I followed the same trail I had taken a few days earlier and I arrived at the Algonquin (Water) Park at 11:30 a.m. It was bright and sunny so I was ready for a swim. The weather had become so warm I was glad I brought some provisions with me because I now intended to spend at least a couple hours here. Although, I didn’t want to stay too long because I still had a long way to go – to Lower Spectacle Lake. I put my PFD on and walked into the upper pool, just above the slide. The water seemed colder than it did two days ago – I assume that means the air temperature is slightly hotter today. I stood above the slide for a good ten minutes just trying to get used to the water. A strange thought dawned on me: Just three weeks ago, I began a six-day trip at Rain Lake with almost six inches of snow on the ground. And today, much further north, I was about to go swimming. As I walked further into the pool, it became deeper and very slippery. The water still felt very cold and I had been standing in it for a good fifteen minutes by now. I walked into the middle of the pool, at the mouth of the slide and looked down. I would have taken a photo from that vantage point but I didn’t trust those slippery rocks – one fall and the camera is destroyed. The water is turbulent where the slide meets the lower pool. I began to wonder if this was a good idea. Sure, I had seen videos online of people doing this all the time -- but were they doing it in August or September when the water flow is less? Even with a light melt this spring, was mid-May a good time to be going down this slide? I am an excellent swimmer but only a fool believes nothing can go wrong. I weighed my options and felt I could handle the bottom of this slide. After a few moments of psyching myself up for the cold ride, I almost completely chickened out – not out of fear of the turbulence, out of fear of the cold. What?! Thank god I regained my sense of judgement. After all, I drove nearly six hours to get to Achray to see and do a lot of things, with the slide being one of them. I sat down quickly with my feet forward and down I went! WOW was that water cold. Freezing actually. The turbulence was not that bad at all -- my head stayed almost completely above water. You get some good speed going down that slide (as well as in the pool as it sends you on your way). You can exit the pool to the right or to the left. I chose to exit on the right because my stuff was there, and there is a rope tied to a root leading into the water to assist you on the slippery rocks. I pulled myself up and out of the water. It was awesome – I had to do this a few more times. I set my camera on the rocks near the slide. I wondered if I could set the ten-second timer, get over to the slide, into the water (without slipping and killing myself) and halfway down the slide in time for the shutter to snap. I went down the slide just under a dozen times and I have just under a dozen shots of me at various points down the slide. The ten-second counting in my head was not in sync with the timer on the camera. At this point I was actually getting a little tired and didn’t want to go down anymore – It’s a lot of work! I decided to give it one last shot. I set the timer and while counting along in my head I went to the slide, got in the water and went down. I got the shot! But... the look on my face in the photo is priceless. I am so fixated on looking at the camera for the blinking light that it almost looks like I have no idea I am going down a slide and into the water. Ah-well. I wasn’t going to try for another. I decided to let the sun dry me off and I put my gear back on. As luck would have it, just as I am about to pack up and leave, someone appears on the other side of the slide – D’oh! I could have asked him to take the shot while I went down the slide. Oh well, I was content with having the water park to myself for an hour anyway. He came to the edge of the pool and we exchanged waves. I asked him how he got to the other side without getting wet. There was a large rock I wanted to get on top of to take a photo of the general area. He told me he was camped on Stratton, and came via the walking trail that begins on the other side. He did point to a section where the water was calm enough for me to cross, with the aid of water shoes. I didn’t have any water shoes on me at the time or for this trip. “No problem.” he said. He grabbed a pair out of his day pack and threw them over to me – how nice.
I made my way around all the pools in the area and finally got to the narrows he was pointing at. The water there was about three feet deep and moved quickly. I had less confidence crossing there with my camera equipment. I looked around a bit and I saw a jam of logs. One of which made it all the way across so I thought I would give that a try. I crossed the first couple logs and when it came to the last one, it was loose. I really did not want to fall in here – it was much deeper than three feet. I made my move quickly and on my last step the log rolled about three inches. Not enough to dunk me, but enough to scare the crap out of me. While on the other side, I scrambled my way up to the top of a boulder and looked over the general area. From here I could count about five pools at different elevations, some a foot or two above the preceding pool, some a metre or two. I snapped a few shots while the guy standing below hid behind some rocks to stay out of my shots. I started down the boulder – a man has to be careful here, one missed step could spell disaster.
