I'm assuming anyone in the area got hit pretty hard this morning with the wet snow that fell in the eastern part of Algonquin - Norway Lake area.

Brrrrrr!

Well the Upper Ottawa Valley, around Fort Coulonge had flurries. Here in Bristol we had hail and rain. Sure hope the weather pattern changes soon. Summer is short enough!

me too

See the snow video on my blog

http://www.aohuntsville.com

I was paddling down the Crow River around 0810 this morning (Sun) and I could see the squall come over the ridge like a big pillow. As interesting as it was.. it was not great paddling weather! It was literally a snow squall and I couldn't see 60m ahead of me. I had to paddle within 10m of the shore for a frame of reference because I could see nothing else.. I got to the take out and my gear had 5 inches of snow piled on it.

That's why I never put my snowshoes away until June 1.{lol}

a couple of hours of on and off flurries in south central Haliburton

They got a couple of centimeters up in North Bay, according to the papers. Looked like a November day.

Here in Ottawa we got hail briefly yesterday afternoon.

At least, the blackflies were kept at bay!

Harry

Hey FredF,

Where you on Big Crow Lake Friday nite? I was up there then and kayaked right by a campsite (south-western shore) at 5 pm that had a solo paddler with a solo canoe. Paddler was likely in the tent, but he/she was using a double blade paddle, which was resting against a big tree (Cedar or Pine). I was there on Sunday too, and took this pict of the snow/moose behind my campsite (eastern shore of Big Crow lake, just inside mouth of the Crow River). This was taken roughly 10 a.m. - it started snowing I believe around 5 in the morning Sunday.



The snow stayed around til I left the site and headed back to Proulx at 1 pm.



Nice lake, got caught in the middle of her crossing it though to Little Crow, just as another snow squall hit and made the visibility 20 feet at best with driving hail/snow and 50 km/hr head winds. Fun times in a kayak.

Lots of moose up there, most with young - these on Proulx.



Good fishing too, with many released.



Again another Pine Marten, 3rd one this year. This on the trail to the Old Growth White Pine Forest



Didn't get up to the fire tower - none of the days I was there had decent visibility and ran out of time :<(. <br>

Hey,

That was definitely me in the site just west of the cabin. You must have come by just after I got set up as I was trying to get into some warm clothes after a long trip in from La Muir. Would have been fun to connect.. sorry I missed you. Yep.. there was a lot of snow!

Hey FredF,

I was surprised to see someone on that site - hadn't seen anyone on either Proulx, Little C or Big C during my trip, except for ur setup, lol, however short-lived it was. Your stuff was hanging out to dry after the last few days of steady rain, but didn't see any human on the site - figured he/she'd had to be in the tent, lol. I was doing a transect from my campsite to your point, when my sounder 'died' and couldn't send/receive pings from the transducer anymore. You likely heard a few expletives, then I turned the yak around and headed back to my own campsite to diagnose the issue with the hardware.

You leave a ziplock bag of snacks on the portage back to Opeongo from Proulx lake, @ the Proulx lake landing? I grabbed it on my way back Sunday PM.

That's hilarious! I did that portage in awful conditions. I had a catastrophic failure of my rain pants a few days prior so I got completely soaked with all the snow. I changed into dry pants at the takeout but it was still pretty cold and wet. I wondered where my Zone bars and snacks went. I thought I had left them at the site. I was there Friday and Saturday night. I headed up to the Lookout Tower on Sat afternoon as it was the first semi-clear day since Wednesday. Too bad we didn't get a chance to meet in person! You can have a snack on me or donate to your local food bank. Thanks for picking that up.

Hi Guys, must have been an interesting trip with snow - who plans for that at the end of May.

If you had any info on the area, especially details on what the trail to the pines and the the trail to the tower was like I would appreciate it. I'm taking my daughter there in a couple of weeks. I'd like to hike to the pines in particular, but my daughter has some mobility issues. Is there a well defined trail or are you bushwhacking a bit?

Last time we were in this area we saw a ton of moose as well. Since this is a little earlier in the year I'm hoping to some calves this trip.

Thanks,
S.

