Triplogs / Triplog#19 / Days 2&3
Rock Lake (IN) - Pen L - Harry L - Lake Louisa - Rock Lake(OUT)
Days 2 & 3 - Pen L to Harry L(2)
I awoke during the night, to a snapping sound. No it was not an animal. It was only the animal in my tent. Me. I rolled over in my sleep and crushed my glasses. I had neglected to put them into the side pocket in the tent wall, and well the rest was not good. I woke up shortly before 6am, and examined my glasses.
One arm had snapped off where it was welded to the frame. The hinge was undamaged, but I had no way of attaching it (the arm) back to the frame. A lens had also popped out and a screw holding the frame together on the left eyeglass, had also fallen out. Well...I thought that jewelry screwdrivers and krazy glue might be items I should carry from now on. After the trip I found that Krazy Glue is useless for gluing eyeglass frames together. Don't waste the money bringing it along. I had 2 sets of contacts with me, so I was okay, for the night time though, it is awkward walking around in the dark, blind. It seems annoying and kinda silly fighting with the contacts, trying to put them in for 10 minutes, at 3am to go for a 30 second pee, all the while, my bladder was ready to burst.
My greatest fear was if some animal showed up. Do I go outside blind and attempt to investigate? Will I permitted the time to put my contacts in, before something happens?
Fortunately the night passed without incident. I put my contacts in and stepped outside.
Morning on Pen lake - It was cold and frost was everywhere
Morning mist on a frosty Pen Lake - 6:25am
It was cold. There was frost everywhere. It was definitely below zero. I quickly lowered my pack and fired up the stove. Coffee and Instant oatmeal and some licorice was the morning meal. After breakfast, I walked south of the site, looking for a suitable area in the bush to wash and bury my suds and food waste. I had actually walked quite a distance, almost 50 meters, before I came upon soft soil covered with moss and lichen, and next to it a pile of Deer scat. There was alot of the scat here, as well as scattered wood debris, great for tinder. Once back at camp I set up my tripod and took many pictures of the lake. It was heavily shrouded in fog. What a view!
Beyond this island lies the portage to Galipo River
The bay beside my site was like smoked glass
Shortly after 8am, I set off. This day I was heading to Harry Lake. I had two portages and a lake to pass thru to get there. As I crossed Pen Lake to get to the portage to Galipo River, the wind woke up. Interestingly, the wind was coming from the south that day, and as I approached the island in the middle, I was able to seek shelter from the wind. I reached the west shoreline, and headed north a little towards a small island.
The day before, as I was coming down Pen Lake, I had seen the small bay, assumed it was the outflow of the Galipo River. I navigated thru a narrow gap between the small island and the shoreline. There, it was laden with rocks and I managed to maneuver around all of them. To my disappointment, there was no creek here, just a dead end. I turned around, and headed back out, and into the wind. Going thru the channel a second time, I was not so lucky, and scraped not one but two rocks as I passed thru the gap. Paddling against the wind, I made my way down to another bay, opposite the big island, as marked on the Official Canoe Routes map. The area was a marsh, and laden with life. I saw 2 Blue Herons, and heard an American Bittern, saw lots of minnows and ducks. However, I still couldn't find my way to the portage. Constantly scanning the shoreline, which was quite a distance from me, I failed to find the bright yellow rectangle, signifying a portage.
I worked my way along the fringes of the marsh, as I became mired in shallow weedy water. As I came to the south end of the bay, I was beginning to think that I had made a serious navigation error, and was thinking of heading back out into the open water of Pen Lake, when I spotted some moving water in the marsh, to the west of me. Ahhh. A creek. This had to be it. I paddled up the creek, and as it twisted it's way deeper into the marsh, there were times I had to paddle furiously against the current to make any headway. Some sections were deep pools, while others were sandy and shallow. After a time, I came to a rocky section of the creek, where it became impassible by canoe, yet there was still no sign of the portage marker. What the hell? I pulled over onto a shallow rocky landing, and got out.
It was just before 10am, and I had wasted as much as an hour, and was still wondering if I was in the right place or not. Looking around, I noticed a few scraps of human interference. a scrap of oatmeal bar wrapper here, a strand of blue from a tarp there, etc. Hmmmm...following an obvious trail of sorts up the shoreline, I came to a fallen pine. The tree laid across a trail, and had several branches hacked off to permit passage. Upon closer examination of the tree, I noticed a nail head embedded in the tree with the a tiny thumb sized patch of yellow paper stuck to it. So I found it, whew! I looked around and could not find the sign anywhere, probably blew off in a storm.
I elected to take the canoe first, and as I started off, the path rapidly ascended a hill.
The hill kept getting steeper and more rocky as I went along. within 2 minutes, the hill was done, as I traversed a narrow level trail knotted with roots. Less than 10 minutes later, I was at the end. A large smooth muddy landing, with a big pine nearby. I headed back and grabbed my backpack. Once this was done, I unhooked my tripod and grabbed my camera and camcorder and headed back down the portage.
