Trip Log - Prologue: Wendigo to Cedar Lake, Canada Day 2014

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We’d had our first trip of the season on Grand Lake then we’d done an easy one night at Sec Lake – not a single portage there.  It was time to spread our wings and try a bigger trip.  Three nights!  We had pored over Jeff’s maps after LT had ordered a full set online.  With each full set map order you select a free map you can give to someone else.  LT picked the Central map which covers the area we were going to explore for the very first time.  (And this is a good thing, as you’ll soon see.)

We would put in on Wendigo Lake, portage into Allen Lake then take a hard right onto our first attempt at black (unmaintained) portages.  We would wind up North River into North River Lake and camp there.  The next day would be challenging, making our way to Cedar Lake – again all black portages, longer ones than we had ever done before.  The 3^rd day would find us going down the Petawawa River to Radiant Lake.  The final day we would do 8 portages back up to Wendigo Lake, returning to our car.  That was “THE PLAN”.

In order to help with the extensive portaging of this trip, I reserved a canoe from Trailhead in Ottawa, a really nice canoe that weighed 35 pounds.  We picked it up on Friday night, it was a thing of great beauty.  Red, so thin you could practically see through it, it fit on the roof of the car differently than the other rentals.  There was no tying the furthest ends of the canoe to under the bumpers, it was held on with straps that wrapped around its middle and went through both doors, clamped on one side.  The gentleman helping us tie the canoe on, said “and a twist for good luck”, where he had twisted the straps of the canoe before tying them.  We didn’t really pay attention to the remark, it was a spacey remark and he was behaving in a particularly spacey way. 

The canoe looked like it had hardly been used.  Maybe someone had rented it for a couple of hours of paddling at Britannia Bay or some other non-rocky, non-loggy, non-muddy shoreline.  Pristine, with no scratches.  I made a joke with the clerk when filling in the paperwork about maybe not bringing it back.  She joked back about the value.  So I asked.  It was worth about $4,000.  Oh dear!  Here I was in possession of an expensive canoe that was pretty and unused looking.  Oh dear!

I had brought along a couple of my bike cable locks and I made LT lock it to the wooden fence in his backyard overnight.  I wasn’t leaving it on my car in full view in the parking lot of his condo.  I think we gave it the first scratch laying it down on the cement patio stones in the back yard.  

The pretty red canoe

Here's a link to the food plan for the trip.

Trip Log - Day 3: Grand Lake to Clemow Lake and back (Victoria Day Weekend 2014)

go to Prologue     go to Day 1     go to Day 2     Day 3

We had planned on being up and out early the next morning.  I got up at 7:30 but let LT sleep.  His blue foam mattress wasn’t really that comfy, so as I left the tent I suggest he roll over onto mine.  He eventually did and slept until 9.

Clemow Lake Morning Mirror

Breakfast was blueberry pancakes, real maple syrup, more bacon and hot tea.  We packed up, headed out and crossed the lake in no time.  The portage was not difficult, by now we had walked it multiple times.  We saw a younger man at the portage end.  It wasn’t the couple from Clemow Lake.  He was wearing only shorts and watershoes (I still had long pants, long sleeves, a jacket and hat on), had a full face beard with an afro, and had been carrying a heavy canoe pack.  It looked like he’d just jumped in the lake to cool down (that would be a very cold cooling down for sure).  Then he headed back up to the train track and we were setting into the water.  We were back in Grand Lake and faced a 2 hour paddle to the Achray campsite.  LT was looking forward to the little ride we would get passing underneath the train bridge.  That marked about 1/3 of the trip done. 

Shortly after we passed under the bridge we could hear a constant noise behind us.  An aluminum motor boat came into view.  

