Kayaking the 1000 Islands, Boldt Castle & Hill Island

Boldt Castle

For all the kayaking I have done over the years in the 1000 Islands region of the St. Lawrence River, I had never yet visited what is likely the areas premier tourist attraction, namely Boldt Castle.  So today being another of those gorgeous late fall weather days I planned to remedy this by planning a kayak trip from Rockport that would take me around Heart Island, home to Boldt Castle and then a circumnavigation of Hill Island paddling the yet to be explored (by me) channel lying between Wellsley Island and Hill Island.

For those of you not familiar with this extraordinary landmark, the castle was the brainchild of George C. Boldt, erstwhile millionaire of the Waldorf Astoria who commissioned its construction as a lasting display of his devotion to his wife.  Construction halted on the untimely death of his wife, broken hearted he never returned to the island leaving the uncompleted castle to fall into disrepair until 1977 when renovations were begun which culminated in the fantastic example of a Rhineland castle that exists today, playing host to millions of tourists every year.

U.S. waters

The day promised to be perfect for paddling with plenty of sunshine, light wind and an expected high of 12 c.  Loading the boat on the roof of the car I wore gloves as Jack frost was very much in evidence requiring me to run the engine for awhile to clear away a heavy frost.   As Heart Island is within the U.S. I downloaded a map of New York state which I loaded on my GPS, unfortunately I can't view or print both my Canadian topographic maps and New York  map simultaneously so here they will appear separately although my track can still be seen running off into the missing maps. By the time I am ready to depart Rockport; 11:15 it has warmed up nicely and I set course for the NE tip of Wellsley island the start of U.S. waters a distance of 2 km. From here I will loop southward and around Heart Island before returning to this point to begin a SW course between Wellsley and Hill islands.

Launch from Rockport

From the git-go it is obvious the water levels are greatly reduced from what I think of as normal and as I pass through the bay east of Wellsley it is very shallow.   I get my first view of the keep and an other large building on an adjacent island which in profile is somewhat reminiscent of Westminster Abbey. This turns out to be where you keep your 3 masted sailing ships when you are not using them.

Boldt Castle

Yacht House

Heart island is rife with Maple trees which at this time of year are ablaze with colour; this helps mitigate the extravagant use of medieval ornamentation. Of course castle owners should always have a little guest castle in case the family drop in, actually I think this was built as a play house.

Guest Castle?

Ornamentation

As there is no sign of Rapunzel to offer me an invite it is time to continue my journey and get back to Canadian waters; cause ya can't go for a 'P' in the U.S. without a passport!    If medieval is not your thing the neighbours a few islands downstream, offer an attractive alternative for the not so filthy rich.

The neighbours

The castle is closed for the season and some maintenance appears to be in progress.  There is quite extensive docking facilities to accommodate the steady flow of tour boats that bring those millions of tourists and as I head back I am passed by two vessels obviously making a drive by.  One from Gananoque, the other Rockport.

Gananoque Boat Lines

Hill Island

Hill Island circumnavigation

As I turn SW I enable my Topo Canada map once again, and if I stay close to the shore of Hill Island I will remain in Canadian waters.  First order is to find a suitable place to stop and have lunch etc.  I don't have to wait long, a small uninhabited isle just offshore of Hill with a shallow easy approach presents itself.  The whole channel appears to be very shallow so I am not likely to see any other vessels.

Lunch stop

Lunch over I continue SW almost straddling the international border and wondering what water conditions may lie ahead.   I did a little reading online and found a blurb by Parks Canada that said conditions around Georgina and Hill islands were best suited to advance paddlers which I don't consider myself to be; experienced yes, but advanced I think of someone keen on rolling etc.  I have been around Georgina and you do get strong currents and eddies but with low water I'm thinking this should slow things down a tad.

narrowing

Skydeck Tower

The




Rounding the corner I get my first view of the Skydeck, now renamed simply 1000 Islands Tower.   As the channel narrows more, the water is getting shallower and in some spots it is not clear which way continues and which is a dead-end.   Docks and speed limit signs indicate it is not always so! Another bend and I'm at the very short International Bridge, with Canada Customs just along to my right and the beginning of U.S. Interstate 81 to the left.

