Trip #16 - Burnt Island, Otterslide, Joe April 27th- May 1st

Burnt Island, Otterslide, Otterslide, Joe April 27th May 1st 2012

This trip was a chance to try the backcountry in a new month for us. We tried for an April start and April proved to be cold! We headed to Huntsville on April 26th, Thursday night in order to get a good rest before our long first leg of this trip. That nite the temperature dipped down to a very cold -12 with a heavy frost. We were up early and out the door of the hotel to head to Canoe Lake Access. This was the coldest I can remember ever heading out in a canoe which made it interesting.

From our island site on Otterslide

Grant's Joe lake tent location

A handy tool we made on Burnt Island site for gathering fire wood

As we headed out up Canoe lake we were faced with a pretty strong head wind and we noticed that the water dripping of the paddle was freezing to the gunwales. The first portage was not eventful and before we knew it we were away from cottages and lodges and finally crossing lakes with no signs of man.
 One portage which stuck out was the one from Little Joe to Baby Joe, we discovered that the woods were considerably colder within the shadows of the trees, and there were still areas with several inches of snow on the ground even though ice out was almost a record early date this year.

We portaged into Burnt Island and stopped at end of portage for some lunch and to review the map to get an idea of possible 1st night sites. We headed out and managed to make it about 1/3 of the way up the North shore before settling for a site for the night.

We broke camp the next morning and the wind was strong out of the North as we headed to the portage to Little Otterslide, we approaced the vast expanse at the East end of the lake and the North wind was howling as we rounded the corner, the whitecaps filled us with fear of dumping into the ice cold water.  We both got as low as we could in the canoe and braced ourselves as we paddled hard across the open water to the 780m portage to Little Otterslide.  We made it safely across, however Blake did a little wet from a few waves that splashed over the bow.

The portage was covered with downed trees but other than a few detures it was a nice hike and before we knew it we were coming down the rocky slope to Little Otterslide.

We paddled against the wind up the lake through the narrows into Otterslide lake. Mike and Mike put-in ahead of us and thought they knew better so they left us behind at the put-in and headed around the corner out of site. As Blake and I reached the narrows we realized that they were nowhere to be found. We backtracked to locate our friends and low a behold there they were at the East end of the lake pretending they weren't lost.

We regrouped and headed up the remainder of the lake to find a site for the next two nights. We chose the island site with a South facing site and we set camp. That night was even colder than the night before.


Morning of Day 3 after a delicious hunk of peameal bacon that Mike C roasted over the morning fire, we decided to go on a day trip to Big Trout, down the Otterslide creek.  Along the way we decided to run a beaver dam and almost dumped the canoe on an open stretch of Otterslide creek. Grant just wanted to put his conoe in on Big Trout so he could say he did.  Upon the return to camp we had some food and then Grant set off on a solo hike to the top of a large outcroppping due south of our site on the mainlind.

Grant also spent some time fishing around the large island on Otterslide, with no luck as usual.

That evening, just before dark we were stading around the fire when Mike D noticed something land in the tree directly over our heads.  We looked up to find a fullgrown Great Grey Owl staring down at us from a branch no more than 10 feet above out heads.
Though numerous attemps were made to grab a pictue of the large bird we had no success. After a few more minutes we watched it fly away without a sound back to the mainland to the North of the island.

Day 4 was a long travel day, 18 km in total as we went to Joe lake.  The weather was calm and slightly warmer around 7 degrees as we crossed Burnt Island

By the time we reached Little Joe we were jacket less. As we made our way across the East arm of Joe lake we started looking for our 4th night site.  We chose the large site at the base of Gibralter rock.  We spread out on this vast site and set up camp.  The two Mike's setup back near the woods, Grant setup on top of a rock and some moss close to the lake and I set up about 10 feet from the lake in a low landing between two good hammock trees.


That afternoon we had a competition to see who could start fire with nothing but rubbing sticks.  Surprisingly we had some good smoke going but we lacked really dry tinder and failed to start a fire this way. (Video)

Later that afternoon we hiked to the top of Gibralter rock to watch the sun set.

On the way back from Gibralter rock we observed a grouse on the trail to the privy.



That night was much warmer, the warmest of the trip. You can see how I have enclosed my hammock within my nylon tarp. This tends to keep the heat in and also the wind out.




