November 13 - Day 2
Day-trip to Pinetree Lake and return

I woke up at around 1am for a pee then again at 4:30am, beer is my enemy when we camp. Going back to sleep at 4:30am was good, for I felt relaxed as I drifted off back to sleep, the temperature outside wasn't cold and my sleeping bag was very warm and comfortable, it was rated to -7°C. I had probably just fallen back to sleep for a few minutes when I was awoken to the sound of twigs and branches snapping. I could then hear the sound of flame and movement by someone around the vicinity of the fire-pit. Mike, the early riser.

I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. A few minutes later and Kevin is there and the two start talking and not in low voices either. Well, that did it, I called out for them to keep their voices down, I was told to "Shut-up", I yelled back for them to "Shut-up". Can I help but not be grumpy at 5am? It was too early to be awake…Sure, in summer when the sun is up at 5:30am and the days are long I don't mind getting up early, but in November when the sun comes up after 8am and the loons are all gone, I like to sleep in a little.

Tossing and turning for another hour did not work and just after 6am I got out of my sleeping bag and went outside and helped myself to some of Mike's "cooked-water" and made myself some coffee. Why fight it? I checked the thermometer, the low was 4.4°C, not bad for mid-November!

Mike made us a tasty breakfast of ham and egg/spinach patties served on a english muffin. Scott had his own breakfast of egg in a plastic water bottle; Crack your eggs, stir them up, add some onion, ham, etc then pour it into a water bottle good for the next day cooking in a pan over the fire, light and easy and no mess! Another reason while I like to camp with new friends...A great idea, thanks for sharing it with us Scott! At 8:16am the sun rose over the hill across from our campsite, it shone briefly before being swallowed up by overcast conditions.


Breakfast on Fork Lake
In the darkness of a November morning Mike prepared breakfast & Scott percolated real coffee!

 

November Fork Lake sunrise
8:16am: So late in the year the sun rises so late in the morning over Fork Lake


By 8:20am we were on the water paddling over to the portage to Rose Lake. The guys wanted to travel to Pinetree Lake, as none of them had ever been there. I had been to Pinetree Lake before but not via the route we were taking to it, so I was covering new ground for the first time as well. Looking on the map one would think that the portage climbs very little, going for the most part around elevation changes when in fact it seemed to climb forever. There was change in elevation but it was a long shallow climb and with the roughness of the trail, the going was tiring plus the fact I felt out of shape. The trail was rough, loaded with lots of rock and some snow in sections with wet mud and slippery roots, all the while the trail continued to twist as it ascended a ridge.

Twenty-five minutes later we arrived to a most beautiful discovery; Rose Lake. The shape of the lake is kinda like the petals of a rose laid out flat. At least this is what it seemed like to me, as there were four or five distinct areas of the lake all laid out for us to peek at as we paddled by.

The put-in into Rose was an easy one, soft soil and marsh grass gave way to open water. While the take-out on the Fork Lake was a rocky affair that required one to climb up over rock. The Rose Lake put-in was a nice surprise. I have to say that Rose Lake was a very pretty lake for its shape and size and wished there was a campsite on it, yet at the same time I couldn't help feeling that it was proper that in fact there was no campsite on the lake. Not every lake had to have a campsite on it in The Park. Let the flora and fauna that dwell there get their solitude from us. Sheesh! Rose Lake was having a very soulful effect on me. I really liked it. I especially liked the look of the marsh at the north end of the lake where we came onto it from the portage from Fork Lake, I think I would love to explore it in the summer, if possible.

Rose Lake portage
Scott and Kevin relax after the long portage before putting into Rose Lake



Mike was in the lead and I didn't even bother to look at my map as we followed him along. Pretty soon it became obvious that Mike could not locate the portage. I wasn't sure where it was for I was not paying attention and had not consulted my map. We turned around and pretty soon spotted a tree that had the markings of previously posted portage sign nailed to it. The take-out was a little tricky; a short, long-legged climb up onto flat rock. Someone discovered the portage sign on the ground a few meters back in the bush. No duct tape or string was on hand so it was affixed temporarily through the existing nails on the tree. The first good storm of the season and it would be gone. I contacted Park staff after the trip and made them aware of this.

Scott offered to carry my canoe over the 915m trail and so I went ahead carrying the paddles and daypack. The trail starts by dropping down, flattening out, then the long steady climb up. As I ascended the hill, I noticed that a stream was cascading down the hillside as it came close alongside the trail and at one point it crossed the trail and crossed again as it bubbled through underneath the ground. I was thinking that this was in fact a spring when I suddenly realized I had reached the apex of the hill and was descending towards Pinetree Lake. As I descended another stream ran alongside the trail then wandered away into the bush. Was it possible that there was a spring here and that it was running down both sides of the hill? Quite the aquifer indeed, if it was. Late fall had been very wet it seemed.


Rose Lake

Mike snaps a picture at the put-in on Rose Lake



As we approached Pinetree Lake there is a rather steep step-up that the path takes and once we climbed up the short steep step-up, we came across a pile of very old wolf scat…nothing but a pile of fur was left behind. After this it was a short steep descent to the lake, the put-in was made easy by the presence of a few flat rocks to step out on as one got into the canoe. Just before 10:00am we launched onto Pinetree Lake. We paddled around one bay before following the convoluted shaped of the lake past a few small islands and then on to the part of the lake where two campsites are located.

