Triplogs / Triplog#20 / Day 2 / Day 3 / Days 4-7
Lake Opeongo(IN) - Dickson Lake - White Partridge Lake - Dickson Lake - Lake Opeongo(East Arm)(OUT)
Day 4 - White Partridge Lake To Dickson Lake
I was woken up by 'clop-clop' sound of something heavy moving thru camp. This was accompanied by a jingling sound, and soft spoken commands to what sounded like to be some animals. I knew then that this was Bo's cousin, Stewart, who was coming in to pick up the gang, to transport them back to their vehicles, 11km away. I got up, in a daze from the ingestion of the previous night's spirits, and wandered out into the bright cold morning. There was a heavy frost everywhere.
The night was cold - Morning came and frost coated everything
Stewart's Horses: They made the White Partridge Express possible
However the sun was out in a cloudless sky, and it was warming up rapidly. Sheila and Bo were already up ,and Sheila handed me a much needed coffee. Bo introduced me to Stewart, his cousin. Right off, I could see a strong resemblance between Bo & Stewart. I could see in both of them, the marks of weather upon their faces, more so on Stewart, who spent a great deal of time in the outdoors, working in the park lumbering. If I didn't know any better, I would've thought Stewart and Bo were brothers, they looked a lot alike, where Racoon and Bo did not. Stewart, had brought in a big wagon, pulled by 2 horses, a white and a dark brown one. I can't remember their names though. I padded over to the horses, which were standing in some stables. Right off, the white horse was shaking it's head and flashing it's teeth at me, I've seen this behavior before, and although I'm not exactly sure what it really meant, I took it as a sign to back off.
Another view of the horses
I took a few pictures and starting talking to the horses, this seemed to calm the white one, and after a few minutes I was able to stroke both of them, down their long noses. It was cool to be around farm animals again, something I hadn't done in many years. I moved back to camp, everyone was waking up now, Sheila & Bo busy dismantling the kitchen. I had a long journey today, all by myself, and with some trepidation, I moved slowly to my tent and began to collapse my tent, and pack my gear. I didn't want to leave this place, I didn't want to leave the company of these awesome folk.
Sheila loaded me up with more coffee, water, oatmeal bars, and the most awesome home-made beef jerky I've ever had. The store bought stuff is just plain tasteless an garbage-like food in comparison.
Bo told Stewart, about my broken bow seat, and walked over to inspect it.
Looking at it with an expert eye, he said, 'ah, tis nothing. We'll get ya fixed up in no time.' I watched as Stewart tied a length of Pine to the underside of the broken strut.
He tied it looping it thru the webbing of the original mesh, with some twine, and then finished the job by wrapping some duct tape around it. 'Good as new', he said. I thanked him for the repair job. I had read about the wonders of duct tape and canoes, but never have had the opportunity to try my hand at repairing a canoe. Watching Stewart's technique, I was relived that it was repaired and took very little of his time to do so. Having observed Stewart's technique, I'm pretty confident that I can now repair a seat on my own, should it happen again. Thanks for the lesson Stewart!
Stewart's handiwork: bow seat good as new!
Everyone was busy now, collapsing tents, packing gear, it was time for me to go.
Racoon at the last moment gave me his reel to use on my fishing rod. I had broken it on my last trip, and he tried to repair it, but it had a screw with a weird proprietary thread, most annoying those proprietary thingys! This was amazing, Racoon giving me his reel. It was just a loan, till he could repair it, but still! The generosity of this guy didn't stop there, just as I was about launch, Racoon slipped me a cold beer(plastic bottles), for 'when I'm resting in the middle of a lake', he said.
Rob & Bo loading up the wagon..um cart actually
I shook hands with everyone and said my goodbyes, and launched onto White Partridge Lake. The lake was the most perfect glass I had ever seen. It was if Bo & Racoon, had some sort of special influence over the park, ensuring my safe passage across White Partridge Lake. It was a magical crossing, the entire trip across the lake, wasn't marred by one ripple in it's surface, it was just incredible! The lake is very wide and it took me 45 minutes to cross, although I did stop several times to take many pictures. The bow seat felt solid and was very stable, like it really was brand new. Awesome!
