough over there on the exposed point of the campsite. Maybe it was a good thing after all, that we didn't find the campsite the night before!
We sought to postion our tent out of the elements as much as possible
Our kitchen, set-up behind the tent
Unlike my tent, which was a screen wall summer tent, Joan's tent was a solid walled tent, able to keep out the elements, far better than mine could. I am glad we had brought Joan's tent for the trip, else we might have froze in mine! Despite the warmth of the weather, the moisture would've made it feel much colder. We placed my canoe behind the tent and flipped it over, using it as a table, then put up the tarp over the canoe, making a kitchen that was partially shielded from the surrounding foliage and tent.
Joan making the best of it, a cigar and a cup of wine!
For much of the day it showered on and off, with strong winds and waves striking our island, yet for all the nasty weather, it was warm. I was concerned that perhaps we might get severe weather, citing the warmer air mass and high winds as recipes for tornados. Given my foolish nature with Lake Lavieille's weather the day before, Joan thought I was over-reacting today, as I sat there watching the clouds. By late afternoon, I almost got my wish. Weird clouds started to roll over the lake, a shift in the wind occurred and I started to notice not cloud rotation, but low hanging cloud, twisting in the sky. The afternoon wore on, with no change, when around 6pm, the sun burst forth, there was some clearing in the cloud cover on the horizon as the sun sank. As early evening settled in, the cloud cover broke up even more, the winds began to die off, and the temperature began to drop off too. There still was the threat of rain, but the worst of the weather(that day)seemed to be over.
Late in the day, the sky began to clear
Our sunset on our second night on Lake Lavieille
Day 13 - Wed. September 20th
Temperature Readings:
8am: 8.7°C
10am: 7.3°C
12:45pm: 6.8°C
9pm: 6.7°C
Looking past the small marsh, the island next to ours,
and further down Lavielle, southeast of us.
Happy Birthday Joan! Today was a day to relax, for it was Joan's birthday. It was much cooler when we got up that morning, the wind having picked up again, under an overcast sky. I wanted to go out for a paddle, but I needed Joan, there was no way I was going out on the water solo, it was to rough for me alone. However if we skirted the neighbouring island east of us, I think we'd be protected from the wind and waves. I offered my plan to Joan. Nope, no way she wanted to go out on the water. We were wind-bound, no going anywhere. I grabbed my camera and decided to explore the island instead..there wasn't much else I could do. On the Official canoe routes map, our island is shown as having one campsite only, and the larger island next to us having as a haing a single campsite. At the time this was incorrect. There was in fact two campsites on our island, and none on the neighbouring one. Our two islands were separated by a small marsh, in summer it might be possible to walk across to the other island. I nearly did as well, but was satisfied to explore our island instead. I spent nearly two hours exploring the marsh and circumventing our island. At one point I was able to walk along the shoreline along the south side of the island, I located a small rock shelf, covered with a recent pine needle drop. It was a very comfy spot, as I sat down and napped for 20 minutes, in the heavily shaded area. By 4pm, I stumbled upon the other campsite on our island. It was a signed campsite, so it was official. This campsite was much more heavily protected from the wind than ours was. The landing, whether it was on the south side or west, was tricky at best. The west one, a large sloping rock outcropping, great for sun bathing, horrible for landing in wavy conditions; any canoe would get slammed against the rocks. The south landing was more suitable, but large slippery rocks made getting onto land tricky.
South of our island, was another island campsite, across a gulf of water,
looking even more exposed than our campsite
Rugged accommodations:
The fire-pit and log benches of our sister campsite
A crude kitchen table on the sister campsite
During my travels around the island I found many instances of recent downed trees. There was a few around our campsite as well. The other campsite looked like it hadn't been used in a while. There was a small table that served as a kitchen, but there was no firewood left behind, and the bench system consisted of a few old logs. By 5pm, I had returned to the site, and it began to rain again. Shower after shower passed over us, then the sun came out, as the sky partially cleared in the west. To the east a rainbow appeared, and by sunset, it had clouded over again, the wind picking up once more.
I spied a large beach on the north shore of Lake Lavielle,
we never did have the opportunity to visit it, perhaps on another trip?
A rainbow to the east of us, over Lake Lavieille