After finding a place to park near the north west corner of Head Lake, we loaded and launched the canoe to begin our journey. The plan for the first day was to make it as far as a campsite that was marked on the map, about a quarter of the way up Smudge Creek. The small portion of Head Lake we traversed had several cottages, and then as we entered the Head River the cottages started to dwindle away. Traveling up the first part of the river, we passed the remains of a few cottages, and quite a few abandoned boats on the river banks. Things looked a little messy and forlorn. As we got a little further, the river entered a very large area of marshy wetlands. Head River at this point is quite wide and deep, but very slow moving. We saw quite a bit of fish activity on the surface, and I was a little sad that I had not brought anything along for fishing, even though I'm not much of a fisherman anyway. It seemed like it would have been a good place to fish. On the trip back, I saw quite a large fish of unknown type, resting near the surface until we surprised it with our canoe and paddles. After what seemed much longer than it probably really was, rocks and trees started showing up and the geography started to change into what seemed more promising for camping. We were starting to get concerned, so this was a welcome sight. The sides of the river rose, and there were proper riverbanks again with proper forest on each side. After a quick stop for lunch, we soon reached a small set of rapids. I found it quite surprising how small the rapids were for the size of the river we had been traveling upon, however I suppose it explains why the river is so slow moving. A quick portage around the rapids, and we soon reached the junction of the Head River and Smudge Creek. The entrance to Smudge Creek was somewhat concerning; it was difficult to find being only a small opening in thick growth of alder bushes, and it was not long before we reached a beaver dam which we had to lift over. I suppose at this point I wasn't too concerned yet. The map had stated that there would be alder bushes for the first 40 metres or so but then it opened up, and it also stated that there were several beaver dams. Actually, it said "numerous beaver dams are encountered on Smudge Creek", and this turned out to be quite accurate. First though, after traveling 40 metres or so, there was no sign of the channel opening up, and it never really did. The creek remained a narrow channel not much more than 8-10 feet wide and in the middle of bushes and reeds, winding back and forth with sharp turns. This turned out to be quite difficult with the canoe we were using. Our trusty old family canoe is long and flat with a substantial keel along the bottom. This made sharp turns challenging, with much ruddering and back paddling involved. And then there were the beaver dams! It didn't take long to reach the next one...and then the next...and the next!! On the way back, I counted 9 beaver dams, not counting ones that were part of other portages.
The scenery however was quite lovely, with ridges of rock rising on either side of the creek against a bright blue sky and the green forests in between. As we reached the portage on which our planned camp site was located, Greg mentioned that it would be nice to camp by a lake rather than by the creek. There were several lakes nearby according to my GPS, but after some exploring, we discovered they were either more swamp than lake or very difficult to reach. After a few tries and some evaluation of our progress so far for the day, we decided we would attempt to make the trip all the way to Smudge Lake. The rest of the trip up the creek was more of the same: narrow, winding channels with sharp turns, beaver dams, and a couple more portages. The beaver dams became trying, especially since we had no idea how many we would actually be encountering. They weren't really that difficult though. As we approached, whoever was in the front would keep watch and then step out of the canoe as close to the dam as possible - right on it usually. Then, after the first person had pulled the canoe as close to the dam as possible, the person in the back would crawl up the canoe and get out as well. Together, we would then lift and slide the canoe up and over the dam, getting back in at the top. The whole process took under two minutes most times, and only a few times did it involve getting wet feet if branches prevented us from getting right up against the dam to get out. But without knowing how many times we would have to do this...! By the time we were nearing Smudge Lake, if it had turned out to be another lily-covered, second class lake, we would have been very disappointed! Finally, we could see the creek opening up ahead and we knew we must be close to Smudge Lake. What a welcome sight it was when we paddled out into the open water of a beautiful lake - stretching out to the left and right, and a narrower, rock-walled channel ahead to another section of the lake. And then what a surprise as we got a little further into the lake and there on the shore to the left were....people!! Totally unexpected and not even on my mind, though I should have known there was at least a possibility. The whole journey after leaving Head Lake and the first short section of Head River seemed so remote and barren that the thought of other people had completely left my mind. The map does show several hunting or fishing camps and 4-wheeling trails to the lake, and one of these is where the people were staying. As surprising as it was, we passed with a brief greeting and inquiry about any good campsites. They suggested a site just through the narrow channel, looking over the other section of the lake. Since there wasn't a lot of daylight remaining, we found the site and started setting up right away.
The next day, Sunday, was a restful day for us. Since it was the Lord's day and we were away from our respective churches, we listened to a sermon on an MP3 player. In the afternoon, we did some leisurely paddling around the lake, exploring the different sections of it, including a swampy area at the one end. Though there were no spectacular sights, it was a beautiful lake to be on. It was a little unfortunate that there were several cabins on the lake, since it takes away from the remote feeling of the location. The people we had seen were very quiet and we barely noticed them.
On Monday we broke camp and traveled back. At least this time we knew what we were in for! At one point we noticed a blown out beaver dam we had not seen on the way up. It seems like it must have been quite a sudden break, since there was a lot of debris from it quite far downstream. We stopped for a short swim at one of the portages, but mostly made steady progress back to the car. We arrived there in due time and safely returned home.
I'm really glad we pressed on with this trip, even when the going was slow and a bit discouraging. The sight and experience of the lake at the end was a huge reward and relief! I suppose that's a lesson for life too. Sometimes the difficult or the mundane makes us want to quit our current course, but often there is great and unexpected blessings at the end. God also teaches in the Bible that for people who believe in Jesus, this applies even more: heaven is waiting and it far outweighs the troubles we have during our lives!
