Nunikani Lake Loop; Scouting Trip

On Thursday May 01 2003 we met at the Hensall United Church. I think everyone was present by around 2130 hours. Scouts, Laura, Tanya, Brian and Justin arrived full of excitement. The Leader group was, Paula, Mark, Gerry, Janice & Bill and myself.
We started the evening with moving Scouter Gerrys canoe to the top of my van before the rain might start to get heavier. Scouter Gerry then started going over the scouts packs, dividing the extra gear (food, tents, dining fly, cooking equipment) making sure that they had everything that they would require for the trip. This is not a normal trip where our trailer is only a short walk away for a forgotten item. The leaders also divided gear, checking to be sure we had everything needed, didn?t want to have to borrow from the scouts. Once this was all completed we moved upstairs to review how to use our compass for taking bearings on the map, which showed the area and lakes for our trip. We found that we had to add 12* to our compass readings for true north according to the legend on the map. Scouters Gerry, Mark, and Paula went home to get a good nights sleep, while Scouter Janice, Bill and I stayed at the Church with the youth. I found a lazyboy chair, which worked great for sleeping on, as the couches were to short.
Friday May 02 2003
The day started early shortly after five, with all getting up and moving. Scouter Gerry arrived and we started to load the gear into Scouter Bill?s canoe trailer, Scouter Mark arrived a little later, we finished loading and we were off. Tanya, Laura, Justin, Brian and Scouter Gerry rode with me. I?m sure the four scouts were asleep before we were out of Hensall. We headed for Tim Horton?s in Wingham; this is where we decided to meet with Scouter Bill, Janice and Mark who had stopped in Clinton to pickup Paula. We all went inside to unload and get food and drinks. A short detour into the heart of Wingham was needed to pump up a trailer tire and then we were off heading east along Hwy 86. At Bluevale we switched to Hwy 87 and traveled to Harriston where we switched to Hwy 89 still going east to the next pit stop at Tim?s in Shelburne. (I think) This was a short one and we were soon back on the road. The gas gauge started to really move now as we were into the hilly section of road, but we pressed on and were soon heading up Hwy400/ 11 to our next stop, which was at Swift Canoe, a retail outlet. We all had a look around and Scouter Gerry bought a topographic map of the area where we were heading. We were back on the road, with intentions of stopping in Gravenhurst for lunch, but thanks to my not paying attention to the road signs, we missed Gravenhurst totally except seeing it as we drove on past. We continued on anyway, turning off Hwy 11 at road 118, where we saw a sign which said 6 km to Bracebridge and a u-turn was made and we were off to Wendy?s in Bracebridge. Tanya, Laura, Brian, Justin, Paula and I went in and bought our lunch, while Scouters Janice, Mark, Gerry, and Bill ate sandwiches in the van. We stopped across the street at a Shell station and gassed up both vans, I?m not sure how much Bill had left, but I still had half a tank. We headed for the lake, driving across road 118 to Carnarvon where we turned north on road 35, a short drive to the north end of Halls Lake where we turned east again on road 13, which took us right to Little Hawk Lake.
We unloaded the canoes, all of the gear, loaded the gear into the canoes, parked the vans, one last pit stop for some and we were afloat by about half past two. The canoe teams are: Tanya & Laura (TL); Brian & Justin (BJ); Bill & Janice (SJB); Gerry & Mark (SGM); Paula & Sam (SPS). A cool breeze was blowing, but not too hard, it had turned out to be a real nice day. The scouts had to get their maps out, take a bearing, as they were leading us on this adventure.