International Bridge

I am now in the last stretch which continues to narrow till finally there is a gap of around 5-6 m where it is deeper and one can see ripples of fast flowing water.  It is manageable but requires some fast paddling to stay ahead of the flow.  I can imagine in summer that this could be a bit of a challenge.  Beyond this the channel gives way to open water and in the distance I can make out what I believe is a nav light on Lyndoch or Lyndoe Island reputed by some to be the onetime hideout of the pirate Bill Johnston.  It also marks the entrance to Fiddler's Elbow a channel known for fast moving water.  I make a first right which is the shorter route to Georgina Island as I wish to take out in good time and not be roaming in the gloaming although with being so sunny I doubt that a possibility.

final narrows

back in open water

From here on I am on familiar territory and head toward the south side of Georgina which is directly below the Ivy Lea bridge, then continue downstream along the north shore of Hill then Club island before cutting northwards back to Rockport.

Ivy Lea Bridge

Georgina Island

Along the way I stop and photograph this lovely Victorian house which would be more my style should I ever become a lottery winner.   Complete with "widow's walk", I can just imagine the wife pacing about up there waiting for her knight in shiny neoprene to come kayaking over the horizon.

Victorian home

On reaching the tip of Club island I swing north across the river and head in to Rockport.   As I approach there are two divers just packing up their gear and we stop and chat.  From them I learn that they pay $10 parking fee for the day so presumably a kayaker can do the same.  As there was a few vacant spots by the grass I just parked and hoped it would be okay, it was!

Rockport church

landing at Rockport

This was a most enjoyable paddle, 22 kilometers in weather that couldn't have been much nicer.  And as I write this the day after, the weather is crap, torrential rain!  You have to grab them when you can.   Another plus, from Rockport I take the 1000 Island parkway home which gives me yet another opportunity to enjoy the river from a different perspective.   Don't mind Pancho, he is always muscling in on my pics!

Happy Kayaking!

Deux-Rivières Ottawa River Kayak Camping

Deux-Rivières

The village of Deux-Rivières lies along the shores of the Ottawa River a little more than 100 kilometers west of Petawawa and about 35 east of Matawa and offers not only spectacular scenery but a truly wilderness camping experience for kayakers.    The Ottawa is quite wide here, although this was not always the case, the building of the Swisha Hydro dam in the early 50's changed the shape of the river and even required the moving of the village inland to accommodate the rise in water levels.  Today there is but a few houses and a hunting/fishing lodge and kayakers are likely to only encounter the odd fisherman as they travel this beautiful historic waterway.

Deux-Rivières outbound

This fall the weather has been perfect for camping so a friend and I decided to head up to Deux-Rivières for a couple of nights camping and three days of great kayaking.   For me this is a 3+ hour drive, stopping in Ottawa to pick up my companion and his gear.  The route is the Trans-Canada highway more or less following the course of the Ottawa River much of which I have kayaked at one time or another, some of  which is covered in previous blogs, notably Petawawa and Deep River.    We arrive at our put-in around noon so take time to have lunch at the picnic table provided before loading and launching our kayaks.

Then we are off downstream with a brisk wind at our backs so we are making good time; I clocked 8 km/hr at one point in mid stream, this is all good in case we have to search for an alternate site.   The thing about camping in fall is the ever shortening days so you want to get on site and set up before dusk.   I am hoping for an excellent site I used before when kayaking here with another from our group in 2010.   The kayaking possibilities of this area were brought to our attention back in 2009/2010 by a kayaker who was then stationed in Petawawa and the Ottawa River was his backyard.  The shoreline for the most part does not lend itself to camping, being very steep and heavily treed so suitable campsites are few and far between.  There are a couple of spots on islands very close to Deux-Rivières and an abandoned trailer on the Québec shore around the seven kilometer mark that could be used in an emergency. But the one we want is about 14.5 km downstream.  We had not gone too many kilometers downstream when we spotted our first Bald eagle, an adult, then a little farther on an immature and another adult, probably all of the same family.  I have seen quite a few this year and it is nice to see as this species was at one time very endangered.

Ottawa River

Leaving Deux-Rivières

Happily when we arrive at our chosen camp we find it unoccupied.  On the way down the only traffic we encountered was two small fishing boats, the occupant of one stopping to chat with us.

Our campsite

After getting tents up we set about gathering fire wood so there can be a campfire later in the evening; that done it is time to have dinner.  It has been a lovely day and we now get an equally lovely sunset.

    

View up river

Sunset

Day - 2

After a crummy night; I had trouble with a leaky air mattress and switched to another, we awoke to a misty morning.  Around 8:30 the sun broke through and the mist quickly dissipated leaving us with another brilliant day.  We had hung our food bags up in trees just to be safe, so first order is to retieve them before frying up some breakfast.

