Algonquin Park: Camping Trip Logs: 003 - Big Crow Lake Cabin - Access Point #11

Map

Map - Opeongo Lake / Big Crow Lake Cabin.

Day 1

After staying at a hotel in Huntsville we were up and on our way to the park by 8 AM. I had arranged to call Opeongo Outfitters along the way so that their water taxi driver could meet us at the docks. We just had the packs unloaded and he showed up. In very short order we loaded up and were whipping up the length of Opeongo. I think my daughter was disappointed that the lake was so calm, last time we took a water taxi we were bouncing through the waves getting soaked. It was about 11 AM when we were dropped at the Proulx Lake portage and we began getting across the 1395 meters. The weather was sunny and warm, about 25 degrees I think. My cheapo thermometer said it was 22 degrees the entire time we were on our trip, which I know is wrong. I guess I’m going to have to invest more than $2.99 in a thermometer.

We decided to take the pond instead of hiking over the hill that bypasses the little pond since my daughter would have a hard time. I took a load over the portage to the other end of the pond and then we took the remainder in the canoe. The cart trail is an easy walk other than the length. It took us about an hour and a half to make our two trips across the portage, by the end of my daughter’s trip she was wiped out and got a piggy back ride from my wife down the hill at the end of the portage. When I was finishing my second trip I came up on my daughter who had fallen asleep while waiting for us. I don’t think she even carried anything over the portage, why did she get a nap!

Nap time on Opeongo to Proulx portage.

A short break to catch our breath and we hopped in the canoe to start the paddle to Big Crow Lake. As always we had the wind in our faces and the waves were manageable at about a foot or so. I had rented a three seater canoe and that was working out great, my daughter had a comfortable seat and could help paddle instead of being stuck sitting on the bottom of the canoe trying to reach over the side to paddle. We stopped on a site at the north end of Proulx Lake, the second one before the river starts, to have a lunch break. There was a small beach area and then a climb up to a more open tent area, not a great site but would do for someone passing through. Then we were into the river and the moose! Before we reached Little Crow Lake we had seen two bulls and two cows, including one with a calf. Watching the moose and taking about thirty pictures of each one really slowed down our rate of travel, but seeing moose is why we had chosen this route. Between Little Crow and Big Crow we saw another moose. The wind had picked up even more and rounding the point on Big Crow we had to do some steady paddling to reach the cabin.

Moose on the Crow River.

Big Crow Lake Cabin.

So by about 4:30 PM we had landed at the cabin and were getting things squared away. This is the third cabin we have stayed at and was definitely a step down from the true log cabins we had stayed in previously. It was a bit smelly and dirty and had a lot of junk left over from previous visitors – including food, crappy fishing gear and two glass wineglasses.

We got organized, found the spring for water, had some supper and gathered a bit of firewood. While at the spring getting water I saw something “fly” through the trees, I’m fairly certain that it could have been a Flying Squirrel but don’t know if they are common to Algonquin forests. A small fire and some spider-dogs and we were ready to call it a night. After getting the kid tucked in, the grown ups were able to have a shot of rum under the light of a glow stick.

Natural spring at Big Crow Lake Cabin.

Day 2

We were all up before 8 AM and decided that we should paddle across the bay to the mouth of the Crow River and see if there were any more moose to be found. There was someone camped on the site at the start of the river and it looked like they were out trying their luck fishing. We went a short ways down the river but did not come across any moose. Then it was back to the cabin for pancakes and coffee with Baileys. I love my perked coffee (extra strong) and a good shot of Baileys when I’m camping in Algonquin. We spent the day relaxing and exploring around the cabin a bit, gathering wood and playing cards etc. There was an abundant supply of wood to be found around the cabin; I was expecting it to be more picked over.

At one point a canoe headed in and a couple of guys who were from Germany asked to come ashore and hike to the Fire Tower. My wife wasn’t thrilled to have people coming ashore at the cabin but what can you do when the trail starts right there. I guess she should wear more clothes. These guys and a staff group from one of the Algonquin camps both politely asked before coming in and going down the trail. I didn’t mind it and there was a chance to talk with other Algonquin aficionados. The two Germans weren’t impressed with the tower, I think because you can’t go up the tower. Unless you really want to. ;-) They also seemed to have missed the trail that takes you from the tower to the cliff top where you get quite a nice view of the lake and surrounding area.

View of Big Crow Lake from fire tower hill.

In the afternoon we paddled back across to one of the sites with a nice beach for a swim. We were disgusted to go ashore and find a fire still smoldering in the pit, there were huge logs that must have been left burning a few nights previous because we saw no one at this site on our first night. I made sure the fire was extinguished properly. The water was very refreshing and we floated around for awhile before heading back to the cabin.

Smouldering fire left unattended.

In the late afternoon I donned my bug shirt and hiked the trail to the Fire Tower. The path was easy to follow other than here and there where it looks like a few trees came down and people have started to find ways around them. It was long and up hill (obviously) and I was tired and thirsty when I reached the top. The weather had continued hot and sunny. I thought about climbing the tower as I had read others doing, but then I realized if I fell on my head that my wife and daughter would be stuck at the cabin forever. I took some shots of the tower and of the view from the cliff instead. Not that it would become of any importance until later but, I heard some rustling and crackling in the bush but couldn't see anything which actually made me feel a bit nervous, so I started back to the cabin.

