Little Cauchon Lake, Algonquin Park

 

For the 2025 spring Algonquin trip, we did something a bit different this year. We tried a different area of the park instead of always going to North River Lake or Allen/Depot Lake. The campsite destination was Little Cauchon Lake from Brent (15 km). The route involved two short portages, so it was not so bad for three old guys!

On the paddle in, it was a beautiful day, and things were going well until we reached the old rail bridge underpass above Little Cedar Lake. There was a logjam against the concrete underpass, so we had quite a challenge getting through. We had no choice, the rail bed banks were too high & overgrown to go over. We managed to cross the beautiful Aura Lee Lake and the 275m portage towards Laurel Lake. After Laurel Lake, we had one more short portage (175m) into Little Cauchon Lake. I found these two short portages somewhat difficult with my 55 lbs PHC stripped canoe. In the future, I’ll need a lighter canoe for trips with any significant portages (e.g. rough terrain, elevation, etc). 

Once in Little Cauchon, we found a nice campsite on the north shore at about one kilometre down the lake from the portage area. Little Cauchon Lake is not so small. It’s approximately 5.8 km long, and the width varies from 300m to 1000m.

For day 2, the focus was on fishing and exploring in lower Little Cauchon and Laurel Lakes. We had considered going into Hurdman Lake, but after walking the portage, we didn’t bother. That’s too bad; it looks like a great lake to explore (at least for nature). 

On day 3, John and Zlatko were heading to Carl Wilson Lake (1 km portage). I didn’t want to make that long portage with the PHC, so I opted to stay and explore on Little Cauchon Lake. I went with J&Z to the portage and enjoyed a nature walk up/down the portage trail. After the Carl Wilson portage walk, I explored the little bay on the SE corner of Little Cauchon, and found a few Painted Turtles and Merganser ducks. In the afternoon, I paddled 2 km to the west and went ashore for a walk on the old rail bed towards Daventry. The hike was about 1km to the Daventry area. Daventry was a train stop/station, so it still has some cabins and bush camps, including a dock for small powerboats. There is road access from the north (Highway 17, Trans-Canada). On the way back, I paddled the south shore of the lake. On the south side, close to where the lake gets narrower, there’s a great campsite and fairly dramatic rock cliffs. 

Lucky us, day 4, and we still hadn’t put up the rain tarp! After a slow morning (breakfast, coffee, and packing up), we started the 15 km paddle back to Brent. We did well and managed to get through the two portages and the log-jammed underpass without too much trouble/pain. For a rest before tackling Cedar Lake, we stopped at the west end of Little Cedar Lake for lunch. From our lunch spot, we still had 8km of paddling to Brent, and the wind had picked up from the SE. Once we got on Cedar Lake, the first 2 to 3 km were pretty tough. Luckily, the wind eventually subsided, and we were able to finish the paddle to Brent in calmer conditions. 

The fishing report from JV:

“Two Lake Trout + 1 Brook Trout in Petit Lac Cauchon -  + 2 BT on day trip in Carl Wilson Lake...

Denis Lake trout ~ 22 in,  caught 2 bass and 1 very large (3 lb) fallfish in rapids just at head of Laurel Lake (no trout tho’ in those rapids or the one flowing out of Laurel lake), plus 2 tiny brook trout in a pool on the outflow into Cedar Lake.”

All in all, this was another great spring trip – great weather (i.e. no rain), fresh trout for all our dinners, and good friends for company!

Leatherleaf in flower

Purple Pitcher Plant

Painted Turtle

American Toad

South Branch, upper Clyde River

 

South Branch, 7.5 km track

The South Branch of the upper Clyde River can probably only be paddled in the early spring by canoe – there are beaver dams to hop over. Today’s paddle was my second (or third) paddle up the South Branch, so I knew what to expect. From the Clyde Forks Road culvert, you can paddle about 3.5 km up the south branch through various river conditions. It’s about one kilometre to the first dam, and this river stretch is mostly a marsh with various vegetation areas to navigate around. This year, the first dam was relatively high and had to be jumped. But, before hopping the dam, I was excited to see a few River Otters playing on some logs just above the dam.

