Early July 2006 - Algonquin Park
Time: 8 nights
Access Point: Magnetawan Lake
Route: Daisy, Moccasin, Misty, Misty, Timberwolf, Little Misty, Little Trout, Ralph Bice

Our group consisted of the March Family (Bryan, Laurie & Tobias) and the Lauzons (Claude and Shelley). We intended to meet a friend near the end of the trip.

The plan was to start out from Daisy Lake and spend one night on each lake in our route with an extra night at Misty Lake.

Day 1

We arrived early at Kearney and got our permits. The Park Warden gave us a tip on how we could paddle through one area without having to do the portage.

We made it to Daisy Lake fairly early and got set up just before the rain came. We were on a fairly nice site at the North end of the island and we sat under the tarps talking well into the evening.

Day 2

The morning weather was very nice. I photographed the old saw blade we found on the site. It was about four feet across. Then we headed up to the portage that would take us into the Petawawa River as we started our journey to Moccasin Lake. At one point we had to lift over a beaver dam and my feet were covered in the smallest leeches I had ever seen and one good sized leech too. Along the way we saw a cow moose and her calf browsing on the river's edge.

 

  

  

Moccasin Lake turned out to be a great little spot with only two sites to choose from though. We chose the site on the peninsula mostly because the take-out was a little bit nicer.  

  

Day 3

We awoke to another nice morning. Actually Shelley woke us up very early because there was a cow moose near the thunderbox. We went back to sleep for a bit and then packed up. The plan was to travel through Bandit, Wenona and Muslim Lakes to reach Misty Lake where we would spend two nights. We paddled right past the portage on Bandit Lake and only saw it when we turned around to come back. At Muslim Lake there is a pretty cascade.

  

  

The 980m portage from Muslim into Misty was actually 1035m according to the portage sign. The trail was relatively flat though. Bryan twisted his ankle during his trip across the portage and he bruised his arm pretty good too. When we arrived at Misty Lake there was a strong breeze and some good waves. We made our way down to a site on the large peninsula where we spent two nights. The site was on a good hill but was a great spot to view the setting sun.

Day 4

This was our rest day on Misty Lake. Time to do some laundry, eat some food, and just hang out. This also gave Bryan a chance to recover from his injury.

    

  

  

  

  

 



  

Day 5

While we were getting ready to leave Misty Lake Tobias played by writing his name in the sand.

The day was very cool and overcast. We headed to the 120m portage that would take us into Timberwolf Creek and eventually to Timberwolf Lake.

  

Timberwolf Creek was interesting. There were lots of water lillies and even the watershield was in flower. There were two liftovers that we had to negotiate too.

  



 

On our way down Timberwolf Lake we spotted a nesting Loon so we stopped to take some photos. She didn't seem too worried about our presence.

  

We arrived at our site on Timberwolf Lake where we had our own little beach. Too bad it was so cold and windy that we didn't feel like swimming.

 

  

  

  



  

Day 6

Another relatively easy day had been planned. We were heading to Little Misty Lake. The weather started out cold and chilly but then it turned out to be a very beautiful day. We arrived at Little Misty Lake in good time and we went swimming with some of the biggest Cisco Claude said he had ever seen. Tobias got his first leech too. For dinner I made a curried rice dish (Bryan snuck a photo of me). We camped right at the edge of the site. This was the only site on Little Misty and it wasn't too bad.

  

  

Day 7

We woke up to a gorgeous sunrise. This was another beautiful day and very hot compared to what it had been. We cooked a big breakfast of baked beans with homemade bacon and cheddar biscuits, after all we would need the energy for the 2420m portage we were about to do. Thankfully the portage was mostly flat. On the way Bryan saw a bull moose and then later a cow moose with her calf. When Tobias and I reached the cow and calf we had an interesting experience. The calf came bounding towards us until it was only about eight feet away. Mother moose called him back and then blocked the trail for several minutes. Just as I opened the Pelican case to get my camera the mama and baby headed off into the woods. Tobias did a great job on the big portage to Queer Lake. He decided to have a nap wrapped in Bryan's life jacket until the rest of the group finished the carry.

 

We found a great site on Little Trout Lake where the fire pit was almost on the water. There was a good rock shelf with a steep drop off for swimming and the sitting area around the fire pit faced the sunset. We had a good time swimming and such. Bryan did some more laundry. We were supposed to meet my friend Dave today but we couldn't find him. The cookies I brought to make for him sure tasted good.

 

Day 8

We slept in a little as there wouldn't be a lot of travel. Tobias helped hold the canoe while we loaded it. The rest of Little Trout Lake was very pretty and we had another sunny day.

  

The winds started to pick up as we got on Ralph Bice Lake and we pulled over on a site to have lunch. Then we made our way to a campsite to stay for the night. Upon reaching the site we noticed that someone had left an unpoened can of chilli. Bryan put it in his pack to pack out. It was fairly choppy so the site would have to do. Later on we were visited by the Park Warden that we met at the permit office. The campers who had been on that site before us had also left a fire going. Thankfully another group had put the fire out and reported the incident to the Warden when the saw him.

We still hadn't found Dave. Upon my return to civilization I found out that the group who put out the fire was Dave's group and that they had camped a mere two sites away from us when we were on Ralph Bice Lake.

Shelley and Claude pumped water at the edge of the lake and Shelley finally got a leech. Tobias made a fishing pole out of a piece of deadfall and some line that he found on the site. I took some photos of the moonrise. Shelley told Tobias stories by the campfire and we all went to bed early so that we could get a quick start in the morning.

  

  

  

Day 9

I woke up at 5:35 am to one of the most spectacular sunrises I had ever seen. I took some pictures of the sunrise and of the opposite sky.

  

I didn't mean for everyone else to get up that early but next thing I knew it was 7 am and we were paddling out. We had a great breakfast in Huntsville and headed home.

It was a good thing we left early too. Upon arriving back in Guelph at 3:30 pm we discovered that Bryan had to be in the US for work by Monday morning. It was a great trip and I can hardly wait to go again.