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February 18, 2012 - Day trip to Pardee Lake
We awoke to a slightly cloudy, but promising day and plans were made to make a trip to Pardee Lake and see the waterfalls there. First we had our coffee and Baileys and a delicious breakfast of Laurie Loves Mike Egg Patties – cooked by Mike himself!
Before 9 AM we were on the ice heading to the east side of Head Lake to get on the Highland Backpacking Trail. It was decided to use the backpacking trail instead of going through the swampy area that leads to the portage to Harness Lake, we weren’t sure about the ice strength along there.
We checked out a couple of camp sites at that end of the lake as the sun started getting stronger. The backpacking trail had lots of snow and again we took turns in the lead, breaking trail so one person didn’t get too tired out. It was tough slogging in some hilly spots.
Along the way in we saw what I believe to be Otter slides, or some other animal making use of gravity to have some fun. Moose tracks were plentiful all along the trail and we saw several bedding down spots as well. It’s a nice walk through a highland forest, in the winter or the summer.
Crystals in the morning air.
Camp site in winter.
Along the Highland Backpacking Trail.
Animal slide.
Side trail to the lake and camp site.
We reached Harness Lake about 10:40, after some picture taking we set off across the frozen lake towards the portage to Pardee Lake. In short order we made the bend at the bottom of Harness Lake and reached the start of the 145m portage. There’s a steep hill to start and with two feet of snow it took some work, I think my “modern” metal snowshoes were better at climbing than the wooden ones the other two wore. At the Pardee Lake end there is a boardwalk over the stream and we had to wiggle across it sideways – nobody wanted to fall into the water!
Shoreline of frozen Harness Lake.
Approaching the start of the portage to Pardee Lake.
Hill to start the portage.
Boardwalks are a little harder in winter.
There was free flowing water at the small set of falls and we spent 30 minutes or so exploring and taking photos. There were tracks of various animals along the shore and lots of snow fleas could be seen in any set that was in sunshine. Then Mike lost interest and started getting a fire going for lunch, Markus and I were soon fireside waiting for our food. There’s nothing like a trail lunch of soup, sausage on a bun and Fireball Whisky!
Pardee Lake rapids/waterfall.
Snow covered small waterfall.
Snow fleas in moose tracks.
Cup of Soup for lunch.
Trail lunch of sausage on a bun.
After making sure the fire was well out we started our return trip. Moving along now was much easier since we had a broken trail to follow. By 3:30 we had returned to our camp site, a good day’s trip complete.
Tracks from trip in.
Mike takes a break and enjoys the winter solitude.
Mark on the trail badk to Head Lake.
After a bit of rest we put the snow shoes back on to head into the forest behind our site and collect more firewood. When you are winter camping you can never have too much wood for the stove. While coming back with a load I saw a movement and quickly dropped everything to get my camera out, luckily I had it with me. I’m not sure if it was a Fisher or a Pine Martin but I’m leaning towards Fisher as it was quite a bit bigger than the Pine Martin I’ve seen before.
Lit up clouds over Head Lake.
Fisher or Pine Martin?
We also needed extra wood because I was making cheeseburgers for supper and wanted to cook them over an open fire. We dug a fire pit out of the snow and dipped into the last of the Fireball Whiskey while waiting for them to cook. Darkness was soon upon us, we kept warm in the tent chatting and headed out every once in a while to check the night skies. The number of stars you can see on a crisp winter night is amazing. It still wasn’t too cold, only dipping down to an overnight low of maybe -12 C.
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