The guidebooks advised that the trip from Great Mountain Lake to Threenarrows Lake could take all day so we tried to get an early start by eating GORP for breakfast and breaking camp as soon as we got up. It was still 9:40 before we were on the water, but that’s an early start for us!
The portage to Little Mountain Lake is very short, but also has very rocky put ins and take outs. We met a couple doing the portage in the opposite direction and I had to negotiate for passage with the woman since we both had canoes on our heads.
The sky had turned cloudy so we weren’t able to truly appreciate the clarity of the water on this pretty little lake up close. The water in Little Mountain Lake is reportedly almost as clear as Nellie Lake, and the dramatic surroundings would make this a spectacular spot on a sunny day.
After the Lake we had two 1Km portages interrupted by a relatively easy crossing over the north fork of Kirk Creek. I was still doing a double carry, one trip for the canoe and a second for my pack, but Alex chose to carry both of his packs at once to reduce the number of trips needed.
The first portage is a nice little path and crosses over the northern section of the Silhouette Trail just south of Little Mountain Lake. The path rises very briefly and then descends gradually. The second portage has a little more up and down, but neither is particularly difficult. The first crossing of Kirk’s creek is a wide boggy valley populated by dead trees and framed at either end by views of the LaCloche Mountains. Despite the size it’s apparently not navigable so the route crosses the creek directly before proceeding to the second portage.
It started to drizzle as we crossed the creek, but I put on my kevlar hat for my first run across the portage, and the rain had stopped by the time I made my return trip. I met Alex on my return trip. Even though he’d done a single carry by taking both packs the bugs at the far end were bad enough to drive him back along the trail.
The second encounter with the creek is visually unremarkable. The trees part to reveal a small patch of grass that opens onto an unimpressive looking trickle of water that winds its way off in both directions. Appearances can be deceiving however and this section is quite deep, so unlike the north fork it is navigable.
My first instinct was to follow the creek left, but after carefully consulting the map, GPSr and guidebook I realized we had to go right. There are several more twists and turns on the creek where careful consultation of the navigational materials is needed and we did have to back track once when the GPSr indicated we’d chosen the wrong fork. This is definitely an area that tests your navigation skills.
There were several small lift overs on the creek, and after a while the scenery did get more interesting than a sea of grass on either side. Occasionally the creek follows the base of a rock face, or the trees part enough to reveal more impressive hills in the distance. Some of the portages bypass small swifts or waterfalls, and the remains of an old logging dam can be observed at one location. But on the whole this portion of the trip has less dramatic scenery than those in the mountains or out on McGregor Bay.
We only met one other group of canoeists on the creek, near the end. One of their number had just been stung by wasps and was warning us of the nest on the final short portage to Threenarrows Lake, but we didn’t see any. We did startle a deer on our way back on the portage for our second load. When the deer heard us it let out a piercing shriek which made us jump before it leapt off the trail and into the woods. I rarely see deer when in the backcountry, but we saw two deer that day, the second one was watching us from a clearing as we paddled by on Threenarrows Lake.
I have a complicated relationship with Threenarrows Lake. It’s a man-made lake, formed by an artificial dam that joined three natural lakes into one sprawling spidery maze. One of my personal challenges in life is to paddle this beautiful lake without complaining incessantly about the few cottages that dot its shore and the motorboats they bring. They really feel out of place right in the centre of a wilderness park, and I have to control my annoyance and just appreciate my surroundings.
I’m also addicted to quartzite. The hard white LaCloche mountains are so unique that it seems a bit of a shame that Threenarrows which is at the centre of the park has none of the white rock the area is famous for. I was disappointed by the lake on my first visit and I was determined to give the lake another chance on this trip. After our return visit I have to admit that Threenarrows is a beautiful lake. The LaCloche Hills are visible to the north and south, and while the granite ridges that line the many channels and bays of the lake are less dramatic they have their own rugged beauty and serve as more than just a foreground for the more spectacular hills in the distance.
Before heading out we searched for an old 1920’s roadster that’s been converted for off-road use that was marked on Jeff’s Map. The roadster is a unique remnant left over from another era in the park’s history. I’m a bit torn by artifacts like this. As much as I’d like to see the park preserved in a truly wild state, and I don’t believe that cottages or motorboats belong, I do find older relics such as this or the old logging Alligators in Algonquin park interesting to visit.
Paddling Threenarrows can take quite some time because of the way it snakes back and forth. I find that the east end of the lake where we entered is more scenic than the west (as well as having fewer cottages), but we also had a big day on Thursday so I wanted to cover as much ground as possible before making camp. We saw several campers at the east end of the lake, but there were also some really nice sites available. We passed site 45 and debated stopping for the night. It’s at the intersection of the prettier section of the Lake to the east and the more open area to the west that has great views of the distant hills.
There was still some time before dusk so we decided to press on and try for site 52 at the north end of the lake. I was just starting to reconcile myself to Threenarrows Lake, but as we approached site 52 we realized that the cottage nearby was running a loud generator (another questionable activity in a wilderness park). The sound didn’t stop as we got closer so we decided to skip that site and continue to the site on Doris Island, but that site was occupied by canoeists when we got there.
There were only three more sites on the west end of the lake and I was beginning to worry that we’d have to paddle all the way back to the east end. It didn’t leave me in a good frame of mind to appreciate the setting sun, but even the western end of the lake is prettier than I remembered.
When we first spotted site 46 it didn’t look that nice. The shore is steep and covered in broken rubble, but it wasn’t taken and I was so relieved that I didn’t care. Once we beached the canoe and climbed the slope we were rewarded by great views of the hills to the south in two directions. There was an ample supply of fresh split dry wood for the fire, and an easy spot to hang the bear bag. This definitely isn’t the site to choose if you want to go swimming, but it’s a great place to enjoy a spectacular sunrise or sunset.