It was at this point that the sun came out as part of the sky cleared up. There was a bit of a breeze on the lake and I for one was happy that I was tandem with Scott; Much easier to paddle in an empty canoe with two guys instead of one in windy conditions. We paddled around exploring the beautiful rocky bays and stopped at the North campsite on the lower part of Pinetree Lake.

The campsite was rather annoying, but made a great lunch spot: a great view high up above the water, with a pine and rock covered island in front of the fire-pit to look at. Other than that, there wasn't much to the campsite…You climbed your way up from the shore…there was no landing to speak of for the canoes. Reaching the top of the hill was the fire-pit, probably one flat spot for a tent and then there was the thunderbox. It was barely 30 feet away and within sight and possibly smell of the fire-pit. Beyond the thunderbox were mosquito breeding pools of water below.


Rose Lake
Paddling Rose Lake



We collected kindling from around the surrounding area and stacked the wood in the fire-pit and set it alight. In short order we had a nice fire going, we sat back to enjoy the heat as we waited for the coals to form. Once the coals were ready, Mike produced a pack of sausages with buns and mustard, complete with a bit of fireball whiskey…an Algonquin lunch specialty! Mike grilled the sausages over the fire while I took a few photos, then we ate and had a few sips of the whiskey.

Once lunch was done we extinguished the fire, which meant one had to walk down the hill to the shoreline and walk all the way back up with water in a water-bottle. This was repeated many times till we were satisfied the fire was out. By 12:40pm we departed the campsite. We had spent just over 90 minutes at the site and it was time to move on.


Paddling Pinetree Lake
Paddling by a rocky island on Pinetree Lake

 

Pinetree Lake campsite
Scott snaps a picture as we approach the rocky campsite I visited back in 2004


Mike wanted to see the remaining campsite on the lake, there was still time so we paddled up thru the narrows up to the upper section of the lake. As we paddled up the open expanse of that section of the lake, one's eye is drawn to a bare look-out point high up and behind the campsite. If I ever come back to this lake, I would like to see if I can climb up there and get a great view of the lake.

The views were already great; Pinetree Lake is a very pretty lake, with lots of islands and rock everywhere. To see it from high above would be a real treat. Mike and Kevin paddled over to the campsite, while Scott and I paddled to the portage that leads back to the highway to the access point (#12). Scott wanted to see what to expect if he decided to come here via the access point in from the highway. I knew where it was and recognized it ahead of me as we paddled up. The portage sign was nowhere to be found. To the left of the portage landing was another section of Pinetree Lake that was blocked off from the rest of the lake by sawn timber from logging days long past.


Pinetree Lake
Kevin & Mike paddle into one of many beautiful bays on Pinetree Lake

 

Pinetree Lake campsite
We stopped by a campsite high above the lake for lunch over the fire



I led Scott up the trail. I wanted to show him the fork in the trail and explain the circumstances. If one was coming down the trail (for the first time), the bay that is blocked off from the lake looks to be the place where one would launch the canoe. However, the mass of floating timbers would easily frustrate any canoeist, so one must follow the left fork in the trail, where two minutes further down the trail is the real launch onto Pinetree Lake.

We snapped a few photos then headed back to link up with Mike & Kevin for the paddle back. We found the pair lying on the hillside of what was to be another campsite that had lots of elevation to it and very little in the way of flat camping spots. In my opinion the campsites on Pinetree Lake are better suited to couples, friends or soloists rather than large groups of people.

We snapped a few pictures on our paddle back to the portage, the water being just as clear as I imagined it six years earlier. The water levels also appeared higher as I recognized a few features that were now underwater. The sky grew dark as the overcast sky thickened.


Cooking over a campfire
Mike cooked us up some sausages complete with buns and mustard

 

Pintree Lake put-in
Scott snaps a picture at the put-in to Pinetree Lake from Access#12(Highway#60)


By 2:15pm we arrived back at the 915m portage to Rose Lake. This time I carried my canoe back to Rose Lake, Kevin gave Mike's canoe a try and followed shortly behind. We completed the trail with ease, paddled across Rose Lake and started on the next and last trail of the rest of the trip; the 1550m trail back into Fork Lake. This time Scott offered to carry it back. I had no objection, but thought he had an easy time of it. I was wrong, the carry back to Fork Lake still had a long climb up from Rose Lake, one that I took for granted coming from the other direction earlier that morning. It didn't matter which way you were going; you equally faced a climb that was shallow and long. I prefer the steep short ones…the long ones kill me! At one point Scott lost track of the trail in the exact same spot that I had lost the trail earlier that morning. Obviously, the trail had little traffic, human traffic that is, as there were several moose tracks in the muddy sections as well as wolf scat.

Just after 3pm we arrived at the landing as Mike & Kevin launched. They had been only about two minutes ahead of us the whole way across, we had kept up with them and Kevin had survived the carry-over. He enjoyed the exercise, sweating out his cold and toxins in his body. That night Scott cooked for Himself and I. He cooked steak over the fire with a side dish of rice. It was delicious! Thank you sir!


Fork Lake portage

Scott carries the canoe back to Fork lake via the 1550m portage


The beaver was back, this time swimming right by my canoe at the landing, alongside this more fish began rising. By 6:40pm Kevin went to bed and not soon after Mike followed. I was struggling to make it to 8pm and by 7:50pm gave up and went to bed, leaving Scott alone and probably a bit disappointed that he had decided to camp with a bunch of old men. November really stunk sometimes…it got dark so early, then again getting up at 5am didn't help either. I slept better that night but not solidly.

 

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