Canoe Lake, Burnt
Island Lake, Otterslide Lake, Otterslide Creek, Big Trout Lake, Misty Lake,
Petawawa River, Timberwolf Lake, McIntosh Lake, Ink Lake, Tom Thompson Lake,
Canoe Lake.
We made this trip with four adults,
two teenagers, and a three-year-old child.
Preparations |Trip log, Days One to Five | Trip Log, Days Six to Nine | Observations |
1. We planned our route and made reservations.
2. A trial trip by two was taken to North Tea Lake in
Algonquin Park to test out stoves, fuel quantities, packs, and food carrying
devices and portaging capeabilities. Olive barrels seem kinder than square
plastic buckets on the back of the person carrying them. All food must be hung
at night. Wildlife trying to get at food includes bears, chipmunks, squirrels,
and mice. A candle is lighter to carry, will help start fires when fuel is wet,
and is smaller than lantern. A limited quantity of paperback books that
may be read and then used to start fires is welcome on non-travelling
days.
3. We planned our menu and prepared
dehydrated food. Snacks were carried by each person and generally were nuts and
dried fruit.
4. We reserved rental canoe for
teenagers - an ultralight Swift - and they practiced back field tandem
portaging.
5. We purchased groceries and packed
with an eye to being sure that no pack is too heavy for any other person to
carry, should someone be hurt. Fresh food was very welcome in terms of eating
but very heavy to carry. We needed warm clothes, rain gear, cool clothes,
and sleeping clothes, as well as tents, sleeping bags, tarps. Also we needed
matches, duct tape,first aid and knife and saw or hatchet and we divied out who
would bring what. A compass is of assistance for setting general
direction. A special note: the official Algonquin Park map sold by
the park DOES NOT have north at the top of the map (see Day 3).
6. We agreed that in a canoe we must wear a life jacket,
have a whistle and a spare paddle.
Day 1:
We drove hwy 401
until traffic blocked up - at Hurontario St.(Hwy 10). North on Hwy 10 to Hwy 9.
Hwy 9 east to Hwy 400. Hwy 400 north to Hwy 11 north. Four of us stopped in
Huntsville overnight and stayed in a motel where we had our last warm shower
before trip. Three others slept in their vehicle at Canoe Lake.
Day 2:
We left our motel
at 6am (last Tim Horton's stop) to get to our meeting point at the Hwy 60 Canoe
Lake entrance to Algonquin Park. The rental canoe was picked up for our teens.
We got registered when office opened at 9am. We paddled north on Canoe Lake to
its end, took four portages and stayed at Burnt Island Lake. Today's portages
were not bad.
Day 3:
We separated, in
the morning with a planned meeting point later in the day. Our group got
lost trying to find the portage out of 
Burnt Island
Lake. On theAlgonquin map 'North' is not at the top! We paddled around the
entire lake before we clicked that this was the problem, and we had missed the
portage by very little, but went the wrong way to try to find our way.
We had lunch of cheddar cheese & bagel then
travelled up Little Otterside Lake to Otterslide Lake. We saw two moose at about
3pm.
The other members of our group had set up camp and
watched us consult our map several times before they put out their canoe to show
where they were. We had most of the food and they were getting hungry and
concerned. We were tired.
Day 4:
We stayed on an
island site at Otterslide lake. Our teenagers tried swimming using a green
log to support them. They had to support it. We had mice for visitors. There was
a good swimming rock at our site.
Day 5:
Up Otterslide creek
to Big Trout Lake. Five marked portages! On an unmarked
portage, one of us was pulled over backwards into the water by the weight of the
pack. The food packs are too heavy and we must eat some of the fresh food
and redistribute the load. Otterslide Creek is very rocky and low at this
time of year.
Day 6:
We stayed on an
island at Big Trout Lake. Folklore says there are no bears on island sites but
we saw proof to the contrary - fresh bear droppings.
