TOURduPARK
Our engagement rings nestled in a carving on the bench at Nadine Lake
The view from the long campsite in the long marsh on the Nipissing River
We continued down the Nipissing through an area called ‘long marsh’. The name fits very well as this part of the river just snakes its way through a lush green marsh in the middle of a massive valley boarded by hardwoods and pines on high hills. I love this river – I love Algonquin. As we approached the section of river where Nadine Creek empties, there was a spot on the north shore I wanted to get out and poke around a bit. It had a ruins symbol on the map and it was an area where the edge of the forest and hard ground came right out to the river bank. As we passed it, I opted to save it for the next trip as we have 5 days on the Nipissing planned for next month. I took note of the shoreline and a little gravel beach I could park at to get out and explore. Next time for sure. We paddled for another hour through the quiet marsh, I was surprised we hadn’t seen any moose yet – this is prime moose territory. With a little over 5km to go, we decided to take a break on the river and have lunch. Once again, Angela threw together some salami and mustard on bagels and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As we sat in the canoe beached on tall grasses we could hear the calls of many birds in the forest. There was no wind so they could be heard very loud and clear. The sky was a little overcast but the sun managed to shine through, it was a beautiful day even despite the rain earlier. After lunch we continued down stream at a slow pace and keeping quiet with hopes to see a moose. No such luck and an hour later we came around the final bend in the river and I could see the orange campsite sign in the forest. We landed at the muddy bank and our travelling for the day was complete – in good time too as it was just passed 3:30pm.
I unloaded the canoe up on to the high bank and tired off the canoe. We surveyed the campsite and I was happy to find it in good shape. I had stayed at this campsite a couple times on previous trips, so I knew what to expect when I got here. Angela really liked the site, she felt like it was very wild and out there – which is sort of true as there are no other sites for a few km. I started to unpack and set up the tent while Angela tended to the bar to mix up some whiskey sours. It was getting a little hot out and I debated jumping in the river for a swim. I opted not too as the water is just too dark and I’m worried I’d swim into a sunken tree and freak out. With the tent set up and the inside taken care of, we lounged around camp with a couple drinks for an hour or so. We set up the chairs up high on the river bank and waited for moose to appear. None did, which was odd as the last two times I stayed here a giant bull moose hung out for hours eating lily’s across the river. Not this time though, or at least not now. It was after 5pm now and it was time to start thinking about dinner. The plan for tonight is to catch a couple brookies and enjoy it with fresh bannock and pasta primavera. I grabbed the rod and set a double loon No. 3 with a worm. Usually I wouldn’t use a treble hook but when I am fishing for keeps, I’ll take all the help I can get. If I was fishing for fun, I would use a jig with a grasshopper or something.
We launched at 12:45pm and I was looking forward to a nice, lazy-river type of paddle to our campsite, which was about 11km down river. The sun mixed with clouds continued and there was a light breeze in the air. The minor current of the river was working in our favor and we were having a great time. Half an hour later we rounded a corner and we halted to a dead stop – our path was blocked. Not by a moose or bear, but by a massive white pine that had recently fallen. This tree is huge and probably fell within the last couple weeks. There was absolutely no way under it due to huge branches pointing down into the water and the logs from a few other trees jammed up against those branches. It would be a slippery and spidery affair to navigate through. We looked to both shorelines to see which was the better to use as a work around. The side with the stump from the fallen tree looked very rough, but the other side had the crown of the tree. There was evidence in the mud that people were using the crown side and just climbing over the branches. This was a bit of a challenge as the river bank is very steep and high, with the only place to stand being a mud bank that will swallow your foot if you stepped in the wrong place. So much for my lazy river paddle to the next campsite eh? The obstruction in the river took about 20 minutes to pass, but neither of us got wet feet or fell in the river – so it was a success! Hopefully we wont see any more blowdowns like this.
A quick view of the campsite – we sort of tossed everything around after having to move the location of the tent. The better of the two tent pads would’ve had sparks blown into the tent
I was so happy I grabbed the ring and put it on. I loved it. It reminds me of the forest, and looks nice too. What a great place to be presented with such a gift. This trip just keeps getting better and better. We celebrated for a bit and as it was getting close to noon we decided to take the tarp down and head out. We left the tarp up until the end because we expected the theme of rain to continue. And it did. Within about ten minutes of the tarp coming down and just as we sat in the canoe, it began to rain once again. We put on out rain jackets and sat in the canoe, right next to the campsite for the next 20 minutes. Just as it had done in the last three days, it stopped after a very short while and the sun mixed with clouds returned. I commented to Angela we’re now four for four on the rainy days for this trip. So typical of Algonquin!
Today we had the privilege of taking it a little slow as our travel was minimal. We have one portage and then a bunch of paddling downstream on the Nipissing River. I love the Nipissing, its such a beautiful and unique river – from end to end it changes so many times. After some morning coffee, Angela began making breakfast which was BLT’s on bagels again while I started packing up the inside of the tent. But what I didn’t know is, she had been spending some time this morning while having her coffee (I was off gathering firewood) making a carving in the wooden benches and while I was packing up the inside of the tent, she finished up the carving and placed something next to it. I finished in the tent and came out to grab my cup of coffee when I noticed Angela was acting a little strange. I said ‘what’s wrong with you?’ and she sheepishly replied ‘Nothinggg’. Hmmm... I was a little puzzled then I saw it. I had asked her to marry me a few months back and incredibly she said yes. Since then she’s wanted to get me a ring too but knows I’m not a jewellery type of guy so she wanted to get something I would actually wear. I looked down at the bench and she had nestled both rings together in a carving of a heart with out initials. It was her awesome way of presenting the ring to me. She’s so cute and sneaky too, I didn’t even clue in to what she was doing even though I did notice she was carving something on the bench.