The man we had seen was sitting in the front, an older man, grey hair sticking out from under his baseball cap at the back.  They were motoring along with what looked like a 5hp motor and were towing a canoe.  Okay, we’d seen the motorboat, the motor was probably underneath it.  But these guys weren’t in Clemow Lake, they weren’t in Grand Lake, they would have to have been up that high trail going to Green Leaf Lake.  I couldn’t imagine the older guy carrying the canoe down that trail.  I couldn’t imagine him just walking the trail.  They were close enough behind us that the canoe had to have been not too far away from the portage end point.  A mystery for sure.

We went that-a-way!

We made good time to the Achray campground.  We weren’t the only ones coming in.  The narrow roadway to the wharf and the beach were crowded with various campers arriving.  The Victoria Day weekend is indeed a popular time for everyone to come out and get back to the camping they’ve been thinking about all winter!

Epilogue

Once home and looking over Jeff’s map, I came to the conclusion that the mystery team may have used the train track to get to an older, traditional portage that wove more accurately through the hills to Carcajou Lake.  I thought with the lack of foliage, it would be easier to find and follow.  But, alas, we’ll never know.

Our next trip was an overnighter at Sec Lake.

Trip Log - Day 2: Grand Lake to Clemow Lake and back (Victoria Day Weekend 2014)

go to Prologue     go to Day 1     Day 2     go to Day 3

The day dawned sunny and not so windy.  The temperature was nice, the bugs, again, not so bad.  We had breakfast of fresh eggs and pre-cooked bacon heated up.  We lingered over a hot cup of tea, then we packed up the campsite.  We launched to do the short paddle to the portage sign we had walked to the previous evening.  Strange site at the portage, an overturned aluminum boat.  Hmmmm, I’m not sure why that was there.

Morning Calm Grand Lake - Portage in the Distance

We carried the bags to Clemow Lake, LT went back for the canoe.  The put-in was a bit dicey, rocky, swampy and logs around the shore.  The current flowed towards this side of the lake, we could hear the water nearby dropping the 4 metres into Grand Lake.  Later on, when the wind was really quiet we would be able to hear that from our campsite on Clemow, a large sucking noise instead of a water cascading sound.

We did not see the other couple leave and knew that if the first campsite was open, it was the one we would have to take.  We got to it, it was empty, we landed and unloaded the canoe.  The site was the least nicest site I had seen to-date.  It is a rocky mound with dead trees all around the shoreline.  Many of them had black charring, which made it look like lightning had a party there at one point.  The shoreline was not mucky, but it wasn’t dry either.  I observed that the site looked like a sprained ankle waiting to happen. 

Water's Edge at the Campsite

We didn’t set camp up, we had plans to go for a hike over the long portage up to Green Leaf Lake.  We packed some lunch (smoked salmon and cream cheese wraps).  I had found an organic recipe for granola for the dehydrator that was so delicious, we had trouble not eating it before leaving on our camping trip.  I added to it some dried bananas, pineapple and of course, some chocolate M&Ms.  We had some of that with us as well.

We canoed back across Clemow and after making sure our canoe was out of the way, we set out on the portage that would intersect with the 5 KM+ trail to Green Leaf.  By now it was after lunch and we should have probably stopped and eaten.  But eager to try the trail and get to the apex, which was going to be a pretty high climb, off we went.  At first it was a decent trail through the forest, but soon it came out into the open by the hydro line.  And it went up.  And up. And up.  The trail by the hydro line wove in and out of the towers, and was mostly a stream with broken edged path that was either split or crossed by the spring run-off.

Elevation at Grand Lake is 221m, the portage starting point is 228m, the apex of the trail is 401m, Green Leaf is at 257m.  The apex of the trail is past the mid-point.  I was tired from the previous night’s lack of sleep.  I was hungry.  I wasn’t doing well with the big climb.  The trail goes back into the woods before the apex.  As we walked up the trail I started telling the Little Mermaid story, which I’m sure confused LT.  Finally when I got to the point where she exchanges her mermaid tail for human legs, I said this is why I’m telling this story.  When she started walking every step was extremely painful.  My feet were killing me, and my knees.  I had made the climb and we were starting down the trail.  I had to call “uncle”.  I didn’t think I’d be able to go down the trail, then back up it, then down the part we’d done already.  And I was positive he didn’t want to have to carry me.  We turned around and tried to find a decent place to have lunch.  It was a bit buggy in the woods, so we waited until we got to the open hillside with the hydro towers.  It took quite a bit of time to find a flat enough spot to sit down.  Lunch was delicious, but it was too late.  I really bonked.  I was so disappointed in myself.  First the bad sleep, then the horribly weak feeling of not having another drop of energy.