Day 5 we broke camp at 6:30 am.  we pushed off from our site at 7:30 and headed back to Canoe lake.  The sun was shining and the lake was calm the entire paddle back to the car.

Various pictures taken throughout this trip.

 

 

 

 

                                

Trip #15 Pinetree Lake Oct 7th-9th

Dawson Brothers trip #15 Pinetree Lake Oct 7th-9th

This trip was planned as a Fall weekend trip to check out the colours as well as a new lake for the group. The trip started from home in Haldimand county at 03:00 on the 7th. I picked up Blake and we headed to Hamilton to pick up Mike. We stopped for a coffee and a bit to eat at the Huntsville McDonald’s. We drove to the East gate as it opened at 08:00 and Access point #12 is very close to this gate. Thanks to the Algonquin Adventures forum we were able to gather information ahead of time as to the best way to locate the parking lot at the start of the portage into Pinetree. The first thing we noticed was how bright and amazing the leaves were. Before long we were loaded up and heading down the 1890m portage towards Pinetree lake.

The portage was long and has many small ups and downs but was not what I would consider a difficult one as portages go. It is key to take the trail off to the left near the end of the portage as the trail to the right leads you to a swampy area adjacent to the lake.

At last we came upon the lake and it was a great sight to see. The water was like glass and the bright coloured trees all around cast a reflection on the water like a mirror. The water was crystal clear and one could see the lake bottom from depths over 12 feet. The put-in was full of large grounded logs and made for loading and getting into the canoe a bit of a challenge. By around 09:30 we were pushing off and heading South down Pinetree lake.

We pulled out the map and Mike navigated from the middle of the canoe as we headed for the first site to scope it out. The North most side is elevated from the water and appeared pretty rocky. Blake ventured up onto the site to give it a once over and given that this was all new to us the temptation to push further into the lake had us back into the canoe and pushing onward within minutes. Heading South we came through a narrow channel and the lake opened up into the largest portion which was home to the last two sites on the lake. The South most site was taken by a solo camper so we headed around the point and pulled up the our site for the weekend.

We made quick work of unloading and setting camp. Mike and I were tenting and Blake was using a hammock this trip. I located a level spoke about 30’ from the fire pit and Mike set up in the back of the site about 25’ from the privy. Blake setup beside my tent and by 11:00 we were all setup and we took a few minutes to check out the surrounds as Blake snapped a few pictures. We sat around, had some snacks and planned our day.

We jointly decided to plan an afternoon treck to Bud lake to try some Splake fishing. Bud lake is a small lake to the North and East of Pinetree. After a brief look at the map we grabbed our fishing gear, some snacks and some water and headed out in the canoe to try and pull along the shore close a hiking trail the we thought would help cut down on the bush whacking the we knew would be required to get to this lake. We walked the trail for about 45minutes and then decided it would be a good time for Blake to set our coordinates in his GPS. We walked off the trail about 25’ and sat down for a break while Blake attempted to find some satellites to allow the GPS to work its magic. About 3 minutes into this we heard large feet charging at us from the trail. Being mid October we all feared the worst and expected to see a large bull moose heading at us when we stood up. I was the first to stand up as my heart was pounding there in front of us was a couple people on horses out for an afternoon adventure. As we said hello to the couple and laughed about how we were scared of what we thought we heard we watched as the couple trotted off around the corner. At this point we realized that we had another 1500m to go before we would be able to leave the trail and head down the incline towards the small creek the flows from Leaf and Bud lakes into Pinetree lake. The bush was very dense and carrying fishing gear proved to be a challenge to say the least. We located Bud lake from the hill top and made our way down to it only to discover that we were at the beaver pond at the extreme West end and had to bush whack another 500m to get to the actual lake to attempt any fishing. The beaver pond had many prints around its banks including some medium sized bear tracks and some large moose tracks. Around 14:00 we finally got a chance to cast into the waters of Bud lake. Blake spent this time setting a route on his GPS to help us get back to the hiking trail. Mike and I tried a few spots but this end of the lake was very shallow and it was not panning out for us. We met back up and headed back into the woods following Blake and trying to conserve our water to make it back to our canoe with becoming dehydrated. After a long 2000m walk due South Blake stopped and said his GPS was telling him that the hiking trail was within 9m of our position. It became clear pretty fast that we were nowhere near the trail. We stopped and had another look at the map looking at the geography we decided to reprogram the GPS and set a coordinate 500m past the trail which was to our South. This was surely going to have us cross the trail at some point in the near future. Almost exactly 300m from this point we located the trail and started heading back towards the canoe. The walk was long and full of steep hills and switchbacks. We made it to the top of the lookout and stopped for a well deserved break but we were out of water at this point. We took some time to admire the sun as it seemed to be making a quick decent towards the Western hill tops past Pinetree lake. We made it back to the canoe and returned to camp to tend to our wounds and sore feet. Blake and Mike made the pact that they were not heading out for anymore adventures under my direction this weekend.

