Shadow River

  Hap Wilson recommends to run the upper part ( N of Hwy 141) of the river in April - May. Given the amount of rain we had this year I thought end of June would be OK too. I was wrong. Very low water levels, a lot of beaver dams, dragging over branches, not the best conditions but passable. Portages were more like bushwacking with a canoe hat.

          Nice spot below Bridge Rapids

          Above Hemlock Chutes

  Anyway I had the best company, a friend that didn't complain and we just happily kept on going. The bugs weren't that bad and rain was avoiding us.

           South of Hwy 141 the river opens up

  We ended another nice trip on the public beach (neat place) in Rosseau.

Cootes Paradise / Spencer Creek

  For a quick paddle around Hamilton/Halton area today I chose Cootes Paradise /Spencer Creek.
  The bay can be windy but once on the creek is a totally different feeling. Almost jungle like, if not for the city noise.

          Spencer Creek tributary

 

Spencer Creek

          Born and raised in Cootes Paradise

  Good to see the Bald Eagles flying around their nest.

Poker Lakes / Black River

 I started from Bentshoe Lake, passing through Poker L., Ooze L., Quirt L. before reaching Cinder Lake. Here I navigated the marsh on the West side, getting to Cinder Lake Road.

           Dock spider

 I was hoping to canoe the Cinder Creek, but that's not possible. So I took the road, portaging to Black River bridge on Cinder Lake Road.

          Start on the Black River.

 Black River has a pretty good flow, some gravel swifts, making for an easy paddle down river. I only had to portage around Sliderock Falls.

           Sliderock Falls


 It looks like nobody portaged the trail for quite some time. I didn't like the campsites on Black River (one reason being mosquitoes), so instead of a 2 days trip it became a day trip.
 Once getting to the bridge on Hwy118 I left the canoe and most of my gear in the bush and I walked back to the Poker Lakes parking lot to retrieve my car.
 It surely was an interesting trip.