June 28 - July 1 2014: Algonquin Provincial Park (Kingscote Lake Access Point)

Route: Kingscote Lake to Scorch Lake

Access Point: Access Point #15 Algonquin Park (Kingscote Lake)

Time: 4 days (3 nights)
Canoe: 16'6" Langford Prospector (Kevlar)

Map:

Never take Algonquin Park for granted.  That is what Liz and I learned from this trip.  Algonquin can reward you with beautiful glimpses of nature, gratifying paddles and hikes and an affirmation of the glory of the wild.  But Algonquin can also shatter all of those romantic images and make you want to level the whole place, pave it over and build a mall.  So many times I would have rather been in a mall than on this trip.  Algonquin is also a dirty, painful and temperamental son of a bitch.  

Day 1 (Kingscote Lake Access Point to Byers Lake)

Kingscote Lake to Big Rock Lake (1300m portage)
Big Rock Lake to Byers Lake (660m portage)

This short 4-day trip was to be our team “warm-up” paddle for a week-long expedition planned for Killarney Provincial Park later in the summer.  The usual suspects were along for this ride: Gillian, Remil, Liz and I. Oh Algonquin, our mini paddling paradise, just a short hop away from our homes in Toronto.  But from the start, our eyes were set on the bigger prize later in the summer, a 7-day loop through Killarney.  Perhaps that was the seed of our folly.  Algonquin sensed our larger ambitions, sensed our deeper desires for larger adventures abroad, and sensed us taking it for granted.  

Super super excited for our trip...for now.

We decided to mix up our usual Algonquin experience and try entering the park from the Kingscote Lake access point.  The drive to the access point took us through Peterborough, and this is where we planned to eat lunch before entering the park.  What better way to start off our trip than with a Pizza Hut buffet lunch with a glut of carbs, cheese and sugar to get our inactive bodies in shape.  

Unpacking our cars and preparing the canoes for our paddle took us until about mid-day, but it was a gloriously bright and sunny afternoon and we were eager to set out.  Ready to stretch our arms and backs, we dipped our paddles into Kingscote Lake and set off into the sun.  However, after about an hour and a half, we started to clue in that we were not passing any of the landmarks we were expecting to see.  Well of course not!  Paddling into the sun was paddling East when in fact we should have been paddling North.  

Setting ourselves back on course, we paddled about another hour to the 1,300m portage to Big Rock Lake.  Kingscote Lake access point is located at the southern most point of the park, and is one of the newer entry points.  Many of the portages were deemed “low maintenance” and coming off the previous wet week, the ground was a virtual swamp.  Planks laid on the ground over the wettest spots were being sucked into pools of mud.  The portages were frequently blocked by fallen trees which required the perilous manoeuvring over, under or around.  And then there were the mosquitoes.  Swarms of ravenous mosquitoes ready to feast on our plump, Pizza Hut fattened flesh.  Sweating out pepperoni and cheese was the opposite of an effective mosquito repellent. 

Liz creates the wall against the bugs

Found the portage

One of our goals for our trip was to pack light enough to one-carry all the portages.  We planned a canoe and pack each for Remil and I while our large 120-litre dry-bag and 60-litre food barrel was split between Gill and Liz.  This was achieved, but as with all our first trips of the season, over-packing is a risk, and the weight and unwieldiness of the food barrel proved almost fatal for Gill.

Gill’s recounting of that portage:

Worst. Portage. Ever.  I started out feeling hopeful as Liz is always good at motivating me on portages.  She is definitely a key factor in me being able to power through.  The trail (or lack thereof) was muddy and slippery.  We approached a fallen tree that we needed to step over.  What normally would not be a difficult task became very challenging because of the heavy barrel on my back.  As I stepped over the tree, I lost my footing, tipped back and couldn’t right myself.  I landed on a broken sharp branch.  I was stuck and in pain.  Thankfully Liz heard me and came running back and pulled me up.  She was a champ.  I finished the portage and burst into tears.  It hit me that I was lucky to have come out of it okay.  That experience will forever be referred to as the “slow stab” coined by Jonathan.  

Yah...nice path

We eventually got through the portage and onto Big Rock Lake.  Our final destination was Byers Lake which was a short paddle and a 660m portage away.  After a second round of navigational errors, we found the portage and made our way to our campsite.  The site turned out to be quite nice.  It had a long sandy beach great for swimming and a constant breeze off the lake that made the evening relatively bug-free.   

Sunset swimming

Day 2 (Byers Lake to Scorch Lake)

Byers Lake to Scorch Lake (900m portage)

We did not have big plans for our second day; a 2km paddle to a 900m portage to Scorch Lake which was our final destination for the day.  Navigation continued to trouble us on the water, but after finding the portage and struggling through another swampy, bug infested and dangerous hike, we made it to Scorch Lake.  We were rewarded on the Scorch Lake side of the portage with some shallow rapids which we lay down in and cooled our raging bites under the rushing water. 

Just chillin (Liz and the whiteness)

Lake view...mind the rock

Remil getting water

There were a couple of great sites on Scorch Lake, in particular an island site with some amazing views of the entire lake.  Unfortunately this site was occupied so we settled for our second choice.  This site had some super swimming spots and areas to read, eat and relax.  Liz made some awesome pasta for dinner from a fully dehydrated homemade sauce.  

Pasta before...

Pasta after...can I sell it or what?

Great views

Day 3 (Scorch Lake to Kingscote Lake)

Scorch Lake to Kingscote Lake

Our plan for the third day was to retrace our route back to the access point, stopping short on Kingscote Lake to camp overnight.  We were not excited to retrace this route, especially hiking through the portages that had been quite perilous.  It was a long day, but we made it to Kingscote Lake without any navigational errors on the water nor sustaining any injuries on the portages. 

Moose!  LLLIIIZZZ!

Drier portage on our second day.

Getting to Kingscote raised the inevitable question, should we beast it to the parking lot, pack up and go home, or camp an extra night and feed the mosquitoes another meal?  Mother Nature made this decision for us.  Dark clouds covered the sky in the late afternoon and we decided to pull over to the nearest campsite.  This turned out to be right decision.  No sooner had we set up our tents and a tarp did we get hit with a torrential downpour.  A virtual wall of water came crashing down on us for a solid two hours.  I have never been in a rain storm that has kept up such ferocity for so long.     

Misty sunset

Romance

Day 4 (Kingscote Lake)

Day 4 was a short paddle to the access point parking lot.  The morning was beautiful and sunny ideal for our paddle out. 

I have been somewhat negligent in keeping up with our record of our paddling trips, but writing this blog a couple years on has not muted the intensity of the experience.  It has engrained into my mind the principle of preparedness for every trip, whether it is an old familiar route or a new adventure.  We certainly have the stories from this trip that Gill, Remil, Liz and I reminisce about when we plan for our next Algonquin trip.

Butterfly boots