Camping in Darlington, Silent Lake, Arrowhead and Six Mile Lake Provincial Parks in Ontario, August-October, 2020

Blog w języku polski/in the Polish language: http://ontario-nature-polish.blogspot.com/2021/12/biwakowanie-w-prowincjonalnych-parkach.html 

More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/albums/72157720216499304

Darlington Provincial Park, Ontario

My initial vacation plans for 2020 included spending 10 days in May/June in Indiana Dunes National Park on Lake Michigan and driving across the United States for about 8 weeks in August-October. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic messed up almost everybody’s vacation plans, including mine: not only was it almost impossible to cross the border between Canada and the USA, but even local outings were hampered by innumerable rules and regulations. Overall, the slogan that used to appear on Ontario’s license plates, “Ontario - Yours to Discover”, became a reality for most Ontarians! Indeed, a lot of people ‘discovered’ provincial parks and soon it was very difficult to find vacant campsites, especially over weekends. However, overall it was not a bad year for me: in January, 2020 I spent 2 weeks in Cuba, arriving back in Toronto on January 22, the same day when a traveler from China arrived in Toronto and became the first documented person to have COVID. In addition, I managed to spend several weeks in 4 provincial parks (and one week canoeing on the French River (please see other blog entries about my vacation in Cuba and the French River trip). The major restriction in provincial parks was the lack of showering facilities. Also, group campsites were closed and thus the 10^th Group Camping at Warsaw Caves (organized by my friend Guy), which I planned to attend, did not take place.

Darlington Provincial Park, Ontario

In August I was invited by Guy to spend two days camping in Darlington Provincial Park, and of course I gratefully accepted his invitation. Each campsite could accommodate up to 6 people and 3 tents—as I did not want to share a tent (there were already 3 people on the campsite), I decided to book a separate campsite. Because the arrival was on Sunday, August 16, 2020, it was still possible to find vacant campsites. I got campsite number 173, not far from #158, where the group stayed. Although campsite #158 had poor privacy, it was just meters from Lake Ontario and offered a nice view of the lake, yet the steep cliff prevented us from actually getting to the lake at that spot. 

Darlington Provincial Park, Campsite #158

Since I had always gone to provincial parks located several hundred kilometers from Toronto, I was not even aware about this park’s existence. Before my visit I had quickly read about the park’s & area’s history (it used to be the Loyalists’ farmland and when the park was created in 1959, it was devoid of trees, but thanks to the Boy Scouts reforestation 60 years ago, there are many trees everywhere) and I was pleasantly surprised to see that many campsites were surrounded by thick vegetation, which provided good privacy. The Campground Trail, cutting through the middle of the campground, was very convenient, allowing campers taking shortcuts without encroaching on other campsites. From the Cliffside campsites #158 (ours), #159, #160 and #162 it was possible to see Lake Ontario. Once we saw an oil-tanker barge “Norman McLeod”, along with the tug “Everlast”, proceeding east. 

Once we saw an oil-tanker barge “Norman McLeod”, along with the tug “Everlast”, proceeding east.

I saw a Red Cardinal and a Blue Jay on my campsite, as well as several mischievous squirrels/chipmunks, sometimes carrying big chunks of food, no doubt pilfered from campers. I had read that the park became a home to Piping Plovers, which made their nests on the beach. Unfortunately, it rained each day, sometimes heavily, which prevented us from not only visiting the beach, but also from hiking on one of the many nature trails in the park. Bill brought a sturdy picnic shelter, which turned out to be very useful. We enjoyed campfires every evening and overall had a great time. I hardly saw any mosquitoes, but some of us ended up with plenty of nasty bites all over their legs. When I was leaving the park, I wanted to check out its other sights (fishing nodes, the store, pioneer cemetery, log cabin and the birding information board), but it started pouring and I decided to drive straight home. 

Darlington Provincial Park-my campsite #173

There was a pronounced noise coming from the highway (401), but since it was so incessant, after a while I stopped noticing it. Train whistles, on the other hand, were very loud and ear-piercing, and even though I consider myself a heavy sleeper, they awoke me several times during the night, albeit for just a minute or so. Indeed, for some light-sleepers the train’s blaring horn might ruin their stay at this park.

Silent Lake Provincial Park and Six Mile Lake Provincial Park, Ontario

 Silent Lake Provincial Park, Ontario

 As I already mentioned, it was very difficult, if not outright impossible, to reserve campsites at provincial parks on weekends, but there were still quite a few vacancies on weekdays. This time I booked a campsite in Silent Lake Provincial Park, located south of Bancroft. We stayed on campsite #39 for 4 nights (Pincer Bay Campground), from September 7 to 11, 2020. The weather was not very good (raining, cloudy), so we ended up spending most of the time on the campsite, often sitting under the tarp while it was raining. The park—especially our campground—was very scenic, there were plenty of swampy areas and small bogs close to campsites, yet we did not experience any mosquitos. Because it had rained a lot before our arrival, there were plenty of amazing mushrooms everywhere—unfortunately, despite bringing several books on mushroom identification, I could positively identify only 3 of them. 

Silent Lake Provincial Park, our campsite #39

A lot of campsites which, according to the Ontario Parks reservation website, had been booked during our stay in the park, turned out to be vacant—most likely the rainy weather had resulted in many cancellations (which this year did not incur any penalties). 

There were a lot of swampy areas just meters from campsites

There was a mountain bike trail as well as three hiking trails, which unfortunately I did not have a chance to do. However, during my past 2 visits to the park I canoed on Silent Lake as well as on several lakes in Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park.

Silent Lake Provincial Park, campsite #40, on which Guy, I and several other people camped in 2009. I also camped on this campsite in September, 2021. I loved the rock!

 Our campsite #39 was nice, although a little on the small side for 2 cars and 3 tents (including one for 8 people that Robin brought). Incidentally, in 2009 Guy and I (and several other people) had stayed on the adjacent site (#40), which had, as an added cool feature, a large rock formation. We could enjoy relative privacy because the adjoining campsites were vacant during our stay. The toilet was maintained daily by the park staff. We hardly saw any animals, save for a couple of small woodpeckers, squirrels and chipmunks. I was told that no black bear sightings had been reported for many weeks. Park wardens frequently patrolled the park, keeping it SILENT!

Bancroft: Firewood for sale-based on an honour system!

The firewood sold by the park was not very dry, so I decided to look for better firewood in Bancroft. Just before entering Bancroft, I stopped at a place called “The Bike Doctor” that was fixing bikes & ATVs and spent some time chatting with the owner. I also renewed my motor vehicle permit—usually there are long lineups in Toronto and I always try to do it either online, or in smaller towns, where there is no waiting at all. I asked several people where I could obtain firewood and I was told that there was a place just past the town. Indeed, I saw a pile of wood, which was already separated in various sizes. It was a self-service, honour system stand, where buyers were supposed to leave money in provided envelopes in a special box! Each time I see such contraptions I wonder if they could be viable in bigger cities, like Toronto. For some reasons I think that soon all the firewood would be gone—along with the money! 