Mist

Sun out

Breakfast over it is time to head out and explore the river downstream of our camp.  About 100 meters down from camp there is a small, very pretty waterfall which we stop to admire.   Then I flushed a spotted sandpiper, a species quite common to the shores of our lakes and rivers in eastern Canada.  Shortly thereafter an American pipit lands, its tail pumping vigorously.  Likely on migration at this time of year.   Staying close to the Quebéc shore the river suddenly widens after about four kilometers with a large bay on the Ontario side, there are two large islands, the larger Rocher Capitaine Island close to the Ontario side with a smaller one unnamed, about 300m from the Quebéc shore.  Ray notices the name Maraboo Lake on the map and he has some personal association with this name so would like to check it out.   Good a reason as any for some exploration and I believe there may be a campsite around Maraboo Point so this becomes our next destination.  Some lesser islands straddle the Quebéc side and we wind our way through them before crossing to the Ontario side.  I thought one would be well suited to the name Christmas Tree island.

North shore islands

Christmas Tree Island ?

Rounding Maraboo Point towards Maraboo Lake we find a very nice campsite; I forgot to mark it on the above map but it would be on your right as you head SE and is quite obvious.  I should mention these sites have had no development other than a fire ring, so don't forget a trowel if you plan on camping.

Campsite near Maraboo Pt.

Although the map shows a clear channel to Maraboo Lake this is not the reality and we poke around looking for a way in.  Below right turned out to be it, I ended up exiting my kayak and dragging it over a partially submerged branch, Ray's approach was more successful.  Worth the effort as we emerged into a lovely little lake which also has another nice campsite.  I doubt that you could ever make use of it kayaking as it would be near impossible to get a fully loaded kayak through that entrance.  We notice a small dock on the east side and go to investigate.

Dead end

Way in

Maraboo Lake

A trail leads from the dock to a cabin obviously accessed by a logging road, this can be seen on Google aerial photography as it takes a torturous route back to highway 17 near Bissett Creek Rd.  Nobody home but a permit on window from Ontario regarding trapping and recreation.  After a quick look around and paddle up lake it is back to the camp on Maraboo Point to have lunch.

camp on Maraboo

Exit Maraboo

Lunch at Maraboo Pt.

After lunch our route going back will be by way of the large bay on the Ontario side known as Holden Lake, circling around Rocher Capitaine island coming close to Bissett Creek thence along the Ontario shore.   Really nothing at Bissett Creek, couple of houses and a railway bridge (Ottawa Valley Railink) which crosses highway 17 which is almost at waters edge here.

Bissett Creek, hwy 17 far right

Heading upstream

From here back to camp we are staying close to shore to make use of the shade provided by trees on a steep shoreline.   Of interest is a put-in I discover not far from camp on Ontario side, this could be used to camp if you found our camp occupied and were running short of time.   Easy landing with nice grassy flat area big enough for a couple of tents and connected to yet another logging road.  A boat has been stashed in the bush.

put-in?

Time for a swim

It is now a short paddle back to our camp and for me the first order will be to have a refreshing swim and a bit of a wash before we set up a fire and begin the dinner preparations.

Another perfect day

Our third day is looking as good as the others and it is time to pack up and head back to Deux-Rivières then home.  We can have a late, maybe quite late lunch on the drive back to Ottawa, that way we spend a little more time on the water exploring shoreline missed on the way down.

Day 3 home-bound

We start along the Quebéc shore then switch to the Ontario side trying to keep opposite from our downward course.   One finds amazing growths of mosses along the shoreline rocks, a couple of examples below.

Leaving camp

Moss

Moss

We come across another small dock in disrepair almost hidden in a niche, with a rickety stair dropping almost to the dock.   I park and climb to investigate.  Looks like there once might have been a trail now completely overgrown which would have lead to a logging road and probably a cabin of sorts.   This seems to get confirmed as a short way along the shore we find a newer dock no doubt leading to the relocated cabin.   Now we are going back to other shore to visit falls we spied on our first day.  This one a little larger with decent volume and I take this opportunity for my photo op.

Falls

From here it is not much further to where we put-in at Deux-Rivières where we take out, unload and pack up the car before taking one last refreshing swim off the public dock.   Then  it is the drive home stopping first for gas at Deep River then Petawawa for some fast food.  Another nice fall kayak camp is over!

Isles near put-in

Deux-Rivières put-in

Happy paddling!

Doug