QE2WPP - Head Lake to Smudge Lake - canoe trip

Having discovered this new park for wilderness camping, there was plenty of new territory to explore. When my cousin Greg and I wanted to do a weekend canoe trip, this was a good place to try. Once again consulting the map from Explorethebackcountry.com, we decided on the route from Head Lake to Smudge Lake. The route starts on Head Lake, travels upstream on the Head River, and then takes a right turn to go upstream on Smudge Creek until reaching Smudge Lake.

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!

Killarney Provincial Park - canoe trip

After several changes of plans, this trip ended up being shorter than expected, but was still enjoyable -  some nice parts, some not so nice parts, but overall it was a good time. There ended up being three of us who went: my cousin Greg, my friend Tyler, and I. We used one canoe and borrowed a kayak from another friend. Arriving at Killarney Provincial Park around mid-day on Thursday, we didn't really have a planned route. This was cause for amusement for the staff at the park office as we consulted them extensively for their opinions, argued amicably among ourselves, and generally flip-flopped back and forth for some time before finally deciding on our final plan. At this point, I'm not even sure what that plan was, since we didn't quite follow it. The office also held one small item which Tyler bought and later exclaimed was one of the best purchases he had ever made: a bug net for his head! We strongly urged him to buy it, and he reluctantly agreed.

However, we did start as planned, which was to launch in Johnnie Lake and portage into Ruth-Roy Lake, where we would camp at one of the two sites there. The first launching of our boats did not bode well as far as bugs go! The mosquitoes and little black flies outnumbered us hundreds to one, and began their attack immediately; it took several minutes of fierce paddling to finally lose them. I was in the kayak for the whole trip except one day trip we made. It didn't take long for me to realize kayaking wasn't my favourite mode of water travel. I've never spent much time in kayaks, so that may have influenced my experience, but there were several aspects I didn't enjoy. I found it cramped in the cockpit; there is little freedom of movement to get comfortable, and after sitting in one position for some time, there really isn't the option of shifting to another position. Paddling a kayak is the same repetitive motion all the time with no opportunity to change. Unless the group agrees to stay together, you're on your own with no one to talk to. I much prefer a canoe, where there is plenty of room to move about and stay comfortable, one can switch sides, grips, or sitting positions if paddling gets tiring, and there's always the other person in the canoe to talk to unless you're going solo. I found all those things to be true on this trip, and was often some distance away from the other guys, hearing them talking and feeling a bit left out. It didn't help that I'm wasn't very quick in the kayak either, so I couldn't easily catch up or keep up to them to join in the conversation.

The route to Ruth-Roy had one short portage. Once again the mosquitoes came for us, but we still spent a little time exploring the small creek between the lakes and took some pictures at a nice, small waterfall. We were welcomed to our campsite by a heartily singing sparrow, and another small army of mosquitoes! As we discovered later, the campsite was just around the corner from a marshy area, as well as some large swamps and marshes a short distance away. After setting up our camp, we still had enough time to do some exploring across the lake, trying to find Bunnyrabbit Lake, which one of the park staff had said was a beautiful lake. Upon reaching the top of the cliffs we had seen from the campsite the mosquitoes were much better, however the black flies took their place quite effectively; bug nets were essential most of the time. To find the lake we had to bushwhack, and though we had a map and compass, and though some would deny it, we did arguably get lost for a time. It has never been concluded whether we actually saw Bunnyrabbit Lake, nor has it ever been truly concluded who was right and who was wrong about where we were and how we were to get back to the lake, but we did make it there, and with still enough light to cook supper. Unfortunately, as the evening drew to a close, rain began to fall, driving us to the tent for the night. The rain was steady, heavy at times, and lasted well into the next day.

When morning arrived, we awoke to the steady whine of hundreds of mosquitoes. They were everywhere surrounding our tent, between the rainfly and the screen. It was quite incredible! While waiting for the rain to go, we played cards, dozed, and ate snacks, and were generally lazy until finally the sun came out in the early afternoon. Our planned route was now definitely out of the question, since we only had a couple hours of the day left in which to paddle, so we decided to paddle back into Johnnie, and then into Bell Lake, seeing how far we could make it. Despite a couple more mosquito-ridden portages, it was nice to be on the water in the sun. We were able to make it to a wonderful site on Bell Lake, right at the tip of a point. It was very nearly an island, being almost completely cut off from the rest of the land by a marsh. A perfect breeze was blowing across the point through the trees. The breeze kept up almost the whole time we were at the site, driving all but a few mosquitoes from our site - a pleasant change. We were also thankful for the breeze to dry out some of our gear which got a bit wet from the rain.

One little activity I enjoy on camping trips is going down to the water's edge at night with a good flashlight or headlamp. It is often quite busy underwater, and this time we were able to see some good size crayfish, several frogs, a watersnake, some turtles, and probably several other critters. On one of our nights at this site, we decided to investigate the chorus of bullfrogs coming from the marsh behind us. Slipping into the canoe, we paddled as quietly as possible into the marsh, and were surrounded by croaking bullfrogs. It was an amazing experience to hear their voices all around us in the darkness!

On Saturday, we decided to go for a day trip and hike to the top of Silver Peak the highest point in the park. Getting there meant we needed to paddle a short distance, and Greg thought he would try the kayak for part of it. He's a bigger guy than I am, and his experience was consequently more unpleasant than mine. If I'm remembering right, there was a fair bit of water in the kayak for a few moments! The hike up Silver Peak was moderately challenging. Portions of the trail were quite steep at times, though fortunately the higher we got, the bugs became less of an added problem. There were several streams we followed for short sections. As we neared the top, we met several people around our age who were impressed with, but also quite jealous of our bug nets. At the top of Silver Peak, we were able to see a great distance all around, viewing much of the white rock for which Killarney is known, and also many lakes. We could even see Georgian Bay to the south, and the smokestacks of the mines at Sudbury to the east. Hiking back down was a strain on the knees. It seemed easier to travel faster, because of which an unfortunate stumble led to Greg's infamous "Long Fall", in which he stumbled another 30 feet or more as he tried valiantly to keep his balance and to resist falling to the ground! Unfortunately his efforts were unsuccessful, though no serious injuries were sustained.

After another enjoyable evening at our campsite, we retreated to the tent, ready to pack up the next morning and head back to the car. Though the trip back on Sunday was uneventful, the weather was not pleasant, with wind and some slight rain. We ended up stopping at the second last portage, which was another entry point, and I got a ride back to the car.

This was a good trip, and a great introduction to Killarney Provincial Park for me.