The day after I visited beautiful & clear Canonto Lake, I headed out again to check out its companion lake – Palmerston. Palmerston Lake is a bit longer than Canonto Lake and broader in some sections. Palmerston is in two parts, with a narrow section around the village of Ompah. I launched at the north end of the lake on this trip between the two lakes (MVCA's Palmerston-Canonto Conservation Area).
|
|
|
After the easy launch at the large Conservation parking area, I followed the north shore towards the long NE bay (aka Marl Bay). This corner of the lake is relatively developed, including a large cottage on Barnes Island. Marl Bay is 1.5km long with mostly wetland shoreline; therefore, there's no development. On this beautiful calm morning, I didn't see an abundance of wildlife, but I did spot a few Painted Turtles and a Great Blue Heron in the long narrow bay.
|
|
|
At the mouth of Marl Bay, there's a small creek that connects north to Summit Lake. By canoe, it would be fun to try and paddle this creek to Summit Lake when the water is high (e.g. early spring). If you could reach Summit Lake, you would be able to get into Wolfe Lake.
|
|
|
Once I got back to following the north shore of Palmerston Lake, I started looking for a good lunch spot. Luckily, I waited a bit and came across a high rock outcrop – probably a local favourite spot for a swim, etc. It's a little challenging to land there by kayak but worth the effort. I scrambled to the top and had a great view of the lake while eating my lunch.
 |
| The lunch/swim rock outcrop |
After a long break, I went further to the narrows, turned around, and started the 3km paddle back to the launch/access point. Next time, I will begin at Ompah and explore the upper part of the lake – especially the north shore bays and islands.
|
|
|
26Apr2024 dg, Widgeon kayak
ReplyDeleteI repeated almost the same paddle in Palmerston/Marl Lake as in 2021. But, this time I was there to closely explore the shoreline of Marl Bay - a new MMLT property (Dec 2023). Marl Bay is shallow and the shorelines are fully enclosed in trees. I did find a good place to go ashore at the NE creek/WL (i.e. old footbridge, abandoned kayak). Check nature observation on iNaturalist for 2024-04-26 or copy this link.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?on=2024-04-26&place_id=any&user_id=denisag2&verifiable=any