EGL 2022 Spring - Death March to Chicamoula
On the morning of Friday, May 13th, 2022, five solo canoes pushed off from Canoe Lake under clear skies bound for the magical isle of Chicamoula, deep in the interior of Algonquin Provincial Park. Keg, Iguana and his pup Charlie, LuvmyBonnet, Theyland and myself would have a gentle tailwind all the way to the slightly crowded Canoe-Joe Lakes portage. From there we continued the familiar paddle past Tepee Lake where Camp Arowhon seemed to have added several new buildings to their campus and onto Tom Thomson.
The roughly 2.4 kilometers long Tom Thomson-Ink Lake portage felt pretty tough this year. The distance, coupled with some scorchingly hot weather made it just hurt. I collapsed with exhaustion at the top of every hill and wondered why I ever thought this would be a good first route of the season, wondered why my packs felt so heavy and finally wondered why anybody with a modicum of common-sense hadn't managed to talk me out of the whole **** affair. Despite all of that and with some much appreciated help from Theyland I was able to get across in three carries. Along the way we ran into Quiet who must have pushed off from Canoe Lake an hour or two after we did.
With Keg, LuvmyBonnet and Theyland having gone on ahead, Iguana and I opted to hang back and wait for Quiet to finish his last trip. We fled the blazing heat and blackflies of the shoreline and drifted around in our canoes for the next hour, until at last, with the sun getting low on the horizon, we turned and left Quiet behind.
Paddling the meandering Ink Creek was a pleasure. The sun had dipped low enough to be obscured by the taller of the trees along the way and the closeness of the shores was a pleasant change. By the time we came out into Ink Bay there was little more than an hour left of sunlight, but that didn't matter, the tailwind that had followed us all day sped our canoes across the lake. Waiting for us on Chicamoula was Keewaykeno who had paddled in two days earlier to enjoy a little solitude and stake out our campsite, LuvmyBonnet and Theyland. We soon learned that Keg had set up by himself on a nearby island and that BigGreenMoose and Jordan, who had pushed off only an hour or two ahead of us, were also camped nearby. They’d join us later that evening.
The main campfire area had been moved down to the water's edge close by the canoes and Keewaykeno's Amok Draumr hammock. Back further inland by the "old" fire pit, Iguana and I set up. When all was arranged we grabbed our chairs and returned to join the rest of the group. I can't remember, but I don't think we even had a fire the first night we were so exhausted.
Well after sunset a blinking light was spotted on the water and before long not one but two canoes came into view. With memories of Louisa I guessed that Jiblets had managed to catch up with Quiet on the portage. Having spoken to him before the trip I knew that he was hoping to come up either this day or the next. I was glad he made it.
Jiblets, upon coming ashore, immediately looked over to eye Keewaykeno's setup in a little grove of trees down by the water's edge. In years past this had been a favourite spot of 'Ole Jiblets.
"I think I'll set up across here" Jiblets said, pointing to the two trees immediately in front of Keewaykeno's campsite.
"You're not serious?" came the deadpan reply from KWK. With all of the spots to choose, would Jiblets squat on his front porch. Such a thing simply was not done. Feeling the vibe, Jiblets settled for a pretty nice spot along the main path a little up and behind KWK. Crisis averted.
Meanwhile back in the trees, Quiet searched about for that perfect hang. At one point he looked down at my setup, looked up at me and offhandedly remarked that I was set up in his old hanging spot and that some arcane property rights conferred by prior possession entitled him to my location. It was a dubious argument at best and I was beginning to suspect that his brain had been fried by the heat poor fellow. Muttering to himself, he wandered off harmlessly and set up along the path that led to the thunderbox.
Jiblets mentioned that he had seen water-bombers circling a column of smoke on one of the western bays of Tepee Lake. Hopefully everyone was ok.
Food, water and bed. Thank God the day was over.
Saturday was a beautiful day that started with a delicious steak that I shared with Jiblets and Charlie. I had planned to eat it the night before and was a little dubious about cooking it up after being thawed for so long. I’m glad I listened to KWK and Jiblets, it was wonderful.
Keg paddled over to hang out, BigGreenMoose and Jordan moved sites to join us and Lofty paddled in midday in his little plastic kayak. By mid-afternoon thunderstorms were gathering around us and although we only received a short sprinkle, the rest of the evening we were treated to an almost constant lightning show far on the western horizon and dark skies behind us.
Sunday saw the unfortunate departure of Iguana, Charlie, Theyland and Keg and the arrival of Cruiser51 and Dale early in the afternoon. The four main events of the day were a little fresh lake trout fried up in FishCrisp and served with a dash of lemon courtesy of yours truly, KWK sharing of Cruiser51's awesome rum-soaked fruitcake, Jiblet's fantastic reflector oven baked pizza all topped off by a spectacular lunar eclipse that we all stayed up to watch until the wee hours of the morning. It was awe-inspiring to watch as the Earth's shadow crept over the moon but what was really amazing was how the otherwise quiet lake erupted into a chorus of loon calls just as the last sliver of moonlight disappeared into shadow only to return to silence a few moments later.
Monday was to be a busy day. Our merry little band would be splitting in half with group one (Quiet, Jiblets, Dale and Cruiser51) continuing eastwards to Big Trout (camp), the Otterslides and Burnt Island (camp) and finally out through the Joes and Canoe Lake on Thursday, while group two (KWK, LuvmyBonnet, Lofty, BigGreenMoose, Jordan and myself) heading back over the Ink-Tom Thomson portage for one last night on Tom Thomson before paddling out on Tuesday.
Unlike Friday's sweltering experience, Monday's attempt at the portage went much better. We were blessed with cool temperatures and a light drizzle that, in my opinion, makes for perfect conditions for heavy portaging. Whatever the reasons, being well rested, well hydrated (I drank two litres just on the portage) and/or well cooled, I managed to trudge my main pack through in one steady carry and then made it about a third of the way with the remainder of my gear before I dropped the canoe and hiked my camera gear to the end only to return for my canoe “Lipstick” and carry her the entire way with only two short rests.
Lofty managed to single-carry his gear over the portage and took off home. He had originally planned on lunching with us on Tom Thomson, but it was obvious that we'd be a while. BigGreenMoose and Jordan leapfrogged their way across the portage and finished around the same time as KWK with his big double carry. LuvmyBonnet took his time and powered through with three carries.
By mid-afternoon we were set up on Tom Thomson and hunkered down against the rain under BigGreenMoose's tarp. No fire, just roaring stoves, plenty of hot drinks to fight off the chill and another early bedtime.
Tuesday morning we were up early and off with only a few hours paddling and one easy portage ahead of us. We were blessed with a tailwind strong enough to add a little zing to crossing the larger lakes. Before long we were sitting around our favorite corner table at the Portage Store restaurant sharing yet another end of trip burger when out of nowhere my phone rang. I picked it up and heard the somber voice of Cruiser51 on the other end of the line....
Bonus Fireside Debate:
If a duck feather was dropped from the International Space Station with a slight push of encouragement towards the Earth, would it burn up on re-entry?
Bookmarks