Canoe Trip October 2009

Well, my daughter Christine and I have finally started our adventures that we have talked about forever! In October we went on a one-day canoe trip (to break in our skills). First we got a great Water Trails map from the Frost Centre, then we were off! We started at Margaret's Lake, just south of The Leslie Frost Centre on Highway 35. The lake was beautiful - we entered into a bay and headed north through a narrows that became very shallow, but well-marked. As we entered into the larger part of the lake we headed West to find the portage into Little Margaret Lake. We realized later that we did not go far enough into the marshy area, and didn't find the portage, so we came back out and pulled up on a large rock for lunch. It was an incredibly sunny October day and getting warmer by the minute -we couldn't have asked for better! After lunch we headed north again and followed the edge of the lake, circling around to the other side until we found the portage to Dan Lake. As an "older", out-of-shape person, with a borrowed, heavy canoe - this was an experience! The portage was 338 metres in length - not super long, but lots of rocks, roots and twists. Dan Lake is a very small, pretty lake - you start out in a sea of dead trees then open up into the lake. We checked out each provincial campsite along the way and tried not to miss a thing! Next was a portage to McEwen Lake - a short and easy 124 metres. McEwen Lake was gorgeous with some rock cuts and great camping sites. At the far end of the lake we stopped for a break (photos enclosed), checked out the park's "facilities", and headed home the same way we came. The whole trip took about 5 hours. We poked along and didn't rush, but it was a fabulous day! We are mapping out our next route for Spring - looking at the Water Trails map, we have hundreds of trips to take - never duplicating a route!!