Pool below P20 in Carcajou Bay
They moved on to the portage to Brigham Lake and while they did their first carry over, I launched my canoe and crossed the lake to the 640 m portage to Ooze Lake. This was probably one of the easier portages in the area, but still rocky and rooty like everywhere else. I crossed the portage in a single carry without stopping. Ooze Lake isn’t the disgusting pond of ooze I had expected; instead it’s just a small lake, reeds all around and seemed very quiet. I wouldn’t want to camp here though; looks like it could be really buggy. I crossed the lake and was at the 300 m portage leading back to High Falls Lake in no time at all. Another quick carry over and I set out on to High Falls Lake. The clouds had broken up a little bit and my idea of swimming today became more likely. I paddled down the lake, slowing down at the south end to admire it for a while. Little rock islands everywhere and underwater you can see giant rock channels – it would be neat to go snorkeling around here if the water had more clarity. I arrived back at the portage landing to St. Andrews Lake, cached my boat and backpack once again and headed along the trail to the waterslide – this time I didn’t forget my PFD.
A high view of Algonquin's Natural Waterpark
Opalescent Lake to Lower Spectacle Lake, with a stopover at Stratton Lake
High Falls Lake
A different view down Opalescent Lake the next morning
The pools above High Falls on Carcajou Bay
I got out of the canoe and begun making camp at around 7 p.m. This was very late to be making camp by my standards, but when I am out here, I try not to adhere to a schedule unless it’s an absolute must. I had the tent set up and a decent pile of dead fall in less than 45 minutes so I thought I would go out in the boat and try to bring in a fish one more time – because no fish meant mac and cheese for dinner. I looked out on the lake and saw a strange sight. Something was floating in the lake on the other side. A really strange shape, and bright in colour. I grabbed my rod and camera and launched onto a calm lake. I paddled to the strange object – it was a green metallic balloon. How weird. I had read one of Markus’ trip logs where he ran into the same random object, just a different design. I stayed out there for about 45 minutes trying to land a fish. I tried everywhere. No luck. I decided to head back to camp to make dinner. It was getting dark quickly and I hate eating in the pitch black. So I fired up the stove, boiled water and made dinner. I ate it in the twilight, so that worked out. It became dark, so I did the dishes and hung my food pack. I made a hot chocolate and sat around the fire for a couple hours, enjoying the crackling sounds during an otherwise silent night. I became tired and decided to go to bed around 11 p.m.
Campsite on Lower Spectacle Lake
The pools above High Falls on Carcajou Bay
Campsite on Carcajou Bay
Random Balloon - I wonder where this was 'let go' from? Petewawa? China?
I finally made it to the other side of the slide and met up with this guy. I found out his name was Bob and he is from Toronto. I gave him his water shoes back and thanked him. I asked him if he wanted to chill out for a bit and have a puff. He was delighted at the idea. We sat at the slide and discussed various things about The Park. It turns out this was only his second time coming to Algonquin – and he was solo. I was pretty impressed with that. (It took me 7 trips of varying lengths before I felt confident enough to go out on my own). Bob was camped on Stratton Lake, which is only a handful of kilometers from the entry point and one very small portage around a dam. When I told him about my route, and where I’d eventually have to be today, he was impressed – he was base camping for four days solo, then his friends were coming to meet him for an additional three days. He said he wanted to do an exploration trip like the one I was on and I told him I need a trip of base camping to relax. We talked a bit more about the Park, Toronto and other random things. I checked the time and it was 1:30 p.m. and although it was not late, I figured I should get going as I had a little fear of the winds on Stratton Lake. When I told him I had my canoe cached at High Falls Lake and the rest of the route I had to take today, he told me I was going to pass right by his campsite and invited me over to chill and help him eat some food. When his girlfriend did the meal planning for his base camping, she packed waaaay too much food. After hearing of my trip and seeing my bag, he said I have to help or it will go to waste. How could I say no to that? I love food! I told him it would take me about an hour to get back to my canoe, portage to St. Andrews then to Stratton. On my way back to the other side, I decided to take the three foot deep rushing water method instead of the rolling log to cross the water. With a stick in hand, it worked out much better for balance and I crossed (with my camera gear) without incident. I made my way back to the edge of the slide to gather my things and somehow my sunglasses broke. I found them on the rock with the left arm missing. Crap. Now I have to deal with broken sunglasses for the next four and a half days.
