We departed Toronto at 08:10 and arrived at Kearney at 11:26. AP #3, Magnetawan Lake, is another 38 km from Kearney, down Highway 518 and then Forestry Tower Road. Much of this is gravel with a washboard surface limiting you to about 40 kph so it takes a little extra time to reach this access point than to Canoe Lake. Leave the Porsche at home.

Once everything was loaded and I was ready to launch the Wenonah on it's maiden voyage it was 13:20. The sky was clear and the temperature in the low 20s. Perfect canoeing weather. I had elected to use two 30 litre backpacks - one for gear and food and one for my cloths, sleeping bag and pad - rather than one large pack to allow more flexibility in trimming the canoe, if needed, but this was not an issue. Both bags went in the rear and Corky took the bow.

On the way to Daisy I alternated between using a single paddle and the double bladed kayak paddle I borrowed from my brother. It worked out well. Although there is a serene elegance to paddling down a shore line with a traditional paddle, you can definitely move much faster with the double blade as there is no need for any corrective strokes and it is certainly an advantage if there is a wind. I'll need a longer length for use with a canoe but I knew that already. With a bit of practice, though, I was able to come up with a pretty effective stroke. The canoe cuts through the water fairly quickly and I had no problems keeping it tracking true. Corky adjusted better than I expected to the lesser initial stability of the canoe due to the narrower width and actually seemed more content as she had more room. In the tandems she had to be either between my legs or perched up on top of the gear piled in the centre.

We arrived at Daisy at about 4pm, just about in line with Jeff's estimates - always a good standard to strive for - and made our way to the southern island site (#4). This site is nice. It's large with light tree cover and a significant slope coming up from the water but has level tent pads, a nice fire pit, good water access and some rocky areas on the shore for sitting. This was the night of the Blood Moon but unfortunately the cloud cover moved in just before dusk and I couldn't even see the moon. The next day was cloudy and breezy but we tooted around the lake for a couple of hours trolling for trout but they just laughed at us. Maybe it was just the wind I heard but I don't think so. It started raining that night around 3 am and continued on and off through the morning so I had to pack up everything wet. My favourite thing! Fortunately, the weather cleared by the time we were ready to start our trip back and we had a nice paddle out. With all the rain the night before, I decided to attempt bypassing the 55m portage at Acme Pond and had no issues. All in all, a successful shake out trip for the new boat. Here are a couple of pics. As you can see, the fall colours were just starting to come out at this time.

PS: this first picture, with the saw blade, is actually the other island site, #3.

Last edited by Algonquintripper (10/03/2015 7:05 pm)