Joe Lake, Algonquin Provincial Park

Ya know, I’m not sure if writing up trip reports is helping to keep my cabin fever at bay or if it’s making it worse.



Here is a new trip report from last August for a trip where we started out from Canoe Lake in Algonquin, camped on Joe Lake then day tripped up to Tom Thomson Lake and over to Burnt Island Lake.



http://www.loonislandoutdoors.com/TripReports/JoeLake/JoeLake.php



Burnt Island Lake looked really pretty and I definitely think we will need to head back up that way again.



Enjoy!

One of my favorite fall five day
trip routes is: Canoe launch, Burnt Island first night, Otterslide second (short day), Big Trout third day, Macintosh fourth day and Littledoe the fifth. Often I stay at Big Trout an extra day.



I find Big and White Trout lakes as well as MacIntosh and Otterslide the most scenic though Tom Thompson is also nice.

Water Levels In McIntosh Creek?
How is the water level in McIntosh Creek? Seeing as how it looks like you would be heading upstream from White Trout to McIntosh Lake how much current is there?



Similarly how about Otterslide Creek going downstream from Otter Slide to Big Trout?



I know it can change year to year and season to season but are those creeks generally safe to plan on paddling?



Thanks!

LOL
there is a seven hundred meter portage uphill out of White Trout but it comes after several beaver dams. No flow to speak of in the paddleable portions.



Its not a hard trip at all.

Big Trout Loop
I did the Canoe-Joe-Burnt Island-Otterslide-Big Trout-White Trout-Macintosh-Thompson loop last September right after Labor Day.



There was one short section where I waded with my boat through a shallow rock garden between Burnt Island and Big Trout. Macintosh Creek had a few beaver dams to pull over but and water level was low but it still enough to float my boat. The staff at Canoe Lake had up-to-date and accurate information. I asked them the same question when I picked up my permit and they filled me in with what they knew and they were right.


Video Trip Report
I’m finally getting around to editing the videos from this trip. Here is day 1:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sO8AIhfVmak



I wanted to get them all done before our May fishing trip, but I’m pretty sure that I’m going to run out of time.

Day 2 Video
Here is the video for Day 2 of our trip into Canoe Lake and area last summer. It was a pretty quiet day other than lots of rain. I’ve heard a lot about Tom Thomson being obsessed with gray, including having painted his canoe gray. If Tom saw as many swirling gray clouds as we did, then I can understand being obsessed with them.



http://youtu.be/LhMu_vtxwCo

Day 3 Video
I got the video for Day 3 put together yesterday. Lots of birds on this day including a family of loons that were fishing together and a very patient Great Blue Heron. We also caught our only trout of the trip up on Burnt Island Lake.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hjvKzdAkvbI

Day 4 Video
And here is the 4th and final day of the trip:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JdnsQ4iFzM