2012 - Wolf Lake - Middledom

2012 – Wolf Lake

Kawartha Highlands, Wolf Lake, Site 301

We had by no means struck out on our first two canoe camping trips. But our third hit was a home run. This trip, for the weather and the location, still stands out in our memories as the best. Even better than our repeat expedition two years later — probably because first taste is generally the most memorable.

Kawartha Highlands Signature Site Park is part of the Provincial Park system and has only interior camp sites (but with picnic tables). It’s a large area, lying halfway between Peterborough and the southern tip of Algonquin Park.

Cottage Country

The access roads into Kawartha Highlands also serve cottagers, who were probably there before the area became a park. Wolf Lake had roads (and cottages) on both sides, so in Kevin Callan’s book he recommends portaging into Crab Lake to get ‘real’ wilderness.

Being portage averse, we decided to risk camping on one of the two sites on Wolf Lake. We were relieved and surprised to find how private our site was and how little traffic there was, a least during the week days we were there.

The registration system map showing campsites on Wolf Lake and Crab Lake
A Google Earth image showing the lower portion of Wolf Lake. From our campsite you can see five cottage docks 400m to the east. From the back porch you can see large cottages in the distance to the west. We occasionally heard cars driving the gravel fire lane to our south. The only other campsite on the lake was several kilometres away. So we had the whole peninsula to ourselves and the only people we saw were in a few passing canoes and the wardens who came to check up on us.
By sunset (~9:00 pm) on the day of our arrival, as seen from the north side of our peninsula, the cottagers enjoying a holiday Monday have departed, and all is peace and quiet. They pay an arm and a leg for their views. We got ours for $25 a day.
By four in the afternoon on our first day we were basically set up and could enjoy time for reading and our first coffee
Ken Follett: Fall of Giants ~ Henry never did make much progress in the big book — early twentieth century human machinations in Europe are no match for the beauty of God’s creation
But I quickly returned to playing with ropes, trying to get a high wire (16′-20′ up) between two trees, for hoisting our food out of reach of critters.
Long shadows herald the day ~ At 6:45, Tuesday morning, The sun is growing strong, Wendy is still sleeping, and we have our first full day ahead of us.
Up, up and away ~ The campsite is still tucked in and the food hoisted
Girl on a Rock – her casual glamour sets her lover’s heart a-flutter ~ My beloved brings style along with her second cup of coffee to the rock on a sunny morning.
By lunchtime, Tuesday the skies had clouded over, rain threatened, and we set up our dining tent just in time to shelter us from the day’s drizzle. But by breakfast time the next morning the shelter was gone again, for good. Nothing beats being in the open, especially for tall people.
We had our Wednesday early morning coffee time down by the canoe launch. Wendy has a penchant for cutting off my head or my feet.
Before breakfast we took delight again in slipping beneath the surface of water, rippled dark and blue-light beneath the forest’s face and the clear sky above.
We had our Wednesday breakfast at ten. The recycling bag hanging on the tree has been repaired. A large racoon visited during the night. Don’t they understand that blue bags are for recycling and that it’s pointless to rip them open. Our white garbage bag was still safely hanging between two trees.
While actually doing dishes, Henry posed with a dish brush in hand and a smile on his face to disprove commonly held notions. Notice the disposable propane cylinder for the stove. We forgot our five pound tank this time. Now it’s on a list of last minute checks.
We relaxed in the shade for a while on our porch beside the big rock, looking north-east out over the lake.
The loo is out of site of the campsite, but not the lake
The view from the loo, across the lake to a Canada Day monument. Someone went to a great deal of work to hoist that flag. Hard to tell from the picture, but that rock is way, way up.
Henry comes in for a landing below the campsite.
There is time to read again on our north shore lookout.
There is no need, when beauty lies freed upon the water, to gild the lily ~ This lovely spot at the foot of our campsite was a good place for a mid afternoon swim on Wednesday. This was somewhat staged to supply us with presentable photos.
Exit carefully ~ The rock incline is 20% or more, and it is slippery and abrasive at the same time. So getting carefully in and out of the water takes time.
The look ~ Henry warning Wendy not to chop off his head. Close call.
We went through one tin of coffee this trip. On this late afternoon break, Wendy is clearly winning the battle of the books.
Henry sits up on the hump of the peninsula looking south-east over the channel and down to the canoe launch and campsite.
In the evening we paddle out to catch the setting sun.
The sun defies its demise, shooting rays into the sky’s blue breadth ~ Within sight of our campsite we caught the sun bursting out from behind a neighbouring island
Peak of the evening sun ~ The many varied rock types and formations in this area are fascinating. This little pyramid basks in the sun yet, before falling again into the shadow of dusk.
On the border between light and dark ~ We loitered for a while along the shore opposite our campsite just to watch the light show
