Back Country Canoe Trips, Part 7 – 2007

Well here we are again ! Another summer, another trip to the back country of Algonquin Park.  We decided this year to go to Pen Lake.  Yes we have been here before but it’s an area we love and there is always a ton of wildlife.  This is a photo of the canoe we had at that time.  I believe we are on our fourth canoe now and it’s a Souris River 17 1/2 foot Ultra Light Kevlar weighing about 44 pounds.  Super easy to carry !  ……….for Clint. lol

 

To get to Pen Lake isn’t too difficult.  We put in at Rock Lake……..

……..and then paddle paddle paddle and then portage to Pen Lake.  Then we have to find a site.  We had a great site this year, right on the point.  It was on the left side of the lake and we paddled around the point to a small bay and put in there.  This is the area we set up our tents BUT THEN…….we could climb a sandy hill by our tent location and on the other side was a private beach !  It was a spectacular spot.

We saw tons of wildlife on this trip; we even saw a squirrel swimming in the water.  This probably doesn’t surprise anyone else but we were SO surprised to see him swimming from one shore to the other.  As God is my witness, I did not know squirrels could swim.

We also saw a mom Merganser, one of my favourite ducks, and she had 32 young ones.  Yup that’s right, 32.

We also saw moose, raccoons, squirrels and of course the ever popular chipmunk.

Just for some perspective, here is some photos of the area we paddle in and what it looks like in Algonquin Park.  Also some photos of us portaging the trails to get to the next body of water.

We usually take two trips each on the portage trails and usually Clint has to do a third trip.  Yup we take a lot, yup we know, yup we know we can take less but we don’t want to.  We like our lawn chairs and wine and books and whatever else we take that we don’t really need !   But you know, do we need a small tent, sleeping bags, food, canoe, paddles, camera equipment, clothes, pots/pans, towels………..the list is endless and so even without the extras, we do a lot of portaging.

Last year, at age 59 we did two portages each on our trip from Smoke Lake to Ragged Lake and Clint had to do a third one.  He always loads me up,  then he takes the canoe and then we sort out the rest.  The portages can be anywhere from a few metres to a few kilometres.  And some are like beautiful trails, well not many actually; the rest are uphill, long and sometimes treacherous.  And yet we love it.

Stay tuned for the next installment.