That evening we were all pretty tired so we had a small camp fire ate some dinner and after a short recap on the days events we all retired to our tents and hammock for a well deserved sleep. The weather was amazing and the low on the Friday night was 9 deg C which was much higher than we had anticipated and we all were hot that night.

Saturday we woke to the sounds of wolves howling in the distance to the S/W. lake got up and setup for some sunrise pictures. I pushed off with my morning tea and headed into the westerly section of the lake to scope out some wildlife. At the narrows I came upon a mink that was crossing the channel. Shortly after the mink I came upon two beavers that were swimming across the lake. I coasted between them and they both slapped their tails on the surface and disappeared out of site. I headed to the South and paddled towards the sounds of the wolves. I found myself at the take-out to Fraser lake. The wolves sounded pretty close at this point and being alone I was not prepared to walk the Fraser lake portage with Blake and Mike not knowing where I was. I sat in the canoe and listened to the wolves until they were quite. The sun hadn’t reached this side of the lake yet and I was cold as I hadn’t dressed warm enough to out this long in the shadows. I headed back to the camp to help Mike cook up a brunch.

Brunch was a large chunk of back bacon sliced up into ¼” thick pieces and some potatoes and scrabbled eggs. We all shared the meal and spent the rest of the morning lounging around camp and gathering fire wood. Fellow AAer Tess had informed me that she would attempt to make a day trip into Pinetree for a visit that afternoon. Around 14:00 or so we noticed a canoe heading towards our site. Within minutes I recognized that it was Tess and her husband Norm with their three dogs. This was the first time we had ever met in person and it was a real joy. We spent a couple hours sitting around and talking about the park we all love so much. Tess had brought some refreshments and some snacks and we all shared in consuming these treats. Before it was too late Norm and Tess packed up and made their way back out to their vehicle.

Saturday night we spent some more time relaxing at camp and I went out for a short paddle around the glass like waters looking for wildlife. I returned to camp just as the sun was falling behind the western hills. A fire was established back at camp and we enjoyed the night and turned in around 21:00.

We all woke up around 06:30 to another beautiful day and started to pack up camp. By approx. 08:30 we were heading across the lake back towards the portage out to the car. I loaded up and headed down the trail while Blake and Mike sorted the packs and loaded the remaining gear. I was able to one trip the portage without stopping and I started to fasten the canoe to the car while I waited for Blake and Mike to arrive.


Here is a video that Blake made of this trip:

The drive back out towards Hunstville was uneventful but the traffic coming in for the weekend was crazy. I have never seen this much traffic on Hwy 60 ever. The parking lot at the West gate was full and people were lined up on the turning lane trying to get in and get permits.

Trip #14 McIntosh, Misty, White Trout, Little Doe May 4th to 8th 2011

Trip #14 McIntosh, Misty, White Trout, Little Doe May 4th to 8th 2011












In Spring of 2011 Grant and I, along with our friend Mike, embarked on a 4-day trip to the North side of Highway 60 in Algonquin Park.





Our trip actually began the evening of Tuesday May 3rd as we decided to drive up to Huntsville after work and staying in a hotel that night to allow us to be on the water on Canoe Lake as early as possible the next day. We also knew that this trip was going to be physically demanding and we wanted to be sure we were well rested when we set off.





We stayed at the Comfort inn Huntsville, not much exicting to report on but the hotel room was spotless and the continental breakfast was fantastic. We all ate more than our share, as we knew it would be the last really heavy meal for the next 4 days.





At 8:00 am we were pushing off from the sandy beach of Canoe Lake, paddling on towards our eventual first campsite on McIntosh Lake. This leg would be the longest leg in our trip and would also include the longest single portage of the trip.





