)
We left Manitoulin fairly early in the morning in order to be able
get on the water in Killarney as soon as possible. There’s a West Gate access to
the park from Widgawa Lodge just off of highway six and we rolled in there at
about nine thirty.
)
)
The mosquitoes were absolutely relentless from the moment we
stepped out of the car until we were situated out in the lake. Some of the
worst I’ve ever had to deal with while camping in the interior.
)
At Widgawa Lodge we
got our permit from Connie, one of the lodge owners. She talked us into
changing our route so that it would include Grace Lake and Nellie Lake, two of
the most sought after spots on the West side of the park due to the brilliant
clarity of the water. In fact, the campsites on these lakes book up five months
to the day in the high season so the fact that we were able to show up the day
of and get them was quite a treat.
) |
| Relaxing on the Lake |
Changing our route
also meant that we would be doing three very long portages instead of a number
of small ones. The portages themselves would prove to be some of the most difficult
either of us had ever done. This early in the season, a lot of them had washed
out, forcing us to bush wack or ford small streams with our canoe and all of our
gear.
) |
| Me taking off my shoes to cross the river barefoot |
Despite these
challenges, Nellie Lake truly was beautiful. You could see straight to the
bottom as if it were made of glass. As deep as 28 feet down in some places, due
to the large calcium carbonate deposits in the lake
) |
We spent our first
night on Nellie Lake, exhausted from two lengthy portages. Luckily the weather
held out for us and our second day was beautifully sunny. Our last big portage
was fairly steep but Bill handled it with the canoe like a pro. I wiped out and
almost lost our food back down an embankment into the river!
) |
| Bill makes portaging look so easy! |
We arrived early
enough at our second site on Murray Lake that I had enough time to work up the
courage to jump into the chilly lake and go swimming. After a day and a half of
sunshine there was enough dry wood to get a proper fire going.
 |
| Beach Wear left to dry after a chilly swim |
)
)
) |
| Dinner time! |
While packing our apartment in Guelph we found a toonie that has since been popping up in unexpected places throughout our trip and never anywhere to be found when we need it. It rolled down the rock face at Murray Lake and Bill had to go fish it out
) |
| Bill fishes out our lucky toonie after it tried to escape |
By day three we
were paddling out and back to Widgawa Lodge along a windy marshy river. We made
great time and managed to dodge most of the afternoon downpour. Our original
plan was to camp out at Widgawa and carry on to Sault Ste Marie and Lake
Superior Provincial Park the following day, but when Connie offered us an
upgrade to one of the cabins at a discount due to the rain, we gratefully
accepted.
After a hot shower
and some food and clean clothes, we felt like human beings again! We relaxed in
our cabin for the rest of the afternoon and spent the evening playing pool at
the Lodge and chatting with owners Connie and Josh.
No comments :
Post a Comment