Small set of falls on the Galipo River
Mist & a rainbow greeted me at the third falls
Teetering on the edge: I snapped this picture of the third set of Falls
Almost immediately upon starting the portage from the Pen Lake side, I had heard waterfalls, and heard several more thru-out the trail. I must've spent over an hour there, stopping by and photographing 5 distinct sets of falls. With the high spring waters, the falls were spectacular, and the last one was doubly so. In late summer I can imagine there would be calmer and warmer pools of water for people to swim in, but not that day. The water was a torrent, and cold too.
Fast moving water at the 4th set of falls
The last and biggest set of falls
A close-up of the last falls: You have to be there
to appreciate the true scale of the falls
Paddling the short stretch of the Galipo River to the 2175m portage, I made another navigational error. upon launching there appears to be an island to the left.
I went left and was looking for the split in the river, looking for the fork on the right that would take me to the next portage. That 'island' is actually a point in land, and is actually the split in the fork of the river. Go right at this point and within 5 minutes or less you'll be at the portage to Welcome Lake. The landing was a shallow sandy bottom with a 3 meter climb up a sandy slope. I did this portage in just under 2 hrs.
The trail is just long. No serious hills, or troublesome rocks or roots to dodge.
There were many sections of extensive muddy tracts to navigate around, some tricky, while trying to avoid trees with a canoe on yer head. There was a few gentle hills to climb and descend. Upon reaching the crest of one of these hills, I spotted a pair of deer, browsing along the trail. I fumbled to remove my pack and to extract my camera. This was it! Camera in hand, I removed the lens cap, turned on the camera, and *bleep,bleep,bleep* the camera came on, I looked thru the viewfinder, and zoomed in on the deer. Gone..in a flash! I've never seen deer in the wild before, boy they sure could move fast. If I hadn't known what a deer looked like, I would've thought I was seeing a bird flying thru the forest, for all I saw was the white of the tail fleeing up an incline, silent as a bird.
A view of the Galipo River
A little more than halfway along the portage, I came across a swampy area, with lots of deer scat and tracks as well. I was deep in deer country. Arriving on Welcome Lake, I was welcomed to the site of sandy beaches all around the lake, with a vast section at the portage. The first trip with the backpack, took me around 40 min. I headed back and did the subsequent carryover with the canoe. During the first portage, I saw two young men portaging from the river to Pen Lake. Along the second portage, a party of 4 in 2 canoes passed me by, while I was heading back for the canoe. Passing along the first guy, I was asked 'how far?'. I told'em he was more than 75% of the way thru, this was received with a tired looking smile, and exclamation of 'right on!'. The last fellow was barely halfway thru and when I told him where he was, he was tired and out of breath, and breathed 'thanks', as he struggled on. Ever have a dream of meeting someone on a portage, who'll offer to carry your gear for ya? I have, but it has never happened. This last fellow I met had that look in his eye, wondering if I could help him. No way, I thought, I had a canoe to fetch and then a 2km trek to go yet.
Considering the length of the portage, this trail was an easy one
Passing this area along the portage, you're more than halfway thru...
...As long as you don't trip & fall crossing the tricky makeshift bridge
During the second carry, the sky became overcast, and with the sun gone, the air became cool. The forecast before I had left on the trip, had called for showers this afternoon, and rain on Saturday. I was hoping the rain would hold off till I got to Harry Lake. It was around 2:30pm when I launched onto Welcome Lake. There was no wind and the waves were almost nonexistent. The sky was 100% overcast, as I crossed Welcome Lake. Noticing the size of the circumference of the lake, I thought it would be quicker to cross the lake.
I totally misread the lake and paddled past the point with the 2 campsites on it, and into the bay beyond it. Searching for the portage for well over 40 min. I began to realize after many scans of my map, that I had past the point with the double campsite, and was nowhere near the portage. I came back to the point and rounded it. Passing the campsite, I went around another bend and found the second campsite, behind the first. I was really starting to get confused now. There was a fishing party of several men camped at the second site. I called out a greeting and asked if they knew where the entrance to Harry Lake was? One of the gents was happy to direct me, saying they had just come from Harry Lake. He pointed directly behind me, and warned me of a beaver dam near the Harry Lake end of the channel between the two lakes. I thanked him, and turned around and headed for the channel. As I headed to the channel entrance, I scanned the shoreline for the portage, from hence I came. Not far from the channel I spotted the portage. Oh BOY! I was starting to get really good at these navigational errors. Hmmm....Let's see. So far; broken fishing reel, broken glasses, and 3 navigational errors. What next? I wondered.
