CANOEING & KAYAKING: Temagami and Cross Lakes

" Paddling Irons the Wrinkles Out of the Soul. "  

                                                                                                         Anonymous

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Temagami: A Brief History

(Source: Wikipedia)

The Anishnabai have been living in the area for at least 6,000 years after migrating from the east coast of North America. The land was divided into familial hunting and trapping territories.

Since the main east-west fur trade route bypassed Temagami to the south, settlement of this area by Europeans did not come until 1834. That year the Hudson's Bay Company built a store on Temagami Island, which later relocated to Bear Island. The town itself was founded by Dan O'Connor, who in 1903 formed the O'Connor Steamboat and Hotel Company on the lake and established its first store on the future townsite. By 1906, he had built three hotels on Lake Temagami: Hotel Ronnoco, Temagami Inn, and Lady Evelyn Hotel and by 1910 the company operated ten steamships on the lake including the Belle of Temagami.

The Forest Reserves Act of 1898 established the 15,000 km2 (5,800 sq mi) Temagami Forest Reserve. Because of this reserve, the region was home to the 'last Old-growth forests in Ontario'. Logging of the vast pine stands only began in the 1920s. Now just a few patches of old growth remain, including the White Bear Forest and 'the world's largest stand of old-growth red and white pine forest' - the Obabika Old-Growth Forest. 

The inspiration and wonder of the area were brought to millions around the world in 1907 when Grey Owl arrived in Temagami. He was employed by Keewaydin Canoe Camp as a guide, and later by the Ontario Department of Lands and Forests as a ranger. His subsequent books and extensive lecturing in Britain and the United States brought tremendous attention to northeastern Ontario and wildlife conservation. 

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The Paddlers

For this adventure ... our team consists of five of the seven kayakers that previously tripped together on Quebec's Cabonga Reservoir in 2010 (go here if you want to read that older report).  

Unfortunately, two paddlers from that original seven, won't be joining us this time around! We'll certainly miss Wanda and Al; they were willing, but 'stuff' just got in their way.

So, for this paddling trip, we'll be travelling with 3 solo kayaks and a tandem canoe. 

Here, we were then ...

A Muddy Landing

BOTTOM: Karen left, Gerry right
TOP: John left, Dann centre, Helen right

And, here we are now, 9 years later ... well, most of us.

The Exposure Enclosure (for ... bugs, rain, sun)

LEFT to RIGHT: Gerry   John   Karen   Helen

Although we did see all the biting insects (mosquitoes, deer flies, horse flies, boat flies), they were in surprisingly small numbers.

Temagami, is a cottage and wilderness region in northeastern Ontario. No one in our group had paddled here before but we have all wanted to. Karen thoroughly researched and selected the general direction of the route, she collected feedback from the group regarding meal requirements and shared camp gear, and then created a roster for dinners. We've all camped together numerous times before; from extended backpacking trips to multi-day/week flat-water canoe, whitewater canoe and kayak adventures ... we all know what to do and what to expect. This is a good group of experienced campers and paddlers ... unsurprisingly, 'everything went smoothly'.

Karen handled all map navigation. The route shown, has been transcribed from her topographic map markings. A GPS was not used. Helen determined our geographical camp locations using an InReach; those positions (NAD83 datum: latitude and longitude) are assigned on the accompanying map.

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The Outfit

All the gear (minus our (2) 30 litre food/wine barrels) ... we'll be paddling a canoe, so can afford to use larger volume packs and carry more gear. Kayaks are limited to a much more compact and efficient packing regime; several of these items would simply not fit into a kayak hull. We'll carry a camp table, exposure/bug enclosure and some smaller, miscellaneous items for the group. 

Everyone supplied their own water filters, kitchens, stoves and personal items. Breakfasts, snacks and lunches were handled individually but group dinners were assigned per tent. Six nights out; one dinner by each of the 5 paddlers and the sixth night was a shared meal. Cooks also had cleanup duty.

It's an 8 hour drive from Wellington to Temagami with a lunch break included. Others travelled from the Ottawa and Almonte areas and had similar driving durations. We all spent the night at Temagami Shores Inn and Resort so we can get an early start in the morning.

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The Route

Put-In

... on Lake Temagami at the end of the Temagami Lake Access Road

Camps 1,2

Some shoreline landings are sloped and rocky; not all are 'kayak friendly'. Strong, 28 kmph winds with gusts to 40/50 kmph on day 1. We decided day 2 would be a layover day with a weather prediction of severe thunderstorms, high wind and heavy rain ... it was the right choice.

... water for boiling

John's night to cook ... still camping, paddling, squeezing in and out of a kayak ... and 'opinionating' at 77!

... loaded and moving to the next camp on another fine day.

Packing the Kayaks

These three are experienced kayakers and have done this numerous times. A piece of gear, a bag or stuff sac has its place and each one needs to be loaded in a particular sequence ... usually, but not always!

... we paddled through several intimate, protected, quiet narrows.

... a hole in the clouds

Camps 3,4,5

... early morning on Cross Lake

... solitude, quiet, mist, loon calls, lake water, fresh ground coffee ... sounds and sights, aromas and tastes ... !

Gerry shaves every morning

  

... a friendly snapping turtle, we named him Freddie. Trained by fishermen to beg for scraps probably, this fellow liked beef jerky and fruit, but not salmon. He/She checked in with us, several times a day.

Cheers ... "O' Be Joyful Hour!"

We had plenty of dry kindling and firewood at all campsites. Most firewood didn't need to be split, we had some minor saw work, cleaned and tidied some fire-pits, collected any garbage we found and burned it nightly along with our daily 'orgo' burn. We left all campsites cleaner than we found them and of course, non-burnables were packed out.

... a Cross Lake sunset

... day paddles out of Camp 3,4,5

Temagami River dam site

... estimate an 80 - 100 foot cliff-side

Osprey

... landing on the nest (center left)

Many adult Loon pairs, but we only saw a few young. In addition to the loons we saw ... bald eagles, osprey, several hawks, a merlin, crows, king fishers, a merganser family, a couple of blue heron, pileated woodpeckers, beaver and a snapping turtle.

... a hole in the canopy

There are some exceptional wetland areas in the Temagami region. We paddled every day; excluding one layover when we waited out stormy weather ... in total about 70 kms.

... a deserted cabin

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If You Go

In general, this was a good trip overall. It's quite surprising that an area with this many cottages can actually, take on a 'feeling of true wilderness'. The further we got from the put-in (as expected), the quieter the trip became ... very few paddlers, fewer boaters, campsites spread out. We'll certainly return to the Temagami area; probably investigate some of the routes in Lady Evelyn-Smoothwater PP. However, if there is a downside to the lakes we were on, it would be due to the number of houseboat travellers we encountered. Some of these units are quite large ... they tow fishing boats or canoes, set up tent sites on shore, are joined by multiple family members and hold down a campsite for a week or more. This is crown land, no permits required. They monopolize the lakes' campsites in places and because they can access these areas quicker, locating campsites as paddlers can be difficult.

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We're KANOE Tripping 

... follow along, if you like.

Our latest paddling route is included on TRAVELMAP 2019. In addition, that map also includes our LOAFin Around travels.

For all posts from this latest adventure click Trip 148 

For all photos from this latest adventure click here.

Photography by others will be credited. 

Wry and Crusty ... 

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