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Many years ago I tripped to Scorch Lake. Since then I've picked-up on both beaver dam flooding of the portage between Kingscote and Big Rock Lakes and on Scorch Lake's water level being much lower due to a blown-out beaver dam.
Has anyone been that way in the last year or two? Ant updates on the portage and water levels is appreciated.
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My earlier trip to Scorch Lake was way back in 2000 .. .
Prior to my original post, I'd done a search for "Scorch" on the old forum and got nothing helpful. But afterward I did a Google search for "Scorch lake water level" and got the posting on the old forum by Sean of his 2014 trip. His photos of the low water were what I was remembering .. [url],+Scorch+Lake,+High+Falls+~+June+12+-+15[/url] . That was June of 2014.
At the time of that posting, I'd come up with another informative link .. , which was dated 2012 and also shows low levels.
So here I am now, exploring tripping options for 2016 and wondering if anyone made it to Scorch Lake in 2015 and if water levels are improved?
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Well, I wish I'd done the Google search before making my original posting. Here's the link to Markus Rubino's account of that same trip made by Sean in 2014 .. .
It looks like someone may have tried to remedy the flooding in the portage to Little Rock Lake by ripping out a beaver dam! Now the lake is drained down to what looks like a muddy mess.
So over time it looks like both Big Rock and Scorch Lakes have suffered from dramatically lowered water levels. Unless someone was by that way in 2015 and can assure me that water levels are now back up, I think I'll scratch the trip off my 2016 short list!
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I went that way in early August 2014, so probably not that different from Sean's findings except that I was there in a dryer season. The Kingscote-Big Rock portage was swampy in places but there was a bit of a cowpath leading you around the worst wet spot. The portage landing at Scorch Lake involved some exploring in open meadow to find the least quicksandy entry, and from there into the main body of the lake was a tricky rock garden. Passable though, and totally worth it.
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I was there this august long weekend (2015) and spent a couple nights on scorch lake. It was very low water all around at that time. Kingscote-Big rock portage was fine. The portage into scorch was fine but the the low water made it a challenge to paddle the first section (west end of the lake. had to get out and lift/drag around rocks and muck. If I were to go back I would probably extend the portage along the south shore of scorch lake a couple hundred metres.
Last edited by flatrapid (1/05/2016 12:28 am)
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