Algonquin Trip 1 - June/July 1998

What follows are some random notes that I've made about the trip (as well as the route that we took if it wouldn't be obvious looking at the map ). It's not a complete list of my memories but should give a little flavour for the trip and for those that were on it, may serve to refresh their memories....

Enter Rain Lake
Night 1 Jubilee Lake

• My first lesson in having a box in the woods as a toilet.

Night 2 Misty Lake

• We saw a moose and her calf on bandit lake. The mother ended up a fair distance from the calf and I guess the calf didn't like this situation as it "bleated" for its mommy. Definitely cute...
• The first portage of 1KM or more (1030m).

Night 3 Jubilee Lake

• New campsite this time.
• Shawn got his hiking boots wet today. Raeni dried them on the fire. Shawn discovered the joys of nicely dried, steel toed boots...

Night 4 Casey Lake

• First rain storm; very interesting watching the rain coming across the lake.
• Paddled around Casey lake until we realized that maybe an aluminum canoe, with aluminum paddles on a lake (ie: Raeni was the tallest object in the vicinity) might not be the smartest thing to be doing in an electrical storm.
• Introduction of the Blue Sillies , an interesting affect that is observed when cold and wet people see the first glimpse of blue sky.

Night 5 Butt Lake

• Choose to do a 1485m portage instead of the route that had less than 800m in portages (I guess portaging is getting easier!)
• Laundry on the rocks and a wonderful breeze across out site to dry our clothes (quickly!)

Enter Hambone (Kim and Raeni enter, Jodi and I meet them there)
Night 6 Queer Lake

• Queer lake is ugly and we decide that we will not be camping here on the way back (we crashed Little Trout lake instead).
• Saw a busy beaver.

Night 7 Misty Lake

• Complete shock that Kim survives this day.
• Portage from hell going to the Tim river (more than 10 trees covering the path, giant hole in the group essentially on the path.
• I actually got lost in light bush with the canoe while trying to get around a particularily nasty stretch of fallen trees. Nothing to put the canoe into made for a long 5 minutes waiting for Kim to catch up to me.
• Learned how to steer the canoe on a 15 foot wide river with many twists and turns ... What was Jodi thinking ?

Night 8 Little Trout Lake

• Had a hard time finding a site on this lake, very popular. A nice family called us over while because they were in the process of packing up and leaving. Phew.
• Way too close to the entry point. Had people at another campsite with a drum singing such favorites as "There's no half way about it, Ex says it all."
• Kim was slightly fixated on anotomical issues.

Last Day

• subtitled: the day of the baggie
• Sent Kim and Raeni out at Hambone with the gear and the rental canoe that had to be returned. Jodi and I headed down to Rain Lake to be picked up. The only gear that we had was a zip-lock baggie with pita and cheese for lunch.