Enjoying a morning cup of coffee on a stone couch by the fire
tr 17: Barron canyon - greenleaf lake
Day 6: Vacation Day at Green Leaf Lake
Awake at 8 a.m., and I slept like I had died last night, I looked outside and couldn’t believe my eyes. Another bright, sunny day with clear blue skies and not a cloud in them. I’ve never been so lucky with weather in The Park. I am going to have to camp in May more often. I boiled some water and made coffee. I truly enjoy a cup of coffee at camp on a sunny morning – no better way to start the day. I felt more relaxed than usual. I guess it’s because I had nothing to do and nowhere to go today. I would explore where and when I pleased. After a delicious breakfast of oatmeal and more coffee, I cleaned up my campsite a little bit and prepared for an afternoon of exploration. I had a few things I wanted to do today. I wanted to explore Greenleaf Creek, but more so I wanted to try to bushwhack to Lost Lake. I should have reviewed Markus` trip log before in more detail before attempting that. I launched in the canoe around noon, and I made sure to have my water filter and some snacks as I planned to be gone for several hours. I began by paddling the east shoreline up to the creek. I can’t stress enough how beautiful this lake is. It has that rugged and wild look that I strive to find. Small bays here and there and it didn’t take me more than ten minutes to slowly make my way to the end of the lake. Up close the cliffs are even more spectacular. I arrived at the mouth of the creek and had to pass through a narrow channel of rocks to get to the creek’s beginnings. Excellent fishing here I am sure, and when I got to the log-jammed mouth of the creek I could see a handful of (brook) trout looking back at me again. They showed a real interest in me. I should have dropped a line to catch one, but I was just beginning my exploration and did not want to deal with keeping a fish for the next few hours. I guarantee I would have pulled one of those guys in, they were just so curious of the canoe. It looked like a lot of work to go down the creek, so I decided to continue following the shoreline. The west shore is more rugged and rocky than the east, and boasts the cliffs mentioned earlier.
I packed a small amount of snacks and the water filter and once again headed out for a few hours of fishing. I dropped my line and intended to troll the lake. Within ten minutes, still near my campsite, I had a bite! The fish was on the hook and it gave me a little bit of a battle. I was really hoping I had a Laker on the line. I pulled him up to the surface and was delighted to see a healthy-sized lake trout. I didn’t have a net with me, so I was sure to let him tire out on the line and then pulled him into the boat. A good-sized meal – I couldn’t believe it happened so fast. I pulled him off the hook, and estimated him to be about 2-2.5 lbs – enough for my needs. Then I began to think, “I came out here prepared for a few hours of fishing, not only to catch a meal but to kill some time and enjoy life.” I concluded that if I caught this guy in ten minutes, I could easily catch another few over the next couple of hours. Since I did not have a stringer, I decided to let him go – thinking I’ll fish for fun a little longer and keep a future catch. Worst. Decision. Ever. Can you guess what happened? I’ll tell you what happened. I spent the next three hours, casting, trolling, fishing the bottom, you name it. I did not catch another fish. I was so pissed about letting that trout go because I needed him for dinner. All I had now was bannock and mashed potatoes, the fish was supposed to be the main feature. I learned two lessons that day. 1) Get a Stringer. (Check) 2) If you’re fishing for dinner, keep the fish on a stringer until you catch another or you could go hungry. (Check). So after a huge fail on my part, I decided to head back to the Greenleaf Creek to get my pile of firewood. I filled up the boat to as much as she could handle and began the trek back to my campsite. I got back to the site just before 8 p.m. and made my disappointing dinner of bannock and mashed potatoes. It was good, but it lacked something major – LAKE TROUT! I really learned my lesson there. I had a nice fire going tonight because of all the wood I brought over to the site. I only had one more morning at this site so I didn’t worry about having a larger-than-normal fire, burning more wood. I once again managed to have a cup of green tea and read a few chapters of Joe Lavally. Oddly, the bugs weren’t as bad tonight as they were yesterday. I stayed up until about 10:30 or 11 p.m., and finally made my way to bed. No wolves howling tonight and I was off to sleep within minutes.
This small campsite on Greenleaf Lake is prime real-estate, great views, cliff adjacent!
A campsite from long, long ago
Lots of dry wood along the shores of Greenleaf Lake
TOURduPARK
As I came to the mouth of the creek from Lost Lake I was greeted by nothing but fallen trees. I could hear the creek, but could not see it. There were boulder piles to my left and steep inclines to the right. I looked at the map and wondered how there ever could have been a campsite here, as indicated on Jeff’s map of Algonquin. Perhaps it was decades ago. I scanned the shore in front of me trying to find a place I could pull up the canoe. Finally, I decided to just paddle over a few floating logs that were in my way and went to the least crowded section of shore. I had only a few feet to work with, and was surrounded by fallen trees. The idea of hiking to Lost Lake was becoming less and less likely. I secured my canoe on land and marked its location on the GPS – just in case! I had to crawl under a few sections of bush, and was making my way towards the sound of the creek. I had never seen forest like this, downed trees absolutely everywhere – I could barely move. I crawled over and under a few more logs and it just became thicker and thicker. From the boat, the other side didn’t look any better, so I wondered if I should just write this idea off and explore elsewhere. I debated it for a bit, because I really wanted to see Lost Lake. I ended up leaving, crawling back up over and under the logs and returned to my boat. Not a total loss. I went back to the area where the Greenleaf Creek began and explore in a bit more detail. I found a spot with enough firewood to last me the rest of my trip, so I decided to dock and check it out. Turns out it was an old campsite. It was perhaps an illegal one because it was not indicated on the map, and had little-to-no space for a tent – perhaps a hammock only. But there were remains of a firepit. It was pretty cool. I gathered a lot of the wood and put it into a pile close to shore – I would be back later on tonight for this wood. I got back in the boat and decided to head back to camp to relax for a little bit. On my way back, I started to notice all the steep shores all had tons of dead fall on them. I guess because this lake it a bit of a challenge to get to, it doesn’t get picked clean as much as the others. I wondered if going back to my pile later was worth it when I could pick any shore just a few hundred metres up from my campsite. I was back at the site by 3 p.m. and just relaxed in the sun for a little bit. I wish I had brought a light hammock for days like this, but I felt it would not be worth its weight with the little amount of time I would have to use it. I debated going for a swim – I didn’t end up doing it. I don’t know why either. The water was clear, it was a hot and sunny day – I guess I just didn’t feel like it. I started to think about the massive portage I faced tomorrow. It was beginning to bum me out so I told myself not to worry about it – after all it was tomorrow, not today. After looking at the view in front of me, I stopped thinking about it and relaxed a bit longer. It was close to 5 p.m. now and I wanted to get back in the boat for a few hours of fishing. I had a lake trout on my mind for dinner tonight.
A great view up Greenleaf Lake
An amazing view to wake up to!
The 'trail' up to Lost Lake