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.

Cherry Blooming

 In an attempt to record the arrival of full spring, I will post my cherry tree in full bloom.

                     16 April 2010

                    8 May 2011

                  14 April 2012

                      03 May 2013

                     10 May 2014 (long, cold winter)
                     03 May 2015

                  03 May 2016 (warm winter but cold April)
                  25 April 2017 ( not too cold winter)

Island Lake

  Island Lake...we really lucked out last week-end on our canoe trip.

  By the time we went past the hunting cabin on Farm Creek, dark clouds were looming around us; we could hear thunder in the distance.

  We made it to a camp site on Island Lake without any rain. We could see all kind of active weather around us. Not a drop till the next morning, but even then it didn't last.

               Signs of wildlife...

               Second day... too bad we had to return.

              Farm Creek, nice place to paddle.

  Four portages and six beaver dams later, we are about to reach Wahwashkesh Lake. Of course the big lake was windy so we used the Indian Portage to cut some distance. We took a last break on the beautiful sandy beach. Now back to the city life!!! but I really like the simplicity of the backcountry tripping.