Day 2 - August 22, 1999
Route: Queer L., Little Misty L., Misty L., Petawawa R., Grassy Bay, White Trout L.
Distance: 17 miles
Portages: 2435, 935, 850, 155, 195, 160, 80, 200
Travel Time: 8:00
Map
The morning was quite cool - the coolest one of the trip. The lake had a light misty fog
over the entire surface. It was an interesting effect.
It was another day of excellent weather. This was good because we had a long way to travel.
It was the most difficult day of the trip. We quickly broke camp and hit the water
before 9:00.
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Fog on Queer Lake
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The first portage of the day was the longest of the trip. It was 2435 meters to Little Misty Lake.
We were probably the first people of the day on this portage and we managed to
stir up all of the mosquitos along the trail. It was already hot and they were swarming
around me under the canoe.
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I had forgotten how long this portage was. Fortunately, Seth came back and carried
the canoe the last few hundred meters. At the end of the portage, we rested in a nice grassy
area. A few mergansers swam buy while we were there.
We only had a short paddle on Little Misty L. before a 935 meter portage to Misty L.
Once again, Seth helped with the canoe at the end of the portage.
We paddled the length of Misty L. and ate lunch at a campsite just before the next portage.
This portage brought us onto the Petawawa River.
The water level on the Petawawa R. seemed higher than normal. We only bottomed out once along
the whole river. Along the way, we crossed over two beaver dams. One of them was quite large.
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Beaver Dam on Petawawa River
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The difficulty of the day was taking its toll. The day was quite hot and we were
becoming exhausted. The lowest point during the day was at the 160 meter portage.
This was a "triangle" portage - 80 meters up a steep hill followed by 80 meters
down a steep hill. After this portage, we rested and then took it easy paddling to
the next portage.
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Waterfall on Petawawa River
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At the 80 meter portage, we stopped to take a look at the waterfall. In years past, the
water level was lower and the water barely came over the waterfall. This year was different
and the waterfall was spectacular. We climbed right to the base of the waterfall to take in
the view.
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Finally, we reached Grassy Bay and had nothing left but paddling. We decided on a campsite
on the northeast side of White Trout Lake. The entire shoreline of the campsite was solid
rock which presented some difficulty in unloading. After we cooled down a bit, we went
for a swim. The water was refreshing, but not too cold.
As the sun was going down, we heard a very strange sound, which sounded like a far
off highway. The sound could be heard throughout the entire campsite so it was
difficult to isolate the source. We were able to determine the general direction of the
sound but still did not know what it was. Since we had seen a lot of bees at this
campsite, we figured that the sound must be all of the bees returning to the nest
for the night. The buzzing sound lasted for about 30 minutes.
We sat around the campfire toasting marshmallows and drinking hot cocoa. It was a very
pleasant night and the loons were very vocal. Several mice were running around looking
for food. After two of these mice tried to run up Seth's leg, we decided to call it
a night.
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