It was so steep!

We eventually made it down the hill, back to the canoe, onto the lake, then it started to get choppy and it rained on the way to the campsite.  Sigh.  We landed at the campsite and I apologized, but I just had to lie down.  I got my mattress out, inflated it, and lay there helplessly as LT set up camp.

Ankle-twister Campsite on Clemow Lake

Dinner that night was:  ummm, not sure with fruit crisp for dessert.  We set up a tarp for a windbreak near the campfire (I can’t remember if we had a fire or not, I’m thinking not).  We didn’t have a flat enough spot to set up the bug shelter.  The thunderbox was flipped over at this spot as well, but into a swamp, so we would not have that luxury here. 

Unafraid Loon

While puttering around after dinner, I heard a huge kerplunk and noticed concentric rings right near the water’s edge.  A loon popped up only a few feet away from us.  I grabbed my camera and got some really nice shots.

Bedtime was earlier, probably around 10.  I slept much better, I was exhausted.  Around 4:30 a.m. it was probably the coldest of the whole trip.  I was warm and toasty though.  At 6:30 a.m. a very large bird sounded like it was going to attack us.  It was flying low, flapping it’s huge wings and squawking loudly.  We weren’t prepared to go into the cold to see what it was, but it woke both of us.

Evening Calm - Clemow Lake

Trip Log - Day 1: Grand Lake to Clemow Lake and back (Victoria Day Weekend 2014)

go to Prologue      Day 1       go to Day 2        go to Day 3

We planned to set out from Ottawa on Saturday morning, aiming to be at the outfitters at 8 a.m. when they opened.  The alarm went off at 5 a.m.  It took a while to get out of bed.  We took turns prepping stuff, packing the cold items, making tea for the road, cooking up eggs for wraps to eat in the car, feeding the cats.  No showering, no hair washing, no perfume and I think LT doesn’t even use deodorant while out in the woods.  We were anticipating that the blackflies would be out and very hungry.  I wasn’t looking forward to several days without washing my hair.  I have very fine hair, it looks limp pretty quickly when I skip a hair-washing day.

It took us longer than we expected to get out the door, we were off schedule by 45 minutes, but arrived at the outfitters at 8:15.  We stopped at the Sand Lake gate to get our permit and some wood.  Our previous experience showed us that Grand Lake may start out like glass in the morning, but quickly ruffles as the wind picks up in the morning.  We got to Access Point 22 at the Achray campground and joined the others setting off.  Fortunately there’s quite a bit of space at this access point.  We were on the water before 10 a.m., however the ruffles were working their way up into waves, not whitecaps, but as we cut into them, my nerves were jangling.  I sit at the front of the canoe and had a real sense of how much the canoe was bobbing.  

Looking up Grand Lake

After about 20 minutes of paddling, my nerves calmed down, but didn’t disappear.  After half an hour we stopped at an empty camp site to have our lunch of fresh sandwiches, cut fruit and delicious cheese.   The rest of our meals would be from dehydrated foods, except for tomorrow’s breakfast of eggs and bacon.

After lunch we got back into the canoe and continued up the lake.  There is an abandoned rail bridge about 2/3 up the lake.  No biggie.  However it was a strange configuration.  The bridge had been built on ground extended into the lake and the opening was only about 12-15 feet wide.  The lake is pinched into this space and there seems to be a drop of about a foot.  We had to navigate the middle of the opening, avoiding rocks and climbing up the drop.  I got a little freaked after two failed attempts.  Being at the front gives me a different perspective and I’m working on building my confidence in the canoe after having had bad experience.  Third time was the charm as LT talked me through it.  Holy crap I had to paddle with every ounce of strength I had!

