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

Prev | i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Next

Day 3

July 12, 2011 - below Distress Dam to road past McCraney Creek

I believe it was oatmeal and bacon for breakfast, quickly prepared and eaten after the Coffee Refrain. In short order things were packed away and we began the portage (650m) to Distress Lake. This portage is a nice walk in the woods with a few hills that aren’t too much trouble.

Along the way, closer to the lake side there is a side path that will take you to a spring. The spring is at the bottom of a hill and includes a pipe and two handy mugs for quenching your thirst. A few of us filled up our bottles with this delicious, cold water. There are quite a few pathways crisscrossing the portage so you do need to keep your wits about you.

John along the portage.

I always take pictures of quartz.

The spring with enhancements.

Distress Lake Dam.

Distress Lake is the flooded area behind Distress Dam obviously, but it was a nice change from river travel and we were quickly across it. Jim and I were bringing up the rear and managed to run the canoe up on a submerged stump. We had a few exciting minutes trying not to dump in the lake while getting ourselves unstuck. The rest of the crew carried on, blissfully unaware of our plight – thanks for looking out for your fellow traveler’s!

Markus and Jeffrey cross Distress Lake.

The easy lake paddling didn’t last long enough and we next had to wade and portage around McBrien Rapids. We went as far as we could before pushing our way through the brush and up a steep hill to a road on the north bank. Following the road until we reached a closed gate we then worked our way back down to the river to launch.

Not to get too repetitive but the rest of the day was more wading, paddling when there was enough water, rapids, sunshine beating down, walking knee deep through rocky sections. At some points we not only had to get out and walk, but also put our packs on and pull the empty canoes. You get the general idea, it was a long, hot day.

Walking up the Big East River.

Gravelly section at McBrein Rapids.

Cliff view along McBrein Pond.

Water break on the river bank.

At one point we worked our way through Finlayson Lake, but it’s more a river widening now that the dam has been removed. We did see a few boats stashed on the shore in this area, or maybe just left to rot?

Jim didn't do all the work. Yours truly wading a river section.

More riffs and rocky section.

Old boat pulled up on shore.

It had been a long, tough day so far. Finally just before 5 PM we reached where McCraney Creek flows into the Big East River. But camp site locations were few and far between yet again, we had some discussions about what to do next. We were all aware that we were worn out and there was a real chance of someone twisting an ankle or falling given the river conditions and our waning energy.

It was decided to push on to where we knew there was an old road that crossed both the Big East River and McCraney Creek and then on to Hood Lake. We thought this the wiser choice than wading up a real bony McCraney Creek. This decision was helped by the fact that McCraney Creek felt about 20 degrees cooler than the river.

Unfortunately the Big East wasn’t much better and there were logs and a beaver dam to contend with as well as getting even shallower. It was along this stretch that I did end up “turtling”, walking along and back I went. Luckily (unluckily?) there were more rocks than water at this point and I landed pack first on a rock, nothing even got wet really.

Is this a canoe trip or a hike?

McCraney Creek (left) joining the Big East River.

It seemed a long tough slog but eventually we found where the road crossed the river. We got the gear up the bank but left the canoes for later. We were about done for the day; it’s tougher walking up a river than you think.

We were on an overgrown road just wide enough to mill about and for the Scarlett’s to put up their tent. The four of us in hammocks ended up grouped fairly close together in the best spots we could find back in the trees. It began raining as we were setting up and darkness wasn’t that far off. The decision was made to skip a big meal for dinner and just eat some snacks and leftovers from previous meals. Too bad for the guys, I had an excellent meal planned and they were going to miss out (actually it was freeze-dried Beef Stroganoff). After a quick bite and with a bit of rain off and on we once again hit the hay pretty early, people reading or recording the day in their sleeping bags to avoid the mosquitoes.

Today was just a big long slog, walking for long stretches up the river. At one point, I think while we were along Finlayson Rapids, we had a yellow float plane flying overhead. We thought that it was perhaps the Park plane as it had a canoe strapped on the floats. Perhaps someone was checking up on our progress as quite a few people were interested in our trip. After our return we found out that it was Jim Murphy, Park Planner, and that he had taken a great aerial shot of us along the river.

Aerial shot of us walking up the Big East River.

Prev | i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 | Next