Arrowhead Provincial Park, Ontario

Arrowhead Provincial Park, Ontario

 In Ontario September is usually an excellent month to go camping—no bugs, less people in parks and spectacular fall colours! Yet September may be also much cooler and temperatures often drop to zero at night. But this time I decided to make sure cool temperatures were not going to spoil our stay. 

Big Bend Lookout. Whereas it is the shortest ‘trail’ (75 meters from the parking lot!), it leads to the spectacular view of the Big East River. 

I had visited this park the first time in 2001 and this was my 6^th visit. I noticed some changes—there were ten camp cabins and one soft-sided shelter available for rent (two of the cabins were erected on my favourite campsites). In addition, a new Visitor Center and Park Store had opened not long ago. The new Visitor Centre had a warm-up room with a fireplace for enthusiasts of winter activities offered in the park (skating, tubing, cross-country skiing and snowshoeing). Huntsville’s Arrowhead Nordic Ski Club works closely with the park and operates its programs.

Even though there have been bear sightings in the park, we did not see any, not even usually ubiquitous raccoons!

I arrived on Sunday, September 20, 2020 and after lining up for about 5 minutes to the office’s window, I was on my way to campsite #254 at East River Campground. Even though we were tent-camping, we decided to book an electrical site and I managed to get the last one available in the whole park. Incidentally, in the past it was very easy to find a campsite in this park (and almost any other park) after the Labour Day weekend—I did not even bother making reservations; now, because of COVID-19, literally 100% of campsites were booked over weekends and it was difficult to get any site for 5 consecutive days from Sunday to Friday. We brought two heaters—what an excellent idea! Not only did they keep us warm at night, but also removed dampness from the tents. The site offered good privacy—because of the thick vegetation we hardly saw our neighbors. Although it was adjacent to a (clean!) toilet, it did not bother us—besides most tourists used toilets in their trailers/RVs. Of course, showers were closed this summer due to the coronavirus. We were also lucky because every day we could see more and more fall colours; after 5 days, when we were leaving, they became quite spectacular.

Arrowhead Provincial Park. Our campsite #254 was quite good. I took this photo of this campsite one year later, in 2021 and it did not look very nice... Well, we were very lucky in 2020 that it did not rain, otherwise our tents would have been flooded!

 I also drove around the park and checked out other campsites in Roe Campground, they were very nice, too. The cabins were all occupied and I did not have a chance to take a look inside them, but they seemed to be an excellent choice for a family or a group of friends who would like to enjoy the park in a more ‘civilized’ way. 

Wildlife Sighting board in Arrowhead Park. There were 3 bear sightings!

According to the “Wildlife Sighting” board in the park store, there had been three black bear sightings recently, but we did not see any of those imposing creatures. The only animals that we spotted at our campsite were squirrels, chipmunks, a pair of gorgeous blue jays and a very friendly black capped chickadee which actually sat on my hand, hoping for a snack! And I saw a fishing spider in the toilet—it is the largest spider in Canada. I remember that many years ago we had experienced a lot of problems with raccoons; this time we did not encounter any of those pesky mammals. The park was very quiet at night and a park truck regularly drove by the campsites. The campfire wood sold at the park was wet—eventually we got a few bags of very dry wood at a store in Huntsville. Since both highway 11 and railway tracks were just over 1 km from the park, we could hear the road traffic and occasional loud train whistles, but it did not bother us.

Stubbls Falls Trail: This tree looked like a walking tree with many ‘legs’, albeit it did not go anywhere while we were there (but I will certainly check its location during my next visit).

 The park has a number of hiking trails (some allow cycling), of which we managed to complete three: 

•         Big Bend Lookout. Whereas it is the shortest ‘trail’ (75 meters from the parking lot!), it leads to the spectacular view of the Big East River. This is a meandering river and there are many theories as to why and how they become sinuous. The flow of the river erodes its banks and changes its course, causing a neck. Eventually the neck becomes very narrow and is breached by the flow of the river. Ultimately the abandoned curve turns into an oxbow lake—the satellite map of Arrowhead Park and the area along the Big East River shows plenty of oxbow lakes and meander scars. Unfortunately, one day the part of the river we now admire will also become an oxbow lake. 

Homesteaders Trail

•         Homesteaders Trail. This 3 km loop trail starts near the main office. According to the park’s tabloid, “there is evidence of an old 1870s farm. All that remains today is the foundation of a stone milk house, wagon parts and cleared land.” The trail is a little hilly, but it cuts through the forest and is absolutely wonderful. At one point we were a little confused which path to take, the signage could have been better. I was also looking forward to actually seeing the remnants of the old farm, but did not find anything. It would be a great idea if the park could post a sign on the trail pointing to the location of the farm. 

Arrowhead Provincial Park, Stubbs Falls

•         Stubb’s Falls Trail (2 km) starts at the parking lot near the bridge and parallels the Little East River. The first part of the trail runs along the road leading to East River campsites and reaches the Stubb’s Falls, a very scenic waterfall with plenty of rock formations. A lot of people spend a couple of hours there, taking photos or just watching the chutes. The second part of the trail winds through a forest path and it much nicer than the first one. Furthermore, I spotted two very interesting trees on the trail: one looked like a walking tree with many ‘legs’, albeit it did not go anywhere while we were there (but I will certainly check its location during my next visit); the second one also had three ‘legs’ and grew over a very old stump of the original tree. 

Stubbs Falls Trail: The second three also had three ‘legs’ and grew over a very old stump of the original tree.

I was surprised that there were very few mushrooms in and around the park. Each day the fall colours were becoming more pronounced and we were surrounded by them on the campsite. I must say that it was a very enjoyable visit. This is a wonderful park, where everybody is going to find some interesting activity year round. 

Our campsite at night!

While in the park, we drove to the nearby Dyer Memorial. Not too many people get to see this very original monument, as it is located in the middle of the forest. In addition, the one-way narrow, potholed dirt road leading to it may be tricky to find—and then a little challenging to drive on, especially for smaller vehicles.

The Dyer Memorial

 The memorial was erected by Detroit lawyer Clifton Dyer in 1956 near the Big East River, as a tribute to his wife Betsy Browne Dyer. Mr. Dyer purchased the land where the monument is built over one hundred years ago, after he and his wife honeymooned there. The couple’s ashes are also interned there. The property had been owned and ‘managed’ by the Dyer Memorial Trust based in the USA, but in 2010 it was donated (along with the trust’s funds) to Muskoka Conservancy.

Betsy Brown Dyer and Clifton G. Dyer

The inscription on the monuments reads: 

ERECTED IN FOND MEMORY OF

BETSY BROWN DYER

1884-1956

BY HER HUSBAND

CLIFTON G. DYER

1885-1959

AS A PERMANENT TRIBUTE TO HER FOR THE NEVER-FAILING

AID, ENCOURAGEMENT AND INSPIRATION WHICH SHE

CONTRIBUTED TO THEIR MARRIED CAREER AND AS A

FINAL RESTING PLACE FOR THEIR ASHES. 

An Affectionate, Loyal, and Understanding Wife is Life's Greatest Gift. 

The Dyer Memorial

The monument is surrounded by 2 acres of landscaped land, but the total area of the property is 155 acres. It is a perfect place to meditate, walk, relax and enjoy surrounding nature. We found a trail/dirt road behind the monument (most likely used by ATVs, in spite of the “NO ATVs” sign) and half an hour later we came to another road, which led us back to the parking lot. As expected, we were the only visitors and did not see anybody else. 

