2020 Trip 4: Rock Lake...a new favourite

 Sunny with cloudy periods...perfect day for a drive up to Rock Lake in Algonquin Park. A new campground for us, and just one of the many within the boundaries of the park. There is something special about the lure of Algonquin, perhaps the vast swath of wilderness lends a feeling of raw ruggedness to the experience.

Rock Lake is accessed by heading south off Hwy 60, along eight kilometers of gravel road. The campground is not overly large, perhaps a couple hundred sites, most relatively close to the lake. It has a nice beach, and plenty of paddling and hiking routes. Our site was in one of the last rows away from the beach, and this turned out to be a good thing, as the site rows closer to the main beach are very open, and the campers are jammed in like sardines. Throw in the Covid effect, with everyone now wanting to get out and camp, and you have a pretty congested little area.

Got all set up on our site, then took a wander down to the lake. Close to our site was a great spot to put in the kayaks, and leave them there for the duration of our stay. 

a small beach...but great lake paddling

The lake brought back memories of a canoe trip I did many years ago with my cousin Jimmy, a born naturalist. We put in at the Rock Lake access point, then paddled south through Pen Lake then onto Clydesdale Lake. It was on one of the portages between the lakes where we came upon a fresh water spring spewing out from a rock face. It was, and remains, one of the coldest and refreshing drinks of water I have ever tasted!

There was a retro trailer in the site behind us, a cute red and white affair, with wide white sidewall tires. We got to chatting with our neighbours, Frank & Suzanne, and they were a lot of fun. After dinner we invited them over for a cold one and a campfire. It turned into a really nice evening with lots of conversations and laughter.

In the morning we into the Algonquin Park Visitor Centre. It is a really nice spot, with many interactive nature displays, and a good bookstore. As always happens, we found a couple of books and some maps to bring home with us. Also picked up a pin for my “places visited” display inside the Alto.

We launched the kayaks in the afternoon and headed south down Rock Lake. It did not take long before we felt like we were in the wilderness. The lack of cottages and people makes you appreciate just how raw and relatively untouched the land is. It is very classic Canadian Shield, with rocky outcroppings and tall, weathered, wind bent pines.

opening to the Madawaska River

Every turn of the head reminds one of Tom Thomson, Canada’s iconic ‘Group of Seven’ painter, famous for his Algonquin landscapes. We paddled the eastern shore, past a handful of backcountry campsites, down to the opening of the Madawaska River. A perfect day for paddling, with giant meringue-like clouds providing a welcome relief to the intense sun. A cooling swim, some burgers on the Q, and another enjoyable campfire with our neighbours rounded out the day.

Woke up to a fine day, prime for another paddle. Heavy mist on the water so I walked to the beach and took a few pics.

First job today was to switch sites, as when we booked, this was the only way to get a bit of an extended stay. We were fortunate though that we were only moving over two sites, making for a very easy transition. Took the opportunity to dump the tanks, then quickly got set up again.

For this paddle we headed north, up the little connecting river to Whitefish Lake. Along the way we passed under a rail bridge, where the OA & PS (Ottawa, Arnprior & Parry Sound) railway once travelled. 

This rail was built in 1894 by J.R. Booth, a lumber baron. Primary used to move logs from the park’s forests to the mills outside the park. It also served as the only access to the Park until 1915, when the CNR built a route connecting Ottawa to Sudbury. My family has a connection to this particular rail line, as my grandfather, Alexander (Alec) Gauvreau, was a locomotive engineer on the Ottawa to Brent portion of the line in the 1930’s. Also, as a teenager in the summer vacation my Dad would take the train to Brent, to work with the Park Fire Rangers.  I imagine this experience greatly contributed to his lifelong love of the outdoors, and of fishing. It was only when the highway corridor was built in the mid 1930’s, that the automobile also became a means to travel through the Park.

Along the east shoreline there there are a few old cottages, mostly rustic affairs that are definitely showing their age. After a short jaunt up the lake, we headed back to Rock Lake, chatting along the way with a couple paddling a classic red cedar strip canoe. It was a ‘Northland’ styled upon the Prospector shape, and they told us a great story about its history. Northland was a small custom canoe shop, established in the mid 40’s, located in Huntsville Ontario, just outside the Park. Although put out of business in 1995 by an unfortunate fire, the last owner, Albert Maw, has kept building and restoring canoes out of his workshop. This couple bought the canoe from a woman who won it in a raffle, and never used it for many years. The storage had taken its toll on the canoe, but they were able to track down Albert, who then restored the canoe. This was a few years ago, and Albert was in his eighties at the time. 

Rock Lake access point...and the red cedar strip

They shared a funny story of him chatting with them in his workshop. During the restoration they made a trip to his workshop to see how the restoration was progressing. Albert greeted them, then said he just had to take a moment to tell his assistants what to do. Albert walked over to the canoe, and adjusted three poles that were applying pressure from the ceiling to the cedar slats of the canoe. The couple glanced around the shop, but could see no other people inside. Albert then told them that they were the best three assistants he ever had...they would work all day, he never had to pay them, and best of all, they never complained.

We continued our way down the west shore of Rock, all the way to Picto Bay. Aptly named for the pictographs that dot the massive rock face that dominates the north side of the bay. A passing kayaker told us the pictographs were located slightly above eye level, but we were hard pressed to find them. Perhaps the rough chop of the water and the sheer size of the rock face limited our concentration. 

The clouds moved in the next day, which because of the extended hot spells we have been enduring, they were a welcome sight. This made it a good day to walk the campground and collect site numbers for future visits. There is a non electrical section around the bay, and many of these sites are directly on the water. 

We saw another Alto 1713 (same as ours) in this area, but the owners were not around. A bit of rain in the afternoon made it one of those relaxing hang-out kind of days. 

A massive bank of storm clouds was heading our way, and as this was our last night here, we made the call to pull up stakes and head out later in the afternoon. Sure enough, when the next day the rain pounded down for the longest time, and it was nice to be already at home.

Rock Lake is a great spot, campers were very friendly, and it offers so much outdoor fun stuff to do,...we will definitely be making a trip back.