Florida 2018 March training

  I started canoe racing in 2015 with a 40km race in Huntsville, Ontario. It's called BERX.
  Since then I started racing more and more to the point where in 2017 I had no backcountry camping trip. But that's about to change.
  To start the season properly we had a trip to Florida where we paddled beautiful rivers. I am attaching few short movies to give a glimpse of the "REAL" Florida.
  This is Rainbow River, Dunnellon, Florida.

  Another one: Weeki Wachee, Florida

On Weeki Wachee you could see fish travelling up and down the river.

  Now I am ready for the races coming up.
 
  Happy paddling!

Magnetawan River loop (2016)

  I started my trip at the Bennetts Bay marina, on Wahwashkesh Lake. Being a long week-end the parking was full. Cars were parked down the road and I wasn't sure what to do. As I was driving around I see a car pulling out of a parking spot. I took it right away amazed at my good luck.
  The wind was supposed to blow from the East (forecast) and it did, so after battling a headwind for a while I had a nice tailwind most of the time for 2 days.
  In record time I reached Trout Lake after portaging the 2280m ATV road. I stopped on an island for lunch, the exact spot I was camped on 5 years ago. Since I had enough time I pressed on. I passed 2 occupied camp sites, this must be the busiest week-end of the summer. Finally I stopped at a campsite close to Eagle Rock. Across the river was a dock with a float plane parked beside.

  I must have some kind of bear phobia at night and the close proximity of other people made me feel safer. Still it doesn't prevent me from going out in the bush, even alone as was the case this time. What stops me are the bugs in peak season, and this wasn't the case. I got few bites but not too bad. Deer flies, horse flies, stable flies and mosquitoes, all had a desire to bite me. The worst were the mosquitoes on the Bear Lake portage.
  First night I actually slept very good, I didn't feel like getting out of the bed (sleeping bag/pad). Weather was good, I ate and by 8 a.m. I left the camp.
  The rocky shallows had enough water to allow me to line the canoe right through. Last time I had to portage since there was no water.

  I stopped for lunch at Seesee Lake and I met a family that told me about a free campsite on Lone Tree Lake. Before setting camp on the nice peninsula I checked the N site, with the adjacent beach. The beach was nice but the camp site didn't impress me.

  Third day I was aiming for Bolger Lake where I stopped for lunch. On the way I had a break at a beach on Miskokway Lake.

  After battling a headwind most of the day I saw the wind switching during my 1 hour lunch. So I jumped in my canoe and aided by the western wind I reached Maple Lake by 7 p.m.
  The camp site (N side) was OK, not bad at all. In the bush there were 2 squirrels quarreling continuously. This will prove to be reassuring later on.
  Every night I was going to sleep early, by 10 p.m. sound asleep. At 2 a.m., a noise made by a big animal in the bush woke me up. Then I heard some crunching noise. I thought that maybe a bear got my food bag but then there was no metal noise ( I had my pot and hobo stove inside it).
  I remembered reading about deer eating charcoal to detox and I think this was the case. I made some noise, light up my lantern and slowly the noise (deer) went away. By 3 a.m. I was back to sleep, squirrels still quarreling.
  Last day it took me under 2h to get to the dock at the end of Indian Narrows Rd. saving me about 2km of paddling and some motor boat traffic.
  I was content, happy with the outcome of the trip. This route has some really nice spots along the way, I will definitely go back.

Happy trails!

QEII Wildlands 2016

 I am starting with the reason I visit this park every year in the spring. The whippoorwills. Such a special song, I really like it.
 We started late (3pm) on Friday at the Devil's Lake, portaged with a small detour on Sheldon Lake and headed South for the portage that would take us to Scrabble Lake. Well, we couldn't find it, black flies were happily biting,our patience limited since we were running late so we turned back and camped on a small peninsula on the North side of the lake.
 Saturday morning started very good. Sunny but not very warm, insect activity still low, pleasant feeling to be outside.

 We decided to do a day trip to Wolf Lake, going through Cooney Lake, Peter's pond and Victoria Lake. By the time we came back we became very efficient at portaging fast, avoiding the bugs as much as possible.
 In the afternoon it started to rain but after few hours we got a break until 9pm when the rain was on and off again.

                   6 pm after the first round of showers

 Sunday morning was so cold and windy that the bugs were hiding away. We felt free at last, although a bit cold. We took our time having breakfast and packing up.
 The rain was holding off and we had a record time of returning to the dock on Devil's Lake.

 Another experience in QEII Wildlands, where the plans don't always succeed.

Happy trails!

