QEII Wildlands 24-25 May

 Another lesson in QEII Wildlands. I started out to camp on Clear Lake, knowing that it's not going to be crowded. And there is a good reason for that.
 After crossing Head Lake, portaging into Fishog Lake and portaging the short 90m into a small pond I was looking for the difficult 290m portage toward Red Boat Lake. I couldn't find it. Instead I found a way to a dead end pond East to the actual portage.
 Being pretty late in the day ( I started unusually late) and feeling out of shape I decided to turn back to Fishog. I found a windy site on the big island in the center of the lake (it looks like a peninsula on the map).

 The mosquitoes and black flies are out and biting, so the wind was really helping.
 Not having much to do around the campsite, I bushwhacked around for awhile and in the process I startled a duck. It was nesting close to shore.

 The sun was going down and I saw this bush, living on the edge.

 Whip-poor-wills sang the whole night but I slept good nonetheless. I could say that this is one of the reasons I come back to this park.
 Next day I woke up to a beautiful sunrise.

 I will have to prepare more seriously, if I want to get any deeper into this park.

Cheers,
Adrian

QEII Wildlands - Mid August

  QEII Wildlands P.P. is getting more attention lately. Passing over the Head River on Hwy 45, I got an idea.

  I would start at Head Lake, go on Head River, Smudge Creek, camp on Smudge Lake, come back the same way to Head River and continue downstream till the bridge on Hwy 45. Then I would hike back 6km to my car. It didn't work exactly as planned.

          What sparked my interest...

  Starting at Head L. on a beautiful day, I continued on Head R. Somehow I passed the creek, I was expecting something bigger. After a while I turned around, now being convinced that I'm too far downstream. The river was starting to change the character, while so far being flat water with 2 rapids/waterfalls, now the current was present on some sections. I would find more about it the next day.

  So I'm going back and start on Smudge Creek. Not long after beaver dams had to be passed but the real problem was low water levels. It must have been at least one feet down from the June levels (as seen on a report). So instead of paddling I was pulling my way through the water plants, sometimes standing up to find the best route on the maze of bushes. I had hopes that eventually it will open up, but that wouldn't last too long.

  The first 2 portages weren't too bad. The last one started with a steep ascent, all the tapes and the portage sign were on the ground(?). I got on the other side of the portage, everything loaded. When I pushed from shore a rock shifted under my foot. Next thing I know I am standing in 2 feet of water with the canoe flipped & my bags floating (a first for me).

  Something was nagging me to turn around but I wanted to see the lake, so I kept going.

  The moment I saw the creek opening up to the lake I heard shooting on my left. It turns out there is a hunting camp I wasn't aware of. I pulled ashore and filtered water, ate something and pondered what to do.
  I felt MY SPACE violated not only by shootings but by people shouting like crazy. It was a quick decision. I would go back as far as the daylight would allow me.
  I stopped just in time to get my camp organized. Went to bed early with pain in my right arm (pulled muscle). I could still hear the hunters on the ATV, shooting not too far, till the darkness fell over. Later on I could hear the coyotes and my park favorite, the whippoorwill.
 In the morning I continued down the creek, got to the river and hoped for an easy paddle downstream, since my arm was still hurting. Instead I had to portage around 6 rapids/waterfalls. Not what I expected...

          Head River before getting to Smudge Creek

  This trip was a good lesson...

York River

  York River... I wanted to get on this river for a while.
  We started in Egan Chutes P.P. and paddled upstream. At the bridge it splits and we took the left (Egan Creek). Very nice.
  We turned around when we reached a kind of a delta, not really passable.
  First portage was around Egan Chute. Not a big problem, a little steep at the end.

          Egan Chute

  After a short paddle we reached Middle Chute. Another portage and the only people around were a father and his son on a day trip.
  Not far was a log jam that we had to portage. We didn't expect this. Just a short paddle downstream and we got to Farm Chute.
  What it really surprised me was the steepness of the portage, never encountered anything like this so far. But it was well worth it, complete isolation, only us and the deer flies keeping us company.

          Farm Chute

  Not a boring trip, that's for sure...

Adrian

Sandy Lake

  I found Sandy Lake on Google Maps and I had to check it out. There isn't a lot of info about it and I took my chances.
  There is a parking lot close to the public beach, the place where we launched the canoe.

          Beside the public beach

  We went around the shore, the color varies but has a lot of shades of blue and green.

          Shallow waters on East side

          Perfect day for canoeing

          West shore changes to green

          Matching colors...green,blue,brown

  I tried to go on Sandy Creek but it is barely navigable and my wife didn't like the bugs. Once the curiosity was satisfied, we turned around and finished our trip at the public beach.
  In the end I could barely get out of the parking lot, this lake is way too popular with the swimmers.

Cheers,
Adrian

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.