Just wanted to post a quick synopsis of my trip this past weekend.
As always, my luck continues to prevail .. as every single one of my interior trips has seen nothing but clear/sunny skies and virtually perfect weather.
Next time someone wants to plan an interior trip, contact me and I will do one of my random date picks for you... maybe I can put this ability of mine to good service.
I must say I am proud of the 'rents for handling the 1.4 km portage from Opeongo to Proulx at the start of day 1 but moreso at the end of day 4 on the return. Being in their early 60s, and having never done anything like this before, they performed wonderfully with only a couple of rest stops. They even said it was one of the enjoyable parts of the trip -- real troopers.
I know this portage isn't anything to be too concerned about, but it is a long haul with FULL packs.
Made it from the start of the portage to the cabin in 3.5 hrs -- about the same time as my first trip this way 2 years ago. Well done
They were awestruck at the beauty and solitude on the paddle in and the nice cove where the cabin is situated. And... to our wonderful surprise, almost NO BUG ISSUES.
Black flies = non-existant. Mosquitos only bothered us a little bit in the late evenings. Deer flies were our only main nemesis, and only when we were out on the water in the evenings -- on shore they didn't seem to be able to find us. This made a frequent Algonquin tripper very happy, since reports leading up to this trip were mostly horrifying in the bug department.
Did not catch any fish from the canoe all 4 days, but I DID land 2 very small specks while casting from the shore in front of the cabin. Both went back into the water.
Made the hike to the fire tower on Saturday, and I did TRY to reach the bottom of the ladder that is still there, but couldn't haul myself up onto the 3rd support beam. I need to drop a few pounds. :P Found the path out to the lookout/ledge and spent a good 45 mins taking in the scenery and snapping photos. Had at least a dozen red-tailed hawks circling the area, and even spotted a pileated woodpecker! Wow, those things are BIG!! I had never seen one before... only saw red-headed woodpeckers before (which we also saw several of on the trail to/from the tower).
Made a couple friends of the campers that stayed on the beach site near the entrance to the (eastern) Crow River who were from Michigan and had been coming to Big Crow lake every year for the past 4 years. Actually met them at the Proulx put-in, and they visited to hike to the tower and spring, and met up at the Opeongo north arm at the end of the trip as we awaited our respective taxis. Gave them some tips on other very nice lakes to visit in Algonquin if they wanted to try some new places other than Big Crow. One of them eagerly took markings on his canoe routes map so they could plan future trips.
Sunday morning we canoed up the river towards the dam and basically had breakfast with a cow moose and her two younglings -- floating about 15 feet away as she just quietly ate and kept an eye on us. We got to the white pine trail but the 'rents legs were a bit worn from the hike to the tower the day before, so we passed on doing the trail to the big trees. Paddled around Crow a bit more, stopping at the island, in the south bay across from the cabin, for lunch. I found a fantastic cedar tree which had fallen in the woods north of the cabin and cut it into 10 ft long pieces... hauled them back to the cabin and my dad and I went hatchet-happy on it. Ended up making an ENORMOUS pile of nicely cut & chopped firewood. Had a nice fire that night, and of course, left way more than enough wood for the next cabin renters to last them a very long time -- even took a pile into the cabin for the wood stove.
All in all, my parents LOVED every moment of the trip, and they said they can't wait to do another one ... and try out tent camping in the woods. I'd post up pictures, but this area is probably so well-known to most of you that any pics I would post wouldn't be anything new.
Oh, lastly... we did have 3 resident chipmunks on site who spent a good amount of time scurrying thru our legs whenever we were outside, playing and possibly hoping for some food to drop. We left a small handful of peanuts on the big stump when we left so perhaps they would remember us.
Alas... I was supposed to meet up with JeffP at his site at Pog Lake campground on our way out, but the water taxi people were having major delays due to problems with a couple of their boats. We were picked up and then taxied around to other areas of Opeongo to pick up other groups that had been waiting a long time. By the time we made it back to the docks and got everything sorted, waited the line for the showers, etc. and got on the road, it would have left us smack dab in the middle of rush hour traffic when getting closer to Toronto... so we had to pass. Sorry Jeff! =\
