Fri, Aug 12 2011, Sat, Aug 13 2011, Sun, Aug 14 2011 - Canoe Trip - Georgian Bay - Key and Pickerel River (View Original Event Details)
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We drove up from Toronto on Friday morning and arrived at Key River Marina just before noon. There was no traffic, which is a great way to start a trip.
It took about 1.5 hours to arrange for our Grundy Lake Outfitters canoe delivery and do the car shuttle up to Pickerel River Marina.
We headed out down the Key River into a head wind. Along the way we stoped on the north side of the river to check out 2 very large kettles up on the cliff side.
13 km down the river we arrived at the opening of Georgian Bay. The plan was to head to Dead Island Channel and camp in Fox Island Bay. Well the wind and the waves changed our plans to plan B and we turned directly into the wind and headed for Bigby Island. The island had lots of smooth rolling coutours and was great for setting up our tents.
The clouds cleared and the stars and full moom came out. I saw one shooting star from the Perseid meteor shower. The full moon light really brightened up the sky at night. It was stong enough that I could see my shadow at night.
The next day we head north up the Pickerel River. This is a very narrow, rugged and beautiful section of the river. Not many people use this route. In some places there are multiple channels that you have to choose from. In most cases some are better than others. But usually you will not know until you commit to one of them. It was an overcast day with the occasional sprikle of rain. When we got to our Saturday campsite a big loud thunder clamp motived all of us to set up our tents in record time.
Off and on showers brought out the tarps and an early supper.
After supper the rain stopped and Heather and I headed out the check out the 3 channels heading north. The first one (center) had a short portage of about 10 meters, the second one (west) was low but we could get through and the thrid one (east) had a V notch with about a 20 meter long drag on edge portage.
Back at camp we broke out the Jiffy Pop and Baileys Irish Cream/Coffee. Slept great considering I was on a concave back stretching rock.
Sunday morning started with Diane going for a swim. Not so unusual, except she decided to get dress and do it. She was ok. And in the process her water pump and bottle was some where on the bottom of the lake. The overcast skies did help us see the bottom. Anyways we found the skid marks and about 10 feet down I found the pump and water bottle with the help of my swim goggles. It was a steep drop off alright.
We headed north and about 2.5 km we hit the main Pickerel River. The wind was picking up from the northeast. Under the CN rail trestle we timed it right as a freight train was crossing.
We had a visit from the assistant French River Park superintendent who check us out.
We headed south down the Little Canoe Channel and stoped at a small island for a short lunch to recharge our batteries before heading eastward into a 10-15km/hr wind for the remaining 8 k's.
The wind was off and on in sections. We arrived at the Pickerel Smith's Marina and loaded up and waiting for the canoe pick up man.
It wasn't long and we all piled into Greg's truck and my van and we headed north to the Hungry Bear restaurant for our Sunday brunch.
After that we returned to Key River marina and managed to finally get the group photo.
Thanks for a great trip again, with great folks. See you all soon. Gary
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