Triplogs / Triplog#21 / Day 3 / Day 4 / Days 5&6 / Days 7&8 / Days 9&10
Kawawaymog Lake(IN) - Amable du Fond river - N. Tea L - Lorne L - Kakasamic L - Mattowacka L - Fassett L - Shad L - Shada L - Fassett Cr - Manitou L - N. Tea L - Amable du Fond river - Kawawaymog Lake(OUT)
Day 9
I was awoken to the sound of the wind waking up at 4:25 a.m. that morning. I had been thinking of what time to get up on my out day, to escape the wind of North Tea Lake. Seems that it could awaken anytime. Boy did I have a battle ahead of me, I figured. I lazed around the entire day, as it was still too windy for me to head out solo, too windy for my preference, but perhaps not for others. I chopped more wood, had a noon fire for no particular reason, and did a little photography and reading, just your "normal relaxing around the campsite" type of day. It was a sunny and windy day with a high of 22.1°C, no humidex readings.
I personally abhor carvings in trees, however the 'carver' did have some care;
This carving was done on a dead tree, that had it's top sheared off
What was left of the 'Ren Den', when I arrived on the island,
an improvised shelter, possibly for protection from fatal weather
My last sunset on North Tea Lake
Day 10
Having no alarm, I set my mental clock to wake me at 4 a.m. I awoke at 4:14 a.m. Not bad!
There wasn't a drop of wind. I got the stove going and made coffee, while I hurriedly collapsed my tent, and prepared to break camp. I hurried, cause I had great concern, that I'd get stuck on that lake. It wasn't so much the wind, but the great distance with which I'd have to overcome in the wind, to get back to my car. It could be a very exhausting day.
5:40am: Looking back, Dawn on North Tea Lake, as I made my way out
One of many gorgeous campsites on North Tea's west arm
At 4:55 a.m. I launched. It was a clear morning, the water was like glass, and I had my camera around my neck, as I paddled through the chain of islands, heading south-west, occasionally looking back to watch the sun come up. As I cleared the chain of islands, the sun rose, it was 5:40 a.m. It was a marvellous morning. It was completely still, the silence broken only by the dip of my paddle, now that was heaven! It was a rare treat, as I usually don't get up before dawn to paddle, however given the time of year, it was THE perfect opportunity. I relaxed and paddled a steady slow rhythm as I passed the point that separates the east and west arms of the lake, here the expanse of North Tea lake, spread out before me, clear, calm, serene....Heaven, and I was leaving it, why, why, WHY?
It was a long paddle across the lake, and I finally arrived at 7:11 a.m. to the portage off the lake. At the last minute I ended up following a beaver to the portage who at the last second, turned and went up the Amable du Fond river. I saw one campsite come alive, as I approached the portage, a family sitting by the water's edge drinking their morning coffees, soaking in the glorious sunrise. Ahhh...to live and not be in a hurry. I disembarked and loaded up, I had made it safely off the lake. On my return for the second carry, I bid farewell to North Tea Lake. Before I hit the last portage(135m), I encountered a deer near the river's edge. I was able to snap off a few pictures, before it let out a loud nasal puff. It then bounded off, through the tall grasses into the forest, occasionally puffing a warning call. mere seconds later, I came around a bend, and there was a large cow moose, making for the forest as well, she had heard the warning, and off she went. The time was 7:46 a.m. At 7:59 a.m. I landed at the 135m portage, the fine morning continued, spying frogs in the river.
This deer made quite a noise when it became aware of my presence...
...Enough noise, to alert a nearby cow moose,
which immediately left the water's edge, and headed for the safety
of the forest.
As I headed up the longest part of the river, I spied 2 more deer in thick grasses next to the river, at 8:55 a.m. That morning just kept getting better and better! These deer were very gracious, in that they gave me plenty of time to snap some photos of them, before they headed off to the protection of the forest. I emerged 15 minutes later onto Kawawaymog Lake. I held my breath, a minute later at 9:11 a.m. I was on Kawawaymog Lake proper. The wind was nothing like it was the day I came in. There was only a light breeze, with ripples in the water. By the time I had hit the mid-point on the lake, the wind strengthened, but was no threat and I made it across, and landed shortly after 9:35 a.m. Almost to the minute, when I had launched on my ill-equipped quest 10 days earlier. I loaded up, and went to the permit office, to report my concerns about the various portage conditions I had encountered. I was very specific about the huge downed pine, at the Fassett Lake end of the Mattowacka-Fassett portage. Imagine my astonishment, when over one year later, a fellow AA'er, had inquired of me, about this route I had done. He had reported back to me, that the huge downed pine was indeed still there! The fellow at the permit office at the time had indicated the difficulty that crews would encounter in accessing that area. I retorted, loggers don't seem to have a problem getting there. The guy didn't seemed to impressed with that statement, so I simply mentioned that perhaps the portages should be marked in black and not red, denoting them as low maintenance trails, as that had seemed the case to me. I also learned from the fellow at the permit office, that the burned-out island on Shada Lake, was supposedly caused by an irresponsible camper approx. 4 years previously. How terrible!
More Deer! My 'Out' day, was the best day out of the whole trip,
for wildlife encounters
An example of the river scenery along the Amable du Fond river
I headed out and back to the 'civilized world' already loathing my return to 'life' in the city.
One thing I learned; June can be damn hot and deadly in The Park. Thinking that simply keeping myself hydrated was enough, resulted in near catastrophe. Of course, improper clothing, and failure to administer sunscreen to myself, played a major factor in my painful lesson. If I had in fact paid more attention to the effects of the June sun, I wouldn't have had to walk around in a jungle like forest wearing a winter pullover in deadly heat! The bugs weren't that bad, I have a high tolerance for skeeters, and it was only on day 3 that I finally gave into using bug spray. However, the combination of heat and bugs, can drive one nuts, as it did me on a few occasions. This wasn't a 'He-Man' trip, but my foolishness made it into a 'He-man' trip, unnecessarily so. I was surprised and delighted to not see any motorboats on Manitou Lake. I did see a total of 3 motorboats on North Tea Lake, all located in the west arm only. In that respect I was quite happy. I would love to go again in late June. The weather can be fantastic, and if you can tolerate the bugs, there isn't many people around. Manitou Lake would be great again, breezes to keep the bugs away(any big lake will do in June!), and very little in the way of human traffic. An excellent, well learned, and lucky trip!
Rounding the bend, and emerging onto Kawawaymog Lake
Update: A reader has contacted me, wondering why I failed to mention blackflies as being a problem, if at all. Well, interestingly enough, I didn't encounter any blackflies at all. I figured at the time of writing, it wasn't important to mention that fact. I was wrong! For the record, there were no blackflies, just the ever present mosquitos and some deerflies and horseflies.