Algonquin 2004
Rock Lake - Pen Lake - Clydegale Lake
Thursday, September 17, 2004
- 1:30 PM left Arva.
- 4:00 PM arrive Huntsville (picked up some last minute items and some power
steering fluid for the truck!)
- 7:00 PM arrive at Canisbay Campground, and had a mini-adventure finding a
vacant site. A late dinner of bacon cheese burgers (done on the Hibachi) and beer!
Friday, September 18, 2004
- 6:30 AM wake up.
- 7:30 AM breakfast... bacon fried on Lennard's cast iron skillet over
the fire.
- 9:00 AM final re-organization of canoeing gear and break camp.
- 10:20 AM with permits in hand, and gear in the canoe, we launch from the
Rock Lake entry point.
The permit.
Unloading the truck.
The launch area was fairly crowded.
What would become a familiar site on
this trip... Lennard
studying the map trying to figure out where the heck we were!
- 11:30 AM after some exploring we left the former Barclay Estate.
Lennard
striking a pose on the tennis courts.
- 12:30 PM arrive at the Rock/Pen portage. We 2 tripped this portage
(one trip with the canoe, and a second for the gear) and after a good struggle
with our canoe (later weighed empty at 95 lbs.) we decided to 3 trip all the
remaining portages.
- 1:15 PM depart Rock/Pen portage.
A tight squeeze through a rocky
section on Pen Lake!
- 2:00 PM arrive at our first site on the east shore of Pen Lake just south
of the Night Lake portage.
Site Review: |
8/10 |
Docking: |
Excellent, nice beach |
Size, suitable tent locations: |
Excellent |
Sun/Shade: |
Evening sun |
Our first site had a beautiful beach.
- 4:00 PM after setting up camp we hiked up the shore to the Night Lake
portage and hiked it (see map above). It was a ~27 minute trek one way, and we
encountered a somewhat largish bear print in the mud around the midway point
of the portage
Sunset on Pen Lake.
- 7:00 PM finished supper, camp clean-up, bear procedures, and discover the
spare lantern mantles we picked up in Hunstville are on the seat of the pickup,
and what was left of the remaining lantern mantle would not likely survive the next day's
journey. It didn't and we relied on Lennard's small flashlight for the
remainder of the trip.
- 9:30 PM it was very cold after our little fire died out and we headed to bed.
Saturday, September 19, 2004
- 6:20 AM wake up to the sound of a moose splashing and drinking beside our
canoe on the beach. It was too dark to see it, but hoof prints and wet
sand verified it later.
- 7:30 AM beautiful sunrise over the lake.
A good fire to warm up the morning.
It dipped to 2 or 3 degrees Celcius over night.
Happy to be alive that
morning!
The morning visit to the "ThunderBox"
- 10:20 AM depart Site 1.
- 11:30 AM arrive at the Pen/Clydegale portage. We 3 tripped this one
as planned.
At the start of the portage.
At the finish of the portage.
- 12:15 PM depart Pen/Clydegale portage
- 12:30 PM arrive at our second site. It was the first site on the
west side as we entered Clydegale.
Site Review: |
10/10
Best in Algonquin? |
Docking: |
Excellent, nice sandy beach, protected by two rocky spits |
Size, suitable tent locations: |
Excellent, multi-level, tent locations slightly limited |
Sun/Shade: |
Limited sunshine throughout the day |
A couple of shots of our
Clydegale
Lake site. It was a beauty! Lennard is in the chair towards the
front of the area where our tent was, and the canoe is off to the right on the
nice sandy beach area.
- 2:00 PM finished camp setup and went for a swim in the somewhat chilly
water.
Yep, we really did swim!
- 2:35 PM started off on a day trip of the Clydegale Lake. We visited
almost every site on the lake except the island site which was occupied.
We also tried to find the channel into the South Madawaska River, but that
area was far too swampy and we gave up.
- 4:35 PM returned to site.
Lennard
enjoying the fire. We got good at this, and had a bigger fire each night!
Watching the sunset.
Sunday, September 20, 2004
- after a early morning pre-dawn rise to try to view some wildlife activity (we sat on the
rocky spit for quite some time, but saw nothing) we had breakfast.
The early morning sun started hitting
the tree tops.
- 8:35 AM arrive at the Clydegale/Pen portage.
- 9:20 AM depart Clydegale/Pen portage.
Some wildlife enroute to Site 3.
- 11:45 AM arrive at Site 3 on the
upper north-east corner of Pen Lake.
Site Review: |
6/10
Nice panoramic view of the lake |
Docking: |
Poor, just rock |
Size, suitable tent locations: |
Good, tent locations limited due to slope |
Sun/Shade: |
Limited sunshine throughout the day |
Site 3. No beach, just rock
this time.
- 1:30 PM we canoed to the low maintenance portage and hiked it to the
landlocked Gem Lake. Then we explored the Pen/Rock portage and dam area.
Standing on the edge of the
landlocked Gem Lake.
Exploring the dam and water falls
area.
Back at camp.
More wildlife... Look closely!
The best fire yet!
Sunset approaches.
Finally, when our food sack is
virtually empty, we had our most successful hanging of the trip. Look
closely for a little dark red at the very top of the picture.
Lots of nice hot coals!
Monday, September 21, 2004
- 6:40 AM after starting to break camp in the dark, we left Site 3.
Before the sun rose on Pen Lake
- 6:50 AM arrive at Pen/Rock portage.
- 7:50 AM left Pen/Rock portage. We canoed along the western edge of
Rock Lake passing the cliffs with the historic pictographs.
Rock Lake was as totally calm as we
left the portage.
Approaching the cliffs.
The only (?) pictograph we could find
(with some help from a passing canoeist) on the Rock Lake cliffs.
- 9:20 AM arrive at the Rock Lake entry point, after traveling through the
crystal clear reflective channel.
Like a mirror.
I see the truck in a virtually empty
parking lot and no people at all. All the Torontonians are already back at
work.
- 10:00 AM showered, not-shaved and on the road home.
Back home!