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Lake Opeongo(IN) - Merchant L - Big Trout L - Hogan L - Big Crow L- Lake Lavieille - Dickson L - Lake Opeongo(OUT)
Day 18 - Mon. September 25th
Temperature Readings:
7:30am: 2.6°C
3pm: 10.4°C
9pm: 8°C
7:20am: Sunrise on Dickson Lake
Glorious morning sunshine drenched our campsite
It was a cold clear morning when I got up, just after 7am. I watched the sun come up, as I made coffee that morning. It was very beautiful, and the sun was warm on the bones. After breakfast, it started to cloud up, but Joan & I knew better, we geared up and went for a paddle anyway, fully prepared for the elements. We decided to go visit 'Racoon' Island, my friend 'Racoon' from AA remarked that it was his favourite campsite. It was located on a lone island in Cisco Bay, the only campsite in that part of the lake. I had been to the island campsite the year previously, when I first met the fellow. It was quite a nice site, with a fire-pit on both side sides of the island. If windy weather made a fire impossible on one side of the island, there was always a fire-pit on the other, sheltered from wind. The campsite had a cozy feeling to it too, a medium sized camping area, surrounded by tall pines. I trolled as we paddled over to the island, and didn't get a nibble. We arrived at the island at 11:30am. Immediately we could see the devastation that had been wrought upon the campsite. Pine tree after pine tree laid out like match sticks, it was unbelievable. I'm not to sure when the storms of July hit, but I for one am glad when our storm hit yesterday, that it was daylight when it happened. Can you imagine if it happened in the middle of the night? I can't imagine what it would be like to be caught in a vicious storm in the middle of the night, with trees coming down all around you. I walked over to the other end of the island where the second fire pit was. There was no wind there, and I decided to start a fire, as it was damp and the chill of it was creeping into my bones. We warmed ourselves by the small fire for half an hour than extinguished it and decided to head back to our campsite. Despite all the rain, the autumn colours were really starting to come out, although they were muted, not the brilliant colours you'd get with bright sunny days and cool frosty nights. I trolled for trout again on the way back, and go nothing, again. By 5:30pm the cloud started to break up, and the sun came out.
Approaching "Racoon" Island
Some islands in the lower end of Dickson Lake
What wind there was, died down that evening, then more cloud moved in. I watched lightning play on the horizon to the south and the west. Very far away, there were thunderstorms out there. They were so far away, that I couldn't hear any thunder. Some of the flashes were quiet spectacular, and I secretly wished the storm would come our way. The storms never did, but we did have some rain again during the night, not much, but enough to wake me up and become aware of it at one point during the long hours of the night.
A seagull on a perch at our campsite landing
The south end of Dickson Lake
A quiet and colourful sky during the early evening hours
Day 19 - Tues. September 26th
Temperature Readings:
8:15am: 5.5°C
10:30am: 8.8°C
5pm: 11.4°C
6:30pm: 10.4
Dickson Lake as seen from the end of the 5.3km portage
Our experiences on Lavieille changed our Itinerary somewhat. We were supposed to stay on Lavieille five nights and four nights on Dickson. Instead we stayed four nights on Lavieille and 5 nights on Dickson. I decided to take a cautious approach and pack up camp and move to the campsite at the beginning of the famous Dickson-Bonfield portage on our last night(now the 5th night). The plan was to do exactly what I had done before. Make camp at the trail head, then carry the canoe over in the afternoon, and have a leisurely walk back to camp. Joan hadn't complained about her legs at all, so all the damp weather was of no consequence to her knees. However, the Dickson-Bonfield portage is 5,305 meters long, that's 5.3 long kilometres. Even though the trail was relatively flat, there was a few sections that were challenging, and I supposed with all the rain, it might be very mucky in places too. I carried over the canoe and Joan a barrel. By the time we reached the end, Joan was a little sore and so was I, 5 days of relaxing on Dickson had softened my muscles! It was a great fall day to walk the forest, the colours were brightened under the sun filled blue and white sky, and not a bug in sight!
A canoe rest under a colourful canopy
More colours along the 5.3km trail
By 3pm,we were ready to head back to camp. There indeed was alot of water on the trail and many mucky sections too, but we handled these challenges with ease, most of them were more towards the Bonfield end of the trail, past the logging road that crosses the portage. About 1km from reaching our camp, a soloist appeared, catching upto us. He was single carrying too! A canoe on his back, a pack on his back, and a smaller pack on his chest. He took frequent breaks(He was carrying quite a load), but when I saw him launch onto Dickson Lake, he pulled out a doubled bladed paddle, and paddled up Dickson Lake in a hurry, he wanted to be on Lavieille, his first night! I'm sure he made it too! WOW! I don't know if he paddled Opeongo or not, but that double blade set-up worked very well indeed.
This toad emitted a foul odour when I drew close to it
The sun drenched forest along trail to Bonfield Lake
We arrived back at camp at 4:35pm. I gathered some fire wood from the forest, finding among other things, socks, underwear, a t-shirt and a old rusted can of something unidentifiable. It was a virtual trash dump back there at the end of the portage. Joan cooked pasta that evening, over the fire, afterwards, we had some drinks around the fire, listening to the loons calling out on the lake.
A waterfall on a creek near the portage
Near the end of the trail, close to Dickson Lake
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