Triplogs / Triplog#36 / Days 3&4 / Days 5&6 / Days 7&8 / Day 9 / Days 10&11 / Days 12&13 / Days 14&15
Lake Opeongo(IN) - Merchant L - Big Trout L - Hogan L - Big Crow L- Lake Lavieille - Dickson L - Lake Opeongo(OUT)
Day 14 - Thurs. September 21st
Temperature Readings:
8am: 6.2°C
7:30pm: 10.1°C
Re-visiting the marsh, I came across extensive foam polluting the area
These Canada geese were flying in
an almost perfect facsimile of a hand-drawn seagull!
We had booked to stay on Lavieille 5 nights, but both Joan & I were getting bored of this campsite, we were stranded. The water still too rough to her liking. Our fourth night coming up, we were starting to get a panic like feeling, we had to get out of here. I went over and explored the marsh again. The day before, I stumbled upon a beaver hut, and found several baby beaver swimming about in the marsh. I wanted more time to observe them. It was another cloudy grey day, winds and waves, and as I stood there in the marsh, a large flock of Canadian geese flew overhead, heading south, then another and another...for the rest of the afternoon, many flocks flew south...I accepted this as a change in the weather that might be coming.
More rainbows over Lavieille, as the showery weather continued
The turbulent weather continued
A wider perspective of our campsite on Lake Lavieille
By 3pm, more showers, and more rainbows came, as the sun broke through cloud cover that seemed to break up. This showery weather was starting to drive us both crazy. I had thought that this campsite and island would be a perfect stay while on our vacation. Perfection it seemed, was on vacation as well, and 'The old Woman', Lavieille, was none too kind to us. By sunset, for the first time in days, the wind dropped off considerably. The sky, hung heavy with cloud, with some breaks in the cover here and there. We had a strong glow form the sunset that was blocked by partial cloud cover. It quieted down that night, and we were able to have an enjoyable fire that night, the first one in almost 6 days.
We had a fire to warm us up during afternoon rain showers
A muted sunset on our fourth night on Lake Lavieille
Day 15 - Fri. September 22nd
Temperature Readings:
6am: 5.7°C
Dickson Lake 3pm 13.4°C
9:30pm: 10°C
Lake Lavieille on Day 5:
Beautiful & calm, "Let's get the hell out of here!"
Passing by another one of those 'Rugged' campsites on Lake Lavieille
If I had chose this site, I'm sure Joan would've exiled me!
Not the place to camp in September!
It was quiet, the first quiet since Hogan Lake. There wasn't a drop of wind, I got up, and went outside, and took a temperature reading. It was 6am, and it was starting to feel like September, a reading of just under 6°C. I looked around, on the far west shore, was some morning mist, but most important was a clear sky. I went back to get my camera. Joan was stirring, I told her the wind had died. We were not scheduled to leave the lake till the next day, but Joan didn't hesitate to express her feelings. "We're leaving, today". "Okay", was my reply. I went outside and started to take pictures of the fog. Joan was out in a flash, "Come on, there'll be other foggy mornings to take pictures, let's get the hell off this lake!". Joan started packing immediately, she was not one to waste an opportunity! I can understand, I too wanted to move. I suggested if she wanted, to make breakfast, and I would take down the tent and pack away our gear. We worked together, ate a quick breakfast, loaded the canoe and were on our way just before 8am. Under two hours to break camp. No speed record there, but we had risen early, so by the time we hit the water, the wind still had not woken up. It was good to be on the water again. Whether it is five nights or four nights, it was too long to be stranded in one spot, especially when your options for activity is limited due to the elements, and the fact that you are on an island. A beach to walk upon would've been nice, but there was no beach on the island we gladly departed from.