The evening sun warms the back the peninsula’s massive rock spine.
We enjoy coolers while watching the sun set from our back porch.
The sun set at 8:36 on Wednesday evening.
Thursday morning, at 5:30, the sun is still down and the full moon is still up. This view from the tip of the rock into the channel looks away from the sun.
And God said, Let there be light, and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night.
By seven, Wendy is up and Henry is tying off the canoe across the channel in preparation for making panorama shots
White pine ~ The pine trees on this site were most beautiful to behold. Their large sprays of long needles always seem so soft in the sun, even more so in this infrared photo.
Thursday morning at seven, the sun is warm and still low. Perfect time for a panoramic view from across the channel. Our balcony still sits in the shadows, high above our campsite nestled under the trees to the right. At the end of the channel, on the left is an impenetrable marsh. Wendy is standing at our bathing spot.
A panorama taken later in the week from the south shore of the channel shows the marsh on the left, our balcony rising up to the highest point of the peninsula, the low spot under trees where we camped and swam, our front porch – ‘the rock’ where we sat to get the sun and the view, and the lake meandering off to the east and north.
In this panorama continued, the campsite is now on the left and the rock (our front porch) juts out into the lake like the snout of some prehistoric beast. Wendy is up top, sitting in a lawn chair.
Wendy takes a picture of Henry taking a picture of the campsite
This is the point of camping ~ After the panorama expedition, while coming in for a landing, the campsite is just catching the sun. The food bags are still hung high. The sky light through the trees shows just how narrow our peninsula is. To camp on the water is a treat. To have water on three sides is amazing.
First coffee is at 7:30. It’s the first chair rest for Henry since getting up at 5:30. But re-creation is better than rest.
A little rest ~ There may be as many ways to vacation as there are people who do it. With the time available to us we go on trips, become tourists, return to cottages, go camping, go fishing, party, reunite with family and friends, get away, see the world, reconnect and re-honeymoon. The style and destination of the vacation is, no doubt, affected by the supply of money. For us camping has, quite simply, been an affordable way to go on holidays. And our province’s (Ontario) provincial parks have been reasonably close enough to keep the travelling costs down. That said, camping in our provincial parks has been a rich experience for us, way out of proportion to the price. We count ourselves blessed to be able to enjoy their many natural wonders. We’re also glad that camping is not everyone’s cup of tea, or we’d be crowded out.
By nine, breakfast is almost ready.
By 9:30 Henry was back in the canoe looking for detail. Lillies in the marsh are the first to catch his eye.
Pancakes taste good when you’re camping ~ Breakfast is blessed that’s well prepared and simply shared
A relatively rare (for this area) yellow lily has two visitors at once
Lots of this Pickerelweed everywhere
One of just several wild roses that we saw on an island.
A lily pad under a rock, across the channel from our campsite
Interesting forms are everywhere
The only one of its kind that we saw here
Oh to be able to sing with so little support ~ This small bird at water’s edge serenaded us for some time.
Go leaf go! ~ This large (~1 foot long) oak leaf impressed Wendy.
On our trip out to the parking lot, Thursday evening, to bring away one load of stuff, we were fortunate to see a heron, and watch him take flight twice. Here you can see evidence of a cottage.
The wary heron is ready for take-off.
The water was almost perfectly calm, so we saw many reflections
We spent some quality time with a pair of loons, taking pictures and one movie
We spent some quality time with a pair of loons, taking pictures and one movie. This is the sharpest of many photos of loons taken from a moving canoe.
By 8:15, returning from loading our stuff into the van, shadows are growing, and the lake is still like glass
Friday morning at six, Henry is taking pictures again. There are only six hours left to make memories of this wonderful place before we have to leave.
Primordial rock rearing up into our new world ~ Wendy’s favourite view of the rock is immortalized for her while she sleeps.
A slice of light cleaves these trees and rocks and turns them upside-down ~ We had swum to this narrow strip of rocks and trees in the middle of the lake.
Our campsite comes into the sun at 6:50 a.m. on its last morning.
A lovely lightness of being ~ An infrared view of our campsite shoreline. Wendy is standing still on a rock in the water for the four second exposure.
Seen here, just four feet out from the shoreline, from which we swam, is the large rock rising just out of the water to give us a hand-hold going in and out.
Simple pleasures ~ Still time for coffee, breakfast, reading and walking this morning, in addition to packing, before our scheduled noon departure
A perfect spot for you too ~ Our campsite cleared of all our gear. Only the picnic table and (unused by us) fire pit remain.
One load to go ~ All of our remaining gear, ready to be loaded for the final trip.
Beached and ready to go home ~ We made landing, at the parking lot, at 11:45. Within half an hour we were on our way to pick up Jovita at Camp Shalom.