Algonquin 2006 - Canoe Trip

Cannisbay - Lake Opeongo - Big Crow Lake - Proulx Lake

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

• This trek was supposed to be car camping overnight (August 9) at the Cannisbay campground, and then into the interior via Lake Opeongo.  We planned four nights in the interior.... North Arm of Opeongo,  Big Crow Lake, Proulx Lake and our last night on the South Arm of  Opeongo.
• The long term forecast looked great the day we left...

	THU PM AUG 10	FRI AUG 11	SAT AUG 12	SUN AUG 13	MON AUG 14	TUE AUG 15
HIGH	19°C	20°C	22°C	22°C	25°C	20°C
LOW	-	13°C	15°C	14°C	11°C	13°C
P.O.P.	10%	0%	0%	10%	10%	0%
Updated : Wednesday August 9 2006, 10:02 EDT

Wednesday, August 9, 2006

• 12:45 PM ready to hit the road.

• 5:55 PM unpacking At Canisbay

JEEZ MIKE! DON'T STEP THERE!  ...and so began the "Poop Shoe" incident of 2006

Hmmm....  that's an odd thing to find in your backpack?

Burgers, cigars and beer....  Ahhh... camping!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

• 6:30 AM breakfast of bacon and eggs, and then time to break camp.

• 9:00 AM the rental canoes are packed and we're ready to go.

"You get wood"

The weather certainly didn't match the forecast?

By lunch time, the weather cleared, although Opeongo was still quite 'choppy'.

Lennard and Mike found out first that these darned rental canoes are not the most stable out there.

Paddling Opeongo.

Setting up camp on the North Arm.

Happy to be alive after battling Opeongo!

Mmmmmm.... hot dogs.

• 6:45 PM starting my 'birthday cake'.

Some fishing.

Still cooking an hour later!

Friday, August 11, 2006

• 11:00 AM completed the portage to Proulx Lake..

Proulx Lake.

Paddling the Crow River to Little Crow Lake.

A shot of the fire tower on Big Crow Lake from our campsite.

More fishing.

Life at the "spa". "Hey, any of you guys want some shampoo?"  Huh?

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Early morning fog rolling onto Big Crow Lake from Little Crow Lake.

A hike into the virgin White Pine stand.

We met a moose cow and calf as we hiked the trail up to the fire tower.

Huff, puff, we made it.

The views were spectacular!

On the way down... they were still there.

Setting up camp on Proulx Lake.

This time Lennard and I really found out how unstable these rentals were!

That's some good goo!

Food supplies were running low.

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Leaving Proulx Lake in VERY thick fog.

...and then we paddled completely out of it.

Back onto Opeongo...  "nice and smooth"...  but not for long!  We were about 2/3 across Opeongo in very open water when the wind picked up considerably.

By the time we reached an island for lunch we had things back under control.

After lunch we decided to get the wind working for us and did some 'sailing' instead of us working against it!

• Now we had some decisions to make...  We had paddled back down Opeongo quite quickly, and to stick with the original plan (overnight on the South Arm and then a quick paddle out in the morning) would cost us another days rental on two canoes plus another interior day for each of us.  On top of that, due to some food miscalculations, we didn't have much of anything left.  We could take the money we saved and trek into Whitney for some more supplies.  Luckily the decision was made for us as ALL the sites on the South Arm were occupied.  "Get it Mike?"

Guess which option we took?

Monday, August 14, 2006

Another bacon and egg breakfast for the return trip!