Day 2: Manitou Lake to Three Mile Lake (via North Tea Lake and Biggar Lake) (28.04 km)

The temperatures dropped to 3°C overnight, but I was comfortable in my shoulder season sleeping bag and pad. I normally don’t have a fire in the mornings of a travel day, preferring to hit the water early and reach my destination as soon as possible. However, I woke up around 7:30 am and it was cold and windy enough to warrant making one. I had coffee and breakfast, and decided to bake my bannock while waiting for the temperature to warm up before heading out.

My original plan was to take four days to complete this loop (night 2 on Biggar, and night 3 again on Manitou). However, that was before my two boys’ hockey tryouts and subsequent schedules were released. Therefore, I condensed the trip into 3 days in order to make it home in time for their hockey games on Sunday. This meant that I would camp on Three Mile Lake for my second and final night instead.

By 10:00 am, the wind was stronger than expected out of the SW. The forecast had called for winds between 10–15 km/h. My guess was that it was blowing at least 20–25 km/h with gusts closer to 30 km/h. Given the strength and direction of the wind, I considered changing plans and heading directly to Three Mile Lake via the 2,790m portage. However, I had wanted to complete the entire loop through Biggar Lake for a few years now, and didn’t want to miss the opportunity to do it on this trip.

I waited for another hour or so. By 11:15 am, the temperatures were warmer and the wind had settled down slightly. I decided that despite the late start, I would head south on Manitou as originally intended. The waves were still pretty rough as I made my way toward the portages into the East Arm of North Tea Lake. I have taken both the 460m and 580m portages on previous trips, and opted for the shorter (though slightly steeper) one on this day.

As expected, the waves were up on North Tea. The wind had shifted slightly, now coming more from the WSW. This meant that I would have a slight cross wind for a couple of kilometers before being able to turn east towards Mangotasi Lake. After launching onto North Tea, I battled constant waves – including several white caps – that demanded my full attention. These were the kind of waves that get you fully kneeling and doing everything to ensure the bow of the canoe hit them head on.

By the time I turned east towards Mangotasi, I was sheltered somewhat by the group of islands in the East Arm of North Tea. However, there were still a few uncomfortable moments surfing large waves that were hitting me on the broadside of my canoe before being able to turn and have the wind and waves mostly at my back. After crossing through the sandy, marshy area separating North Tea and Mangotasi, the waves subsided almost completely. It is incredible how much that narrow sandy spit and marsh breaks up the rough water between these lakes.

With the wind now helping, I was making great progress and was finally able to enjoy the beautiful scenery. Mangotasi and Hornbeam were very pretty. In particular, the waterfall at the 40m portage at Hornbeam would make an excellent spot to stop for lunch.

There was a couple heading the other direction out of Biggar Lake when I arrived there. I also saw one guy camped at a site on the south shore. Other than that, I did not see any other people on Day 2. The waves had picked up again on Biggar and I made great time travelling east across the lake. The hills on the south side of Biggar Lake were beautiful, with the yellow and orange leaves glowing spectacularly in the afternoon sunshine.

The water levels were extremely low at the northeast end of Biggar Lake. I had to get out of the canoe and drag it through the sandy bottom for 50 or 60 meters. A few clouds had rolled in, and I was ready for a break. I took about 20 minutes to filter water and have a quick lunch at the start of the 530m portage from Biggar to Sinclair Lake.

The next section included short paddles on Sinclair Lake, Kawa Lake, and Upper Kawa Lake, all separated by portages. I would classify all of these portages as relatively flat and non-technical. They felt more like peaceful walks through the woods compared to most portages.

Upper Kawa Lake has a few campsites on it and is a beautiful little lake. Definitely one that I would return to in the future. The 1,220m portage into Three Mile Lake was also an enjoyable walk – at least during this time of the year. It was warm (probably 24°C or 25°C), but there was very little humidity and of course, no bugs to contend with.

By the time I reached Three Mile Lake, the wind was low and the sun was beginning to go down behind the large mountain to the west. This was my first visit to Three Mile Lake. It is a very picturesque, medium–sized lake containing 18 campsites – most of them in the southern and central section. I wanted to paddle to the northern section to reduce my travel distance for my final day. The lake was entirely empty, and I decided to take the campsite at the 2,790m portage.

It was now almost 6:30 pm and I was tired from the day. After getting a late start and contending with wind and waves, I was very thankful to reach this decent campsite. There is a large, open staging area at the end of the portage and near the campsite where I left my canoe and paddles.

I quickly set up my tent, sleeping pad, and sleeping bag and headed back to the lake to fetch water and go for a quick swim before making dinner. The water was very cool and refreshing. It was also very warm overnight for October (around 12°C).

The main downside with this site was that I had to walk down the trail adjacent to the portage about a hundred meters to find a suitable branch to hang my food bag. The other downside was that it was set further back into the woods compared to the majority of the backcountry canoe campsites in Algonquin Park which made it feel a bit more creepy to me (I’m not easily spooked, but this would make it a less desirable campsite for some people).

I headed to bed at 9:00 pm. At around 11:30 pm, I was startled awake by the moan of what I suspect was a moose (or perhaps even a wolf) that was uncomfortably close to my tent. I woke up and made loud noises from my tent. A few minutes later, I heard the sound again. I grabbed my bear spray and stepped out of my tent to make more noise. I had an eerie feeling that whatever it was, was still close. After about five minutes, I didn’t hear any other sound and decided to head back to bed. However, I was not able to fall into a very deep sleep after this.

Route for Day 2


Windy autumn morning on Manitou Lake


Lunch break on Biggar Lake


Evening arrival at camp on Three Mile Lake

 

Last edited by Bampot (10/06/2025 3:52 pm)

Sounds like a great trip!!! Love this section of the park almost as much as Barron Canyon.
Thanks for the wonderful photos