Triplogs /Triplog#18-Day 1 / Day 2
Cache Lake - Tanamakoon Lake - Cache Lake
Day 2 - Tanamakoon Lake
I stayed in my tent till late in the morning, emerging just after nine am. I laid in my tent, soaking up the heat, as my tent absorbed the solar radiation from the rising morning sun. Finally stepping out into the brilliant sunshine, I headed down to the fire-pit area, stopping along the way, to retrieve my pack, which was hanging from a tree. Morning breakfast consisted of coffee and oatmeal with some bagels toasted over my stove. By the time I had finished breakfast and put away all my utensils and food pack, a light breeze began to stir the lake awake. It was getting close to eleven am when I finally decided to head out and explore the southern shoreline of the lake, whilst looking for firewood. As I paddled along the shoreline, the winds picked up, as did the waves. I needed to get some wood fast, to weigh my canoe down, I was starting to get blown all over the place. I landed at a spot along the shore that was laden with overhanging dead trees, and crawled out of my canoe and into the forest. There was dead fall aplenty, with very little of the wood I collected needing to be cut beforehand. I loaded up my canoe, and headed out, stopping many times along the shore, as I made my way to the west shoreline. At one stopover, I came upon what appeared to be an old beaver hut, with fresh beaver chew scattered all around the surrounding area. There was also a great deal of birch logs, both old and new scattered about. I grabbed as many of the old ones as I could. At another stopover further down the shore, I spied a large log resting in the sandy lake bottom, with a large spike protruding from a corner of the log. Could this have been a piece of timber, left behind, from the logging days of long past?
A possible relic of the logging days of old in Algonquin Park
After about 2 hours of exploring and wood collecting, my canoe was loaded up with firewood, enough for a few nights of warm campfires. I headed back to camp across the open expanse of the lake, with the lake breeze at my back. The fully loaded canoe helped to stabilize my craft, as I coasted lazily back to my campsite. It was a very relaxing paddle.
Heading back to camp, with plenty of firewood
While back at camp occupied with the task of unloading my canoe, I noticed another pontoon boat go by, and then a fishing boat, a few guys with beers in hand, boating over to a spot, mentioning a spot(among each other) that was supposedly over 150ft deep. Once they spotted me, the beers were quickly hidden and all talk of their fav. fishing hole ceased. They motored on, after an amused wave from me. It didn't really bother me at this point. I was on a motor-boating lake, and expected the traffic. The motor that the guys used was very quite, and all they did was troll at a very slow speed. The kind of boating noise that doesn't irritate, and my level of respect for these guys went up a few notches. Thank you!
The landing at my island campsite on Tanamakoon Lake
The fire-pit at my island campsite
While preparing lunch of hot dogs & juice, I noticed smoke from a campsite on the north end of the lake. barely discernible with the naked eye, was a canoe and a tent on one of the northern shore sites. I had more company on the lake. I found though with it being early May, the 'yahoo' season had not yet started and my second night on Tanamakoon Lake was just as quite as my first night. While enjoying the fire this last night of my stay, I became aware of some Northern lights barely visible over the lake, looking towards the north. I tired un-successfully to photograph them. It was around 10pm, that I noticed the lights. With it being my last night, I had intended to stay up late and enjoy the fire and loon calls. I didn't hear a sound from the party on the north shore the rest of that day or evening, and for all I knew , they weren't even there...they were so quiet. The air had become quite chilly, with the temperature dropping below freezing just after midnight. It was clear and cold, with the northern lights still barely visible. I hit the sleeping bag, around 12:30 am.
Sunset on my second night at Tanamakoon