Six Mile Lake Provincial Park, Ontario

All the COVID-19 restrictions made it impossible to invite, or visit friends for Thanksgiving Day. Thus, a short camping trip to a park (the last one of the season) was the best alternative. This time I picked very familiar Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. 

The only campsite (#97), which was available in the park over the Thanksgiving Long Weekend.

It is a beautiful park relatively close to Toronto (165 km), offering plenty of activities, and for this reason it has always been quite busy, particularly during COVID-19. I am glad that a week before my visit I had managed to book the only available campsite in the park (#97, Oak Campground) and thus I enjoyed camping over the Thanksgiving long weekend there. Yes, the park was 100% full! 

Campsites along a park road

The fall colours were stunning and I took advantage of the parks’ trails. I leisurely walked the Living Edge Trail and the David Milne Trail, named after David Milne (1882-1953), a Canadian painter, who used to live and paint on Six Mile Lake. Some of his paintings were clearly inspired by the prominent rocks of the Canadian Shield. The hikes were quite easy and let me enjoy the spectacular fall colours even more.

The David Milne Trail in Six Mile Lake Provincial Park

 One part of the park (Maple Campground) was already closed for camping, but it was possible to walk there and I checked out many campsites. Some were very nice and offered very good privacy and lovely views. I have been coming to this park for about 30 years, since the early 1990s, so many of the campsites I visited looked very familiar—I had camped on them with plenty of friends at least 20 times! 

A friend Blue Jay was not afraid of me-as long as there was food!

For a while I observed a majestic blue heron on the trail, but all the other animals I saw were on my site. A hungry chipmunk kept visiting me in regular intervals; it did not even hesitate to literally walk all over me in search of food. A relatively tame blue jay was always watching me from the nearby tree and whenever I was not paying attention, it flew over, landed on the table, grabbed whatever food there was and flew away. Of course, there was also the "de rigueur" nightly visit by several raccoons, so accustomed to tourists that they were sniffing at my legs and shoes while totally ignoring my presence. From time to time a very timid squirrel appeared at the campsite; whenever the chipmunk saw it, it immediately chased it away, ostensibly not wanting to have any competition to share its grub with! 

A very friendly and always hungry Chippy the Chipmunk!

I wanted to take photographs of and collect wild mushrooms, which should normally be plentiful in October. Unfortunately, I did not see any in and around the park—yet my friends reported plenty in Killarney and Algonquin parks. Well, one of nature’s mysteries!

Majestic Blue Heron, often very difficult to spot, as it perfectly blends in the surrounding vegetation

The park had two charging stations for electric vehicles—incredibly, my friend Patrizia, who visited me on the campsite, happened to have a Tesla vehicle, so she took advantage of this opportunity and charged her car overnight. I also asked her a lot of questions about electric vehicles and after one day I certainly became a “junior expert” on this subject! 

The Living Edge Trail

Probably the main disadvantage of this park is its proximity to the highway (400). No matter where the campsite is located, you will hear the noise from the highway. However, since it was almost continuous, after a while I stopped noticing it. Also, when I was hiking on one of the trails, suddenly I saw a beautiful lake… and then a busy highway at its end, which definitively spoiled the view. Obviously, these are things that cannot be changed and we have to accept them… or go to a different park. 

View from one of the park's campsites

While at the park, I drove to McCrae Lake, which is a very popular place for camping and canoeing, as it is still crown land. I managed to hike to the McCrae Lake Bridge & Waterfalls. It was an easy hike and there were a number of other hikers, some carrying backpacks and planning to camp overnight. Again, there were no wild mushrooms anywhere. 

A short portage leading from the parking lot to McCrae Lake

One day I made a loop trip, driving to the town of Coldwater and back to the park. My first stop was at White Falls. In the past we had often paddled from the park to the falls and spent some time having lunch just meters from the falls. This time I hardly saw any people around. 

View from the Bridge near the McCrae Lake Waterfalls

My next stop, The Big Chute Marine Railway, is certainly a very unique place and many people spent hours observing boats being carried in a cradle between two lakes. 

A small bridge along the Living Edge Trail in Six Mile Lake Park

I briefly stopped at Severn Falls. Catherine and I had gone to the Riverhouse Restaurant for Thanksgiving Dinner in 2010 or so and done some canoeing on the Severn River. 

The White Falls, not far from Six Mile Lake Park. 

I also made a brief stop on road #17, Upper Big Chute Road, where in 2012, Catherine and I (and Gabby the dog) had been given a tour by a real estate agent of a 50 acre property for sale. The property had a pond with a beaver lodge and its other border reached the railway tracks. There had been a small cottage, but it was rather designed to be demolished than habituated (and the sale offer said so—however erecting a new dwelling would have adhere to new building rules), as well as two shacks. The agent said that the vendor had initially wanted $189,000 for the property and the price had been reduced to $139,000. I had not planned to make this kind of investments at that time, yet I told the agent that I could buy the property for $100,000. Of course, he never contacted me. To this day I have been thinking whether or not I made a good decision—considering the rising prices of cottages and vacant lots during the COVID pandemic, I am sure the property would be selling for over $200, 000 today. 

In the village of Coldwater I did some shopping at the supermarket, got on the highway and drove back to Port Severn, parked my car and walked around a little. It triggered so many memories, which I would like to share here. 

General Store in Port Severn

Normally, it is possible to drive over the bridge/locks in Port Severn, but the 100 + years old lock (#45), the last lock of the Trent-Severn Waterway, with a swing bridge, was being replaced with another bridge, so I was forced to use the highway 400 to get from one part of Port Severn to the other. 

Construction, road closed!

Adjacent to the Post Office was the “Lock 45 Restaurant and Supermarket”, now closed, its windows boarded up. For many years I used to come to Port Severn fishing—we would rent a motorboat at the nearby motel and spend the whole day on Georgian Bay, fishing around Green Island and Potato Island. Afterwards, we would sometimes go to the restaurant for a cold drink. In 1997, while camping in Six Mile Lake Park, Chris and I went fishing on Georgian Bay. It was raining, windy and cold; not only did not we catch anything, but also got wet and cold. Subsequently we went to the “Lock 45 Restaurant” for a cup of hot coffee. 

"Lock 45" Restaurant. Unfortunately, it has been shuttered for a while. We often went there for coffee

There was a distinguished looking older gentleman at the next table, and he was wearing a very original necklace make of bones. 

    “I admire your necklace”, I said, because the necklace was indeed quite unique. 

Herbert (that was his name) asked us to join him at the table and told us that he was an ‘honorary Indian chief’, and this marvelous necklace had been bestowed upon him by Native people. To make the story short—after telling him about our fruitless fishing trip, Herbert invited us to his nearby cottage on a small, private island. We drove to the Narrows Marina, got into his very beautiful boat, powered with a powerful motor, and in no time arrived at his island. He let us use one of his motorboats and we spent several hours trolling and casting around the island. Later we had dinner and engaged in a long, interesting conversation. Originally from Germany, as a teenager he was conscripted into the Hitler Youth (Hitlerjugend), a youth organization of the Nazi Party (and so was the future Pope Benedict XVI—who knows, maybe they met there?). It was totally dark when we arrived by boat to the Narrows Marina and drove back to our campsite. During our following visits to Port Severn, I kept asking local people about Herbert, but nobody seemed to know him. I even went to the Narrows Marina to make inquiries, but the marina was gone, too. 