The Put-in at the North end of Dickson Lake
We headed east, I wanted to circle the neighboring island then head south using the chain of islands to work out way down Lavieille. As we made our way down the lake, it started to cloud up again, but it was the high thin cirrus cloud, not the low hanging rain clouds. We passed one island campsite that was tucked away from the elements quite well, and kept that campsite in mind for another visit one day. The next campsite we came upon was highly exposed...a great hot summer site. I has seen it through my camera's zoom lens a few days before, from the south end of our island. We paddled on, passing another island, with campfire smoke rising above the tree-tops. Voices could be heard, we could not see the camp, as it was on the other side of the island. We paddled through the narrows into Hardy Bay, here was a campsite on each side of the narrows on a point. The one on the western shoreline looked particularly nice. At 10:04am we arrived at the 90m portage into Dickson Lake.
An island campsite on towards the North end of Dickson Lake
Twenty-five minutes later, we launched onto Dickson Lake, a day early, and very happy to be off Lake Lavieille. As we launched, a motorboat could be heard coming up the lake. No motorboats are allowed on Dickson Lake, so I was apprehensive as the motorboat approached. The boat changed course, heading for us. The motor was cut and the boat pulled up alongside us. Two Men in the boat were decked out in MNR clothing. We relaxed, we were asked where we were going and where we were coming from. I told the warden that we had just come off of Lavieille and were going to stay on Dickson for several nights. We were asked if we had seen a group of white canoes on Lavieille. We hadn't seen anything in four days(mentioning the bad weather), except for passing by the island campsite with campfire smoke coming from it. I asked what the problem was, and they mentioned a family emergency. I asked if I could take a picture of them, The wardens didn't seem to like this, but they didn't object either, so I figured that everything was on the up and up. I snapped my picture and thanked them, and wished them luck on their search. Paddling down Dickson Lake, we saw more damage from the storms of two months previously.
The island campsite that I so badly wanted to camp on
By 11:35am we arrived at the island campsite I wanted to check out. We landed at a nice beach, I had visited the site earlier in May that year, while camped on Little Dickson Lake. We examined the site, and realized it was too exposed for fall. "Stop thinking summer Mark", Joan mentioned. The reality of it all sank in. We got back in our canoe and headed for the west shoreline, almost directly across from the island was a campsite, being on the west shore, it was shielded from westerly winds. We landed on the south side of the site, with a nice small pebble and sand beach landing. The hike up to the campsite was easy too. We looked around. Very nice site, very large and flat, with some tree coverage on shore, enough to block some wind, but not too much that we couldn't see the lake. There was a kitchen too, suitable for tarping and using stoves on. There was a big stand of hemlock throughout and behind the campsite, this made walking through the forest really easy, and there were trails all over the place. It was a dream site! "Much better!", Joan declared. Yup, it certainly was better.
Rob Hardy's "Tuna can Express" visited
the island campsite a year earlier
Joan prepares for us to depart: The North view from the island campsite
Both of us were in a much better mood! Later on in the afternoon, we could hear and see the warden's motorboat returning from their search on Lavieille. The motorboat passed behind the island that was across from us to the south, then came into view as it tracked southwest. All of a sudden there was furious yelling, from a campsite around the bend. It was the next campsite west of us, beyond that was a bay leading to the portage to Bonfield Lake. The fellow from camp was protesting loudly about the motorboat being on the lake. I don't think the wardens could hear over the buzz of the motorboat, but I surmise that when the wardens came onto the lake earlier in the day, the party beside us had not arrived yet. Thus they did not know that the motorboat was there on official business. I think if the government took more care in brightly marking their motorboats, less confusion would arise. From a distance, it looked like any old motorboat, and thus was suspected by my neighbours of illicit activity.
Our campsite on Dickson Lake was both spacious and heavily forested:
This offered excellent protection from the elements
There was plenty of firewood, if one went back into the forest and hunted for it, which is exactly what we did, and that night, we had a great warming fire, under calm weather conditions, and typical September temperatures of 10°C. Finally we had a reason to celebrate; A nice site, no more wind or rain, and many opportunities to explore.