The mystical forces of Algonquin guaranteed me
safe passage across White Partridge Lake
Another view of the glass lake crossing
I crossed the portage to Sundassa lake in 1hr35min. No speed record fer sure, but I was tired, and the portage itself was in pretty good shape, but it was all uphill. The sun was still shining and a lite breeze greeted me as I crossed Sundassa Lake, 20 minutes later I landed at the dreaded portage to Little Dickson Lake. This 2685m portage, was my nemesis. Almost every step was loaded with rock. Even the beginning of the portage her, was thru grasses. yet had rocks here and there. My ankles were very angry at me for the stress I had put them thru over the last week, and they did not appreciate this portage too much. There were some areas, were it wasn't rocky at all, but even this posed a challenge. Where the trail was smooth, it was covered with decayed leaf litter, and the surround land as well. So much so, that a few times, I found myself wandering off the trail and into a tree, for the trail here was not well worn and difficult to follow thru the litter. I took many breaks on this portage, and didn't launch onto Little Dickson till just after 4pm. It took me almost 3.5 hrs to cross it. Whew!
Surreal surroundings: The mirror effect was stunning - not a ripple
Crossing Little Dickson was nice, and I still hadn't seen another soul since leaving White Partridge Lake. As I crossed Little Dickson Lake, I cracked open the bottle of beer Racoon had given me as a parting gift. I kicked back and enjoyed the brew, as I passed a campsite with an axe on it. I snapped a picture of it, and continued on.
Sundassa Lake - Looking back at the portage to White Partridge Lake
Handiwork of beavers on the portage to Little Dickson Lake
May 19th, 2005 - there still be snow in The Park
I landed at the portage to Dickson Lake, carried over my stuff, and launched onto Dickson Lake around 6pm. The wind picked up from the south as I paddled Cisco Bay, and really pushed me around a bit, before I finally passed thru the islands and into the narrows, where the wind finally died down. As I rounded the point on the south end of Dickson Lake, I held my breath. I had a big stretch of water to cross and paddle. I did not know this lake, and being solo most of the time, I'm at the mercy of the wind more so than tandem paddling. Lo and behold..Bo's influence continued to press on. The lake was almost calm, and the occasional breeze pushed me onwards, directly in the sun.
2685m Sundassa Portage: You have to walk across the beaver dam
Another shot of the tricky dam crossing
It was a fabulous paddle, and although I couldn't see much in front of me, with the sun blinding me, I still looked around, and didn't see anyone anywhere. I landed back at the site on the beginning of the portage back to Bonfield Lake at 8pm. 10 hrs...It was a long day, a long day indeed. I had portaged about 35km over the last 8 days, that's not counting the empty-handed passes between the first and second carries. Oh yeah...I still had another 10km with the Bonfield portage. Hmmm..that's over 45km in 9 days. Do I like punishment or what? Next trip, more relaxation time, that's fer sure.
Little Dickson Lake: An old axe left behind on a site
I set up my tent, and fired up my stove. I had hot chocolate and some chili for dinner.
I went down to the water, to admire the view for a bit, when I spotted 2 canoes creeping up the east shoreline. I suspected they had either come from Animoosh or perhaps Round Island Lake, or maybe a campsite south on the lake, I did have the sun in my eyes after all. I had a small fire going, I didn't intend to stay up long, I needed a good nite's sleep.
Sitting by the fire I could hear people talking, they were on one of the 2 sites farther up the opposite shore to the north east of me. I barely made out the flickering of a fire, as I looked in their direction.
Not a soul around: Empty island campsite on Little Dickson Lake
As I sat by the fire, I reflected on my meeting with Racoon, Rob, Bo & Sheila.
Meeting Racoon & his friend Rob, was a blast! We had such a good time fishing, sitting around the fire,etc. Racoon's hospitality was awesome, Rob & Racoon were fun guys to be with, and funny as hell too! I hoped that we could do it again someday. Bo & Sheila were fantastic people and I was very happy to have met them as well. Although the time was very short in knowing them, we had both expressed a desire to hook up again, on a much longer future trip. One night was not enough for me to get to know Bo and his many experiences in the park. Bo & Sheila's hospitality was out of this world! They fed me food, water, spirits, stories, songs and great times. I will miss them all, and look forward to another trip together. I learned alot on this trip and most of all, it was fun learning it too. A big thank you to Bo & Sheila, Racoon & Rob, and Dan & Rick too, for making this trip one of my most memorable experiences to date. Algonquin Park is good, and it's the people there that make it great!
Islands on Dickson Lake's south end
As I slumbered off to sleep, the wildlife of the park came alive. I heard Owls hooting to each other, then when they found each other, the most noisy calling and screeching back and forth was heard. The moon was very bright that nite, and during and after the Owl madness, a lone wolf called, behind my site to the south west. It was far away, but 10 minutes later it was much closer, it kept getting closer, and then it stopped altogether. A short while later I fell asleep and had a deep sleep. This was the only nite on this trip that I was truly solo.