Our teens swam out to a deserted island and back. While hiking
around our site, they saw a neat 'map' made out of natural items such as sticks,
fungus, but returned to our camp when they observed fresh bear markings.
Day 7:
Across Petawawa
River to Misty Lake. Seven portages today but we're more fit. Four of us
stopped before the 850 meter portage to have hot soup and bagel and whizzed
through afterwards. The food really made a difference. A blue
heron accompanied us along most of the river.
The Petawawa River was very muddy and there were
several beaver dams which we had to get out of the canoe to negotiate. The
teens conned an adult into pulling them over beaver dam. Walking, embarking, and
disembarking is quite rough here, and an adult fell twice and dropped the canoe
when he fell the second time. The canoe was holed just at the water line!
We made a temporary repair with duct tape. We tried to shift the load in the
canoe to keep the hole out of water as much as possible but a canoe becomes
difficult to handle when inproperly balanced. We stayed at our one-and-only ugly
campsite, on Misty Lake. The lake is indeed 'misty'. We saw an old
cookstove and lots of junk lying around. As our campsite improvement here, we
whittled sticks to cover the dirt in camp area. We are getting
tired. 
Day 8:
A short trip
through Timberwolf Lake. We saw two moose and stayed in on an island in McIntosh
Lake. The weather was considerably colder today and swimming was not an
issue. Again a bear had been there before us.
Our wonderful teenagers made a checker set inlaid in a tree stump for next campers to find and enjoy. They worked well into the dark. When a utensil set was misplaced, a new one was carved.
Day 9:
This morning we experienced some difficulty finding the exit from
McIntosh Lake. The Algonquin map is not particularly accurate. We saw a
moose family at Ink Lake before our dreaded 2.3K portage.
We had planned to stay at Tom Thomson or Littledoe Lake but due to a teen's neck injury while carrying canoe on his head on this long portage we decided to exit. Extra trips were taken to bring our injured member's gear and canoe. He could not carry anything until checked out by doctor. He was taken on ahead and out. By the end of Canoe Lake he was able to move a bit and help with paddling.
Tom Thomson Lake was very pretty, contrary to what we had
been led to believe. We exited Canoe Lake at about 3pm and headed for home and
the doctor. Fortunately the injury was not serious.
Top of page
There were too many people both in our group and on this
route to feel isolated in the wilderness.
A two
km. plus portage is too much for youth on first portaging trip out. In any case,
tandem portaging should not be done with canoe on heads. Groups need to
stick together when travelling, and wait at end of each portage until all
members are done and loaded ready to go. It helps relieve aching muscles
to be able to paddle on either side and to exchange bow and stern positions
occasionally. We travelled the last week before Labour Day. The
weather was not great but was quite reasonable. It rained a few times but not
too much. It was not hot. There were mosquitos only on the one long
portage.
A plastic container works better than a
ziplock bag for powdered milk. A water filter works well and the water tastes
much better than boiled water. Be sure to empty and wash out water jugs each day
rather than just top them up. Take plenty to eat and drink. People's
eating habits change when camping. Don't plan on some people not eating some
foods. It's a guarantee that they will when you don't have much with you.
It is very difficult to plan food for more than just one family as different
eating habits and priorities exist. Always take at least one day's extra
food with you in case of delay. Wind and bad weather and bad map reading as well
as exhaustion, illness, or injury may delay you on your trip. Cooking over
open fires is slower than over small one burner stoves but conserves fuel.
Mice make a real racket at night when checking out your plastic bags and chewing
up things.
A Special Note Re Bears:
Bears can swim and do not stay away from islands. If a bear
had come to our site, we decided to try to make a lot of noise and hit at it
with our paddles. In bear country we decided to sleep with paddle and
whistle. All food and wrappers must be burned or packed out. No sleeping
with toothpaste, toothbrush, or even gum in tent. Dirty hands should not
be wiped on clothes. All food and garbage packs must be hung safely at
night, preferably before sundown.
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