River Otters

Painted Turtle

After Dam 1, it’s a forested area with clear river paddling to the next beaver dam (1 km). At Dam 2, a channel led me to bypass the dam, but I still had to exit the canoe over a bank area (a good spot for a break). I explored the side channel/marsh towards Peterson Creek before continuing up the last navigable kilometre of the south branch. At 300m past the transmission line, you come to some rocks/rapids. At this point, the K&P trail is only 100m to the north. Next time, a walk to the K&P trail would be fun – don’t get lost!

Rusty Blackbird (a bit rare)

Yellow-rumped Warbler

The return paddle (downstream) was fun. I was able to paddle over Dam 2, but Dam 1 had to be jumped. At Dam 1, I took a break in some side channels and spotted a few bird species, including a Rusty Blackbird. Then, it was back through the marshy area and home.

	I paddled through on the way down
End of the road (rocks & rapids)

Bolton Creek, East & West

 

This spring (2025) was my first paddle ever on Bolton Creek. It's a bit far from Almonte, but it was worth the drive (62 km to the put-in on CR 36). From the bridge on CR36, Bolton Creek runs along the northern border of Tay Valley Township to join the Fall River east of Fallbrook and then the Mississippi River.

Downstream, 7 km track

On my first outing (April 14), I travelled approximately 3 km east of CR36. The launch at the CR36 bridge is good, and it was no problem getting my canoe in the water. The area around the CR36 bridge is actually part of a Lanark County Forest (i.e., public land). The creek area is a mix of forest and wetlands. At about the 2 km mark from the bridge, I came to a very tall rock cliff – right on the edge of the creek. As I was going ashore to explore, I got a soaker. A boot full of water on April 14 is cold! Luckily, I had extra socks and got going again. I did paddle another kilometre – almost to the boundary of a large crown-land property. From the GE view, the creek looks navigable downstream for at least another 2.5 km (hopefully, next spring).

Good size rock cliff	C. Geese, trying to hide

Upstream (red), 10 km track

The second outing was on April 23, and this time I went upstream (west) from the CR36 bridge. Bolton Creek, heading west, is one large wetland (marsh). On this outing, I paddled 5km to the boundary of Lanark & Frontenac County. It looks like the creek/marsh is similar for another 2.5 km (up to Willis Armstrong Rd). On this paddle, there were no rock cliffs and very few places to go ashore. The creek flows by a few forested areas, and a couple of those were suitable shore stops. Nature sightings were not particularly abundant, but I observed some Trumpeter Swans, Canada Geese, ducks, and hepatica flowers.

I now have Bolton Creek on my list of small rivers to paddle in the early spring, along with the Indian River at Darling Rd, the Little Clyde River at Riven Lake, and the upper Clyde south branch.

Note – It's 17km (as the crow flies) between CR36 and CR7 (Fallbrook), so there's still lots of Bolton Creek to explore in Lanark County.

North River Lake, Algonquin Park - annual spring fishing trip

 

John Verbaas and I have been going on an Algonquin Park fishing trip most spring for many years now. The camping location alternates mostly between Allen & North Depot Lakes and North River Lake. Those lakes have something in common – the North River runs through all of them. 

North River Lake and River

Tracks & WPs on the water (38 km in total)

For two years in a row now, we've gone to North River Lake (NRL). The view is that the trout fishing there is more successful. And this year didn't disappoint – we had enough trout for all our diners and some breakfasts. In previous years, the fishing was usually much better in the North River below NRL. But this year, we had reasonable success in the North River above the lake as well as in the lake. In the past, we had no luck in Merganser Lake (short portage, south), so this year, we didn't bother making that side trip. Also, we didn't take the time to check out the fishing in NRL's big south bay that leads to Merganser Lake.

It was a great camping trip. We mainly had good weather – one evening under the rain tarp. We didn't see an abundance of wildlife (well, except for the Brook Trout). I did catch a few ducks and loons with my camera. Near our campsite, I installed one of my audio recorders and was able to ID a few birds. See iNaturalist for May 1-3, 2024 (denisag2).

More pics of this North River Lake trip are on Google Photos. Click HERE.

Common Loon	Purple Finch (female)
North River from bridge	EWC

Dinner (Brook Trout, very fresh)

An Algonquin Park evening