Day 5
It was another cold morning when I woke up just before 6:30am. There was just a hint of frost on the ground. I didn't waste any time, to I packed up my tent and gear, thus warming myself in the process. Skipping breakfast, I loaded my pockets with oatmeal and granola bars, and some water from Dickson Lake. It was 7am, when I headed onto the portage with my canoe for the first pass. By the time I had arrived at the point where the cart trail splits off the portage, my hands were frozen, gripping the aluminum trim on canoe as I carried it, in the cold morning air, froze'em to the point were it was too painful to hold the canoe anymore. I stopped and had a smoke, while I wrung and clapped my hands in pain, to get them warmed up. The portage itself is not bad at all, the only evil thing about it is, it's length..it's just long. Like the energizer bunny, it just keeps going and going, and going some more. Once you come to boardwalk after boardwalk, will you be very near the end, then there's a really long one that ends just before you hit the beach on Bonfield Lake. I carried the canoe to the logging road and went back for the pack, and did the canoe first again, taking a few more breaks along the way. Eventually I arrived with everything and launched onto Bonfield Lake at 1pm.
Crossing the logging road, on my way back to Bonfield Lake
It had taken me 6hrs to do it, solo double carry. Probably a terrible record, but I didn't care..I just made it through. with two small lakes and two short portages to go, I felt re-energized, and was about to launch when I noticed a leech swimming in the sandy shallows, across my path. I waited till it passed and then stepped into the water and launched the canoe and climbed in. It's funny how in the city, pedestrians will J-walk, dodging traffic, to get across a road, and yet here, I was stopped by a tiny little long black leech. Respect, that's what it was. I respected the leech's ability to gross me out!
I arrived on Lake Opeongo at 2:30pm. Exhausted I sat there and waited till 5:00pm.I was expecting a friend of mine(and a friend of his)to meet me here between 4 and 5pm. I was in no rush, so I relaxed and ate my fill on goodies. Cheesies and licorice, that I had dragged all the way to White Partridge and back, before opening them on Opeongo. I finished off the great tasting beef jerky sheila had given me and boiled some water from the lake and had warm Iced tea while I waited. After a while, two groups showed up from whence I came.
Looking south from the site on Opeongo,
in the distance, the mouth of Annie Bay
A close-up of the entrance to Annie Bay
They were waiting for a shuttle to take them back down to civilization. I waited for the shuttle to arrive. 2 shuttles came and went, and my friends still had not shown up. While waiting I checked over the sites on shore and took many pictures. By 5pm, I left a note on the portage sign, and then I launched and went over to a site on a point I had spied for several hours. It was empty, and it was a big site too, with lots of rocks on the shoreline. I could also see the mouth to Annie Bay. By 8pm, I saw two Kayaks go by.
with the sun in my eyes I couldn't make out the people there, but I noticed one of them paddling, checking and re-checking a map, as the person scanned the shoreline towards the portage. Quite a distance from me, they failed to recognize me an and paddled over to the portage, grabbed my message, and headed my way. Less than a hundred meters from shore now, I recognized Rob, as I called out to him.
Rob is that you? Where are you going? I'm over here!
Rob and his friend Lynn, had kayaked all the way up from the permit office. The lake was unusually calm that day, and they paddled up in just over 3 hrs. Lynn's kayak was a special model. It was a tandem one, but he was solo in it, and it was wide too.
Lynn demonstrated that his kayak was virtually un-tip-able, by standing up in it, and rock back and forth. I'm not familiar at all with kayaks, but was impressed with it's advantages over a canoe. It was weird too see him there, just standing in the middle of the lake.
Lynn also pointed out that kayaks cut thru the water, where as canoes ride the waves.
I was convinced, but I'm a bit of a traditionalist, I'll stick with a canoe thank you, besides me and my canoe have been thru lots together, and all the kayaks I've seen are much more expensive then a canoe. mind you though, I might like to try a kayak one day.
Rob's Kayak and my canoe: used to dry off his cellphone and smokes
That nite we sat around the fire and the rocks, drinking beer Rob had brought up with him. I went to bed early around 11pm. I woke up around 4am, as nature called, and stepped outside. I saw quite a site. A bright almost full moon sitting very low on the west horizon. I was beautiful and a sight I've rarely seen. No northern lights though, so back to bed I went.
Day 6
Saturday morning, and it was a beautiful cool sunny one. Rob and Lynn dared test the cold waters of Opeongo for a quick dip. Not me. I tried a few casts of the rod and a bobber, but got nothing. I basically hung around the site all day, napping and reading, and hanging out on the rocks. I was not going to go out in the canoe at all that day.
