Algonquin Voyageur: 2012 Shall - Crotch

Friday, July 27 – Day 1

Headed back to Crotch Lake this year with Dad, Will (2^nd canoe trip) and Jake for his first canoe trip. Both boys are looking forward to it and we got away from the house in good time around 8:30am.

We arrived at Shall Lake access point around 10:30am and loaded both canoes up with the gear. Having no portages and only a short paddle we took a lot of luxury items for this trip therefore needing the extra canoe.

Loaded up for Jake's first canoe trip.

Both boys paddled in the front of Grandpa’s canoe and headed off in search of a site while I parked the truck. I quickly caught up with them in the middle of the lake. The nice site we had last year was occupied but the other nice big beach site just south of it was available so we took it.

While Dad and I set up camp the boys played at the beach and in the water. By the time camp was set up it was time for lunch. We cooked up some hamburgers and fries and ate down at the beach.

Posing with Grandpa while lunch cooks on the bbq.

We spent the rest of the afternoon playing and swimming at the beach. Will and Jake also spent a good deal of time playing in the tent making a fine mess of the sleeping bags.

Playing at the awesome beach site on Crotch Lake.

After a hard day of playing and swimming we cooked up a good dinner of steak and corn. Once the dishes were cleaned and put away we headed out in the canoe for an evening paddle. As we headed back to the site the MNR float plane flew low over the lake a few times doing an enforcement flight looking for campfires as there was a fire ban on.

Snack of Jiffy Pop at the beach after the evening paddle.

Not being able to have a fire we cooked up some Jiffy Pop popcorn and ate it down at the beach as we watched the sunset.

Sunset, Crotch Lake.

We tucked the boys in just before 9:30pm and both fell quickly to sleep as they had had a long, fun day.

Dad and I sat down at the beach under the moonlight and had some wine before retiring about an hour later.

Saturday, July 28 – Day 2

The boys slept well last night and didn’t wake until close to 8:30am so they must have been tired.

I cooked up a good breakfast of eggs, bacon, hashbrowns along with cereal and yogurt. We had breakfast at the beach then cleaned up the dishes and decided to go for a paddle up the portage to Shirley Lake.

Having breakfast before another fun filled day.

We walked the portage to Shirley Lake where another party was just putting in. We explored around the shore for a bit, the boys having fun looking for frogs and watching them swim and jump about.

On the way back we headed down the path to the old dam and took some pictures. Back on the portage another party passed us heading the same way. I also took time to look for the 50m portage into Owaissa Lake but for the life of me I couldn’t find it anywhere; no sign, no clearing, no trail, nothing. You can see the lake quite clearly from the portage but there is no discernible trail.

Checking out a frog at Shirley Lake.

The old dam between Shirley and Crotch lakes.

When we got back to the canoe there was the party that had passed us and two more canoes coming into the portage. This definitely was a busier spot than it was two week ago.

Back at the site I cooked up lunch of hotdogs and cheddarwurst sausages while the boys and Dad played with the water guns down at the beach.

After lunch I tried to put Jake down for a nap since he didn’t have one yesterday but he wouldn’t stay put in the tent. So we went swimming and played at the beach for a while. After swimming Jake wanted to snuggle and quickly fell asleep in my arms so I took the opportunity to put him down for a nap for an hour even though it was getting on in the afternoon. We continued to play at the beach and swim and Jake joined us once he woke up from his nap.

Three generations of Algonquin Park canoe trippers.

Dinner was spaghetti and garlic bread which we ate down at the beach again. After cleaning up from dinner we went for another paddle around the lake.

Back at the site Will decided to pull down one of the food ropes and pull the end of the other out of reach. Dad and I weren’t very happy with Will and sent him to the tent while I tried to get the ropes back up.

Once that was done we fired up the stove to roast marshmallows as we couldn’t have a fire. A stove doesn’t work as well as a fire as the marshmallows just ignite and you have to keep blowing them out.

After the marshmallows we put the kids to bed and they fell asleep quickly. Dad and I sat down at the beach again having some wine until we ourselves decided to call it a night.

Sunday, July 29 – Day 3

Dad had a restless night as he was vomiting and had some diarrhea. Not sure if it’s a bug as we all ate the same thing and the rest of us are fine.

We had breakfast of pancakes and sausage except for Dad. I relaxed with a couple of coffees at the beach while the boys played and Dad rested in the tent for a few hours.

As the sun reached our beach the boys and I went looking to see how many frogs we could find. When we got back Dad was up. He played water guns and swam with the boys while I started to break camp and make lunch.

Looking for frogs along the beach.

We cleaned up from lunch and finished breaking camp and were ready to load up just before 2pm. As we were loading up a Warden came by in a little boat to check our permit. That’s only the second time in thirty seasons of canoeing the Park that I’ve been stopped to check permits.

We paddled back to the access point and took our end of trip photo on the beach. We were loaded up and on our way just after 3pm. Both boys were asleep before we had even gone half a kilometre down the road. The boys slept until just before Canoe Lake where we stopped and got some ice cream at the Portage Store.