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6/18/2020 3:38 pm  #1


North Tea Lake points of interest / waterfalls

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip with a small group of friends in early July – we're spending about 4 nights in and around the various arms of North Tea Lake.

About half the group are strict beginners (or "indoor cats" as I politely call them), not really willing to adventure out on too many hikes long and/or portages (yet!), so we're sticking to just the one lake system for our overnights; the rest of us however are eager to do a bit more backcountry exploring – anyone have some good day-trip recommendations for the area? 

Having not been to that part of the park before, I've been mostly relying of Jeff's Map for inspiration – keen on checking out the waterfalls at Hornbeam and over on the Manitou portage for instance. Anything else we should check out while we're there? Pretty much anything within a 5-6 hour round trip from either arm of North Tea is within our reach (don't want to go too much further if we're leaving some sunbathers relaxing at the campsite).

Any ideas or suggestions for the area are much appreciated!

With thanks,
E.

 

6/18/2020 5:33 pm  #2


Re: North Tea Lake points of interest / waterfalls

The North East arm has a nice waterfall to hang out at, swim, fish etc.  It is at the end of the 585m portage from Manitou L.  

Twin Falls between Mangotasi and Biggar (on Hornbeam L) are nice.

You could loop around Three Mile into Manitou and back to NT.

If you're sticking to the west arm, Lost Dog/Sisco/Lorne offers a nice day trip loop.

The Amable river on the way in is great fishing if you know where to look.

One of the most eastern campsites on North Tea has a beach/sand bar that extends into the lake a good 40-50 yards and makes for a perfect base camp cool down spot. 

There are a few farm/cabin remains in the area that you can reference the locations on Jeff's map.

There are some historic sites on Manitou that are worthy of a day trip, also noted on Jeff's map.

Kawaywaymog always has a headwind as long as the sun is up, no matter what direction you're going. 

One of my favourite areas of the park, enjoy. 
 

 

6/19/2020 9:15 am  #3


Re: North Tea Lake points of interest / waterfalls

If going with newbies, watch for winds and chop of NTL. If winds whip up, it can get rough.

If possible, I would recommend going out of access 3 to to Misty. Or even just Daisy. Start slow. Small lakes, no big waves. Just a thought.

 

6/19/2020 11:35 am  #4


Re: North Tea Lake points of interest / waterfalls

Many thanks guys!

Definitely going to check out the waterfalls in the east arm – would you say both are suitable for swimming at?

Noted about the headwind on Kawaywaymog – seems to be sticking to a westerly on the advance forecast, but I'm counting on it changing directions the day we head out, such is Sod's/Murphy's Law.

Thought about the Three Mile loop, though with this group half the team will be moving too slow and the other half will be frustrated about it. Hedging my bets with an easy inwards trip for the faint hearted, and find a nice landing spot for the rest of us to explore from. Besides, I promised a few folks a "beach day" as a bargaining chip. Might have to check out the sandbar you mentioned in NE North Tea for just that purpose, sounds like a winner.

Thought about doing a small-lake trip, as I know what some of the deeper lakes can get like, but just couldn't resist exploring the area – plus we're skirting pretty close to peak blackfly season, so having an option for a breezy island site might be worthwhile. There's enough of us that are confident paddlers to keeping the newbies putting strokes in the right direction, and we've plenty of time to skirt around the leeward shore if people start getting lake-sick at the sight of whitecaps.

Thanks again for the tips – this is the first trip of the year for us, and I'm hoping to get more of the group hooked on the backcountry bug!

E.

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