In the early 1980s. there used to be a small marina, which rented motor boats. In the summer of 1983 we rented a motor boat here and it was my first fishing experience in Canada!

I also drove via Highway 400 to the north side of Port Severn and explored a marina/boat storage (?) located between Port Severn Road North and Highway 400, just south of “Dam G”. It is a very special place for me: in the summer of 1983, one year after coming to Canada, my friend Josef Sz. and I rented a motor boat from that very location and it was my first fishing experience in Canada! The older couple, who lived there and ran the place, were always very meticulous about checking the boats for scratches. “Any rocks?”, the gentleman would ask when we came back, shining the flashlight all over the boat, as there were plenty of rock in the water.

The old remnants of the old road (road #69) bridge, on which we drove so many times and under which we had to pass to get to Georgian Bay. About 20 years ago it was demolished and replaced with a new bridge, now part of Highway 400

 One of the buildings had been Josef’s brother-in-law’s cottage. All the structures had been gone for a long time—and so had the old Highway 69, replaced by the modern Highway 400 (the old remnants of the old road bridge, under which we had to pass from the marina to Georgian Bay, were still visible). 

Nearby, next to Highway 400, is the Muskey’s Landing Motel. In 1983 it was called “Alcove Motel”, later “Sharkie’s Motel”. The adjacent old Highway 69 had only two lanes before Highway 400 replaced it, encroaching on the motel’s property. The motel had also had a swimming pool, but at one point it was, I believe, just buried. Although I have never stayed overnight in the motel, many a time my friends and I rented a motorboat there: we had called the owner (I think his name was Brian) in advance and arrived before 4:00 am, got into the boat (which had already been prepared for us) and in no time were out on the water, fishing until dusk, usually between Green Island and Potato Island. Sometimes fishing was quite good, sometimes we caught nothing. 

A nightly visitor!

In the late 1990s a couple of times I went fishing with Mr. Tadeusz Pasek, a well-known Polish yoga pioneer & instructor and author of books and university journals articles. Although he did not fish, he loved being on the water, relaxing and meditating. During one of such trips it was very hot and humid, but nothing indicated a forthcoming storm. Unfortunately, come it did, so swiftly and with hardly any warning that I had scarcely any time to reel in the fishing line and then immediately headed towards a shore. Rapidly the waves became so high that our small boat, with a 6 or 10 HP engine, was tossed left and right. I had to keep it perpendicular to the waves—otherwise the boat could have been overturned! Eventually we found a sheltered bay and waited out the storm. It was a very good lesson for me—I have had plenty of respect for the unpredictable weather on Georgian Bay since then! 

Post Office in Port Severn--still the way I remember it almost 40 years ago!

In July, 1993, Mr. Tadeusz Pasek, his son Chris and I drove in my just-purchased brand new Toyota Corolla to Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. The next morning, before 4:00 am, we woke up, headed to the motel, got into the waiting motor boat and began fishing. For the next 7 hours we did not catch anything, causing Mr. Pasek to tease us about and question our fishing abilities. And then, from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm, we caught well over 10 pikes, thus saving our honour! I still remember that spot; each time I was boating in the area I went there and spent some time casting, yet I never even came close to replicating our initial success. Incidentally, at the park we met a university professor of physics, Dr. Minoru Fujimoto, who was camping with his family on the adjacent campsite. Since Chris’ major at university was physics, he stroke up a conversation with him. Soon it turned out that Dr. Fujimoto had collaborated with Chris’ university friend from Poland, currently residing in Toronto and teaching at York University! Perhaps it is a cliché, but indeed, the world IS a small place! 

The following year Chris and I drove to Six Mile Park on August 1, 1994—I remember that date as it was the 50^th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising [incidentally, a lot of Canadian and American mass-media, as well as some historians (sic!) infamously kept referring to this anniversary as “the 50^th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising”—which, of course, took place over 1 year earlier, in 1943]. Even though it was a holiday (the Simcoe Day long weekend), we had not reserved any campsite. When we arrived in the park, the first thing we saw was an assortment of campers, trailers, RVs and cars waiting before the gate: the park was full! However, we were somehow lucky—there was just one campsite available, albeit very small and not suitable for the needs of the waiting tourists. As we only had one tent and one small car, we “qualified” to camp on it. Indeed, it was a rather crappy campsite, but as the saying goes, beggars can’t be choosers! The next day we went fishing and caught a couple of pikes for dinner. 

This squirrel also wanted to get some food from my campsite, but the chipmunk chased it away

Also in mid-1980s Josef Sz., his wife and I went to Port Severn and rented a motor boat from a local marina run by a German-speaking woman. After fishing for a few hours, we encountered problems with the boat’s motor—it was impossible to start it. A few boaters tried to assist us (and they were quite familiar with boat motors), but to no avail. Eventually one of them tied a rope and towed us back to the marina. We were quite dissatisfied and asked the owner for a discount—after all, the boat was not working the way it was supposed to. Surprisingly, she got quite upset… at us, as if we were responsible for the defective motor and her attitude towards us became very unpleasant! Of course, we never patronized her business again. But it was not the end of our problems. As we commenced driving toward Toronto on Highway 69, just after a few hundred meters we realized that there was something wrong with the car. We barely managed to reach the restaurant just south of Port Severn… and to make the story short, we ended up spending the night in the car in the parking lot!  A local mechanic arrived in the morning, towed the car to his garage, fixed it, and soon we were on our way to Toronto. At that time the restaurant was meters from Highway 69, but when the new road (Highway 400) replaced it, the access became more complicated and the restaurant soon went out of business. Unfortunately, many roadside businesses often share the same fate once a new controlled access highway is built. Whenever I was driving up north on Highway 400, I would look at the former restaurant, but it appeared to be boarded up. In 2020 I finally visited it and it was operating as a motel called “All Tucked Inn”. 

Fishing spider, I think it is the biggest spider in Canada

When I was leaving the park on October 13, 2021 (I would have stayed longer, but that day the park was closing for the season), I again stopped in Port Severn and went to the post office to buy stamps and mail letters. Unfortunately, the post office employee was one hour late—due to Thanksgiving Day, she got the days mixed up. There was another gentleman waiting to pick up a parcel and I stuck up a conversation with him. He lived on nearby Yellowhead Island, was a ham radio operator (so was I, but very little radio-active) and we kept talking about a lot of interesting things for about 30 minutes. 

Overall, I enjoyed my vacation in the first year of COVID-19 pandemic and took advantage of the limited travel opportunities to the fullest!

Blog w języku polski/in the Polish language: http://ontario-nature-polish.blogspot.com/2021/12/biwakowanie-w-prowincjonalnych-parkach.html 

More photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/albums/72157720216499304

Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada: Three days camping and canoeing, September/October, 2007.