The hike to the Pines does not involve any bushwhacking, it is a very well defined trail much like any portage. I hiked it last summer with my boys who were 6/8/10 years of age. There is a very steep hill at the beginning that is likely about 40-50m or less.

The hike to the Lookout is obviously uphill the entire way. I've done it around 4-5 times. I'm reasonably fit but I still stop for a short rest about halfway up. Again, pretty well used trail. There are quite a few downed trees that you will navigate but no big problems.

Depending on the nature of the mobility issues referenced it may be that you just take more time and cover the hikes in sections. I believe it takes about 20-30 minutes to the get to the tower and perhaps a touch longer to get to the Pines. I did not go to the Pines last weekend but all of the trails and portages I covered over the week were spring-like and muddy in spots.

Hope that helps. Let me know/email me if I can provide any other info. You will see lots of moose in the leg of the Crow R. between Proulx and the Crows or in the leg between Big Crow and the Pines trail. I think Stephen hiked to Pines so he might have more recent info on the hike/trail.

Thanks Fred. Sounds like we should be okay if we take our time. I'm glad to hear it is portage like, that should be doable.

S.

That pine marten looks neat. I've never seen one in the wild. Looks like my ferrets.

Hey FredF,

No problem with the snacks, I was impressed with their quality, lol. I actually dipped into your trail mix on my drive home and culled a few yummy peanut butter MM's + cashews. I don't mind hanging on to the rest and depending on timing hand them back off to you on the remote possibility our schedules should meet for an hour or so. I'm up again next week, along the West side, then again later this month back to Opeongo (June 28th) on a 2 week trip with a buddy. When u were on the trail to the firetower I was likely on my way to the old growth forest - made it back to camp before the rains hit again that evening.

Smedley - FredF is correct regarding the Old WPine forest - it's about a 20 minute walk (roughly 2 km), then the trail peters out and meanders in a few forks before the forest takes over. The steep stretch FF refers to is made steeper by a washout. It's roughly 50 meters up from the landing. You climb ~15 meters in Z over a short horizontal distance of < 10 meters - just be careful on your way down it and take ur time on the way up. Not sure the nature of her mobility injury, but here's a pict of that section. Still doesn't give it much justice though but it does give u an idea of the trail width and footing. <br>


Lots of wildflowers on the way up and mushrooms



There's also a 2nd steep section just beyond the first, and the trail rises gradually over 40 meters from beginning to end. I'd recommend you stay on the trail - it's not that well marked and some sections are a bit overgrown, especially near the end. Easy to get lost in there offtrail but the walk itself was very pleasant.

Here's the landing:


Here's the white sign (opposite the first portage on the Crow River):


I've never done the Fire Tower walk - FF gave u a good description.

Lots of moose up there - I saw the majority along the lake shores (Proulx/Big and Little Crow). None in the Crow River between Proulx and Little Crow. 8 moose in total, all the adults were female and only 1 that I saw DIDN'T have young with her.



I had a pair walk right through my campsite on Big Crow everynite and morning as they made their way to/fro that luscious salad garden just inside the mouth of the Crow River where Big Crow Lake flows into her (the two from the above pict with the snow). Here's the beach landing on that site - easy access, but not the flatest of sites and it's sandy, so be forewarned (not generally a fan of sandy sites):



If you're keen on fishing walk that first portage down the Crow River and fish that run - caught and released 6 fish on 1/32 ounce spinners. Nothing big (all < 10") but plentiful and beautiful. Didn't have my fly rod with me unfortunately :>(. Lakers in Big C - caught one the one and only time I fished her and many specks out of Proulx Lake on Rapalas.



Russ S: There are many Pine Marten in the park (4-6 K I'd guess, lol) and as such are quite common. I've seen two so far this year, and a pair last year as well. I love these weasels, so beautiful and thankfully very curious.





I only bring my little point and shoot Canon with me when kayaking - not my larger Rebel w/ lenses unfortunately.

Hi SM,

Thanks for the description and great photos. It looks like we should be okay, hopefully we get a nice day and can walk to the pines. We'll see about the tower, not sure if I could get her to climb there.

We are actually staying in the cabin, so no worries about sand or level sites! It would be great to see the moose and a pine marten with her, she's an animal lover.

S.