A roaring fire and some whiskey sours make for a good time. We listened to the crackling of the fire and the call of a barred owl behind us in the woods. He kept it up for a solid hour or so, and I love his call. As the fire burned down we kept tossing more logs on top – neither of us were interested in going to bed even though it was nearly 11pm. We sat around the fire, talking about the trip and enjoying some drinks. I was still surprised we hadn’t seen a moose yet but the rest of the trip down river tomorrow would likely change that. Eventually and well after midnight we decided to hit the sack. With the food hung and the fire out, we retreated to the tent for some much needed sleep. Just as I was falling asleep the Barred Owl kicked up with his calls again – a beautiful sound to go to sleep to.
Now that the rain had subsided we began paddling across Nadine Lake towards the south, headed to the portage to the Nipissing river. As we paddled, I looked out to my left and couldn’t help but become curious about paddling down to the narrowing east end to check out the creek for brookies. Perhaps another time, our goal was to get to the next campsite as early as possible to give a little extra lounging time. After a quick crossing of the lake we landed at our only portage for the day, a 1410m leading down into the valley and Nipissing River. I’ve heard this can be one heck of a climb if you’re coming from the other direction, so I was happy to be going downhill on this one. We took our time loading up as the sun was coming out and really changed the view on Nadine Lake. I snapped a few more photos and decided to load up. We started down the trail and the downhill began soon after. This was a really long and steady hill – not overly steep, but there was no end or flat ground in sight. We walked about 500m or so and took a quick break at the first canoe rest. Neither of us even bothered to take our packs off, we just wanted a quick break and to finish the trail. After a minute we continued on for another 500m or so and did the same thing at the next canoe rest – but this time we dropped the packs and took a five-minute breather. I wanted to keep my eye out for a spring near the end of this trail, but I made it to the river without noticing – I was hoping to fill the Nalgene’s before entering the Nipissing – beautiful river but the water is rough on a ceramic filter.
tr 62: Little Cauchon - Erables - Nadine - Nipissing
Day 4: Nadine Lake to the Nipissing River
Once again I had an awesome sleep last night and decided not to sleep in too late today. I was out of the rent by 7:30am and happy to see a sunny blue sky with patches of white clouds. Today might be the first day we don’t see any rain on this trip. I grabbed the food, fired up the stove for some coffee and spent the morning taking photos of a beautiful Nadine Lake and the surrounding forest. I had two coffees before Angela woke up and was out of the tent.
Waiting out the rain in the boat
Looking out at an inviting Nadine Lake
A beautiful river, once you get passed the blown-down that is!
Not so sunny anymore huh? I wonder if that engagement…. Nevermind
Adjusting the lure while fishing on the Nipissing River
A view of the river from high up on the bank
Nadine Lake to the Nipissing River
I tossed a few casts from the campsite in both directions, slowly reeling it back in each time. At one point I had a strike, but then nothing after. Eventually after a few more casts I snagged the lure in an underwater tree. I placed the rod on the mud bank and jumped in the canoe. I grabbed the rod and paddled to the other side of the snag and managed to free the line and salvage the lure. Since I was already in the canoe I figured I’d paddle downstream for about 50m to a connecting stream and toss a few casts that way. I paddled down and gave it a few shots, nothing. I was surprised because I’ve had very good success with brook trout in the Nipissing before. I had been in the boat about 40 minutes, just casting and reeling, casting and reeling. I decided to get a little closer to the connecting stream and beach the canoe on the opposite shore. I sat there in silence and without movement for a few minutes, then tossed the line across the river towards the stream. BANG! Something hit the line hard and was giving up a good fight. I tugged to set the hook and reeled him in. It was a good size fish for one meal, but we needed two. I tossed the line to try my luck at another. Nothing on the first cast but on the second I had a bite (even harder than the first). Another good size fish in little under an hour.
About to begin the trail down to the Nipissing River- and it’s the only portage of the day!
A sunny start to the day on Nadine Lake
I made the short paddle back to camp to grab my fillet knife and cutting board. Angela collected wood and kindling while I took care of cleaning the fish – she doesn’t like to be around for that part. With the job done, and done well – I managed to get a ton of meat off these guys, very little waste, I diced up the meat into little chunks to be fried in oil. I tossed the chunks into a zip lock bag with flour and shook it up. Meanwhile, Angela had pre-mixed the bannock into a bowl and I watered it down to make the dough. Since the bannock takes a good while to cook, we boiled some water for the dehydrated pasta primavera and let that sit while the bannock was cooking. Later, with the bannock and pasta ready to go, I fired up the stove one more time and put about a half inch of oil in the pan. I tossed in the brookie chunks and let them fry. We had a huge feast of a meal ready to go to celebrate our last night in The Park. We filled our plates and took the chairs out to the river bank to enjoy dinner with a low-setting sun. By 8pm or so we had dinner finished and the dishes done. There was still plenty of light left so I decided to gather a bit more firewood so we would have some for the morning too. It didn’t take long as there were plenty of fresh blow downs in the area. I made a good pile and by then the darkness was setting in.
Beautiful brook trout pulled from the Nipissing River
A beautiful and calm evening on the Nipissing River
Diced up, battered and fried – can't ask for much more than that. Oh wait, you can – lemons too!
Seriously massive blow-down just downstream of the Nadine portage