It was one of my first blogs and originally it was written over 10 years ago in the Polish language. Recently, using the Google Translator, I translated it into the English language and was amazed at how good was the translation! Of course, it did contain errors and it sounded ‘artificial’, yet it was perfectly understandable. After spending some time and correcting whatever I could, this is the final version.

This is a 20 minute slide show, with some videos, about our trip

GPS tracks of our three-day long canoeing trip

The map shows all the lakes we paddled on. Our campsite on Tom Thomson Lake is located in the south part of the lake, close to the letter "L"

Three Days Camping and Canoeing in Algonquin Park, Ontario, Canada, September/October, 2007

 When we look at the map of the Canadian province of Ontario, we immediately notice the green outline of Algonquin Park, located about 250 kilometers north-east of Toronto, with an area of 7,725 square kilometers (15 times more than the area of Warsaw, Poland!). Before the arrival of Europeans, the area of today's park was inhabited by Indians, including the Algonquin tribe. French fur traders were the first white men to explore the park in the early eighteenth century, but it was not until the 1830s that the first more official expeditions took place. The rest of the nineteenth century is mainly associated with the timber industry - the territories there had impressive forests, which were logged, the logs floated down on numerous rivers and then shipped to Great Britain. There were so many trees that it seemed they would last another one thousand years (just as some people nowadays believe that oil will flow forever). Alas, it took less than 100 years to clear all the forest! To facilitate transport, in 1894 a railway line was built in the southern part of the park, stretching from Georgian Bay to Ottawa, and in 1915 another railway line was cut across the north-eastern part of the park (none is operational anymore). Farms were also built, but they faced enormous problems - the whole area is on the Canadian Shield and it is practically impossible to run successful farms where the soil is prone to erosion, its layer is very thin and the fields are strewn with stones and boulders the size of houses. Officially, the park was founded in 1893 and one of the goals was to protect the natural environment. Several well-known hotels and camps for children were established in the park, and tourists, who wanted to relax in the bosom of nature or engage in hunting or fishing activities, kept arriving in the park by train. The park has grown enormously since then and has "absorbed" much of the surrounding area. In the 1930s, the first road cut across the park (today's road no. 60) and thus began car tourism. There are almost 2,400 lakes and 1,200 km of rivers and streams in the park, and every year it is visited by hundreds of thousands of tourists who either camp on the campgrounds accessible by cars, or set off on canoe trips deep into the park and cover hundreds of kilometers, staying overnight on hundreds of camping sites scattered all over of the park. Another attraction of the park is the "wolf howling" - people park cars on the side of the road and park employees start to imitate wolves’ howling. After some time, wolves call up from different places in the park - it is an incredibly original "concert", attended by tourists from all over the world. 

Chris, Lynn, Nick, Christine and Jack (and Spark the dog-but he was behind the camera, taking the photo ;)

Day One: Saturday, September 29, 2007.

We left Toronto by seven in the morning in two cars; apart from me, the other participants consisted of Nick, Lynn, Christine, Chris and the adorable dog Spark, so obedient that he never needed to be on a leash. The weather was just perfect - temperatures were above + 20 C, not even one rain drop, always sunny... of course, we were very pleasantly surprised by the weather, because were prepared for and expecting much lower temperatures and frosts at night - October in Ontario can be quite cold. There was no traffic on Highway no. 400 and then on Road # 11. We quickly stopped in Huntsville for some last-minute shopping, and from there took Road # 60 that led straight into the park. The park has 29 so-called "access points", places from which you can start your canoe trip; after a few dozen minutes we got to access point no. 5, where the well-known Portage Store was located. You can rent or buy all the equipment needed for canoeing and camping trips - whether for a few hours or several weeks. We had already booked two canoes a week before - both were lightweight, made of Kevlar; one five-meter long, two-person, the other one longer (19 feet), for 3 people. They cost $43 and $50 a day, respectively, and $3 a day per person for a life jacket. In the next building was the park office - as we had made reservations in advance, we only had to pay and were given permits, which allowed us to spend two nights there.

Canoeing on Canoe Lake

The cost was $10 per person per night, as well as parking was included. On the topographic map of the park all canoe routes as well as camping sites were precisely marked. We planned to spend two nights on the same campsite, on Tom Thomson Lake—so upon arrival at the lake, we could choose any vacant spot. However, those who plan to change camping sites every day, must specify exactly when and where they intend to camp and they will receive camping permits for specific lakes. Sometimes this system can be a bit of a hassle, especially in a bad weather that prevents from reaching the next destination on time, but there are usually always vacant campsites—and worst comes to worst, just set up the tent on any suitable place. By the way, at the end of September, it not really necessary to book campsites, as there are very few tourists visiting the park, but it turned out quite a good idea that we had done so - we were told at the park office that all campsites for this weekend on Tom Thomson Lake had been reserved! Most likely the awesome weather had caused many people to come to the park, as well as there was a large group of several dozen young people who set off half an hour ahead of us and were just heading for the same lake. After unpacking our luggage - and it was quite numerous, considering the length of our trip - we carefully placed everything in our canoes and after taking a few photos, we departed and after 12:00 pm started our journey on Canoe Lake. 

Our first (easy) portage, from Canoe Lake to Joe Lake

It is a small lake, very popular because of easy car access and the rental store. Its history is quite interesting: At the end of the nineteenth century there was a large sawmill there and on the shores of the lake was the settlement of Mowat, which at one point had 600 inhabitants and even side tracks, connected to the main railway line, reached Mowat. Cottage construction began on the shores of Canoe Lake, and the large Mowat Lodge was opened in 1913. Today it is even difficult to find the place where the settlement and the Mowat Hotel used to be, but there are still private cottages and there is a complete lack of campsites. People who own cottages were granted the right to use them for 99 years when the park was established; when the deadline expired, it was extended to 2017 (and recently until 2038). Of course, the park would like to get rid of all the private cottages, but probably many of the owners will try hard to win the right to continue using their buildings.

Lynn simply LOVES portaging!

There were relatively many boaters on the lake - many of them only came for a few hours. Our canoes turned out to be quite good and they moved quickly on the water. Since I am a rather strong paddler, I was sitting in the back (stern) and didn't even have to use the corrective J-stroke very often, because Nick and Christine were a bit weaker paddlers and when they were both paddling on the opposite side, I had no problem to compensate for their paddling. After a dozen or so minutes, the first large island appeared in the distance, Gillmour Island, on which the Gillmour brothers, who had owned a sawmill, built their summer cottages in the 19th century. Then we passed Wapomeo Island and a smaller island appeared, appropriately named Little Wapomeo Island. Looking at it, it was impossible not to think about what had happened near this island almost exactly 90 years ago—the most famous event that occurred on the lake - namely the mysterious death of a very famous Canadian painter, Tom Thomson. 

