Narrow Escape

Story

Muskoka is known for rugged beauty, but not particularly for unspoiled wilderness. There are a few lakes whose shores aren’t encrusted with cottages and constantly patrolled by buzzing motorboats however. One of the largest such areas is along the course of the Gibson River.

I invited some co-workers to come for a late September canoe trip in order to find some Geocaches. Planning isn’t my strong suit, and late September turned into mid October before we headed out.

There were four of us, and the usual complexities coordinating a group of people landed us on a date with a less than stellar weather forecast, calling for 10 – 20mm of rain. Hours before our departure Environment Canada posted an extreme weather advisory calling for 45 – 50mm of rain. Oddly enough the forecast continued to predict only 10 – 20mm. The temperature was warm, the winds low, and the plans made, so we decided to press on despite the alert. The rain proved annoying, but not extreme.

I thought that the rain would mean that we were the only paddlers on the water, but we saw a lone kayaker putting in at the marina and we encountered a large group of 10 – 12 canoes paddling out on Nine Mile Lake. They had been camping on Turtle Lake since Friday night. They must have had a very cold and wet trip. Nine Mile Lake was the only part of our trip where we saw cottages, and the portage to Turtle Lake is just around the bend from the last of the houses. Once we got off of Nine Mile Lake we were completely alone, and the only sound of civilization was a train (the tracks cut right through the area we were paddling, but we didn’t make it far enough to see them). There were some boats stashed at the end of the Turtle Lake portage, but other than the blazed trails themselves and the occasional campsite the illusion of being deep in the backcountry was perfect.

The portage was a bit wet. In fact there was a waterfall right down the middle of the trail! The portage only went as far as the marsh on the maps, and I’d hoped we’d be able to paddle the bulk of it, but the marsh was far too dry so we had to do a 500m carry. There were several large (and cold) puddles on the trail that could be avoided with some extra effort, but I was already so wet I finally just decided to walk through them. Other than the water the portage was quite easy, but the trail isn’t as wide and worn as one you’d find in a large well maintained park like Killarney.

All of the lakes were well sheltered from the wind, if not the rain, and the paddle down Turtle Lake was easy. Turtle Lake is a good example of Canadian shield terrain, but not particularly remarkable in any way until you reach the south end. There it hooks West as it funnels between rock faces on both sides. There are a lot of standing dead trees in the water here, but the water is quite deep so it’s fairly easy to paddle between them. It’s a scenic little channel. There were a couple of places where I wasn’t sure where to turn, but we found the right path without much difficulty.

The beaver dam at the end of the channel isn’t particularly long, but it’s height is quite impressive. It’s constructed as a pair of arches braced against a small rock island in the middle to hold back the large volume of water.. The water on the upstream side of the dam is quite deep and was noticeably colder than in other parts of the lake. There must be several generations of beaver families who’ve worked on this dam. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a picture that shows off the height of the structure.

The remaining distance to Brotherson’s Lake is a short 200m portage, but just like the water it drops quite abruptly at the end. The shore of Brotherson’s Lake is ringed by small cliffs because it’s so much lower than the surrounding terrain. It makes the lake a little more scenic than Turtle Lake on the other side of the hill.

After a short paddle on Brotherson’s Lake we came to the channel that connects it to Narrow Lake. The channel was navigable without having to line the canoe, but just. Most of the channel is a mud flat covered by a few inches of water, but the current has carved a deeper passage that winds through the middle. The deeper channel is actually visible on the Bing Maps satellite photos (a cloud obscures the channel with the current Google Maps imagery). On our way into Narrow Lake it was pretty easy to see the deeper channel from the stern, but on the way out the rain had started again and covered the surface of the water with ripples which made navigation more difficult.

Our final destination was Narrow Lake, and we were only out for a day trip, so once there we turned around and headed back. We switched up the portaging duties on the way out, and also let some of the other members in our group try paddling from the stern. We made it back to the marina just after dark, but we had cleared all of the portages by the time the sun set.

Tips

There’s pay parking and free parking at the marina. Your choice pending availability.

Other than the remoteness this is a fairly easy trip. There are many other trips that can be had in the area, and being a little more wild than a developed park it’s fun to explore. Just make sure that you’re prepared with a good map and leave yourself some extra time since the trails aren’t rigorously maintained.

If you intend to camp we did see several posted sites with fire pits but I have no idea if they also have thunder boxes, or if they are maintained at all. Of greater importance I have no idea how busy they get, so I don’t know how hard it would be to find a site in high season.

Five Winds Trail

Story

Gibson River Provincial Park is another one of Ontario’s minimalist parks. It’s classified as a nature preserve and offer’s few facilities other than a parking lot. The Five Winds Backcountry Ski Club maintains a trail network throughout the park and beyond, and thanks to the lack of snow this winter it was possible for us to hike the trails without skis or snowshoes in January. The recent freeze/thaw cycles made for some hidden ice in spots, and the warm temperatures meant that the ice wasn’t safe to walk on anywhere, but for the most part the conditions were ideal for hiking.

I wasn’t able to find a map of the trails prior to our trip, but the Five Winds club does make a map available to their members. I believe that I met one of the members last fall as he was marking the trails from the Nine Mile Lake access point, and he showed me his map then. The trails are quite extensive and I wouldn’t consider my GPS track log representative of the network at all. Furthermore there are areas where the blazes are difficult to follow and we did bushwhack a couple of times during the course of our trip so there are a few sections that aren’t the right way to go.

I had heard reports from other hikers that the trails were at times difficult to follow, and we did have some difficulty identifying blazes in a few locations, but for the most part it was easier than I expected to stay on the marked trail. We were assisted by the trail of geocaches that I was finding (or rather not finding). We had to cross a few boggy areas but none of the trails took us over the dangerous deeper water. We crossed one beaver dam in the smaller hydro corridor, and we went through thin ice several times, once in a bog, but more frequently in puddles collected in the low points of the trail.

The terrain we traversed is similar to the nearby McCrae Lake Conservation Trail, but it has a different character. A lot of the area we traversed was swampy and boggy, but there was one section with nice granite ridge tops that were littered with light grey erratics. I would say that the trail closer to the Bay is a bit more scenic but it’s very hard to compare with a trail that I’ve only hiked in the summer.

The high point of our hike was the visit to Long Falls. Long Falls are located outside of the park along the Gibson River. The river was running quite quickly and the falls were very scenic. We followed our intended trail to the falls but we took an ATV trail on the way out that we discovered when we had made a wrong turn earlier in the day. The snow covered most of the scars left by the ATVs except for a few large puddles where the quads had really bogged out. It wasn’t quite as demanding as the way we went in, but by that time of day I don’t think any of us minded [:)].

Tips

Gibson River Provinical Park is quite remote with very little infrastructure so it is a destination if you’re looking for a wilderness experience. That said there are a few things that take away from the feeling of remoteness.

  • There is a large hydro corridor adjacent to the park, and an extensive set of OFSC snowmobile trails run through this area. The hydro corridor is quite barren visually and the trails must have quite a bit of traffic at times. We heard a few sleds, but didn’t see any.
  • There is a smaller hydro corridor that runs through the park.
  • There’s at least one ATV trail that runs through the park itself (in flagrant disregard for the parks nature preserve status). In summer this trail is probably pretty unsightly with deep ruts cut where quads get stuck.

Other considerations when visiting the area:

  • Large areas of the park are quite boggy and marshy so expect to donate a few litres of blood to flying parasites if you visit in the spring.
  • No camping is allowed within the park itself, but it is allowed on the adjacent crown land. There are portages along the Gibson River around the rapids. That said I hear that the river is a difficult trip when water levels are low.