I walked through the bush back to my canoe and was happy to find it just as I had left it. I geared up for a single carry and made my way across the 550 m portage to St. Andrews Lake. I launched onto the lake and was lucky enough to have a tail wind helping me cross – which was strange because I find more often than not the wind blows in a north to south direction. I suppose it can blow in any direction given the right environmental circumstances. As I passed the site I had stayed on a few nights earlier, I could see my logs were still standing on the rock bench, drying in the sun – someone will be really happy to find those well-seasoned logs. There were two other canoes on St. Andrew Lake, both with two occupants, both fishing. I’ve been told there are great opportunities for lake trout here, but I didn’t really have time to stop and go fishing – too bad because it would have been nice to show up to Bob’s campsite for lunch with a fresh trout. Oh well, he had enough food as it was anyway. I made a quick crossing of the 80 m portage and launched back onto the Barron River for a couple hundred meteres, and eventually Stratton Lake. Bob was situated right on the point of the lake, exactly opposite to me. Even though it was only 500 m or so, the winds coming down Stratton Lake were strong. They generated decent-sized white-caps and crossing was going to be a challenge. With the way the waves were coming at me, I could not aim directly for his campsite or I would get side-swamped. I had to veer off about 30 degrees to cut into the waves enough so they didn’t roll me. I am sure Bob looked at my canoe and thought I was heading to the wrong campsite – so I waved to him, signalling I was making my way there. After a good ten-minute battle, ending with me being a little wet, I landed at his campsite. He told me there was a better landing on the opposite shore, around the sand point. This point went out a good 30 metres! I swung around and pulled up on the beach next to his boat. What I was about to see nearly blew my mind!
I walked up to Bob’s campsite and he had four massive quarters of fresh chicken on the fire-pit grill, a giant pot of boiling water with fresh corn on the cob and a little something waiting to go on the bench as a thank you for the puff earlier in the day. I could not believe my eyes. Here I was on day four of a solo trip, running into a random fellow Algonquinite and being treated to a fantastic fresh lunch. This was especially great for me because I generally do not have lunch while on long trips in Algonquin. During the days, I will just snack as I see fit because I am always on the move. A solid breakfast and dinner, but snacking in between. Bob was apologetic that he did not have anything to season the chicken with, and I jokingly said, “Well then screw this I’m leaving!” I went to my food pack and brought out my steak spice – hey if it’s good for steak, it’s got to be good for chicken. It was. While the chicken was cooking, we chatted for a bit and I went down to the shore (where I had originally pulled up with my canoe) to pump water. He told me to be careful as he saw a large rat snake there a couple times now. I told him I’d like to see it, as I have an interest in snakes. (I have a 4.5 foot royal python at home named Charlie). Well, wouldn’t you know it, within a minute of me pumping water, this beast of a snake comes out of the alder bush and gave me a tiny bit of a scare due to his size. I called Bob over quickly to come look. He said, “Whoa – that’s much larger than the one I saw here a few times!” I finished pumping my water and by this time the chicken was ready. Mouth-watering chicken. It was delicious. I couldn’t have been happier to be enjoying some chicken. As we ate, we discussed his plans for the next couple days. He was going to paddle back to the access point on Grand Lake in the morning to meet up with his friends from Ottawa. I told him by this time tomorrow I would be almost 25 km away from here. After the lunch of chicken and corn on the cob, Bob busted out a package of chocolate chip cookies. Man, I really need to try base camping. He was amazed I could come out for eight days without a cooler or something to help preserve food. I gave him examples of my menu and he was impressed – I told him camp food can be great if thought out and planned properly. When he plans a week-long solo trip like mine, I will help him out with his trip planning – it’s the least I could do after a lunch like that. We hung out for a bit longer, and I did not want to give Bob the ‘eat & run’ impression, but it was getting close to 4 p.m. and I still had 12 km to cover before making camp. I took his email address and told him I would be in touch when I am back in the city.I launched onto a very windy Stratton Lake. It was not any calmer than before; I knew I had a battle ahead of me. I slowly made my way up the east shore, and then when the lake became narrow I made the crossing to the west shore, as this is where the Barron River enters the lake. I stopped behind rock out-crops a few times for some water and rest, and after a solid 35 minutes I made it to the river. Instant relief, just like a few days ago when I entered it from Grand Lake. I arrived at the 50 m portage and did a double carry – I was a little tired from battling the winds on Stratton. I launched back into the river and paddled out to Grand Lake, but keeping to the west shore. I passed the single campsite and made my way into the narrows leading into Carcajou Bay. I had intended to see the pictographs but it somehow completely slipped my mind, and I did not realize this until I looked at the map later on at the campsite. When I entered Carcajou Bay proper, I really liked what I saw. The campsites on the eastern shore were particularly interesting as they were situated on rock slabs that continue on into the bay. I really love this part of The Park – much more rugged than the west side. I paddled down the bay and got to the 20 m portage. It was around a lip of water only 6-8 inches high, and with good flow. I had a feeling if I approached it fast enough and kept paddling, I could probably make it up. I lined up, dug the paddles in deep and went for it – complete success! One less portage to deal with is always a good thing. I came into a pond with a beautiful cascade of waterfalls dumping into it – again, I really love this part of the park.
