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I'll be doing the loop from Smoke to Cache and wanted some opinions on which lakes to camp on. Travel time won't be an issue so I'm thinking more about which has nicer campsites. An ideal campsite to me would have both east and west exposure for sunrise and sunset, sun most of the day, and flat rocks to sit and enjoy the sun and then stargaze later. There will only be 2 of us, so I'm ok with not having the best firepit or large tent spots, if it has good exposure/rocks/sunshine instead. It's going to be a 3-nighter, and will probably be during Labour Day long weekend.
Night 1 - Big Porcupine or Bonnechere. I haven't camped on either of these. It looks like the sites on Bonnechere are more spread out, which will be good during the long weekend, but Big Porc has island campsites which I'm very fond of
Night 2 - Phipps or Kirkwood. I haven't camped on either of these. I'm leaning towards Kirkwood since I remember seeing pictures of the island a while back and if I remember correctly it looked nice.
Night 3 - Harness vs. Head. I've camped on both of these before. I like the eastern island site on Harness, as well as the waterfall site on Head... but of course there's no guaranteeing I get what I want. Night 3 will be on the Monday night which I'm hoping will give me more options since most people will be leaving Monday.
edit: I'll probably go with Head for Night 3, to shave some time off the last day since I might want to hike up to Skymount lookout
Anyone have favourites between these options? Any campsite pictures to share that aren't on the PCI?
Thanks in advance
Last edited by trippythings (4/04/2017 7:29 pm)
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My favorite campsite on Big Porcupine to the left (if looking from lake) of the portage to Bonnechere.
South eastern campsite on Bonnechere. Looks like a great site but I've never stayed there.
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Tripper wrote:
My favorite campsite on Big Porcupine to the left (if looking from lake) of the portage to Bonnechere.
South eastern campsite on Bonnechere. Looks like a great site but I've never stayed there.
I've seen pictures of that Big Porcupine site before, definitely looks nice. That Bonnechere site looks beautiful as well (from the water at least).
I might have to flip a coin for Night 1
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Bonnechere feels less busy than Big Porc. It's deeper in, past a fork in the canoe route, and has fewer sites. Then again Thanksgiving probably won't be as crowded as other long weekends in the paddling season. Bonnechere has nice sites, but Big Porc obviously has more of them to choose from.
I suppose you're not fishing, given the dates.
You may already know this but if you're staying on Head, the waterfall at the outlet of the lake is worth a quick look (I assume you were referring to the waterfall at the creek from Kenneth). Though I've only seen it in the spring so ymmv.
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Bonnechere feels less busy than Big Porc. It's deeper in, past a fork in the canoe route, and has fewer sites. Then again Thanksgiving probably won't be as crowded as other long weekends in the paddling season. Bonnechere has nice sites, but Big Porc obviously has more of them to choose from.
I suppose you're not fishing, given the dates.
You may already know this but if you're staying on Head, the waterfall at the outlet of the lake is worth a quick look (I assume you were referring to the waterfall at the creek from Kenneth). Though I've only seen it in the spring so ymmv.
Woops, I meant to say Labour Day long weekend! Would that change your advice? I still won't be fishing though.
I think what you said about feeling less busy, being deeper in, and having less campsites is the key reason why I'm considering Bonnechere. They reserve 4/6 sites, so if the lake has 3 or 4 nice sites, then I'm sold. But as you mentioned Big Porcupine has more to choose from, and it has some island sites which means I can get both east/west exposure which I really like, if I'm able to get one of them.
What waterfall are you referring to on Head? Is there one near the 185m in the northeast corner? I know the one near Kenneth well, didn't know there was anything else on the lake...
I have a feeling I'll go with Bonnechere, Kirkwood, Head; but I'll wait a bit and see if anyone thinks I should do otherwise.
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Woops, I meant to say Labour Day long weekend! Would that change your advice? I still won't be fishing though.
Well, it would mean I cannot suppose from the dates you're not fishing, but since you specify that I guess it still doesn't factor into the decisions. Of course, Labour Day will be much busier than Thanksgiving, so that might strengthen the solitude case for Bonnechere if you can get started at a decent hour and push past the crowds.
What waterfall are you referring to on Head? Is there one near the 185m in the northeast corner? I know the one near Kenneth well, didn't know there was anything else on the lake....
Yes, that portage (also part of the Highlands Trail) bypasses a nice little chute where Head Lake drains into Head Creek. Not as much of a drop as the one from Kenneth. Has some nice rocks to relax on beside it. Not really visible from the lake but a very short walk.
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Well, it would mean I cannot suppose from the dates you're not fishing, but since you specify that I guess it still doesn't factor into the decisions. Of course, Labour Day will be much busier than Thanksgiving, so that might strengthen the solitude case for Bonnechere if you can get started at a decent hour and push past the crowds.
That's the plan; I'm usually waiting before the permit office/outfitters even open, so I'm the first one there and avoid the rush. Also lets me get an early start on the day. So I'd probably make it to Bonnechere by 2pm or so.
Yes, that portage (also part of the Highlands Trail) bypasses a nice little chute where Head Lake drains into Head Creek. Not as much of a drop as the one from Kenneth. Has some nice rocks to relax on beside it. Not really visible from the lake but a very short walk.
Thanks. I notice there's a couple more falls on the portages leading towards Madawaska. Since I plan on hiking Skymount, if I get an early start on the day maybe I'll take the long route through the river and check out the different falls, skipping the 1.6km
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Campsites 2, 5, and 6 on Bonnechere are nice (the numbers are from the PCI project map;click the tab on the AA intro page). 2 is big, elevated, has a point, has two sides, etc... 5 is on a corner where there is an interesting shelf of rock just under the water that you can stand on and swim off of, but the site itself is so-so, and you have to drag your canoe up to a place where it doesn't slide away.. Site 6 is on an isthmus between Bonnechere and Cradle, so two lakes for the price of one.
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Sites # 1 & 2 on Bonnechere come closest to your "optimal" site definition of having sunrise and sunset views. With that requirement you are limited to island sites or southern peninsulas.
Site #2 is a beauty and is often occupied in the summer months but early arrival may get it for you, site #1 is about a 7 in for me...not as good of sunset views there, average layout. We didn't look at 3, 4 or 5; our visit on 6 was brief due to skeeters but it felt confined.
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Sites # 1 & 2 on Bonnechere come closest to your "optimal" site definition of having sunrise and sunset views. With that requirement you are limited to island sites or southern peninsulas.
Site #2 is a beauty and is often occupied in the summer months but early arrival may get it for you, site #1 is about a 7 in for me...not as good of sunset views there, average layout. We didn't look at 3, 4 or 5; our visit on 6 was brief due to skeeters but it felt confined.
That's one of the reasons I like island sites... if they're not huge islands, I'll always be able to walk to different spots for both east and west exposure.
And I think getting there at 2pm won't be 'early', but definitely isn't considered late either. I'm not getting my hopes up though, since Night 1 will be the Saturday, there's a good chance people will have already set up shop for the weekend on Friday.
I'll probably take my chances with Bonnechere though.
Also thanks Barry and Methye, I've been looking at those since I started planning this route... was hoping maybe someone had pictures of campsite #4 but no luck so far.
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