An easy hill on the way to Welcome Lake
Some muddy sections were easily overcome
Navigating around this muddy section was made difficult
with trees and branches hanging up my canoe
As I approached the channel, a wind sprang up and the waves grew, and a few drops of rain fell here and there. I was so close to shore, that I let the waves push me into the sandy beach. I got out and stretched my legs, and relaxed on the wind swept beach for a few moments. After 5 minutes, I got back into the canoe, rounded a point and was in the channel. A pair of Loons swam nearby, as I 'navigated' the channel. NO! I didn't mess that one up! Ten minutes more into the channel, it began to rain ice pellets. On and off this went for another 10 minutes, as I crossed the 'beaver' dam. The dam was more of a ripple in the water, and didn't even slow me down as I paddled thru a few twigs. Minutes later, I emerged onto Harry Lake.
What a difference another lake makes. Here there was no wind, the lake was calm, and I headed for the first campsite on my right. It was on a sandy beach very close to the channel. I briefly scanned the site, but had my heart on the the last site on the north side of the lake. I had contacted another Algonquin tripper, who told me of the site, and I decided to head there instead. This first site was nice, but didn't appeal to me. It was all sand, and with lots of scrub bush around and pines here and there. Apparently it goes back quite a ways too, but I did not get that far. I headed up to the north shore and paddled along till I came upon the first site there. It had a nice rocky slope landing with a bench and a firepit on the rocks. On the bench was half of an upper mandible, bleached by the sun, I picked it up to examine it. An interesting object to come across, but I did not know what animal it belonged to. The site itself in the back was kind of 'lumpy', and there was one really good area for tenting and another, that would have been perfect for my tent, squeezed between to cedars, with a large rock, acting as a natural barrier from the wind off the lake, except the ground was bowl shaped and I had visions of swimming in my tent at night. I moved on.
With a broken reel, I had no troubles obeying the catch Limit
I reached the last site on the north shore just after 6pm. It has a great landing!
Large low angle sloping rock. A huge open area, with a well built firepit, and 3 benches, and a big log, complete with a foot bench too! The site itself was very clean, and the lack of garbage was a pleasant surprise. There was plenty of uncut timber stacked nearby on the ground, and tons of wood chips, and twigs everywhere for tinder. I pitched my tent at the edge of the open area, on an obvious tenting pit, and setup a double tarp arrangement, to drain away the rain that was predicted. There was lots of walking areas in the forest beyond. This site had lots of space. Too much for one guy, but no one else was on the lake that nite. I pulled out my still red steak(T-Bone...saved the best for last!), and had a small cooking fire going by 7pm. As I sat there enjoying my tenderloin, it started to spit rain on and off. This continued all night, but it never really rained. The temperature during the night, seemed to go up, and I had a comfortable sleep in the warmer air.
Day 3
This day was a rest day, I had planned to spend the day fishing, but that was not possible anymore, so I set off, to explore the forest. It was a gray overcast day, and the rain held off for quite awhile. There was no fungi as of yet to photograph, except the usual bracket fungi, and some morels. The real interesting stuff had yet to appear. So I had to content myself, with walking thru a early spring forest with a lack of green canopy(as I moved away from the shoreline), it was a pleasant walk after all, not a bug in sight to threaten my body's blood supply. Less than 200m from camp, I came upon a very old road. So old, that it had deadfall everywhere blocking the road, some looked like it had been there for decades. Then there was a brook or spring run-off if you will, running thru the length of the road as it descended a hill, and the erosion was extensive there.
Campsite on Harry Lake
The fire pit on Harry Lake campsite
Heading back to camp, it started to rain lightly, I retired to the tent to read a novel I brought along. I stayed in the tent for a few hours, all the while it sprinkled on and off into the early afternoon. By late afternoon, a wind spring up from the south. *sigh*. I had picked this site on the recommendation of a fellow tripper and 'cause of it's protection from a north wind, not much I could do about a south wind though.
However, the fire-pit was well constructed, and was shielded from the wind as I sat down to eat my supper of Black Bart Chili and Blueberry cobbler, under a gusty gray sky and a light rain. I went for a stroll over to the water's edge, and enjoyed(as much as I could for an instant brand) a cup of coffee. I stood there motionless for quite a few minutes, watching the lake and the forest, soaking in the image. I had not seen or heard any canoes go by that day, and was rather startled to hear a splash almost right next to me as I turned to look down the lake. I followed the bubbles, as whatever it was swam past my site. Then a beaver popped up. I guess I had startled it and in the process of evasion it had startled me. This is all I saw that day, a lone beaver. I wondered if that's all the beaver saw that day, a lone human?
It rained lightly on and off into the evening. Around 9:30pm, my contact lenses were starting to drive my eyes crazy, so I headed into the tent and took them out. Now blind, I decided just to hit the hay anyways. Around 3am I was woken up by heavy rain and strong winds, very strong winds. One of the tarps was just a flapping away like mad.
I got out and stumbling around and almost blind with the flashlight, I managed to tighten the rope that had come loose in the wind. With the tarp back in place, I sat up for a few minutes in my vestibule. It was warm. The temperature was going up, but the wind was coming from the north. Strange..but the rain continued to pour down, and did so for several hours. I faded back to sleep.