Participants: Andrew, Jonathan Bida, Karen Partington
Dates: 1997-10-10 to 1997-10-12
Level of difficulty: Easy
Total portages: 2330m
Friday, October 10, 1997 - Waterloo to Algonquin via Parry Sound, Lake of Two Rivers Campground
We managed to pick everyone up in Waterloo and hit the roads at a reasonable hour of the day since we are all students. We drive North to Parry Sound to pick up the canoe of we've borrowed from my friends. We get to Parry Sound and attach the canoe to the top of my Jetta. We drive through Huntsville and make the mistake (unknown to us at the time) of stopping at the Tim Hortons on Highway 60 as you leave Huntsville for something approximating dinner. We then drive on and arrive at the Portage Store and the access point on Canoe Lake at around 18h30. We discover that the park office has closed at 18h00. We can't go into the park without our permits, so we now need to scramble to find a place to stay for the night. We find that Lake of Two Rivers Campground, one of the campsites on the Highway 60 corridor, still has some sites so we dash off there and grab a site for the night. We set up camp, grab some dinner and go to sleep.
Saturday, October 11, 1997 - Canoe Lake, Joe Lake, Little Joe Lake, Baby Joe Lake, Little Doe Lake, Teepee Lake
Portages:
1. Canoe Lake to Joe Lake - 295m
2. Little Joe Lake to river - 165m
3. river to Baby Joe Lake - 435m
4. Baby Joe Lake to Little Doe Lake - 1140m
Total for today: 2035m
We wake up early, pack up and drive back to the Canoe Lake access point. We get our permits, and head into the park. The paddle up Canoe Lake is quite nice. We cross into Joe Lake and paddle to the eastern end of the lake. From here a series of short portages bring us on to Baby Joe Lake. All of the lakes in this area are relatively small, and so each paddle is short, followed by a quick crossing over the portage. We get more practiced at portaging so that by the end of the day any crossing is very quick. We stop for lunch on a small island on Little Doe Lake shortly after we complete the last portage.
I haven't planned quite right for the distances, and we are able to cover more ground than expected. Rather than exiting the park on the same day, we make camp on Teepee Lake not far from Camp Arowhon. We have a site that is very well sheltered the west bank in a narrow portion of the lake. The site has a nice high flat bench for cooking and a small fire pit with some seats around it. We enjoy dinner and a nice fire before we go to sleep. Unfortunately Jonathan's sleeping bag has gotten wet in the course of the day, and so he is rather cold at night, but we all do well enough despite the October cold.
Sunday, October 12, 1997 - Teepee Lake, Joe Lake, Canoe Lake, home to Waterloo via Parry Sound
Portages:
1. Joe Lake to Canoe Lake - 295m
We wake up at a reasonable hour, grab breakfast, pack up our camp, and paddle back out of the park to the Portage Store. The portage onto Canoe Lake is an easy way to end our trip. We put our canoe back on the top of my Jetta, return it to Parry Sound and drive back to Waterloo after a successful trip. We get to spend Monday with our families for Thanksgiving.
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