I had intended to camp this weekend, but on Saturday morning, kayak on my car, camping gear packed and fully ready to go, I woke up feeling horrible. I had a sinus infection by the familiar feeling of it and felt nauseous and headachy. Going on a solo camping trip feeling like this, for me, wasn’t a smart move and I knew I had to stay home.
I spent the whole day resting and making myself better and when I woke up on Sunday, I felt good enough to spend the day paddling. It was a gorgeous Sunday in November, and I would deeply regret missing the time on the water in a few weeks when the snow was here. The only problem was, I had no idea where to go?
I got up around 6:30 (the clocks had just gone back and it would’ve been 7:30 otherwise). I turned on my computer and started searching places to go.
Suddenly, I had a flashback. My very first trip to Algonquin had been a memorable one. I have yet to write a post on it but it will definitely be written one day soon!
I did a loop in 2001 including Lake of Two Rivers to Pog and Whitefish, but in reverse. It was a very long time ago, 15 years actually, but I still remember so many of the wonderful areas I explored that trip.
So that is where I settled on going. I grabbed my backpack and jumped in the car and off I went.
It took me about an hour and forty minutes to get to East Beach, one of my favorite places in Algonquin Park. I had come here so many times over the last few years to swim and enjoy the area.
We would sit on the beach and watch the paddlers pass by us and enter the small waterway beyond sight.
I desperately wanted to paddle myself beyond that corner once again and see what I would remember.
And today, I finally got to do that.
The sky was so blue and the water was so calm.
And I was in absolute heaven here.
I have no idea why I had not thought of coming here sooner?
I saw no one the entire day, except for 2 people when I arrived at the damn. I took Tangii over the short portage and stopped to take a few photos and get a quick video.
Then I got back into my kayak and continued on my journey.
Every corner I went around, every new area I arrived in, was more stunning than the last.
And even though the sun, came and went, it didn’t matter in the least, sometimes it made it even prettier.
About an hour into my journey, mind you, I was barely paddling as I couldn’t stop taking photos, I came across a beautiful heron.
We played hide and seek for most of my paddle to Whitefish Lake and he was a source of great amusement. He even let me get a heron selfie with him. LOL… or her? Not sure how you tell that?
I would paddle a ways, and then see it. I would get close enough to take a photo, try and get closer, and it would take off and land a bit futher up the waterway. It would sit and wait for me to come along and find it again.
I loved this pose he did for me, but sadly, I had been paddling a bit fast before I came upon him and had a hard time getting a good shot before he took off on me again.
I came up to the entry into Whitefish Lake and the area where I was in, looked like somewhere I would see a moose. I investigated the land and found a huge pile of poop and some tracks.
Sadly, Mr. Moose was not waiting for me, but just a bit further along, at the beaver dam, the heron was.
I believe it was snacking on some fish? I did my best to get some good photos but sometimes a zoom lens would really help me out. I got quite close this time and then
Off he flew again!
I did not see him again after that but I continued looking for him while I explored Whitefish Lake for the second time in my life.
I paddled out to the middle of the area of the lake I was in and took the video above. There is nothing like paddling in November. If it was a few months earlier, this lake would be full of campers, paddlers, explorers and it wouldn’t look anywhere near the same.
But because I was here at this time of year, I literally had the place all to myself and I was ecstatic about this fact and was loving every second of the tranquility it gave me.
I docked my kayak at the end of Whitefish Lake to get out and stretch my legs, have a snack and do a bit of fishing.
I came across some tracks that I thought were moose and also various birds and other small creatures, but couldn’t get many good photographs of them.
My fishing attempt came up without a nibble, although to be fair, I only cast a few times, then got stuck on a log on the bottom of the lake. Ready to head back the way I came, I jumped back in my kayak to get the fishing lure unstuck by paddling over the log, and then started my way back down to LOTR again.
On my way through earlier, I had heard rushing water but didn’t really investigate where it was coming from. This was due to me seeing a beaver nearby and trying to follow it and get some video of it, which didn’t really work out, but in my pursuit, I missed these cute little waterfalls.
After I took a bunch of photos including a cool shadow pic… hahaha, well, I thought it was cool?
I continued slowly back to where I’d come from, not enjoying the views any less and actually seeing different things as the sun was highlighting different areas than it did when I came through earlier.
If it was possible, the water seemed even calmer on my return.
I stopped at a few campsites at Pog Campground to check them out and noted their site numbers for future reference. Always good to have a few perfectly fabulous sites to be able to book for a relaxing car camping trip, although I can imagine how different this area would be in the peak of summer.
Eventually, I returned back to East Beach, sad that my time here had ended once again.
I docked my boat and unpacked my gear and put my kayak back on my car to take it home. But, as I still had a few hours of daylight left, I decided to take on another adventure before leaving the park.
Hope you come back next week to check it out and enjoy some more time in nature with me.
Thanks so much for coming along on this adventure with me. I hope you received a bit of the tranquility I attempted to share with you on my peaceful paddle here. If you have any comments, questions or just want to say hi, please leave a comment.
Happy Paddling!
Camper Christina
We’ve done that loop many times as day trips over the past 25 years or so. Found out our stubby legged dog could actually swim on one of those outings. lol
Doesn’t matter much where one gets to in Algonquin, the Park always delivers.
True Story! Thanks so much for reading and for commenting! Happy paddling! 😉
I enjoyed reading about your adventure. This is a trip I would like to do in my kayak next year and I was curious about the time allotment? Thanks.
HI Tom! Thank you so much for reading and for leaving such a nice comment for me! It’s really hard to say because I honestly don’t paddle hard when I am in locations like this. Many times I just drift so I can look for wildlife or stop paddling constantly to take photos. The best guess I can give you is by using the times on my photos which I just checked. I’d probably say it took only an hour each way and that’s being very generous. Someone else commented on another platform saying they also include LOTR up to the falls by Mew Lake to make a fuller day. I was considering this as well but with the short days and driving over 3 hours, I opted out of that choice. Hope I helped somewhat. 🙂 Happy paddling!
Hope u feel better! Great pics!!
Thank you my friend! I do! I actually had to take the following day off work. Overdid it on Sunday but it was well worth it! haha. Have an awesome day!
That’s awesome! I wish trout season didn’t end on Sept 30th.
[…] was a gorgeous November day and I spent most of it paddling off of East Beach. It wasn’t dark yet though and I still had some time to get in a hiking trail before night […]