One point while I was napping, Lynn took off, he had things to do, and it was just Rob & me. The day wore on, the sky became over cast, and at sunset it cleared up a bit, but never did see the sun again. Rob, had some secret mixture for coffee, that I will try to duplicate on my next trip. I dare say it was better than Timmy's coffee. Yes it was that good, and yes it did have booze in it, a liqueur as a matter of fact, and a damn good one. I was getting cranky, I ran out of smokes and Rob had too, and it looked like there wasn't going to be anymore till I hit the outfitters till 1pm the next day.
Saturday was overcast, luckily we were treated to a colourful sunset
Rob went off for a paddle, down to Annie Bay I think, I toke a nap...that is all I did that day, nap, eat, nap some more. what was really surprising, was the lack of traffic. This was Victoria Day weekend, and on Opeongo too! I expected to see motorboats galore, zipping back and forth, constant buzz of engines cutting thru the quiet Algonquin air. I expected to see wardens and OPP. All I was was the odd shuttle, the odd boat coming to and fro from Annie Bay, and a couple of boats trolling, more so in the evening. There was one fellow, who didn't have an electric trolling motor, and used his gas motor instead to troll. It was low and noisy, and he did this for a few hrs. Now that was annoying, but he stayed far offshore, but not far enough. As it was, it was much quieter than I expected, and it was too bad the day was pretty blah. That evening, after dinner, it rained a bit, and a few times during the nite, but it was more of a drizzle than anything.
Day 7
A carin that was defaced and an old foundation on the east arm
It was a sunny morning, and I was dying for a smoke. I slowly spent the morning in a lazy manner, packing and scouring the campsite for garbage. I dragged several dead fallen pines over to the firepit area, and had accumulated a modest pile for the next occupants. Rob headed over to a creek, near the cart trail, exploring it for a while, while waiting for the shuttle to arrive. I launched around 11pm and paddled very slowly, looking for interesting things along the shore. Luck would have it, and I found a deer carcass on the shoreline. I got out and took many pictures. I imagined several wolves pursuing a deer in the bush in the middle of winter, corralling it, forcing it onto the ice, out in the open and vulnerable. Thus life, wildlife, nature in particular, can be so cruel.
That's how things are though, it's not like a bear can go shopping in a supermarket for berries! Anyways, the carcass of the deer was virtually picked clean, and there still was some fur on it too.
Spotting bones on the shore, I went onshore for a look
This deer carcass was picked clean
My shuttle arrived 5 minutes late, and was taken aback when the guy said that Rob would have to pay $60 for a ride back. I had paid $60 beforehand for the ride back, you have to, that's the way it works. Anyways, at the time, I inquired saying that a friend in a kayak might be coming back with me. The driver(on day 1)said that since the trip was paid for, Rob would split the cost of the shuttle with me. But this driver was saying otherwise. Rob said he wasn't going to pay $60, he'd rather paddle down. I can't blame him. $60 a head? Wow they must really be cleaning up. We hopped in the shuttle, and headed back. The waves this day were minimal and the day just got better and better as we headed down. I was able to get a good look at the size of the lake, and then realized just how humongous the lake really is...it is sooooo big. I'd like to paddle it one day, but not this year!
Rob in his kayak: built by himself many years ago
We arrived and disembarked. Immediately we went to see the guy in charge. My signed agreement, complete with a record of my payment was pulled up. After all the worry, it was explained that there was a misunderstanding by the driver of the shuttle and that my friend didn't have to pay any money, except to me. Rob forwarded me $30 for the shuttle and a little extra for gas, as I had to drive him to Fenlon Falls. We went into the store of the outfitter and I went looking for the 'I survived the Dickson-Bonfield portage' T-shirt. I couldn't find it and asked a clerk about it. 'Oh we haven't had any of those in almost ten years'. I felt disappointment, betrayed if you will. I was really looking forward to proudly wearing this shirt. Oh well. We packed up, grabbed a coffee, and bought an super expensive pack of smokes and loaded the car up. It looked quite strange seeing a kayak and a canoe stacked upon one another on top of my car's roof, but everything held and the drive out of Algonquin was without incident.
Algonquin Outfitters store on Lake Opeongo: loaded with supplies
I had a fantastic time, despite the excessive tripping I put my body thru in such a short period of time on this trip. I expected to lose 10lbs, and I only lost 5, it felt like I sweated 10. By the time I got back home later that nite, I was already finalizing my next trip, a 10 day solo trip thru Algonquin's north end, with a much less rigorous schedule and less lengthy portages.