Bon Echo paddle

 Mazinaw Lake

    Note: Click on an image to see large.

Bon Echo

September 19 and my friend Pat and I head up to Bon Echo on what is looking like another spectacular paddling day all the better to enjoy the grandiose scenery of Upper & Lower Mazinaw lake at Bon Echo.  We both arrive about 10:00 at what I believe is the one and only public boat launch for Bon Echo.   Judging by the number of vehicles parked in the lot and along the access road it would appear that assumption is correct, but luckily we  find two spots for our cars.

Boat launch

We are keen to check out the pictographs to be found along Mazinaw Rock close to the waterline so we head over towards the rock's northern end to work our way along the rock face looking for pictographs.  Upper Mazinaw is one of the deepest lakes in Ontario, coming in at 476 ft at it's deepest point. We are not disappointed as there are quite a number but many are so faded it is very difficult to determine what was drawn, not surprisingly as some are as old as 1000 years.

Heading for Mazinaw Rock

Pictograph

Below is a pictograph that contains the image of Nanabozho (bottom right) the Ojibwe trickster a stick like figure with almost rabbit like ears that is considered a mascot of Bon Echo and appears often.

Nanabozho (trickster)

   

Searching for pictographs

We spend quite a bit of time just drifting along examining all the pictographs we can find and by the time we reach the end of the rock face we are thinking of lunch.   It is worthy of note that Mazinaw Rock attracts many climbers and today was no exception as we see several pairs of climbers working their way up the cliff.  Definitely not for the faint hearted ( that would include me!).

Two climbers

Leading the way

As we are almost at the narrows, the juncture of Upper and Lower Mazinaw where there is a gravel beach for easy landing a kayak so we paddle over and take out for some lunch.  Before lunch we check out the tribute to Walt Whitman carved into the rock face by two of my countrymen (fellow Scots) in the summer of 1919 at the behest of Flora MacDonald an ardent admirer of Whitman and owner of the Bon Echo Inn.  Also noted for her work in founding the Canadian Suffrage movement.

Flora

 

Walt Whitman tribute

The dedication reads:

OLD WALT

1819-1919

Dedicated to the democratic ideals of

WALT WHITMAN

by

Horace Traubel and Flora MacDonald

My foothold is tenon'd and mortised in granite

I laugh at what you call dissolution

and I know the amplitude of time.

The beach at the narrows is within Bon Echo park boundaries so we get a fair bit of company as we sit and eat our lunch.  From here you have a view of both upper and lower Mazinaw lake.

Upper from Narrows

Lower from Narrows

With our luch over we paddle into lower Mazinaw lake with the intention of paddling the creek that empties into lower Mazinaw from Bon Echo provincial park.   The entrance is spanned by an attractive wooden pedestrian bridge which we paddle under to see how far up the creek we can get.

Bon Echo creek

Pedestrian bridge

As it happens going by Google Maps there is about 600m that looks navigable but I doubt we made 500m before encountering fallen trees which prevented further passage.   Leaving the creek behind we head back towards the narrows and upper Mazinaw passing a couple of beach areas to the left and a landing with some stairs on the right, this I believe leads to the trail which takes you up Mazinaw Rock which we will have to leave until another time, perhaps a future camping trip.  After passing through the narrows we can see our climbers are still hard at it and the lead is now much closer to his goal.

Almost there!

As we both have a fairly long drive ahead of us and I am expected home for dinner we decide to call it quits and head back to our take-out to load up.   If you have never been to Bon Echo I would highly recomend it as it is a lovely place to paddle and hike, we will likely be back probably camping so that we can fully explore all that this area has to offer.

Mazinaw Rock

Pat

Happy kayaking!

from

KayakJock

Crow Lake to Bobs Lake - South Frontenac

This is a very pretty area within the Frontenac Arch Biosphere and until now an area I had not paddled.  A little research turned up two possible access points, one by the village of Crow Lake at the northern tip of Crow Lake, the other at the south end of Steele Rd  giving access to the SW end of Bobs Lake.  I chose the former thinking it closer to paved road and after determining that passage between Crow and Bobs lakes was possible via a narrow stream.  Getting there shouldn't have been a problem but arriving at Westport I find my route blocked as they have closed CR 36; a detour via Perth is on offer but that by my internal compass is the totally wrong direction.  So off I go westward into the unknown seeking an alternate route to Crow Lake.  Before too long I am regretting this as I find myself on a road better suited as a roller coaster track with no signs to any known location.   Finally being brought to a stop by road construction I find a worker who has local knowledge and get direction to my destination.  So a rather late start to the day but we get launched from the beach area below the village of Crow Lake.  This put-in/ramp has a decent sized area where several cars could park but inexplicably has "No Parking" signs throughout so we end up parking along the Crow Rd about 200 m away...my day continues!

Crow Lake put-in

Crow Lake is approximately 6 km top to bottom with it's eastern shore being mostly Crown land, the western shore having a number of cottages and private. There are three small islands about half way down and a couple more in the eastern arm.   The lake tapers towards the south where a narrow passage connects to Bobs Lake.  Navigating this channel may become difficult in late fall as levels drop further but a local told me a kayak should manage.

Crow - Bobs

Crow - Bobs

Heading almost due east I look for another channel eastward that may or may not be there; this is not clear on any map I have looked at.  This too turns out to be navigable but might require a carry over later in season.

approach to 2nd channel

Our destination today is the other put-in at the end of Steele Rd so we can check it out for possible use at a later date.   We are now in a narrow arm that if one travelled NE on would give onto the long stretch of water leading to the lake's most northeastern extremity at Bolingbroke but we turn SSE for about 1 - 1.5 km then almost west to reach the Steele Rd put-in.

Travelling SSE

Arriving at the put-in we have clocked about 12 km and I go ashore to check out the lay of the land.  Steele Rd runs right to the water with no parking lot but maybe room for 2 cars pushed into small cleared area west side of road.  Several cottages have lane ways off road so parking would likely have to be back up the road where it is wider.

Steele Rd

Steele Rd

Possible parking

Time for a late lunch and just about 100 m or so east of this put-in is a small beach which appears to be part of a trailer park but being mid-week  no one seems to be around so we land there for lunch.

Lunch at beach

Our return route will follow the NW shore of this basin until we reach the passage to Crow Lake this being somewhat shorter than our outbound course. We will travel around and between some of the islands most of which are well cottaged.

Between islands

Osprey nest

As we approach the Bobs Lake entrance to Crows Lake I linger to watch and photograph a kid who is being coached to leap of a small cliff, after much persuasion she makes the jump!

Geronimo!

Then it is back through the channel and into Crow Lake for our last 5.5 km back to our starting point.  This time I go home via Perth but by a more direct route that misses Westport and the closed county road.

Northbound on Crow Lake

Happy paddling!

from

KayakJock