DAY 2 STATS - LENGTH: 16.7km • TIME: 7hrs • PORTAGES: 3 [1,635m]

Day 2 Route Map [Trip-log#148]

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Day 2 Photo Gallery

Paddling towards the narrows into Longbow Lake

Never been there before: The adventure begins!

High water: Paddling thru obstructions on the Tim River

Lifting over a fallen pine across the river

Paddling thru open marsh

Bypassing the 410m portage: Wading through rapids

Waterfalls on the Tim River: 410m portage bypass

Passing by "Little Trout Creek" campsite

Last carry on a hot day: 1,125m portage to Shah Lake

Paddling to camp on Shah Lake

Campsite on Shah Lake: What a view!

Hot chilli for a hot day

Sun setting at 6:38pm

Sunset sky on Shah Lake

Day 2: September 24th, 2017

Completing the Tim River

I woke up shortly after 8am. I had wanted to get up earlier, but with the September morning sun rising later and later, I ended up sleeping in a bit - I had slept great. I made a breakfast - Bacon & eggs, complete with coffee, enjoying the warm sunshine as I did so. What a perfect morning! By 8:30am I spied a couple of canoes on the lake, it looked like they were heading out, back up the Tim river. They had abandoned the site on the point.

I finished my breakfast, washed-up then began packing up. I was tripping! Time to get moving, time for some exploration! I was so excited to get started. I bid farewell to Sean & Tracey as I departed under a beautiful September morning on a glass covered lake. It felt like the world had just been born and I was the first inhabitant to this wonderful new world. Yeah, Algonquin Park has that affect on me sometimes, getting all philosophical, doubly so when soloing.


It was just before 10am that I had started. A late start I know, but I figured I had a six hour journey that day, possibly 7 hours on the outside of my planned schedule. I was going to finish the Tim River today, paddling a small section of the river I had never laid eyes on before and the weather was gorgeous.

Paddling across the lake towards the narrows that lead to Longbow Lake I couldn’t help but feel I was paddling upon a calm July morning. There was no wind, the lake covered with a layer of debris; feathers, dust, pollen, etc. As I paddled through this, I felt like I was paddling thru soup. I passed the site on the point, noting as I did that no fire-smoke was present and the campsite appeared empty of any human signs. ‘Good on you fellow paddlers', I thought to myself. Looks like they did an excellent job of leaving a clean campsite behind.
Rosebary Lake

Rosebary Lake: Canoes heading out over a calm lake

I entered the narrows, saw a loon and kept going, no moose were seen. I paddled onto Longbow lake and as I turned into the bay that lead toward the portage I passed a couple coming from the landing.. Did they come up the river that morning or camp at the campsite on the portage? Maybe they had camped elsewhere on the lake and decided to check out the dam and portage before heading into Rosebary? No matter, my musings were interrupted when I arrived minutes later at 10:45am at the portage - The 230m trail down to the Tim river.

The landing was pretty decent and I got out and began to load up. I was single carrying. Heavy my set-up was but it was manageable. I headed up the path noting that it was a well-worn single track trail. At one point early on, I got snagged on an overhanging pine that had begun to fall across the trail. This really became a problem as the tree began to wrestle the canoe from my shoulders as I tried to force my way through. Barely an hour into my solo and already I was ‘struggling’. Time to put my ‘smart tripping hat’ on. I stopped and analyzed what I was doing wrong. I was pushing thru an immoveable force. So why not go around it? I then began to back up till I was free of the tree and raised the canoe above my head and had a good look around. Seeing a gap to the left, I crouched down and made my way past the tree. Whew!

Continuing on, the trail began to ascend as it emerged from the forest into a cleared section of land. I crossed what looked like an old field. Thinking of the dam and of a previous camping experience on Longbow Lake, I figured that in years past, there had been a logging camp in the area. Crossing the field I came to a rock-studded descent back to the river. The put-in was easy, surrounded by some rock that didn’t hinder the unloading process - a good landing!
rocky field

230m portage: Looking up towards the field of scattered rock and pine.

The river looked accommodating - It was as wide as my canoe was long. The river twisted onwards through a marsh loaded with alders that so far looked to be manageable to paddle by. I’ve been on some creeks and rivers that were ‘alder hell’, Nipissing river, Maple creek, Aylen river to name a few. The Tim river had never been a problem for me in the past with respects to alders. I hoped that tradition continued down the small section that I was exploring.

