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

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Day 14

July 23, 2011 - Lake Lavieille to Lake Opeongo

With the Coffee Refrain out of the way we soon discovered that breakfast was your choice of tuna or chicken salad on tortillas, courtesy of some missing food supplies at Brent. We were on the water at 8:15 with a light breeze in our faces. As we paddled through Hardy Bay we came across a group of 7 or 8 loons swimming together.

Sun rising on Lake Lavieille.

Islands at sunrise.

Gathering of Loons.

John was the wise one and seemed to be conserving his energy, I guess he knew what was coming. At the little portage to Dickson we ran into a solo paddler and his dog. It was short work crossing Dickson Lake with the infamous Dickson-Bonfield portage waiting.

John says, "I don't know what all the fuss about canoeing is for."

Lavieille Lake to Dickson Lake.

Infamous Dickson Lake to Bonfield Lake portage.

The 5.5 km Dickson-Bonfield portage had been discussed many times leading up to this day. It was my first attempt at it but I figured I would just trudge along as I normally do. To the turtle goes the race. And apparently some guys thought it was a race. With hardly a break John paddled ashore, hoisted his 90 pound load up and was off.

I thought I better follow suit, told Jim I would start with the canoe and followed in John’s footsteps. A little way past where the cart trail forks off I couldn’t see for the sweat pooling in my eyes and had to put the canoe down, this is about a quarter of the way. Jimmy took up the canoe for what I thought would be the next section, but the silly fool carried it all the way to the end. You da man Jim!

I grabbed the packs and kept walking, meeting up every now and then with someone coming the other way. Looked like a party of four or six were heading into Lavielle. You could tell who was finding the portage tough, they were the ones that didn’t give way or have much to say in passing. I agree with what I had been told about the portage, it’s actually quite nice - except for the length.

Along the Dickson - Bonfield portage.

At the logging road crossing on the Dickson - Bonfield portage.

Boardwalk on the Dickson - Bonfield portage.

A little way past the lumber road I caught up with Mark S resting on a log. I thought that was a damn fine idea and joined him for a minute or three. There only seemed to be the two of us, Mark said Jim had already passed him and John was likely finished by now. Markus and Jeffrey were the last to get started and were still somewhere behind us.

I trudged on and finally saw the waters of Bonfield Lake ahead, after several false hopes. Someone had said that you’ll know when the end is coming up because there will be a long boardwalk. Well, there’s about four between the lumber road and the lake.

John was well rested when I came in. But I was quite proud of myself for making decent time as well – about 1 hour 40 minutes I figure. Then he tells me how he had to stop once, for four minutes, and had done it all in 75 minutes. I think I have my numbers right – there’s no fool like an old fool. Learn to slow down John, seriously!

It was John's intent to see how he stacked up againest Swifty's record of 47 minutes carrying around 120 pounds. Pretty well I'd say!

Rootball at Bonfield Lake. This is how your muscles feel when you get there.

A short paddle across Bonfield Lake and a short portage brought us to Wright Lake. Repeating the process got us on to Lake Opeongo about 1:30, our destination for the night. A note was found tied to a branch, Racoon had left directions to where they were camped around a bay to the south.

Bonfield Lake to Wright Lake.

Wright Lake to Lake Opeongo.

We paddled south with some wind and wave action and soon found the camp site. Randy, Margarite and Joan welcomed us in and were amazing hosts for the rest of the day. They plied us with fresh food and cocktails, the word had gone out that I enjoy a sip or two of rum. Racoon seemed to be offering to refill my cup on the half hour! We did also find some time to regal them with stories of our two week adventure, as well as get the hammocks strung up and jump in for a swim. I think they were glad to see us, if only to get a break from playing fetch with DD.

DD welcomes us ashore.

We all enjoyed ourselves and ate our fill. But we still had one more day left and that was to paddle across Lake Opeongo, well known for how windy it can be. So we were off to sleep at a decent time with a plan to be up at the crack of dawn and beat the wind.

Lake Opeongo wind and waves.

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