We had chosen a campsite that jutted out on a little promontory, we thought it would give us some great sun in the morning.  Ah, but we were not the first ones to arrive.  It was occupied.  I voted for the site closest to the portage at the top of the lake.  I would do anything to avoid having to cross the windy lake.  It seemed like those last few kilometers were the longest.  We came around the bay, spying the portage, but not seeing the site until the last minute.  It looked good.  We landed.

We'll take it!

On the plus side, there was a breeze keeping the bugs off.  On the negative side, there was a breeze that required a good jacket and helped me to burn a lot of calories over the next 18 hours trying to keep warm.  The site is really nice, the trees have some major spikes in them, railroad spikes.  I feel very sorry for the trees and I would never hammer either spikes or nails into them.  However, I was happy to use the ones that were already there.  There was a chest high table built between two trees that was perfect to use for a kitchen.  There was a great flat spot for the tent.

Cozy Comfort

I’m all about making this experience as pleasant as possible.  In anticipation of hoards of blood sucking insects, I had invested in the Eureka! Bug Shelter and Tarp (VCS).  We put that tent up as well.  Then we took it down and moved it to a different spot.  Turns out, we never used it at all.  I’m starting to call it our “Bug Insurance”.  Erect the thing and the bugs bugger off!

Bug Insurance

We had hauled a bag of wood from the park gate, LT was planning on a great campfire that night.  Originally to scare the bugs off, but with the evening breeze, albeit a bit less stiff, the fire would be mostly for pleasure.

Warmth

Dinner was pasta with spaghetti sauce and various dehydrated veggies (mushrooms, celery, corn, peas) and dehydrated ground sirloin.  LT made some savoury bannock, which I had added oregano and parmesan cheese to.  We both have Whisperlite stoves, their simmering properties are limited, we’re going to have to hone our bannock skills.  Dessert was dried angel food cake chunks with rehydrated strawberries in warm syrup and chocolate sauce (made right in baggie and drizzled on top).

I had explored around our campsite, okay, yeah, I was looking for the thunderbox, and discovered the abandoned track behind our site as well as the ruins, which were just four log-type lumps on the ground completely covered with moss and growth.  When LT had assessed the site earlier, he had found the thunderbox turned over.  It looked like a bear had flipped it, probably looking for food someone had thrown down there.  He flipped it back over for me, he’s so thoughtful!  After dinner I suggested we walk the track to the portage site, then walk the portage to see what the next day held.  We did the walk and it was rather pleasant.  The track smells strongly of creosote.  There was relatively fresh bear scat, both between the campsite and the thunderbox, and along the track.  The portage was really a forest road.  The put-in at Clemow Lake looked a bit swampy, but we’d manage.  There’s a drop between the two lakes, nothing major for the portage walk, but a nice sound at the top where the water flows from Clemow into Grand.

The following picture (from Jeff’s maps) shows our campsite on Grand Lake, with the ruins behind the site, and the train track, leading to the portage, over to Clemow Lake.  Also circled is the campsite we had the following night.

Our home for 2 nights

That afternoon we had seen another couple canoe to the portage and with only two sites on Clemow Lake, we knew we would not be able to choose the next day which site we would take.

Sunset top of Grand Lake - hydro tower visible

Thursday night I hadn’t slept well at home.  I drank some pop late at night forgetting there was caffeine in it.  Friday night was spent at LT’s, it’s very comfortable, but combined with the early wake-up call and Christmas-Eve-like nerves, I didn’t sleep well again.  And the wind blew and blew and blew Saturday night.  I wriggled and wriggled (usually I toss and turn, but in a sleeping bag in a small tent I need to alter my movements).  I had worn a long sleeved cotton shirt to bed with underwear and socks.  I have a Chinook sleeping bag that zippers from the hip up to the top, however it is like a jacket zipper.  I had pulled the zipper up without engaging it with the opposite set of teeth.  My bag wasn’t closed as I thought it was.  LT had given me one of his precious silky Ranger blankets.  I had placed it on top of my silky sleeping bag.  But two silks make a “Not”.  The slippery Ranger blanket had slid to one side where it had zero contact with me.

