Summer 2007 Trip Log (3 days) Aug 27th - Aug 30th, 2007 (Wendigo - Allan - North Depot - North River - Clamshell and back) with side trip to Shoal   Above you will find an extrapolated section of the Algonquin Park Canoe Routes Map©, blown up to easily show you where I camped. This late summer trip would be the second time visiting the park this year.  Last year I was limited to only one trip and the winter was incredibly long.  The kids and I had pulled off a 4 day loop earlier this year, (http://www.canoeguy.ca/index.php?pr=Spring_2007) and I was anxious to get back the peace and quiet of Algonquin.  I was hoping to make this trip with the kids, but because of their school, they weren’t able to accompany me.  So I decided to make my first solo trip in several years.  I had made a small solo trip in the southern part of the park about five years ago (before I started writing trip logs), but since then I had only gone in with friends or one or more of the kids.  For this trip I decided to try a little bass fishing.  I had read a trip log written by Phil Kenny about his trip to Menona Lake (http://kermitadventures.homestead.com/MenonaLake.html) and decided to give the area a try.  Bass are my favourite freshwater fish.  Pound for pound I find them to be the best fighting fish around.  I usually bring two rods with me when I fish for bass.  One is a medium Shimano© rod with a bait casting reel spooled with 8lb. line.  The other is my Berkley© Bionics ultra light rod with Shimano© ultra light reel.  This setup is spooled with 6lb. line and usually the rod I use around drop offs and small cover.  I keep one rod set up with a double-bladed spinner bait tipped with a Gulp© twister tail and the other rod is equipped with a Rapala© Rattlin’-Rap®. The canoe was loaded onto the car Sunday afternoon and I went to sleep early in anticipation of a 2:00 A.M. departure time.  It would take the usual 5 – 5 ½ hours to reach Brent and I wanted to be on Wendigo Lake by 8 A.M.  I arrived at the Brent office a little past 7:00 A.M. and purchased my permit for the 3 day stay.  Within 20 minutes I was standing on the wharf at the Wendigo Lake put-in.  The night before had been crisp, so this morning there was a fog on the lake when I arrived.  After taking a few pics I unloaded the canoe and prepared to start my trip to Clamshell.  Wendigo Lake   The lake  itself was like glass all the way to the first portage but I couldn't see much of it because of the fog.  As Wendigo is outside the bounderies of the Park, there are no campsites here.  The only sign that Algonquin is near is the portage sign located at the southern end of the lake. I slowly approached the portage trail to Allan Lake.  This is where I got my feet wet for the first time.  The landing here is rocky, but the water was shallow at this time of the year.  I stepped out of the canoe, into the surprisingly cool water, and unloaded the canoe for my first portage.  Portages would be small for most of the trip (with only one portage over 700 meters), so I decided to take my time traveling to Clamshell and double carry all of the portages.  This would give me a better opportunity to take pictures and view a little wildlife in the process. The portage itself started off very rocky and fairly steep, but it leveled out after a short distance and became less hazardous.  The short portage took me 20 minutes to complete with both the pack and canoe and I was soon back on the water of Allen Lake and headed south. The fog that had blanketed Wendigo still partially clung to Allan Lake by the time I arrived, but the surface was still like glass.  I prefer lakes like this, it makes paddling so much more enjoyable.  As I traveled down Allan I passed the numerous campsites along the shore.  Only two camps were occupied on this lake.  The first showed  no signs of movement, but the canoe on the shoreline told me that the campers here where enjoying a chance to sleep in.  The second campsite (near the end of the lake) was home to two campers who waved as I passed near to them.  The lake was otherwise quiet and I slowly but steadily made my way to the portage to North Depot Lake.  The portage at this point is probably not necessary in higher water conditions.  I walked the stream that led into North Depot and found it to be clear of major obstructions.  The water was only inches deep at this time of the year so it was impossible to paddle, but I'm sure it would be easily done in the higher water of Spring. The stream from Allan to North Depot could be easily travelled during the higher water levels of spring Most of the portages on this trip were a breeze to travel.  The short walk from Allen to North Depot was no exception.  I quickly made the trip and put back in at the other end.  North Depot was the lake that I began to see wildlife on.  Just around the first corner of the entrance to North Depot I encountered the first of a series of herons who populated the lake.  I see herons near my house here in Laval, Quebec and for the most part you can get pretty close to them before they get spooked and take off, but in the park they are a little more nervous around people.  I played tag with the one pictured below for most of length of North Depot.  Every time I would get close enough to try to get a really good shot it would take off before I had the camera ready to shoot.  I captured this distant pic near the head of the lake as it stood among the reeds, but because of the distance between myself and the bird I couldn't enlarge the photo any more than I already have without blurring the image.  I also managed to get one as he flew away from me.  There were a few other herons along the lake as well, but they all were a nervous bunch and would not allow me to get close enough for a really good close up shot. I passed two more occupied campsites on North Depot as I paddled, but neither one showed signs of movement.  There was movement of another sort on the lake however, a mother loon was out teaching her lone chick the finer arts of fishing as I passed.  These two were a bit more cooperative with the camera.  We all know how long a loon can stay underwater and how much distance they can cover while doing so.  This little loon chick was impressing me....covering almost the same distance and time underwater as its parent. Notice how the bill on the baby has yet to turn the deep black that is normal for the adult. The one group of fowl that were very cooperative about pictures was a small group of Merganzers along the shoreline of one of the islands I passed while heading down the lake.  I got within 20 feet of them before they casually moved off of their log perch and paddled slowly away to find more peaceful accommodations. Merganzers on North Depot The next portage was going to be the longest of the trip, (770 meters which is nothing compared to some of the portages I have done in Algonquin).  As before, the portage was relatively easy without any real uphill climbs.  It took me about half an hour to double carry the portage and I was soon at the beginning of the North River section of the trip.  This is what I like.  Give me creeks and streams to paddle all day and I'm in heaven.  This area looked like moose country, with its weeds and lily pads, but there were no moose around.  In fact...there were no moose the entire trip.  Although, there were a lot of waterfowl present.  Unfortunately the ducks and cranes along this section are so well hidden amongst the reeds that you don't know they're there until you're right on top of them. This pool is at the beginning of the North River section.  It wanders off for about half a mile before the next portage.  Water levels were low beyond this point and I had to snake my way through several sections of heavy grass.  This area was fairly deeper than the rest.  I encountered a family of  four trying their luck fishing here on my way back out.  Just before I arrived the boy had landed a respectable sized speckie here, (obviously the king of his little pond kingdom). Summer 2007 Trip Log - Part Two