Have you considered McManus? Much easier/faster to get to than Travers and my brief reconnaissance paddle a couple of years ago revealed some nice sites along the western shore. It's a very short paddle in and I certainly didn't get the feeling the lake is well used. Mostly just river runners passing through on their way to the parking lot--i.e., not stopping to camp. Of course if you want to do any day-tripping you'll have to paddle and portage up-river, but those are pretty minor carries right up to Whitson Lake. Just a thought.

PaPaddler wrote:

I'd suggest a new bunch of friends or a solo trip.  I know it's not much help and is somewhat of a tongue-in-cheek response, but life is too short to be making concessions on what could be experiences of a lifetime and turn into a weekend of meh.

Well I was working on introducing them to interior camping.   Last year Opalescent was kind of a compromise because one of my friends wife was due in a months time.  So he rented a Sat phone and said "I need to be at the car in an hour of that call"  We had originally planned on Whitson Lake. 

Working on a Solo trip,  Probably something easy like Brigham to Squirrel Rapids.  Done half of it before.   Busy summer schedule with RedBlacks games and planning camping with the wife!

DanPM wrote:

Like Tripper I was going to suggest Crotch Lake, basically the same idea as Farm but a little nicer and perhaps a little quieter without people passing through towards Booth. And lots of day tripping options for those who want to be more active and aren't scared of portaging. Good fishing too. Barry wrote a detailed report of a camping trip on Crotch, http://www.algonquinadventures.com/photos/Crotch/index.htm

Sec Lake would be another nice portage-free base camping lake with lots of fish.

By the way where are you coming from? I'm assuming from the east, given the options you've named. But you're coming from a different area that would change things.

PaPaddler makes a good point, you do need compatibility, though a fun camping trip with your friends is a good use of a weekend even if it's not as adventurous as what you'd like to do... the question is, are you introducing them to interior camping to work up to tripping, or settling into an access lake camping tradition? Cause it sounds like you introduced them to interior camping on Sunday Lake, and then to tripping/portaging with Opalescent, and that didn't take...

Most of us coming from Ottawa, Two from Belleville/Kingston area.

I did want to warm them up to tripping.  But it seems the goto a lake and settle is what most want to do.   It's already a tradition as we've been doing a camping/fishing weekend for 6 years now.  First 4 just being car camping at Achray/Coon Lake/Pog Lake.   First 2 years we did a hiking trails, Then started renting a canoe.  (Canoed Barron Caynon one year.  Went Pog to Whitefish lake another).  Before trying Sunday Lake.  Had a great time, heard wolves on the lake the final night.

I wouldn't say Opalescent completed didn't take.   Of the usual group of 8 (including myself) only one didn't want to go because "It's too much work I just want to relax" and two others had prior commitments.    I think the biggest complaint of the other 4 who came was the portage length /elevation change and the bugs.  We also had a wicked storm roll though right after we setup our tents, my tent was sideways and sleepbags were soaked.  It put a 'damper' on things the first night.   Rest of the weekend was great, day tripped to High falls. 

 

RobW wrote:

The downside of Travers is that you don't really have any day trip options. Heading downstream on the Petawawa is pretty much a one way trip. You could fight your way back upstream but it wouldn't be fun. Heading upstream from Travers would also be a pain starting with a fairly big portage. . 

What we do sometimes is paddle back to the landing and drive over to where the train station used to be located (A52 on Jeff's map).  The abandoned rail line gives you access to a pretty scenic section of the Petawawa.  The closest campsite gives you a nice view of a set of rapids and is a good spot for lunch and a swim.   Hiking into Eustache Lake is also an option, though you would have to bring along a canoe to see the most scenic parts of the lake.

Last Labour day weekend we hiked up the first portage upstream from Travers to take the grandchildren fishing.   At the far end of the portage they were catching small fish on almost every cast.  Lots of fun, but nothing big enough to keep.

There are lots of sand beach campsites on Travers but alas, not all campsites have a sand beach.   I drove up alone on the Friday morning last Labour Day weekend hoping to get a beach campsite for our family group but it didn't pan out.   For that weekend, I guess you'd need to have someone go up on Thursday to get a good site.   However, my wife was very determined to get a beach site for the grandchildren and on Saturday morning she paddled all around the lake to see if she could find anyone who was planning to leave that day.   Amazingly, she found a site on the north side of the lake with about 500m of beach that was going to be vacated after lunch.

Thanks Everyone!

Booked at Crotch Lake! 

Andy W wrote:

Sounds like you made a good selection relative to your buddy's preferences. Couple of suggestions with ya'll base camping on Crotch. . .If you are looking for beach front, head south east for all of the sites down that way. Great sites but be forewarned, they are somewhat stacked up so you will be having neighbors and depending upon who you encounter, it could get rather noisy. If you are looking for more solitude, head up north on Crotch to snag one (of the two) island sites. My brother and I have camped on both areas and they both have their pros/cons. If you are looking for a nice day trip with good bass/pike fishing opportunity, I'd suggest heading south all the way down to Depot and back. IMO, Shall isn't worth spending much time fishing on due to the shallows but further down it would be worth dropping a line and by all means, make the portage to Depot. Great fishing there.  Have a great time and looking forward to hearing all about your trip! <edited> If you head down to Depot, keep your eyes focused and keep the noise to a minimum. We have consistently seen a lot of wildlife down and back between Crotch and Depot. . . .

Thanks!  

On the booking website it says there was 1 other booking Thursday night, no-one Friday and someone Saturday.

I proposed some sites to when we get to the lake, more for everyone and different arrival times, so they know where to check
Red I think would be our first choice, green sites second and blue third. 

Last edited by Mulder (2/29/2016 11:41 pm)

Andy W wrote:

For what's it's worth, I would snag both sites on green for you and your friends.<edited> I wasn't that impressed with the site of your first (red) choice but you will be able to check it out on your own and also swing by further up to check out the island sites and make your own decision   Have a GREAT trip!

Ok Thanks! 

There  is already bookings at the lake Wednesday and Thursday night.   Not sure if they are different people or not.    I would assume there is a chance they may snag the island.   But we'll see!