Not 15 minutes into the paddle I came across an obstruction of a few tree trunks in the river. Fortunately, there was a way to paddle through and I continued onwards, a feeling of victory coursing through my veins. Yay! Two minutes later, that ‘victory’ feeling turned a little sour when I came across another obstruction, this one was a large white pine that had fallen across the river. All the limbs along the trunk had been sawn off.

Fortunately, the tree trunk was large enough to get out and walk on. I did this and hauled up the canoe over the tree trunk, stepping back for a moment to enjoy the view and to take a photo of the situation. Given the size of the tree and my tripping set-up, I figured it had a difficulty rating of four out of ten. It was fairly easy to cross - I just had to haul the canoe over while not losing my balance and falling into the river. The feeling of elation filled me as I overcame the fallen pine. I was doing what I loved - Being solo, facing challenges that nature threw at me and overcoming them with a desire to explore more and more all the while surrounded by the beauty and serene nature of Algonquin Park.

I know with some folks The Park does suffer an image problem, especially from those who’ve paddled it for many years - Abused, dirty, crowded, over-used, etc. I share the same feelings, especially for certain areas of The Park. But not so on that day. The Tim River really does offer a ‘clean’ experience if you will, especially below Longbow Lake. There are many areas of Algonquin Park that still offer solitude and that ‘wild’ feeling - You just have to ‘work' for it. All this was flowing through my mind as I paddled onwards. The journey down the river with many obstructions being minor ones, was a pretty good indicator that waters levels were indeed high. I passed another fallen tree that covered three quarters of the width of the river and it looked as if a beaver was taking advantage of the situation - It had been building a dam to fill the gap to the log in the water. I was able to sail through it with no issues.

By that time it was 11:30am and I was sweating, not from the effort but from the heat. It was hot. It was already 28°C and I began to yearn for a portage. “What? You crazy?” I imagined people would say. No, not this time. The further south I went the more open the marsh became, there was zero tree cover. Being on a portage I would be in the safety of the shade and there wouldn’t be any bugs! I needed to get out of the sun.
230m portage landing

230m portage: The easy put-in to the Tim River

At 12:40pm, I passed by the 90m portage. I had been on the river for just over an hour and a half. The water being high enough, I was able to pass through the shallow section that the portage avoided - Without so much as a scrape. I should also mention, at that point on the river the forest began to creep in and the river shoreline became rocky.

I came upon the next portage, the 410m trail that intersects the hilly 1450m portage from Queer Lake. It was at that point that I ignored the word ‘Falls’ on the map. I had elected to skip that portage and keep going. As much as I wanted to get out of the heat of the sun, I wanted even less to have to carry a heavy load across a portage.

Shortly after the portage I encountered some rapids and got out of the canoe into knee deep waters and steered my canoe thru the rocks. Once I was past the rapids I climbed back into the canoe as I sailed down into a large pool that preceded a bend in the river.

As I approached the bend I heard the sound of rushing water. Waterfalls? Sure enough, as I came around the bend I could see the rocks and the disappearing trees beyond.
There was no danger. Even being solo, I was able to paddle out of the current and landed in the bush perhaps 10 meters shy of the falls. Still, I wouldn’t have wanted to skip that portage in the height of spring flood! Working my way through the bush to the portage proper was a pain and I was beginning to think that skipping the portage wasn’t such a great idea. Although, I did get a chance to enjoy the falls as well as take a few pictures.

I put back into the river just before 1:30pm, having just completed the only section of the Tim River that I had never paddled before. The remaining section of the portage that I actually had to carry over was easy enough with a few muddy sections over a fairly flat trail.

I paddled onwards down the river and 30 minutes later encountered another obstruction that tested my patience. It was a mess of tree trunks, a hundred tree limbs and branches, along with a muddy bank to circumvent the disaster.

At first I tried to go right, under a suspended tree trunk but I kept getting hung up on intervening branches that wouldn’t let me through and a submerged log I couldn't push over. So I tried another tactic, by going around to the left over a muddy bank. This involved me dragging a my fully loaded canoe about 2 meters - Not a good idea. But it was a tough canoe and I successfully maneuvered over the mud, under the suspended tree and then over two tree trunks and finally put-in to the river again. My canoe and my person suffered numerous scrapes. I was hot and growing tired. The effort had just about done me in. It just past 2pm and the temperature was 31°C. There was a bit of humidity in the air as well. I was melting! Weather data accessed (After the trip) indicated a humidex of 35°C that day. Whew!