Hayhurst Point-the Tom Thomson Cairn

Tom Thomson first came to this park in 1912 and sometimes was spending up to 8 months a year there, canoeing, visiting friends living on Canoe Lake and staying at the Mowat Lodge Hotel. Thomson was perhaps the first to discover the beauty of Canadian nature as an artistic theme and encouraged many of his friends, including painters, to visit the park; it was they, after his premature death, who created the famous Canadian "Group of Seven" - a group of painters who presented Canadian nature and nature in general in a very innovative and original way. His paintings, created in a very unique style, were often given away by Thomson practically for free to his friends; nowadays they are displayed in many leading galleries and fetch extremely high auction prices of over one million dollars. On July 8, 1917, Tom Thomson set out in his canoe from the Mowat Lodge Hotel, most likely to do some fishing. Two days later his canoe was found near Little Wapomeo Island; fishing tackle and his bag were missing, and a single paddle was never found. Intensive searches yielded no results. Eight days after his disappearance, his body was found near Little Wapomeo Island and taken to Wapomeo Island. The medical examination showed no water in the lungs, only a bruise on the temple (maybe with this missing paddle?); the doctor declared the death to be an accident. In addition, the fishing line was twisted a dozen times around his ankle, and the other paddle was attached to the canoe, but in a rather unconventional way. He was buried on the shores of Canoe Lake, but after a few days the body was moved to the town of Owen Sound, where he originally came from. In any case, 90 years later, his death is still not fully explained, and there are many different theories as to how he actually ended his life - only Canoe Lake knows the whole secret! As we were paddling, on the right, on the tip of Hayhurst Point, there was a cairn erected in memory of this artist, about which I will write later. 

The end of the portage, Joe Lake. The road bridge used to be a train bridge,  where the busiest railway line in the country ran - a train passed every 20 minutes. 

Having passed Little Wapomeo Island, we stared at the left bank where the town of Mowat and the hotel used to be and tried to imagine what the area might have looked like over a hundred years ago, before the arrival of the lumberjacks... well, virtually all of the original trees had been cut down - they were several dozen meters high, ideally suited for masts for British ships - and it would take many generations for the park's nature to resemble what it had existed before the lumberjacks cleared the forest.

Chris likes portaging, too! The Joe Dam Portage can be a very busy place

Slowly the lake narrowed until we finally reached its northern part. There was a dam (Joe Lake Dam) and our first portage, i.e. transporting the canoe over a distance of 295 m. There are numerous portages in the park, from several dozen meters to over 5 kilometers and it is impossible to make a longer trip without at least a few portages. For some canoeists, canoeing without portaging is not an option at all; for others, portage is a necessary evil, which they accept but try to avoid as much as possible. We certainly belonged to the latter group and we chose our route to cover only this one portage. Usually, the length of portages has to be multiplied by three - first you carry the canoe, the second time you walk back to pick up the backpacks and the third time you carry them (although I know people who pack so that they can carry everything, including the canoe, in one trip; they often look like Christmas trees, festooned with various pieces of luggage and equipment!). Since we didn't expect too many portages, we didn't really care about the amount of luggage and we walked the portage 5 times. It turned out that at the other end the group of young people who had started out ahead of us and headed for Tom Thomson Lake, was just finishing their lunch. We decided that we would try to be the first ones on Tom Thomson Lake, otherwise they would probably occupy most of the better campsites and we would have difficulties finding a good spot. So we quickly had a grub, packed our things in the canoe and off we went! 

The beaver dam just before Tom Thomson Lake. It was very solid and apparently very old

After a few minutes we passed under the road bridge—the traffic on this road was restricted to authorized vehicles only. Few people realized that the road was built in the old right-of-way of the "famous" railroad, built by one of Canada's richest industrialists, JR Booth, the timber "baron" whose operations pertaining to logging, transporting and processing timber were the largest in the world. It was he who built the railroad from Georgian Bay to Ottawa in 1897 to transport lumber from the area where Algonquin Park is now located. This railway ran through Wilno, the first Polish settlement in Canada, and at one time was the busiest railway line in the country - a train passed every 20 minutes. In 1933, the railway overpass collapsed, greatly reducing the number of trains on this route. The last train passed in 1959; after removing the railroad tracks, most of this route was converted into a hiking trail. 

Old stumps-the water level was increased by numerous dams during the logging era

Leaving the bridge behind us, we entered Joe Lake, where private cabins disappeared and campsites began to appear (they had conspicuous orange signs, visible from a distance). We passed the large Joe Island on the right. The shores were completely forested and many leaves had already started to take beautiful fall colors. Often, huge tree trunks protruded from the water - a remnant of logging operations, their protruding sharp tips still presented a threat and we had to watch out for them. The lake then narrowed to a river, the Little Oxtongue River - and we quickly entered a fairly large lake pleasantly named Tepee Lake. On its west shore was Camp Arowhon, founded in 1932. From a distance we saw neatly arranged canoes - surely the kids who spent their holidays there had beautiful memories lasting a lifetime! The lake began to narrow, then it became wider again - as it turned out, it was already another lake, Fawn Lake and finally we entered Little Doe Lake from which, according to the map (and my reliable GPS) only a short isthmus separated us from our destination - Tom Thomson Lake. But an unexpected surprise awaited us: the isthmus was blocked off with a solid beaver dam! We didn't really know how to deal with this obstacle - was there a short portage around this dam, or we had to just walk over it and move or slide the canoes? Fortunately, a canoe with a couple of more experienced canoeists showed up. They told us that “the dam had been there since time immemorial", quickly stepped out of the canoe, and standing on the dam, pushed the canoe over and in no time were paddling on the other side. We followed their steps and indeed, it turned out that the dam was so solid that probably an elephant could have walked over it without any problems; besides, beavers certainly repaired any damage every day. After a few minutes we were on the other side of the dam and because a group of the young people had just reappeared, we decided to paddle as hard as possible to find the best place. After a dozen or so minutes we crossed the isthmus and found ourselves on Tom Thomson Lake.

Arriving at our campsite on Tom Thomson Lake, N45 37.400 W78 44.103

The lake was bestowed this name in 1958 in memory of the aforementioned painter, Tom Thomson; until then it had been called Black Bear Lake. 

Our campsite on Tom Thomson Lake

According to our map, there were a lot of camping places around the lake, and two of them were located on an island - and these were of particular interest to us, because the dog could be let loose on the island and we would not have to worry about him getting lost. First, we saw a small, rocky island with a dozen or so impressive Canadian pines - a unique sight! It was such islets that were a frequent inspiration for Tom Thomson and the painters of the Group of Seven. A larger island appeared in the distance. After a few minutes we reached it and it turned out that one site was occupied; the couple staying there said the other one was still vacant, so we circled the island and checked it out... but we didn't like it: there wasn't much room to pitch tents and the view from it was limited to the west shore of the lake. .. There was another campsite nearby, which at least looked interesting on the map - in the very south of the lake, situated on a headland between two bays. Paddling very hard, we got there after a few minutes and that campsite turned out to be really perfect: very spacious and ideal for setting up our 4 tents, it had a beautiful view of the whole lake, the island and the coves, and there was no other campsite within a radius of a kilometer or two so it provided us with plenty of privacy! (According to my GPS, it was located 425 meters above sea level, N45 37.400 W78 44.103). 

Our campsite on Tom Thomson Lake. I liked it!

