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| Fenelon Falls |
Fenelon Falls
To
Port Severn
June 21 - June 26
June 20
This June 20th Karl and I headed off to Fenelon Falls where we would begin a six day kayak camping trip on the Trent-Severn waterway. The plan was to each get a six day lockage permit, cost just over $85 for a 17' kayak, which would cover our locking fees for the trip's duration. We arrive at Fenelon Falls mid-afternoon and set up camp, buy passes and then shuttle Karl's vehicle to Gamebridge where we plan to be in two days time. On our return to the Falls we visit one of the nearby restaurants to have a tasty dinner feeling no rush to jump into that camp food just yet! Weather is beautiful and is looking great for the morrow when we will begin our paddle.
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| Roughing it! |
June 21
Fenelon Falls to Kirkfield
We are up around 05:30 and it is looking like another great day. We pack up our gear and seeing as the Tim Horton's appears to be open down the street decide we might as well have breakfast there and save having to do dishes. We are done breakfast by 07:00, load the boats and are on the water by 07:30. It is a beautiful hot day again, and calm water as we head out across Cameron Lake then turn NNW towards the channel that takes us through lock 35, Rosedale, before continuing west across Balsam Lake to yet another channel leading to Mitchell Lake where we stop for lunch at a picnic site beside county road 48.
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| Fenelon put-in |
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| Balsam Lake |
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| Picnic site Mitchell Lake |
Leaving the picnic area around 13:00 we cross the last part of Mitchell then up a narrow dug channel to the Kirkfield lift lock where we plan to camp for the night. They lock us through quickly, all that heavy equipment for just our two kayaks! The lock drops surprisingly fast and it is an odd feeling to be travelling through the air surrounded by 100's of thousands of gallons of water. Kirkfield has no lower dock or wall suitable for unloading a kayak or even exiting a kayak. I had to stand in my kayak, throw a line around a bollard then climb up onto the wall. The hard part is getting the kayak out of the water. By lying on my belly I could just reach the hatches to unload some of the gear to lighten then with help from the lock crew we lifted out.
Kirkfield Lock 36
The lock crew were extremely helpful and offered to be on hand if we required help to launch the following morning. Sean's girlfriend arrived bringing him a supply of chocolate cup cakes (she's definitely a keeper!) which were soon passed around to us as well, and then to top it all off to our surprise we find there is a small seasonal restaurant "Joyce's Place" just across the street from the lock office so an ice cold beverage is our first order. After setting up we head back to "Joyce's" for dinner, great homemade hamburgers! Oh and breakfast was great too! This camping stuff is a breeze!
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mammoth lock 36 June 22Kirkfield to Gamebridge
Next morning after a cooked breakfast at Joyce's we load the boats on the lock wall. I decided our best bet was a "Georgian Bay" launch, sliding them off the wall stern first, this at a bit of an angle as the dock is not wide enough to accommodate a 17' kayak. We use my wooden blocks I keep in the cockpit to avoid scraping the hull. We attach stern lines also to make it easier to keep the yak against the wall while we drop in. Great night at this lock and almost a full moon to boot! We are off on our second day heading to lock 41 at Gamebridge where we will stop for the night.
Talbot River to Canal Lake
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Today is warm and humid, mostly overcast and we experience a couple of light showers as we cover the roughly 8km of Canal Lake to continue on the Talbot River channel which will take us through five locks, 37-41 which are operated by another mobile crew and are no longer continually manned. We phone the mobile crew when we are about 2km from Bolsover the first lock of the series and alert them to our arrival. We have a short wait for the crew to arrive then are locked through. This crew will now meet us at the next lock after they lock through an up bound vessel.
Bolsover lock 37
After leaving Talbot we bid goodbye to this crew and will now be handled by another crew for the remaining locks. As we approach Portage the tour boat Kawartha Voyageur which we have seen often on the Rideau Canal is exiting the lock, some of its passengers walking the path along the canal to get some exercise.
Kawartha Voyageur
At Gamebridge we defer locking through instead unloading our kayaks on a bit of shore just before the lock wall begins on our starboard side. This to avoid dealing with another high wall and it is close to where we plan to camp. A large family has commandeered several of the picnic tables as this is a family outing. I politely ask if they could clear their stuff from the table next to where we will camp which they were happy to comply with. We get set up and ask the family, who turns out are from the Toronto area but of Bangladesh origin, if they would mind keeping an eye on our gear while we are off doing shuttle number two; this requires retrieving the car from Fenelon and moving one to Couchiching where we plan to be in another two days. While out on our drive we stop by a McDonalds and I get treated to dinner as I mysteriously got a whole year older overnight, ain't this camping great! On our return the Bangladeshi family bring over some cake to share with us so we get our dessert too!
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| Gamebridge take-out |
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| Gamebridge lock 41 |
Gamebridge camp 3
Day 2
June 23
Gamebridge to McRae Point
After breakfast we haul boats and gear to the far end (downstream) of the lock where there was a bit of steep rocky shore shallow enough to allow boat loading on the water. Around 09:00 we head down channel for the approx 1.5km to the exit onto Lake Simcoe. Weather forecast was favourable and as we enter the lake it was even better than we had hoped, flat calm with a bit of fog but very hot and humid.