I should point out that the weather was perfect. Dry weather is never guaranteed in spring, but unlike almost every other trip we have made into this park, this trip did not start out with us paddling out into the rain. The sun was shining and there was not a hint of cloud in the sky.





This was our first time paddling Canoe lake and it was interesting to see areas we have not seen before in the park. Like it or hate it, there are cottages on Canoe Lake, and we were happy to reach the portage into Joe Lake as we were ready to start leaving signs of the civilized world behind us.



As we approached our take-out to the Joe Lake portage we spotted a large Brook Trout just under the canoe. Maybe he was trying to go upstream into Joe, but good luck as there is a 12 foot dam between him and his destination.



The portage from Canoe to Joe is an easy one, it's short, it's flat and wide like a dirt road, and looks like some people have even used kayak carts on it which would make it one of the few portages where those carts could be used with benefit. The man made dam is interesting and worth taking a bit of time to have a look at. Built in the 1960's it is holding back a considerable mass of water in Algonquin Park. I would have loved to take an HDR photo of that dam but I couldn't, as you see Grant had my pack on his back and he missed the end of the portage. He took a left and continued to walk 400m (nearly twice the distance of the actual portage) down a maintenance road. Mike and I yelled at him to stop but I guess he couldn't hear us under the canoe as he just kept trudging on in the wrong direction. Mike and I took this opportunity to have a snack and wait for Grant to return. He did not. We reluctantly grabbed our packs and added another 400m of portaging to the trip as we tracked down Grant at the end of the road by a small dock.



For having 3 guys in one canoe, plus all the gear and food for 4 days, we were pushing that canoe along at a great pace considering. As we glided past Camp Arowhon (the last buildings we would see till our return) the day grew warmer with the bright sun. We stopped for a quick snack on a small site on the Little Oxtongue River. Here is a photo from out rest:






Back on our way we passed thru the beautiful Littledoe Lake, there are some fantastic sites on this little lake. A little ways up the channel between Littledoe and Tom Thomson there is a large beaver dam.






As we canoed through Tom Thomson Lake we saw many nice looking sites. The paddle across was Tom Thomson was not an easy one, the wind was starting to really pick up and it is not an easy lake to cross by sticking to the shores. At times we were forced to cross large openings. So soon after ice-out the water temperature is so cold that an accidental swamping of the canoe would be very dangerous. We reached our destination; the start of the 2,390m portage into Ink Lake. We were not looking forward to this portage as it was the longest on our trip.



What can I say about the portage into Ink? It was not fun. Uphill, downhill, and many freshly fallen trees blocking our way. Mike had an especially hard time on the portage, later on we discovered why: Along with his regular gear and food he was also carrying 5 one litre tetra packs of wine in his pack. The wine was his own little surprise and though he was secretly cursing it on that portage, we all agreed was worth the weight in the end.



Video of the boardwalk on portage from Tom Thomson to Ink:



We were all very happy when we were back in the canoe paddling Ink Lake. Ink is a strange lake which reminds me of the Spruce Bog. Maybe it is a spruce bog, or the start of one? We pondered this as we paddle thru its dark red waters.



connecting Ink to McIntosh is a meandering stream. Half way down this stream we came across a strange site: A dead moose, half submerged in the stream. Grant figures it fell through the ice in late winter and drown. We will probably never know.



At last, we turned a bend and reached McIntosh lake. What we were greated with was the strongest headwind Grant and I have ever experience in Algonquin. Worse still, Mcintosh was filled with swelling white caps, and were a loaded canoe that was riding low enough in the water already. although we had wanted to pick ou the best site we could find on McIntosh, this was not going to happen. We were forced to stick to the shore and take the closest site avaliable. The closest site happened to be the first site on the left. It was relatively close, but even paddling to it was a touch-and-go experience. I was in the front and had to brace myself every large wave. I could feel the splash on my face as we broke through large waves and though the day was a sunny 22 degrees, the water was a deadly 1 degree. We eventually reached our site in one piece.



Our site on McIntosh was not all that bad. Begger's can't be chooser's, and I have seen far worse sites in the park.



I will point out here that I was trying something new this trip. I did not bring my tent, instead I brought a lightweight nylon hammock to sleep in. The hammock was one I made myself before the trip following instuctions from Hammock Forums. While Grant and Mike looked for spots on the ground for their tents, I looked for two nicely spaced trees to string up my hammock. With only a tarp overhead and no bug net, I was looking forward to sleeping with nothing between me and the night air.








