Spring Break! What does one do--fly to warmer places, right? Well, sort of....
This trip brought me back to my childhood heaven of Algonquin Provincial Park. Nestled in the center of Ontario, Canada's vast interconnected wilderness of lakes, Algonquin Park has always been an escape for me. In my teenage years, it formed the basis of most of my dreams. The summer that I spent working in the Park at Camp Tamakwa was one of the best I've ever had. Canoeing in the solitude of glassy, clear lakes, spending days basking on the massive granite rocks, fishing and wandering through the backcounrty was as much as any kid needed. But that was Summer. Winters in Algonquin can get a bit heavy, and this one in particular was no slouch. It dumped much snow on the area, and kept that piled high as temperatures in the 2013-2014 winter stayed consistently below freezing across most of the northern latitudes of the Midwest and Canada. In mid April, ice on the big lakes (away from the slush of shore) exceeded 1ft (+30cm) and snow ranged from 1-2ft (60cm) in most parts of the forest that I traveled.
I spent 4 days in the backcountry, exploring the woods and lakes with the help of snowshoes, skis, a sled, my backpack(s) and a kite. My winter exploration took me from the start at Mew Lake campground, across the Lake of Two Rivers and down the old railway trail to the southern border of Whitefish Lake approaching Rock Lake. The weather was terrific, mostly sunny and 50's - 60's F during the day (~10*C) and down to mid 20's F at night (slightly below ~ 0*C).
Tuesday April 8th, Day 1: Getting started among some early morning snowfall @ Tea Lake near Hwy 60.
Camp for the first night, on the river following Pog Lake.
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| After a long day of backtracking (unintentional exploration), snowkiting across a frozen lake, and beating the rail-trail on snowshoes for a few hours, this slice of open area beside the river was a welcomed sight as the sun began to fade behind the forest ridges. |
Day 2: My sled was repacked and ready to tow on the rail-trail after a friendly visit from a park ranger (the only person I saw in the backcountry, on duty at a nearby dam) telling me to "politely move" my campsite to a new location as it was not far enough away from the regulated distance from a body of water. We had a lengthy discussion about my situation the night before and plans for the day, but he insisted and was optimistic about potential sites farther along the route. This made for another day of hauling the sled and finding a new place to lay out for the night. The day was beautiful and warm, causing a lot of melting (and sled tipping) along lake shores and on open parts of the trail. I must have tipped the sled 5 times in a minute before I got fed up and dragged it by hand.
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| An old railway bridge crossing a marsh creek at the narrow, upper end of Whitefish Lake. |
The trail, in most forest sections, was cool and well packed with snow. I walked through this scenery for a few hours before coming to the wide portion of Whitefish Lake, where I busted out the kite and skis and tried to cut down on the travel time on foot.
It was not an easy day however, and the location of the old lumber mill that was recommended as a place to camp near Whitefish Lake was not to be found. This made for an uncomfortable evening of searching for a place to stay as the sun was nearing the horizon and into the late-twilight of the evening. I settled near a field of milkweed, "guided" by two moths that crossed my path in the warm, early-season dance for mates.
Day 3: Hard-going: no photos on camera.
Day 4: After the night at the Pow-Wow shelter.
Back to the Dam where I had camped the first night. This time the trek was a little easier, having already encountered this trail and knowing I had to be back at the car with some daylight left in the bag. I took a lunch of hard-boiled eggs, pork shoulder, salami and cheese that I had saved up for a hefty snack.