Finally at 2 a.m., still awake, I was like an overtired 3 year old, I was beside myself.  I sat up in the tent (one cannot stand in it), and burst into tears.  LT awoke as I sobbed that I was “soooooooooosooooooooosoooooo cold” and “soooooooosoooooosoooooo tired”.  My twisted logic then stated that I would never make a soldier.   It only took a few minutes before I gathered my dignity and fished out my fleece shirt and put that on.  Then I put the Ranger blanket inside the sleeping bag.  And I figured out how to properly zip up my sleeping bag.  With LT curled up behind me, I finally fell asleep.  The next day when I apologized, I noted to him that in almost one year of knowing each other it had been the first time he’d seen me cry.  He responded that technically it was dark so he hadn’t actually seen me cry.  Yeah, he knows how to make me feel better. 

Trip Log - Prologue: Grand Lake to Clemow Lake and back (Victoria Day Weekend 2014)

Prologue      go to Day 1       go to Day 2        go to Day 3

Something very exciting happened this spring while planning for our first trip of the year, I discovered the concept of “dehydrating” food.  After various Googling exercises, we were at Canadian Tire looking at a dehydrator.  As we hummed and hawed over it, LT found the exact same appliance at Walmart for $15 less.  Please look the other way as you picture us traipsing over to that place that shall not be named.  I really try to never shop there, but occasionally exceptions are made.

There were several on the shelf, I grabbed one and opened the box.  In order to buy the tray liners (two different types, one is a ‘screen’ for smaller items like blueberries, the other a solid liner for fruit leathers and other liquids, I would have to mail away to the distributor in Montreal.  Okay, I could do that.  We decided to scour the shelves to see if anything else could be substituted for the liners.  Someone had fortunately lost interest in an art supply and dropped it in our vicinity.  It was plastic mesh meant to be used for needlepoint.  Perfect!  At $2.65 even if it failed, oh well.  I brought it home and promptly cut it to fit the circular trays and pre-tested it in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (better to melt there over a cookie sheet than in the new dehydrator).  It didn’t melt!

Oh the Googling that ensued!  I purchased a cookbook online.  I bought one at Chapters. I mailed away and received two fruit leather trays and two mesh trays.  I scoured many websites, watched plenty of Youtube videos and jumped into my own dehydrating adventure.  We even sampled some of the recipes at home so we’d know if they were good or not.

I will provide more details on what I learned, what works, and what’s delicious elsewhere.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited to bring my newfound food skills into the field.

While waiting for camping season to open up, we had done a lot of planning and purchased equipment here and there.  We had added the following to our kit:

•         Gravity water filtration system (Platypus)
•         Steripen (for the nasty germs)
•         Eureka! camping mattress for me (narrow)
•         2^nd Whisperlite stove
•         2 new backpacks from MEC
•         Couple of drybags and compression sacks

Reservations were made, this would be our first 2-night trip to the park.  The official ice-out date this year was as late as May 7^th.  To be honest, this is based on the largest lake, Opeongo, the ice was probably gone on Grand Lake and Clemow Lake earlier than that.  But I was still nervous about being on water that is so cold.  I had heard the following rule: 1-10-1.  One minute to control your breathing when you get dumped into the cold water, ten minutes to get to safety, after that your limbs would no longer perform the commands sent from your brain, and one hour until hypothermia sets in.  I have been in ice cold water, it’s very scary.  I was nervous.  Also Grand Lake is bigger than any of the lakes we had been on so far together for any extended period of time.  The wind would be blowing in our faces as we paddled up the 11+ km to the top of the lake.

Rental canoe with new gear

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