The first night was the usual camp routine, start a fire (with a firesteel as we like to do), cook our dinner, have a beverage, sit by fire, go to sleep.





We woke the next morning to a mirror flat lake.













Thankfully this also meant that the vicous wind of the previous day was no longer present. Grant took a few minutes to cast off the rocky outcrops in hopes of landing a fish, but to no avail. After a lite breakfast (Backpacker's Pantry's - ??? Museli - awesome by the way) we were soon packed up and back on the water as we paddled towards the portage into Timberwolf Lake. Upon reaching the portage take-out, \mike pulled another surprise out of his pack: two fresh oranges. A quick bite later we were walking the portage to Timberwolf. This portage marks the part of the trip where we started seeing large sections of forest completely decidioudous rather than coniferous. Something we have not seen much of on our previous trips to the park. This portage was a quick up and down and we quickly found ourselves at the put-in to timberwolf.



After Grant took a quick look at the map we navigated straight acrooss timberwolf to our next portage. Upon approaching the portage we realized that Grant had navigated us to the incorrect portage. Here we faced a decision: Do we take the 780m incorrect portage into \misty, or turn aound and backtrack somewhat to our inteded portage of 120m into misty. We quickly decided to backtrack and take the shorter portage.



Video



Mike trolled for trout as we paddled our way to the little river that lead to the portage into \misty. Turns out we chose wisely as we had our first (living) moose encounter on this little river on Timberwolf. This moose saw us coming and as such we did not have great luck photographing it. Strangely, we also stumbled upon our second dead animal sighting of the trip as we glided past a submerged dead beaver.



We portaged into Misty. The downfall of the portage we took is that it placed us at the end of the lake which logically eliminated most of the sites that we could otherwise have chosen. The first site we looked at was very nice, and in hindsight we probably should have taken it as the remining sites on the lake were anywhere from rough to mostly abandoned. \one site we stopped at had had its sign ripped off and it appeared from the way it was grown in that it had not been used for years. We ended up staying on the last sight on the lake before the \petawawa river. This site was small but somewhat unique. first off, it was located in a large section of decidious forest. Being so early in the spring with no leaves yet sprout the forest allowed a great deal of sunlight onto the campsite. There was also a nice grassy spot for tents. I setup my hammock deeper in the forest.



Beign our shortest travel day, we had the oportunity to relax a bit on this day 2 of the trip. The sun was shining and it was hot enough for tshits and shorts. We even though about taking a swim but the water was way too cold. Grant took some time to fish, \mike took a nap and I relaxed in my hammock.






At this point \mike brought the next supprise out of his pack. He produced a large pork tenderloin and a few potatoes. We all ate a good meal.






Later on, Grant fished and Mike and I opened another tetra pack by the fire. Before long it was dark and we were watching the stars wheeling overhead. Just before \i turned to walk into the woods to my hammock I heard something loud walking through the woods behind me. I do not know what animal made that sound but as I lay in my hammock I pondered that sound for a long time before falling asleep.



The next morning we discovered that our site was built over an old logging camp. In fact, my hammock was setup within the boundaries of the old foundation for some sort of logging building. judging by the size of the trees growing out of the foundation, it was safe to say that logging camp was abandoned a long long time ago. it is also worth mentioning that the whole area of the site was scattered with various rusted old tools and machine parts.



Once packed back up we continued our journey down to the end of Misty and down the Petawawa River towards our next destination of White Trout Lake. This 3rd day of the trip was the only day with poorer weather. Overcast skies and just a few patches of drizzle overhead as we paddled down the river. The trip from Misty to White Trout is decievingly longer than expected. There are also quite a few short portages along the way. One one portage we say what we believed to be wolf droppings, full of hair.



video under water



This photo was taken at the start of the 418m portage.








Upon reaching White Trout we were all pretty worn out and decided to take the closest site to us which happened to be the one directly across from the put-in in Grassy Bay. This site ended up being the nicest site of the trip, large open areas with a thick bed of conifer needles on the ground everywhere. The site is on a point and is covered almost exclusivly with Douglas Fir trees. The douglas firs are very straight and some falled dead wood made a great frame for the buck saw.






The overcast skys stayed with us untill after dark but we never had to deal with any real rain, just a few drizzles. We all took well deserved naps that afternoon.



