Algonquin Park: Camping Trip Logs: 011 - Meanest Link Part One

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Day 1

July 10, 2011 - Huntsville to near Williamsport Bridge

Up at the crack of dawn to get our Meanest Link Part One adventure started, we were treated to a hearty breakfast (wash your own dishes when done!). The trip was beginning with excellent weather, warm and sunny. We took over the docks near Algonquin Outfitters – Huntsville to gather our gear and load the canoes. Most of the crew was wearing their brand new (clean) Six On Six shirts, kindly handed out by the Scarlett Brothers. As an interesting side note – keep your eye on the state of the shirts as the trip progresses.

We placed the canoes in a triangle formation on the dock with our packs resting where each person would be sitting. John provided a bit of a speech to commemorate the start of our voyage and a shot of liquid courage to toast our hopes of success and we were off at 9 AM! Well, 9:15 AM for the Scarlett’s. They had neglected to give their car keys to Iain and had to paddle back and do that.

Man of the North Speech.

Preparing on dock.

Mark modeling the Six on Six shirt.

Men of the North, raring to go.

The first day of travel was an easy paddle to Lake Vernon and then starting up the Big East River. The second and third days were also up the Big East River, it’s a well named river. This area was sandy and twisty, travelling through an area of homes, cottages and camps. When we first entered the Big East and for sections along it you could smell a very strong Balsam Fir scent that was quite nice. It also seemed to hold a bikini wearing beauty at every other oxbow, at some points it was difficult to get “New Guy” Jim to continue paddling.

And that’s pretty much what the day held in store for us. We stopped for a water break on a sand bank, had some lunch on a sand bank. At one point we had a quick rest while admiring the Highway 11 bridge, the one we had driven over six hours earlier. That’s right, we’d just spent six hours in 30 degree heat to get right back where we’d already been.

Entering the Big East River.

First rest stop, on sandbank.

View of Highway 11 Bridge.

It was a scorcher of a day, the sun was beating down on us without much shade while paddling the river and Markus’s thermometer read 34 degrees. Everyone was dipping liberally into their sunscreen and every rest stop included a dive into the water to try and cool off. Throughout the day we saw three or four turtles, really the only animal sightings to be had during such a hot day.

The high sand banks were quite interesting, with the flow of the water sculpting a route where you can be paddling in 8-10 feet of water and then hit the bottom with your paddle on the next stroke. We reached Big Bend, the shoreline remains of glacial Lake Algonquin, just after 4 PM.

Another sandbank rest stop, time to swim.

Paddling past large sandy banks.

The Scarlett's, already enjoying the trip.

Moving past Big Bend.

We pushed on paddling, this section of the Big East doesn’t offer many places to stop and camp for the night and we had to make at least 30 kilometers on our first day. The river, while still having some sand changed not long after this point, containing rockier shores. We had to walk the canoe through “rapids” or shallow rocky areas. It was along this stretch that Mark S. had his camera stop working, not a full day into the trip and one camera down already. We passed Bend Rapids and Dyer Memorial, the later I was hoping to stop and visit but it was late in the day and a place to setup for the night still had to be found. A visit will have to wait for another day.

Not far after Dyer Memorial we found a possible camp site, not the best anybody had ever seen but dusk was rapidly approaching. The Scarlett’s scouted a little further up river while we looked over the scrubby patch for anything that might be suitable for hanging a hammock. It was decided this was to be the spot and we managed to get four hammocks hung in a thickly treed area past a thicket of waist high bushes. The lucky Scarlett brothers simply popped their tent up on the beach, a matter of mere minutes to accomplish.

It was Mark S’s dinner duty, and what a dinner it was! Two inch thick New York Strip steaks with mushrooms and onions, a baked potato about the size of a small cat, red wine to wash it all down and a pecan pie to finish the meal off properly. Most likely the finest meal any of us have had while on a 280 kilometer wilderness canoe trip!

Still river at dusk.

Getting dinner underway on the first night.

Gourmet camp dining!

We all headed off to bed shortly after eating, uncomfortably rubbing our full bellies. It was already dark and the bugs were out in full force, tired from our long day of paddling we didn’t mind calling it a night.

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