We paddled N up the west shoreline, swinging to the NW and on up to the Hawk Narrows. As we neared the narrows you could see a totem pole standing out on a rock point, I?m not sure what each symbol stood for but at the top it looked like a hawk. We passed through the narrows, switching to follow the NE shoreline. There were several cottages along the shore and I think near all of them had a small satellite dish for the TV, some of these cottages were very extravagant to say the least. When we got to the point of land where we could see Big Hawk Island we veered back to the N still following the shoreline on our right side until we came to the NW point and a larger area of open water. The compass was put back on the maps again and the course was plotted heading for Clear Lake. The girls were working hard at keeping up with the pace, so SJB stayed back with them helping them adjust the weight in the canoe to get the front down so that it wouldn?t act like a sail in the wind. Brian and Justin were setting a good pace, where, we had to stop every once in a while to let the rest catch up. We landed at the portage for Clear Lake, unloaded the canoes and prepared to start walking. I took the canoe, (with the paddles tied inside) my food pack first, Paula took her barrel (which weighted a TON) and we made the 225 m hike across a reasonably flat trail. We returned to get the rest of the packs and to make sure that no one had left anything behind. This trail had the scars of being used as a snowmobile trail as well as a portage trail. We headed north along the east shore of Clear Lake stopping at the camp- site on the point just before the open water. Justin and Brian arrived first, only to find a sign, which allowed only two tents/six people. SJB went ashore with the boys to look for the other site in this area, but it was not usable. SGM canoed around the point to look on the other side. The scouts waited at the shore with SPS while SJB canoed to the SW down the lake to check another site. They were soon followed by SGM in ole squeaky. A short time later both canoes came back into sight and waved us to come over to where they were floating, I suggested to Paula that, either the site was okay, or it?s no good and we are heading on toward the next available camp site. I think the scouts were ready to stop here for the night. The site turned out to be unsuitable as well so off we headed for Red Lake. We paddled along the eastern shore to the north end of the lake, we had the option of two different routes to portage on, but SJB mentioned that the short one was pretty wet, so we took the 275m hike. If this was the dry one, I?m sure glad we didn?t take the wet one. This trail was a little hilly and every once in a while we sunk in a few inches. This trail ended at Dick?s cottage and it is now the new owner of a fine pair of sunglasses. SM was vision impaired for the rest of the weekend. We were afloat again and headed for the campsite at the most western point of the big island in the south end of Red Pine Lake. This was a good size unoccupied camp area, so we landed and set up our tents. Supper for Gerry, Mark & I was a wholesome soup, bagels, and summer sausage. Mark brought some turkey sausage to add / air a distinct flavour and as time went by the effects were blowing in the wind. It was quite dark by the time we finished the clean up and we were soon off to bed. I?m not sure why Paula chose to sleep beside a chainsaw (not Janice either) but she did and as a result found very little sleep. I hit the sleeping bag and I?m sure I was sleeping before my head hit the therma-rest.
Saturday May 03 2003
Everyone was up, had breakfast, and packed up the gear ready to go by I think 1030. The water had a mirror finish which reflected the landscape when we first got up, which was the perfect setting for the Loons to perform their dance, as we were ready to depart. We paddled NW heading for the west shoreline, then followed it N to the cut that would lead us to Nunikani Lake. We met another group who had just paddled in from Nunikani and said our hellos, before entering into the narrow stream. We had decided earlier that if we had to do the 440m portage into this lake, that we do it in a relay so as not to get to tired, but when we landed at the dam and checked the waterway we found that we could do the 30m portage. SGM put in right next to the dam, lining their canoe through the fast shallow water from the left shore and the rest of us carried the equipment the extra 20m to the still water. Paula & I pushed off first; paddling through the shallow water (scrubbed a couple of times) to where SGM had stopped and then Paula guided the rest through the shallow areas so they wouldn?t scratch the bottoms of their canoes. We all paddled down the little ribbon of water into Nunikani Lake where we (SGM: SJB: SPS) gunneled up, floating leisurely into the body of the lake while the scouts were checking their maps for directions. This leisurely float was occasionally interrupted by weapons of mass destruction and foghorns, causing Janice to pickup a green look about her, rendering her speechless!!!!! The scouts charted a course to take and we were off heading for campsite at the north point. This site was occupied so we proceeded west along the north shore to the next site, which would not accommodate our whole group. The boys canoed further along the N shore to almost the end, finding another site which might have been good for our group, so we all paddled to where they were to have a look. As we approached it looked as if there was a house built in this area, but it wasn?t a house, it was a large wall of ice on the rocks. We all got out of the canoes onto the rock point in front of the ice to have lunch. Gerry Mark and I had Pitas with Peanut Butter, turkey sausage, and cheese. We mentioned that we were having chili for supper, which seemed to raise an air of concern from the rest of the group. (I?m not sure why) As we were resting on the rock the wind changed direction causing the canoes to pivot around, and within a few seconds the water 25-30 feet away started to swirl. This swirling action soon became a small waterspout to form, (I tried to get it on film) which was something I have never seen before. We pushed off again at 2pm headed S across to the far shore, then paddled E to the longest part of the lake went around the point and headed S. There were two more came sites in this area, but both were occupied and unusable to us. We paddled past the one on the W shore and found that they had an onion bag full of beer in the clear top icy fridge. (water) We paddled on toward the island at the S end of the lake and the boys went ashore to check what looked like a good site area. We met the group we had past earlier and they told us a better site was at the south end of the island, so we floated down to check it out. This was a much better site but, there was sure a lot of garbage left from previous campers. We set up camp around 230pm which gave us some free time to hang sleeping bags out to air, rekindle the fire which had not been put out properly, time to just lay around in the sun and time for some to try to freeze their feet in the frigid water. Gerry, Mark and I started fairly early to prepare our supper, as we had to re-hydrate the chili ingredients, then mix in the spices and let the chili simmer on the stove. We ate the chili, with pitas, which made an excellent meal. Not too spicy hot, but certainly not cold, just perfect. I thick there may have been some more of that turkey sausage. While I sat there looking across the water to the west shore, I saw what looked like a car axle and with the use of Janice?s binoculars my guess was confirmed. Scouter Mark took a canoe out to try paddling alone, just for practice, and headed north up the east side of the island. BJ took their canoe out for a paddle, were told to stay within sight and a short time later were seen heading south towards the dam. A great deal of concern was raised when neither of the canoes had been seen for some, were they together or where were they. As the question of should we start a search was raised one canoe appeared and then the second, all was well, the worries ended. We were a bit later going to bed this evening, the leaders being the last ones up.