After reaching the shore, we unloaded our canoes and hauled them to the campsite, and then set up our tents. Just in case, we brought some dry wood with us for the campfire, but it turned out to be unnecessary, we could easily find plenty of dry wood everywhere. Although the regulations say that a maximum of 9 people can stay on a campsite and 3 tents, we did not expect any inspection at that time and we pitched the 4^th tent, which was very small; in case of any problems, we were to say that it was... a kennel for a dog. A path stretched from our bivouac and some 50 meters further there was a very primitive latrine (called “thunderbox”), not fenced by anything - at least it provided a lot of fresh air and an interesting view; each time you went to use it, you had to make sure that no one else was going to use it. Around the campsite I found a dozen or so delicious mushrooms, resembling boletus. An hour later, all five of us were sitting around a fire, savoring red and white wine, grilling marinated steaks over the fire and sharing various scrumptious dishes (due to the ethnically mixed group, there were Chinese food and delicacies with a typical Indian flavor, as well as Polish sausage, kabanos sausages and the always attractive Polish marshmallows, “ptasie mleczko”), and a few people were brave enough to try my wild mushrooms which I fried (just in case you wonder: yes, they did survive!). 

Around the campfire, having a tasty meal!

Since there were black bears in the park, we should hang our food between trees, but somehow we didn't feel like doing so; we trusted that no bear would visit us, and we hoped that the presence of Spark the dog would scare bears away. So we only hung the bag with food so that ubiquitous raccoons would not get to it. It is estimated that there are two thousand black bears in the park (about 1 bear for three square kilometers), but they are generally not a problem for campers and very few people actually get to see them at all. However, tragedies do happen from time to time: in 1978, three boys were attacked and killed by a black bear in Algonquin Park, and in 1991, two people camping on Bates Island on Lake Opeongo were also killed by a bear. In addition, there had been some cases of bears attacking children. The best place to spot bears in Ontario is in landfills, where you can sometimes see more than 20 bears - generally they stay away from people. Personally, I had encountered black bears on camping sites in Canada three times; fortunately, each time they had quickly run away—probably they had been as scared of me as I had been of them! 

There is nothing comparable to sitting around the fire on a campsite and looking at the lake... simply priceless!

Soon it got dark, faint lights of distant fires on the opposite shores of the lake appeared in the distance and we heard some sounds, fortunately the group of young people must have settled in the far part of the lake. Spark the dog, on the other hand, was extremely interested in mice that came out from their holes in the ground to hunt in the evening, and he keep looking for hours at the spot where they had appeared. It grew colder as dusk fell, but the weather was still fine and the fire kept us warm. Overall, we were tired - most of had not gotten much sleep the previous night, and Lynn had just returned from Hong Kong in the morning, and the following day after the end of our trip, she was also going to fly to Hong Kong - but since she had been doing this for 11 years, she had already gotten used to it. At 10:00 pm we put out the fire, buried ourselves in our double sleeping bags, and soon we all were sleeping like logs. 

The best things in life are free... almost!

Day Two: Sunday, September 30, 2007 

We were up at seven in the morning, mainly to take photos. Chris lit a fire and it was nice to immediately warm up with it and have a cup of hot coffee. Morning mist was raising off he water, but since it was not too cold, it did not make a particularly good photographic subject., We noticed a gaggle of ducks on the water and a Canadian Loon. The breakfast consisted of a few slices of pan-fried Canadian bacon, scrambled eggs, and sliced tomatoes and cucumber. Nick offered me very tasty Indian coffee with milk; even though Sparky received his dog food, he was patiently circling around us, hoping to receive "human" food, which suited him much better. After breakfast, we unfolded the maps and began to wonder where we were going to go. Although, we tried to avoid portages, we were considering trying to paddle a route with portages, especially since we would not have any heavy luggage with us. After half an hour we chose a loop-shaped route, which according to our calculations, we should easily complete within 6 hours. 

Our canoeing trip, according to my GPS tracks

So, having packed the most necessary things - food, drinks, additional clothes and cameras - we headed east towards Tom Thomson Lake and we reached Bartlett Lake (named after the park superintend, who held this function for a record period of 24 years at the turn of the 19^th and 20^th century). The lake looked very nice; we noticed several campsites on its shores. We made it to its northern part, where the first portage awaited us, 470 m. We met a couple who also carried the canoe, but in the opposite direction. We were able to move everything in one go; I found some beautiful mushrooms on the way and from then on I always looked for mushrooms during each portage. On the other side of the portage, we saw – well, it was difficult to define what: a lake? A pond? A swamp? This body of water was overgrown with rushes and only a narrow waterway was cut for the canoe. It was terribly muddy and shallow; although the whole route was not more than 150 m, we got quite tired, pushing, rather than paddling, the canoe, with the paddles against the bottom of that muddy pool. Falling into something like that would be probably worse than tipping in the middle of a lake! When we reached the "mainland", we had to get off the canoe and, walking in the wet mud, we pushed the canoe on the ground. After successfully completing this arduous section, we faced a second short portage, 130 meters, which we quickly did and ended up on the picturesque Willow Lake. We loved one of the mountainous rocky headlands where we stopped for lunch and also took a lot of great photos. The lake was completely empty, there were no campsites on its shores, and it would probably be a perfect place for painters; I would not be surprised if Tom Thomson or other painters from the Group of Seven had come here to paint. 

Sunbeam Lake Portage. Christopher, Spark, Nick, Christine, Lynn & Jack, celebrating the  end of the longest portage of our trip.

After lunch, we continued our journey and soon there was a third, 240 meter long portage leading to Aster Pond; having plenty of energy after lunch, we completed it in no time. Aster Pond, despite its name, did not resemble a pond, but just a small lake; when it comes to naming, it's probably a very subjective thing! The northern shore of Aster Pond also meant the longest portage for us, 670 m. We got a bit tired, but soon we reached Sunbeam Lake, where we took a commemorative photo at the signage marking the length of the portage. 

We had to portage a lot! Unfortunately, I could not help-somebody had to take photos!

Sunbeam Lake had several extremely picturesque rocky islets and one had a camping site, as well as there were several other sites on the northern shores. We slowly canoed around two such islets, made of huge rocks, enjoying the view and the silence around us. On the east-south side of the lake we did a short portage, only 120 meters, and we entered Vanishing Pond. Somehow we had not given much thought about that name, yet we should have; as it turned out, often the pond did disappear or the water level was very low, even on the map there was a warning that we had not noticed. Paddling the first few hundred meters was problem-free, but the waterway gradually began to narrow until a solid beaver dam appeared. It took a while to get the canoe over it. 

One of numerous beaver dams we had to traverse

Behind the dam, a different landscape has already appeared – we were canoeing on a very winding, narrow stream, we often had problems with making turns due to the length of our canoe, and from time to time the canoe settled on the shallows. We frequently encountered beaver dams, which we had to traverse; there were so many of them that we stopped counting them - it became almost a routine for us to get out of the canoe and then efficiently slide or carry the canoe over the dams. 

Another damn dam!