A calm evening on Lower Spectacle Lake
After snapping a few photos, I made my way on the 50 m portage to the pools above the falls. Here, super flat rocks edge into the water at the slightest angle – this would be a great swimming hole! I made the short paddle across the pool to the 260 m portage. Halfway along this portage is a very basic campsite; I would only want to stay there for the benefit of the rock pools in the area. Generally I stay away from campsites along portages, or connected to portages if I can. I completed the portage and was happy to put my canoe down for the last time. No more portages today. I started down the creek, and then had a funny feeling. Something didn’t seem right. I checked the GPS and I was 50 m off course. Strange for a river that’s only 30 feet across. I checked the map and sure enough I was headed in the wrong direction – towards McDonald Creek. I turned around and went the right way. Between the portage and Lower Spectacle there are a lot of small rock faces leading down into the water. I figured I’d give the rod a try, and perhaps bring in a Brookie for dinner. I did not spend much time on this, as I wanted to secure a site on Lower Spectacle. As it turns out, there is only one site on this lake, the north-east site. The one on the south-west shore is not there. I went in for a closer look and found nothing. No matter, although the north site wasn’t all the great it was a site nonetheless.
A video of the Algonquin Park Waterslide
Day 4: Opalescent Lake to Lower Spectacle Lake
I woke up around 8 a.m. and it was a little cool outside. When I got out of the tent and looked around, all I could see was a cloud-covered sky and I thought today would be the day of rain. In my previous Algonquin trips, I would always be wet for a few days. Not due to lack of preparation – but due to a downpour of rain. So I’ve come to accept, and expect, the waterworks in the skies of Algonquin. Now every trip I wake up with a little fear that “today is going to be the day” (of rain). This disappointed me because I wanted to stop by the waterslide and go down a few times, but that is unlikely to happen if it remains so cloudy and cool – or if it rained. Since I was convinced it was going to rain soon, I quickly took down my tent and packed my gear. I lazed around the fire drinking coffee for about an hour, warming up a bit. Finally I decided to make my final breakfast of bacon on English muffins. The next four mornings it was going to be oatmeal. I was sitting on the log bench in front of the fire waiting for my muffin to toast when I looked down the lake and noticed the yellow tent was gone and a canoe was headed up the lake in my direction. I put together my muffins and enjoyed them with a coffee by the shore. By the time I finished eating, the canoe had reached me - it was a couple with their dogs. Cute dogs. One of them gave me a look and a few barks but they got him back under control within seconds. We exchanged greetings and I had asked them if they were headed to the Canyon. They replied that they were already there a few days back as they had spent two nights on Brigham, two nights on High Falls and two nights on Opalescent. They were now headed out of The Park; a sad time for them I’m sure. I told them I was on day four of eight and had a long way to go. As it turns out, they were fellow members of the Algonquin Adventures forum! This was the first time I had randomly ran into someone from the forums online – Nice to meet you!
Relaxing by the fire after dinner
tr 17: Barron canyon - greenleaf lake
TOURduPARK
Several attempts and this was the best shot I could get