Sunday May 04 2003
In the morning the water was mirror flat again reflecting the landscape perfectly where the evening before two beavers had been swimming. We had completed breakfast, packing up, one last look around, as well as picking up some of the garbage left by others and were on the water by around 10 am. We put the canoes into a star formation just S of the island for a scouts own, and we all shared our thanks for all. We then paddled S to the Nunikani Dam, only took a few minutes and again we unloaded and made ready to portage. Scouter Bill told me if I took my packs across first that he would carry the canoe with me, so I helped Paula get her (now only ¾ of a ton barrel up on her back, pulled my big pack on my back and my food pack on my chest ready to start hiking. We stopped just over the dam to look down into the gorge; the water was falling 20-30 feet with a roar into a narrow channel. We carried on to the end, dropped our packs and headed back for the canoe. We went back for pictures under the falls (group shot) the rocks down in here were very wet and slippery, as Scouter Gerry showed us by sliding to the waters edge. We re-launched the canoes, this was the first time we saw any fish in the clear water, a couple schools of brown trout. We paddled down the narrow sliver of water towards Big Hawk Lake, moving along at a good speed, I was sleeping at the back of the canoe when Paula put the brakes on, (panic stop) this certainly got me paying attention in a hurry. I?m glad she was paying attention because if we had hit the huge rock, only a couple of inches below the surface I?m sure our packs would have been checked for water proofing, not to mention how cold the water would have been on our bodies. When we rounded one of the last points before the lake we could hear several dogs barking, before we saw the campers, they were trying to quiet their dogs and the setting just made me think of the song Dueling Banjos. Upon entering the N end of Big Hawk Lake, Paula and I paddled over to read a sign standing in the water. It was a speed sign for maximum 10 kph. We continued down the W shoreline until we came to the large open body of water, where we stopped, gunneled up and waited for the scouts to get their co-ordinates on the map. This required a few tries before we got numbers that were close to ours. We then paddled on following the N shore to the narrow gap before crossing over to the S shore. A few rest stops were made along here to allow the canoes at the back to catch up, and when you did stop you made sure the GREEN (AIR) canoe was down WIND of you. WE past a spot with a lot of blue tarps stretched out in the bush on shore, after lots of speculation of what they were we figured out it must be a camp of some kind. We moved along swinging S toward the narrows, the pace picked up now because the boys saw the totem pole in the distance. Paula and I hung back mid way between the two canoes in front and the two canoes behind us, stopping at a square floating diving platform with BJ and SJB waiting for the girls to catch up. We continued on SJB started to play tag to burn off energy, while Paula and I hung back with the girls. We rounded the last point now heading S and it was hello head wind. It felt like two strokes ahead and one back for the rest the day on the water.
We reached shore around 3pm, I went to get the van while Paula started to unload the canoe. We made quick work of loading up and changing into more pleasant smelling attire. We were soon, back on the road heading for home. We turned on the road, which went around the south side of Halls Lake, following it to road 35 and from here our trip was almost the same as Fridays. I saw a Tim?s sign 2km ahead, speculated with Gerry as to whether we were supposed to stop or not, the phone didn?t ring so, we breezed past. The next time a Tim?s sign showed up the phone did ring and a stop was arranged, at this point it was decided that we stop at a Subway for supper, the first one that we saw. Well we pulled out on the road and there was a Subway just across the street, so we pulled in. The group in the other van wasn?t ready for supper yet, so we carried on and stopped in Alliston. We had to stop again for many reasons at Tim?s in Mount Forest before we could complete the journey. Our next stop was in Clinton to drop off Paula at her home. We all said our good by?s, we carried on to Hensall, stopping at the United Church to drop off Mark and Laura. We then went to drop off Gerry and his canoe. We ended the trip in Zurich when we dropped off the last three scouts.
I know I have left a few things out of this log from the trip, one being, the fact that some people want to do a lot more sight seeing in the bush than others, the other menus, and the countless laughs that we had while paddling along. My many thanks to Scouters Janice and Bill for allowing us to use their canoe, it handled like a dream, and I am sorry about the extra scratches that we added to the bottom. To the scouts for, their, willingness to work hard together, never complaining, even when the going got tough and for the pleasant music, which was sang on the journey home. Thanks, to Gerry and Mark, for the fine meals, the humor and the lessons on chemical weaponry. Many thanks to the scout group as a whole for inviting me along on this fantastic wilderness canoe camp.
A sincere thank you to Ms. Paula, who for most of the weekend pulled me around the lakes in the canoe, keeping me dry, out of the lake, not laughing when I saw ducks which turned out to be logs, and for the constant smile that gave us all the extra energy when we needed a little more.
I would like to thank the entire group together because this was really just another day in the paradise of the great outdoors with a splendid group of friends.
Thank you
Scouter Sam