At one point, the stream split and we nearly headed in the wrong direction, towards Baden-Powell Lake, but we quickly realized the mistake. We proceeded quite slowly and we began to worry whether or not we would be able to reach our campsite before dark. Finally, we reached a kind of marsh - we proceeded along a clearing in the rushes, here and there characteristic beaver lodges appeared. Finally we reached the beginning of the last portage. It was a bit hard to reach the shore due to many rocks and we had to try a few times - our canoes were light but not as strong as the heavier ones, so we had to be careful not to damage them. The last portage was 405 meters; sometimes the path was narrow and we had to be careful not to trip and fall down. After 5:00 pm we reached the end of the portage and were on Bluejay Lake. We had difficulties with launching the canoe into the water - it was shallow, with a lot of underwater rocks; in addition, the wind began to blow, making it hard to paddle. After several minutes, both canoes were on the water. We started paddling hard to reach our campsite as quickly as possible. Bluejay Lake narrowed and we navigated onto the already familiar Little Doe Lake. 

A beaver lodge-there were plenty of them

There were several campfires on its shores and we could smell the unique aroma of the camp kitchen. We passed relatively close near a beautiful blue heron, which stood motionless hunting for fish. Often wading in the reeds, between tree trunks and branches sticking out of the water, blue herons become almost invisible from a distance, blending in perfectly with the surrounding landscape. After an hour we reached the beaver dam that we had encountered on the first day; another 30 minutes later we were at our site. It was still light enough for me to fetch a lot of wood while the others started the fire and were preparing dinner. Soon all of us were sitting around the fire, sipping red and white wine, sharing today's events and massaging the muscles that were sore from paddling and carrying canoes! The night was warmer than the last one, and we were generally well rested, so we sat until almost two in the morning, chatting and showing off the photos and videos we had taken.

Back at the campsite!

Day Three: Monday, October 1, 2007 

On the last day, the weather was the same as the day before, only more windy. At eight o'clock in the morning we were already up; we had breakfast, took a series of photos and started packing. As there are no rubbish bins in the park, we were not allowed to bring metal cans and glass containers with us (actually, we had bought wine in paper packages), and all other rubbish had to be either burned or taken back with us. We had a plastic garbage bag, containing mostly plastic bottles and waste that we could not incinerate. Before 11:00 am we set off, following the same route as before. The blowing wind, especially on the larger lakes, made paddling quite demanding and we had to paddle very hard to keep the canoe moving towards our destination. We passed several canoes and kayaks, including two solo canoeists; from the amount of luggage they carried it was possible to deduce that they were going camping for at least a few days. Some people like to go on such trips alone in the fall, when they might experience solitude and seclusion from other people. Former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliot Trudeau, was an avid canoeist and often was canoeing alone.

Again at the Joe Lake Portage, Lynn and her new best friend!

Having passed the former railroad bridge, we reached the Joe Lake Dam where we had lunch. It was our last portage, this time we had to again cover its length several times, gradually bringing all the pieces of our luggage and camping equipment. A large group of 11^th grade students had just arrived at the southern side of the portage and they were going with their teachers to camp for several days. It was immediately clear that this was not their first such trip - they efficiently carried backpacks, tents and food containers, and with the canoes slung over their backs, they practically ran while portaging them! In all this confusion, it turned out that they accidentally took one of our paddles, but they found it and brought back to us. It was a good lesson for us to be careful during portages not to mix up the belongings with those belonging to others, as space is often limited since there are often a lot of people at such places, practically everything placed at the same spot and it was easy to grab other people's things. 

At the Tom Thomson Cairn, Hayhurst Point

We were back on Canoe Lake, but there was one more place we wanted to visit before the end of our trip – the Tom Thomson Cairn. Upon hearing of Thomson's death, many of his friends - future members of the Group of Seven - came to the park. Without Tom Thomson, the park immediately lost its charm for them and they did not even want to create their paintings there. In order to honor him, they decided to build a memorial cairn on top of Hayhurst Point overlooking Canoe Lake; it was from there that Tom Thomson had often created his paintings. In 1930, a few meters from the cairn, an Indian totem was erected by children spending their holidays at nearby camps. 

Christine, Nick and Lynn

Due to the increasing wind, we had a little trouble reaching the Hayhurst cliff, but we made it without any problems. After two minutes of climbing, we found ourselves at the cairn and totem pole. The cairn and the plaque embedded in it were directed towards the place where the body of Tom Thomson had been found. We spent almost half an hour there, taking a commemorative group photo (interestingly, 6 days later I would visit this cairn again, that time with a different group of people!). We talked once more about the mysterious death of Tom Thomson and the legends that had arisen since then: about a shadowy ghost canoe that some people see moving swiftly on the lake and then vanishing in the fog ... a canoe that very quickly moves on the water, then reaches the sandy beach and disappears, leaving no traces of landing in the sand… about a comet that flew over the lake on the anniversary of Tom Thomson's death... 

Lynn, Sparky and Chris

We wanted to stay at the cairn even longer, but we had to return our canoes on time. After less than half an hour we reached the Portage Store, unpacked the canoes, took them to the rental shop and after a dozen or so minutes we were leaving the park. In Huntsville, we popped into a restaurant on the main street called "Louis II" for a very tasty dinner. At the parking lot, we saw huge paintings hanging on the walls of the buildings - reproductions of paintings by Tom Thomson and other members of the Group of Seven - what a coincidence! Well, another proof that the works of Thomson and his colleagues were still very well-known and appreciated in Canada. 

Mural in Huntsville, Ontario: "Northern River" by Tom Thomson

Promising ourselves that we would try to organize a similar trip next year, we said goodbye and set off on our way back. The traffic on the highways was not bad and we reached Toronto by 10:00 pm. 

Mural in Huntsville, Ontario: "The Pool" by Tom Thomson

Overall, it was an extremely successful trip. In three days we were able to see a lot, as well as experienced a total of 2,625 meters of portaging. It was not a lot, and besides, in most cases we didn't have to walk several time, progressively carrying our belongings; passionate canoeists often cover more and much longer portages in one day, and in addition are laden with all the equipment - nevertheless, we were glad that we tried portaging—it let us paddle on many lakes and see very scenic parts of the park. We enjoyed a perfect weather, a wonderful camping site, and explored places related to the history and culture of Canada. However, the most important thing that made our trip successful was the great, well-coordinated company, which is always the decisive factor in any such trip.

P.S. 

Catherine and I went to Algonquin Park three years later, in May 2010, and we actually camped on that very same campsite! Unfortunately, Pumpkin was not thrilled with this campsite—she said it was too dark and the view was not very good, as well as she got lost in the forest while looking for a hot shower (or was it a hot tub that she wanted to use?). And probably in the morning, while I was still asleep, she was furiously paddling all over the lake, looking for Tim Horton's! (a very well-known Canadian chain of coffee shops, serving excellent coffee). Besides, a very violent storm took place while we were camping there, with thunders and lighting striking nearby. However, we did see plenty of moose, including some wading in the water. A few photos from that trip:

With Catherine on the same campsite on Tom Thomson Lake 3 years later! The massive rock was still there.

Setting up the tent at the campsite on Tom Thomson Lake in May, 2010

Catherine did not like the campsite, but she loved watching a moose from the canoe, as it was wading in the lake!

PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/albums/72157602264609726

Blog w języku polskim/Blog in the Polish language: http://ontario-nature-polish.blogspot.com/2010/06/in-polish-algonquin-park-canoeing.html

YouTube/slide show: https://youtu.be/GaVKtI6qDOw