Forest path on the way to the Fire Tower.

Big Crow Lake Fire Tower.

The evening repeated the one previous with dinner, cards and of course more spider-dogs over the fire. You've never seen anyone pack away the hotdogs like my kid. After having her usual dinner I think she went through most of a pack of hotdogs in one sitting.

The really big excitement was just as it was starting to get dark. While sitting around the fire pit we heard a crackling in the bush, there’s always that feeling you get when you hear a noise and don’t know what it is yet. Not being one to use profanity a great deal I will admit to letting one rip when a moose appeared about fifteen feet away from us. And of course we didn’t have a camera handy. In the process of getting the camera and trying to get some pictures the moose started heading back into the bush, he wasn’t in a hurry but he was heading away. We followed him along the trail to the spring trying to get some shots. After that excitement we went back to the fire and were talking about how cool that was (and how Dad used a bad word) when all of a sudden the moose is back! He munched some plants next to the cabin and we got more photos before he walked into the lake and swam across to the other shore. It was quite the night.

Moose visit.

Day 3

Today we woke up to a more overcast sky but it was still plenty warm. Rain was coming that was for sure. After a leisurely breakfast we decided to head down the river to the dam and trail to the old growth pines. I enjoy traveling down rivers and we were lucky enough to see another cow moose along the way. We got out and explored the area around the first portage (P240), there was quite the pile of large logs in the river. We also walked the entire portage, seeing an old gas can sitting on the portage. I also saw some metal rings in the bush and the last remains of some sort of structure when I went in a bit to explore. But not much else from the old logging camp was visible, but I only walked in a bit while everyone else was rushing back to the canoes. It was at this point that the mosquitoes got to be more than we could handle, especially for my daughter. We had bug gear on but had not thought of our hands, a bug shirt isn’t much good if you are going to leave your hands bare we’ve discovered. I didn’t have the heart to leave them sitting for an hour in the bugs while I hiked to the old pines so I will have to return someday for that.

View of Crow River leaving Big Crow Lake.

Log jam pile on the Crow River.

On the way back we came across a bull and cow in the river and spent awhile watching them and taking photos. We were trying to get them close enough to each other so that we could have them both in one photo. While we were doing this there was a crashing in the bush on the one side and both moose took off. They can move along pretty good when they want to. Another “noise in the bush”, this time it turned out to be a third moose coming down to the river.

Shortly after we were back at the cabin the rain began. It was reading and card games for most of the afternoon while waiting for the showers to pass. This was when a group of six came ashore to hike the tower trail. We chatted briefly and discovered they were staff from one of the children’s camps. They camped across the bay at the site where we went swimming the day before. One of their members fell in the lake when getting back in the canoe, which seemed weird because one of the German guys had fallen in too after their hike; I hoped we didn’t end up going in the lake!

The daily ritual of spider-dog concluded our last night at the cabin.

Day 4

Having arranged for the water taxi to pick us up between 1:30 and 2 PM we wanted to get up and get started on travelling out. A quick breakfast and coffee to go and we were in the canoe by 8 AM. After paddling down Big Crow we entered the short section of river that leads to Little Crow Lake. And that’s where we ran into Momma Moose and her two little ones. It’s a good thing we had plenty of time because we stopped to take what must have been a hundred photos. Finally we continued paddling. We didn’t see any more moose heading out, only a nice white-tailed deer that was too quick to get a photo of.

Cow and two calves on Crow River leaving Big Crow Lake.

Two baby moose on the Crow River.

We stopped for a snack break at the site on the point in the middle of Proulx Lake. I quite liked this site; there was a nice beach and then a climb up to a large wide open area with room for several tents. The fire pit area was large and had a big rock for a table.

We loaded up for the portaging, again making the trip twice. Except for accidently throwing my wife’s chair in the pond the portage was uneventful. The day was hot and muggy and I was wet and sweaty by the time everything was on the beach waiting for the water taxi. It was only about 45 minutes later that the taxi showed up, right on time. JeffM’s map shows an out of service camp site at the start of the Proulx Lake portage but there is a thunderbox there.

After what seemed like an eternity visiting the Algonquin Outfitters store to get souvenirs and a cold drink I had the women in the truck and we were ready for the trip home. I attempted to have a shower but either I don’t know what I’m doing (likely says my wife) or the water in the showers wasn’t turned on because I tried two and got nothing. The usual stop at Webers on the way home and we reached the end of another great Algonquin trip.

Epilogue

On the Tuesday after our trip I received a phone call from my wife. She had just gotten a call from Park Staff asking us about any experiences we might have had with bears?! It seems that on the Monday a bear had gone through the campsite to the west of the cabin, chewing up tents and packs etc. It’s my understanding that the campers were away from the site when this happened and no one was hurt. But it makes you wonder what I heard in the bush near the fire tower, which is up the hill from that camp site.

Notes

With our daughter we kept a list of the animals we saw, here it is:

Photos