By 2:25pm I passed by a campsite I had stayed on 12 years earlier during another September trip down the Tim river.
Trip-log#73 details my stay there. No further problems were encountered on the river and just over an hour later at 3:30pm, I arrived at the easy muddy take-out for the 1125m portage into Shah Lake. I looked forward to the trail for two reasons; 1. I had never done this trail before and 2. I was looking for some relief from the heat. It had been a great day so far - I hadn't seen anyone except for the couple on Longbow Lake. Unfortunately, I hadn’t seen any significant wildlife either. It had been a lonely day and that is just the way I liked it. Still, a moose sighting would've been preferred.
fallen timber on tim river

Which way do I go?

I geared up for a double-carry of the 1.1km carryover (7/10th's of a mile for my 'imperial' friends) and began carrying over the path that lead to my destination for that evening. The portage didn’t seem too tough and at one point I crossed thru a swampy section that had a boardwalk across it. The interesting thing was that most of the swamp was dry. There was a lot of moss and lichens in the area but not a single bug. It was a remarkable area to be trekking through and not be molested by a single mosquito. It was during that section of the portage that I could hear what sounded like a moose moving away from me in the forest off to my right. I say moose, ‘cause I could hear the distinct clatter of a bull’s horns becoming caught up in tree branches as it moved through the forest. Sure, it could’v been a deer buck, but I like to romance that it was a powerful bull moose. King of the forest!

By 4:55pm I arrived at Shah Lake. It took me almost 90 minutes to cover the portage. If I had single carried the trail, I could've done it in 25 minutes or less. A testament to the heat I was enduring. I was quite tired from the days exertions. However, my reward lay just beyond. I quickly loaded up and paddled out onto Shah Lake. A few minutes from shore, I filtered some fresh water, drinking almost a full litre on the spot. Refreshed, I paddled towards the campsite that occupied a point of land along the east shore.

Shah Lake is a ‘round’ shaped lake and what I would consider a small lake - I paddled to the the site in the most beautiful of conditions; A light breeze coming from the west that was hitting me broadside, that was steering me towards the campsite I wanted. The autumn ‘glint’, when the autumn sun is at the perfect angle at the right time of the day (5pm) in September. It's what I imagine heaven would be like. In just under 10 minutes I landed at the campsite. I was home for the night!

The first thing I did was strip off all my cloths and jump in the water for some relief. The water was getting cold but to me it was much needed and offered great relief. After a few minutes I surveyed the empty campsite and immediately recognized it for what it was. It was a ‘gem’ of a campsite; Flat and open, with its permitter lined with white pine and cedar. The fire-pit perfectly located with partially open views of the lake. Lovely exposure to the west where the shore had a large hill to gaze upon. The campsite shoreline had some gently sloping flat rock that made for excellent access to the water and great swimming. What a gorgeous campsite!
shah lake campsite

Camping on Shah Lake

I set-up my tent close to the water on the west side of the campsite. That way any wind coming off the lake would blow any potential flames and cinders (from the fire-pit) away from my tent, not towards it. Also any breeze that might spring up would be keep me cool in my tent. It had cooled off somewhat (26°C) by the time of my arrival at camp, though the the humidex was 33°C.

By 6:15pm with camp set-up, I settled down on smooth rock by the water’s edge to enjoy the evening. Nearby a group of mergansers sun-bathing on a rock, marched one after another into the water for an evening paddle around the lake. With the heat, it was weird to watch the sun go down behind a hill at 6:40 in the evening. It seemed too early. A reminder that it really was September (Almost October) and not June!

At 7pm I got a fire going. I started a fire to re-hydrate some chilli I was having for dinner and as the fire roared to life, I had to stand back at least 10 feet from the fire. It was so uncomfortable in the heat. The fire wasn’t big, it was just too hot to have a fire. Once dinner was ready I ate it and burned my garbage of the day, then extinguished my fire as it was raising the temperature of the campsite. I was still sweating. Maybe chilli was the wrong choice for dinner? Maybe it should’ve been cold chicken wings and beer instead!

After dinner I sat on smooth rock on the shoreline. There was a crescent moon and the air was still. I listened to the forest as I watched the stars. It seemed that the forest was whispering to me, but I could not understand its meaning. Finally it began to cool down after 8pm, It was below 20°C. Yeah, still too warm for my liking. I really enjoyed that night though, I stayed up till almost 11pm. No fire-light, no headlamps flashing. Just me, the forest, the lake and the stars.