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September 2, 2012 - AO Huntsville to AO Oxtongue Lake
Sunday morning was clear and crisp, perfect weather for 40 kilometers of paddling. MarkS had stepped outside at some point through the night and ended up getting locked out. I guess he tried pounding on the doors and windows but was unable to rouse anybody and had to sleep in Markus’s van until about 6 AM. We had a good laugh at that!
Canoe caravan, ready to go.
We kept on our self-imposed schedule and were at the Huntsville Town Docks about 8 AM, where we started the usual nonsense getting things unloaded from the cars and into the canoes. We got to meet Julie who was kindly helping with our car shuttles. A couple of group shots of the intrepid voyagers and we were on the water paddling at 9 AM, same start time as the year before.
Getting ready to embark at the town docks.
John readies the tumpline for his canoe. Only 60 portages to do.
The Hoodlums.
The weather was great, a nice sunny day with a bit of a breeze in our faces. We headed down Fairy Lake at a good pace, through the Canal and met some bigger waves on Peninsula Lake. Steady paddling got us across and to our first portage, the aptly named Portage Road. Somehow, MarkS had already managed to lose two pairs of sunglasses. He should get a strap like the older and wiser John I guess.
MarkS solo on Fairy Lake.
The Scarlett's taking a break (not because they needed it).
Markus and Jeffrey finally catching up.
Canal remains between Fairy Lake and Peninsula Lake.
I found it odd that the people we met at the take out and along the road were amazed to see a bunch of canoeists come along and carry their canoes down the road. In fact I had a lady in a nice BMW stop next to me and say “Someone’s portaging the Portage Road!” I carried the canoe about half the portage with MarkS handling the rest.
Jeff was a big help preparing for the portage.
Setting off on an easy first portage.
The Portage Road.
It was about noon and we took a breather on the shore of the Portage Bay put in, watching a couple of guys loading their families into power boats. It was at this point that I took over from MarkS in the Curtis. I think he got off easy since I ended up paddling solo the rest of the way to Oxtongue Lake.
Paddling solo on Lake of Bays.
It was an interesting experience crossing Lake of Bays, seeing the fancy cottages and hoping the many power boats zooming around wouldn’t get too close. Just before entering the Oxtongue River we went ashore on a sandy point for a lunch break. Spam! Delicious, delicious Spam. The favourite lunch of Meanest Linkers everywhere.
Paddling busy Lake of Bays.
John cools off in the lake.
Spam sandwich!
Markus enjoys his Spam lunch.
The day was quite warm and we’d been hard at it for about five hours, nothing new for this crew but it was the first day and I’d say we were starting to get fatigued. But the river was a nice change from paddling big lakes, plenty of geese, ducks and herons along the way.
Duck.
Heron.
Beautiful afternoon on the Oxtongue River.
Next stop was Marsh’s Falls, a nice little water fall that had a short, steep and rocky portage around. Be sure to stick to the right side of the river, the landowners on the left apparently aren’t too fond of people trespassing. After the falls we finally got into something the Six On Six crew is very familiar with, lining canoes upstream.
Approaching Marsh's Falls.
Our first taste of river walking this year.
The Oxtongue River was a nice paddle, bringing back some memories of our trip the year before. In fact that the sun beating down and burning us up gave us flash backs to the Big East and Nipissing. Along the way we came across a beaver dam, not unusual, but this one seemed more rocks than sticks.
Shady stretch of the Oxtongue River.
Another riverbank rest stop.
Beaver dam made of rocks?
Follow the leader.
Just after 4 PM we ran out of paddleable water at Hogs Trough and had to strike off to find the road. The road sort of parallels the river and goes past the Oxtongue Rapids Trail. A bit of a hike for sure but it is a nice area of rapids, I think we ended up portaging about 3.5 Kms.
Along the way we ran into Gord Baker who was on his way home and thought he’d see how we were doing. Glad for an excuse to put the canoes down we chatted for a little while. Gord was kind enough to arrange our accommodations for the night in the Prospector tents at Algonquin Outfitters – Oxtongue Lake . It was because of this that we were able to travel without our full gear from Huntsville.
No more water to paddle, better find a portage.
Oxtongue Rapids Trail, worth visiting again.
Rapids on Oxtongue River.
More rapids on Oxtongue River.
We finally managed to find some paddleable water and jumped back in the canoes. Past the Key of Algonquin campground and over an old dam and we were onto Oxtongue Lake. A quick shot up the lake, dodging motor boats and we arrived at the nights camping spot.
We pulled into camp at Algonquin Outfitters – Oxtongue Lake about 6:45 PM, definitely a full day of paddling fun. As luck would have it, as we came ashore we found Iain, Sylvia and Julie. They had gone for a day trip after doing our vehicle drop offs and on the way home they decided to check if we had arrived.
So we had the chance to tell them of our adventure so far before saying good-bye once again. Then it was time to spark up the BBQ and have MarkS cook up some steaks. A good meal, a couple of beers and leftover cake, that’s what I call roughing it when camping and canoeing.
Markus and Jeffrey arrive at first nights camp site.
The dogs were there to greet us.
Traditional first night dinner, steak.
The remains of the cake.
It was dark by the time we had wrapped up dinner and met the neighbours. Knowing we were off on another long day in the morning we retired to our tents. After a long day in the sun, even the noise of the partier’s two tents down wasn’t enough to keep us awake.
Prospector tents at AO - Oxtongue Lake.
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©2011 SmedleyCo