May; first weekend after Mother's Day is the first long weekend
for Canadians to get out and enjoy their great outdoors and this year we have
had some unseasonably warm weather so conditions were right for some early
season kayak camping and I and a few friends headed up to Big Gull lake in
North Frontenac for a couple of nights under the stars
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| Big Gull Lake |
The lake situated in the highlands of the township of
North Frontenac offers a rugged tranquil beauty with shores of conifer and
mixed deciduous trees, numerous islands many of which have campsites and
although the lake does support a number of cottages, for the most part they are
at some remove from park lands and this early in the season very few are in use
so boat traffic is minimal with only a few fishing boats. The lake
running more or less northeast to southwest is approximately eighteen
kilometers long and three at its widest. We use the NE access point just
off the Ardoch road, being Crown land a road permit is required for all
vehicles in addition to a camping permit. We have chosen a site at about
7 km from the put-in on a decent sized island that has good tree cover should
it be required, this also will ensure a plentiful supply of firewood.
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| NE put-in |
The
weather forecast is somewhat unsettled and as we head out from the put-in it
is mostly overcast but intervals of sun and pleasantly warm. We have four
of us staying on the first night but one will leave at the end of the next day,
so plenty of room to pitch tents and because of the likelihood of some showers
we set up a tarp shelter in the trees over a picnic table.
Our
arrivals are staggered due to various commitments so I paddle up by
myself with everyone being on site by dinnertime, so paddling to the campsite
is the extent of my paddling for the day. Dinner over and rain starts,
not heavy but enough to take cover under our shelter to while away the evening
playing cards.
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| Evening entertainment |
After a cool night our second day looks promising,
calm water and a mix of sun and cloud so we are off for a full day's kayaking
exploring the lower half of the lake.
We stop for lunch at another campsite on a small island.
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| Kayaking 2nd day |
It gets
steadily warmer as the day progresses and it is followed by a glorious night;
the stars are magnificent and the two brightest planets Venus and Jupiter are
prominent in this celestial display. Around eleven p.m. a Barred owl
begins it's call, "Who cooks for you, who cooks for you" to lull us
to sleep after a very enjoyable day.
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| Fireside read |
On our last day we have brilliant sunshine, hot and a
light breeze a perfect day for kayaking so we decamp and pack our gear back in
the boats before saying goodbye to our island home to enjoy some more of the
lake before heading back to our respective homes.
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| Leaving camp |
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| Homeward bound |
Happy paddling!
KayakJock