Entrance to Lake Simcoe
We set a dog leg course NW up the lake that will keep us no more than about 3km from shore just in case a storm breaks. When we are still about 5km from McRae Point cumulous nimbus can be seen building to the NW. Arriving at McRae Point we find there is no suitable access to the non-electrical sites which are on the closest SE side of the park so paddle around to main boat launch and walk to camp office to inquire which site might be best. We find site 114 (electrical) on NW side is right in front of a boat dock with grassy landing area so we pay the extra for the convenience and paddle around to unload.
Day 3
It was great to have a real shower before starting dinner, then around 5:30p.m. the cloud build up got it's release and we had a brief thunderstorm clearing up around 6 p.m allowing us to have dinner. Being Sunday we had few neighbours and having a landing/launch about 20m in front of our site made our park stay pretty comfortable.
Lake Simcoe and site 114 McRae Point
McRae Point Provincial Park
June 24
McRae Point to Couchiching
Up early for another shower before shoving off about 08:30. Hot and humid but with a light SW breeze which was fine as we headed NW to the narrows leading to Lake Couchiching, then north up the lake arriving at lock 42 Couchiching at around 13:00. We lock through and set up at the lower end as there is a little beach area that makes for easy loading or taking out. Only trouble with this is the 45 stairs to reach the washrooms. After lunch and a bit of a clean up we head out to do the last shuttle, driving first to Gamebridge to retrieve my car then to Port Severn to drop Karl's before returning to Couchiching to have dinner.
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| Lake Couchiching |
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| Camp 5 Couchiching |
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| Day 4 |
June 25
Couchiching to Swift Rapids
We depart lock 42 around 08:45 continuing along the channel leading to Sparrow Lake there is quite a strong current in the channel and we have been told they are pushing a lot of water from Simcoe down to Georgian Bay to relieve flooding. Sparrow lake is a bit choppy from a west or WSW wind. At the top of Sparrow Lake we turn west into the Severn River which will take us to Swift Rapids todays destination. I'm a little disappointed as I had hoped this area would be more of a wilderness but while being very pretty it has the detritus of civilization; cottages, water slides, air mattresses and the like. These thin out a bit as you get closer to Swift Rapids and there are many narrow cuts along the river making it quite scenic.
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| Severn River |
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| Lock 43 Swift Rapids
Most of the land bordering the river appears to be private and shores have deep water and for the most part inaccessible so few places to stop for a lunch break. We press on and arrive at Swift Rapids by about 13:00 unloading at the low wall close to where we will camp. All facilities are "on top" so we defer locking until the morning when we depart. This is one deep lock, one chamber that drops 47' and can lift boats in 8 minutes!
Camp 6
Yellow Iris
Sunset at Swift Rapids
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Day 5
Day 6
Swift Rapids to Port Severn
Our last day and once again the weather is gorgeous, we pack the boats and say our goodbyes to our neighbours, two campers and the boat crew parked by the blue line. Andrew opens the lock and we paddle in, water goes through the floor in this lock and we descend quite rapidly, 7 minutes and we drop the 47' and sit facing the massive doors. This lock is all automatic with just Andrew at the controls. The doors open and Andrew wishes us well through the PA system and we paddle off on the last leg of our paddle, next stop Big Chute and the marine railway.
Lock 36 Swift Rapids
lunch stop Big Chute
At Big Chute we decide to stop and have lunch before boarding the marine railway which will carry us over the hump to a lower level downstream. There is a nice boat ramp adjacent to a lovely park area with picnic tables and access to the washrooms at the lock. Karl also found a restaurant where he bought his to take out.
The marine railway comes down for loading
Aboard Big Chute
Severn River
Big Chute is yet another one of the very different experiences this trip has had to offer, also probably the best lunch stop for ease of landing and facilities. Leaving here we continue through the area known as Gloucester Pool on our southward journey to Port Severn where this trip comes to an end.
His master's voice(s)
Gloucester Pool
Day 6
We arrive at Port Severn around 3 p.m. which brings our paddle to a close, we unload all the gear and haul the boats out of the water then load up everything on Karl's vehicle which has racks for two boats. All that remains is to drive back to lock 42 Couchiching to transfer all my equipment to my vehicle before beginning the long drive home.
Port Severn landing
After transferring gear we make a stop near Gamebridge for dinner and to fill up with gas as this seems to be the cheapest for miles around $1.15/l. By the time I get home it is 11:30 p.m and I discover that while we were having great weather on our trip things were not so great at home. A freak very localized storm went through the village with mothball sized hail uprooting some hydro poles and bringing part of our largest Manitoba maple down to dangle across our neighbour's yard. So now the good times are over it is off to work I go! I took a good number of photos on this trip a selection of which appears here, should you like to view the rest please click on the link below.
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