None of us stayed up late any of the nights on this trip. I was last to turn in that night and I sat by the fire by myself for a bit before going to my hammock to read some Carl Sagan before sleep.



The next morning we awoke to grant yelling at us that he caught a fish and we all had to get up and see. He had caught a Fall fish, right off the shore, and they were biting so well he was pulling them out of the water as soon as he cast out. Mike joined in the fishing and him and Grant debated whether they should fillet one up and eat it. We had had zero luck with trout the whole trip and really wanted to have some fish to eat before the trips end. In the end they decided that they would and Grant prepared one as Mike continued to catch and release.








Meanwhile I had noticed that the lake was pefectly flat and the sky was reflecting its clouds perfectly. It was a photo-op I was not going to let pass.








After a quick breakfast of whatever we had left (Grant and I shared our food bag, we pack light, and at this point we were getting to the dregs of the bag) we set off towards the last nights destination of Littledoe Lake. This last day was going to be hard and we knew it. Much of the distance between White Trout and Littledoe would be on foot portaging. The only benefit was that our packs were now considerably lighter as our food was low.



Before our first portage as we paddled through McIntosh Marsh, Grant spotted two moose on the far shore, a male and female. We were quite a ways away but I got out my 70-200 lens and we started slowly paddling towareds the pair. I thought for sure we would spook the moose into running before we got close enough for a really good shot, but in the end they let us as close to them as we were willing to risk. A moose enconter like this is the main reason I lugged that 70-200mm lens with me all along.
















Here is a video of the moose encounter: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4SNYkWKN-o



After the moose encounter we continued on to our first of many portages for the day.



We made an error on the 1400m portage and ended up putting our canoe into Three Ponds lake, thinking we were at Canada Jay Lake. We soon realized out mistake, but it was still a bit of a pain having to load and unload the canoe more than required.






We had decided ahead of time that we would take a rest stop on one of the islands on Sunbeam Lake. What a beatiful lake Sunbeam is. The island we chose to stop at is the one on the south end of the lake, the one with a designated site on it. The site is hands-down one of the nicest and most interesting I have ever seen in the park. The dominant feature is a huge rock face which seperates the site into two sides. The campire is located just by the face of this rock, offering a huge wind-block as well as a great surface to reflect the fire heat from. This site is definitely one I hope to stay overnight one someday.



Grant and Mike fooling around on the Sunbeam island site:



video



We took our time relaxing on Sunbeam island, I even set up my hammock for lunch. After we ate Grant dared me to wade from our island to to a little island just off shore. I did it but the water was bone chillingly cold. Mike would soon find out how cold the water was as well.



Wade Video



I was the last to enter the canoe as we put in to the lake. I was taking the middle seat on the floor with Grant in the rear and Mike in the front. I guess I leaned left when I should have leaned right because I got that canoe rocking and next thing I new I was sitting down and Mike was swimming wildly towards shore. he had gotten thrown clean out of the canoe and into the chilly water. Luckily we were only a few feet from the shore and he was back on land with in 2 or 3 seconds. Unluckily he was wet from his chest down. Mike had dry clothes in his pack and decided he would paddle to the first portage before changing. We spent the rest of the paddle to Little Doe with Mike's clothes spread out over the pack in the sun and by night time they were all dry, even his shoes.

Our last night we stayed on an OK site on Little Doe.  All 3 of us setup on a flat ledge very close to the lake.  We were all within a few feet of the water. Which made for a great view of the sunset, but also made for the coldest night of sleeping yet.






Before we turned in for the night we gathered around the fire and ate what was left of our food.  I myself was completely out of food after this last small meal, with the exception of a Cliff bar for the morning.

The following morning was a chilly one to wake up to.  There was a fine layer of ice on the canoe, so we knew it had gotten down below zero that night.  I had decided I wanted to sleep without my tarp over my hammock as I wanted to be able to see the stars as I fell asleep.  This turned out to be a bad decision as the tarp actually really helps to keep the heat in, and I woke pretty cold in the early morning.

The paddle back to the car was pretty uneventful.  We did let a large group of a dozen or so canoes get in front of us.

Canoe Lake is a fairly long lake to be crossing on the last journey to the car.  It was nice to finally reach the end and set foot on that beach by the permit office.  So far this trip has been the longest distance covered for us in one trip.