Chiniguchi Lake loop

 Few years ago I was taking a canoe certification course, and a requirement for completion was planning a trip. So finally I got to put my good plan to a test.
 We put in from Lakeland Lodge parking lot, seems like a good spot to start.
 Our first camping spot was on Silvester Lake, after paddling the expanse of Matagamasi Lake/ North arm.

                                Silvester Lake narrows

 Second day we continued on Wolf Lake,Dewdney and Chiniguchi Lake. We camped on the site next to The Elephant. I didn't feel like climbing it, so we stayed put.

                                Chiniguchi Lake

 On the third day we looked for "the alligator" in Telfer Bay. We saw remains on the shore but not much underwater.
 This was planned as a short day so by 11 am we got to McConnell Bay, all 3 campsites for ourselves.  The beach was nice but the place is in dire need for thunder boxes. TP flowers everywhere once you go a bit inside the forest. Not a pleasant look.

                                McConnell Bay beach - looking West

                                McConnell Bay beach - looking East
 4th day we continued South on a series of small unnamed lakes, Marjorie Lake,Rathwell Lake.

                                Marjorie Lake

                                Out of Marjorie Lake

 The most exciting moment of the trip came when looking for a passage out of Rathwell Lake. The map shows a 30m portage but it looked like we can navigate through.
 And then I saw him. On the other side of the pond I spotted a big black bear who was starring at us.
 Not sure of his intentions I couldn't take my eyes off him. My friend says "get the camera" and then I scrambled to get the camera out of the waterproof bag.
 By the time I am ready to shoot he is moving away.

                                Going away...

                                He stops to check us out.

                                He is going away.

 The whole episode didn't last more than 2 minutes, but it felt much longer...
 Now we had to take the portage into Laundry Lake, the bear took a left path , ours was on the right side of a creek. No issues whatsoever and we continued on our journey.
 After paddling Laundry Lake we took the long portage instead of splitting it in 2 shorter ones. Given the low water levels I think we took the right decision.
 We spent the night on Wolf Lake, on a nice campsite with sunset views.

                                Wolf Lake

                                Wolf Lake at sunset

 Last day after battling head winds most of the time, we reached our car finishing another beautiful trip.

Happy trails!

Killarney Backpacking Trail - mid August

 After finishing the loop in 4 days 5 years ago, I returned with a friend and his kids to complete it in 6 days.
 The first day we stayed at H8, not before visiting few sites along the way. H7 is located on a famous by now Topaz Lake, that gets even day-trippers from George campground.

                                Topaz Lake

Second day we reached Bodina Lake, our next destination.

                                Bodina Lake

 Our 3rd day would take us to H33, going through more difficult terrain.

                     Steep rocky descent past H21

        Little Mountain Lake in the morning, after leaving H33.

 On the 4th day, before reaching H38 we took a side trip to Silver Peak. Very popular place.

                                Taking a break on the top

 The fifth day was a long one. On the way we stopped for swimming on Heaven Lake and Proulx Lake, refreshing waters.

                                Shingwak Lake

                                Little Superior Lake

The last day was a very short one, just 5km left to complete the whole loop.

              Sheguiandah Lake, with George Lake in the back

 It was a good trip, the weather was pleasant most of the time and the kids behaved beautifully on the trail. While I was having a work-out they were singing while carrying their backpacks. Impressive.

Happy trails!

QEII Wildlands - May 2-3

 A very nice week-end spent into the wildlands of QEII park.
 This time accompanied by a new adventurous paddler with his daughter.
 The weather couldn't have been better for this time of the year, 20-25 C at mid-day.

 Just few days before it was still cold, keeping the black flies at bay.

 After setting camp on Crooked Lake we still had time to explore the surroundings.

 The night was apparently cold, but I couldn't feel any with my winter camping sleeping bag.

 Sunday morning, 7 a.m.

 Reflections... well, it was a good trip!

French River Provincial Park

  First time on French River!

 The timing wasn't perfect, being a long week-end. Since we had only 3 days I opted for the figure 8 route.
 The waterway itself wasn't busy but we had trouble finding a camping spot. We got to a place close to  Dalles Rapids just in time.

  Next day we continued down river and after a break on a very nice spot we looked for the portage into Bass Lake. It seems that the Bass Tramway is dismantled and replaced by two short portages around it. I was really looking forward for this portage.

  Getting closer to the starting point (Hartley Bay Marina), we kept looking for a campsite with no such a luck. We camped on a pebble beach, it was too late to go anywhere else. Mosquitoes were bad so we turned in pretty early.

                  Leftover from the lumber harvesting era

  Next morning, after some rain during the night, was quite spectacular (if not for the mosquitoes that were still chasing us).