Sunday, August 23, 2015 – Van Winkle Lake to Nellie Lake – 10.8 km
Our route on day six took us through Van Winkle, Hanwood, Leech, Murray, Carmichael and Nellie Lakes. We got up early and were on the water before 8:30 am, because we knew the day would be a challenging one. We were headed for “The Notch” – the steepest portage in the park. Before we headed out, we made time for tea and a nice breakfast of eggs and salsa on a tortilla.
Because we had camped on the west side of Van Winkle Lake, we only had a short paddle to the 120 metre portage to Hanwood Lake. It’s a short portage, but it’s a pretty steep one! I carried Charlotte’s pack over it, because she was having trouble with her knee on steep hills. We were a little disappointed with Hanwood Lake. Our guide book said that paddling through Hanwood Lake, was like paddling through a gorge, so we expected to see some nice cliffs on both sides of the lake. It turned out to just be a narrow lake with treed banks – no cliffs at all. It is a nice enough lake, but the book oversold it.
The 150 metre portage to Leech Lake was fairly flat. We made pretty quick work of it. Leech Lake has a couple of cottages on it, but it still manages to be quite picturesque. The water was calm, and we enjoyed a leisurely paddle. The landing at the portage to Murray Lake was rocky. The 1090 metre portage was grassy and fairly flat. We made good time on it. We had been warned about poison ivy, on the side of the trail, but we didn’t see any. Charlotte was encouraged by how the portage went, which was good, because she had felt a little overwhelmed this morning.
Unfortunately, the paddle across Murray Lake was very short. After about a kilometre of paddling, we were portaging again. However, this time, we had “The Notch” to deal with. The portage is called The Notch, because it follows the shoreline of Notch Creek for much of its 1470 metres. However, the steep part of the portage does bring you up through a notch in the steep hill. The landing on Murray Lake was fairly flat, but rocky. The trail started off with a couple of moderate ups and downs; however, soon the trail made a sharp turn to the right and went up, up, up! It is hard to describe how steep The Notch is, and pictures don’t do it justice. It certainly isn’t vertical, but if it were a staircase, it wouldn’t pass the building code – it’s just too steep. I made three trips up The Notch. First I carried the canoe pack, then the canoe, and finally, the food barrel. My calves and quads burned more , with each trip. Once at the top of The Notch, the portage leveled out for quite awhile, with some smaller rolling hills, before it hit us with another shorter, but still crazy steep section, not far from Carmichael Lake.
When we arrived at Carmichael Lake, we definitely felt like we had earned it! On the positive side, it is quite a scenic portage. We stopped to take some pictures of Notch Creek, as it rushed over cascades and little water falls. There were also plenty of tranquil moments, as the creek wound its way through gravel beds and around small hills. We stopped for a quick snack of trail mix, granola bars and water, before we pushed off. There are three sites on Carmichael and Nellie Lakes. One is right where Carmichael Lake narrows and flows into Nellie Lake and two more sites are a little farther into Nellie Lake. I was hoping to get one of the two sites on Nellie. As we paddled, we saw that the first site on Nellie was taken, so we headed for the last site. Unfortunately, it was taken as well. We had a nice conversation with a young couple that had two kids. They were paddling a beautiful cedar strip canoe. We headed back to the Carmichael site. Site 142 is a big, open site, which was a concern for us. The forecast was for wind and rain! Just before we arrived at our site, the people from the first site on Nellie, landed to investigate our site. It was a bit odd, but they were friendly. We chatted for quite a bit, before they paddled on to hike The Notch, just for fun. They had a dog, as well, and Foxie got along with her! Wow! Today was a tough day!
Paddling on Nellie is quite freaky! The water is as clear as everyone had told us it was. Charlotte and I both had trouble looking down. It was a bit like walking on the glass floor of the C.N. Tower. You know you are safe, but your brain still thinks you are in danger of falling! After we set our camp up, we had a little nap before having a late supper. During our nap, the wind really picked up. While we were cooking our supper, it started to rain. I forgot to take a picture of our delicious Spanish rice. We ate supper under the tarp. After we did the dishes and read for a little, we retired to the tent for more reading and writing.
Monday, August 24, 2015 – Rest Day
Rain! That’s about all I have to say about today! Rain! It rained on and off for most of the day – mostly on. The rest day was good and hard. It was good, because our bodies needed the break, after six sometimes challenging days of canoeing and portaging. It was hard, because we didn’t really do anything. I felt like I was going stir crazy! Charlotte rested in the tent quite a bit. I stayed out, read my book and made tea a couple of times. I finished my book and talked to the few people who happened by, during the rainy afternoon.
I was glad when night came, so we could sleep and then get moving the next morning. I was also disappointed that our day on Nellie wasn’t more fun. I had planned the rest day on Nellie, on purpose and had been looking forward to exploring it a bit.
Adventures, Wanderings and Musings 