On Saturday we encountered no rain, but no sun, either. We left Biggar Lake, poking along in the rivers for speckled trout, on the way out to North Tea Lake. My 9 year-old nephew, Cliff, hooked into a beautiful little squaretail, about 3/4 lb in weight. His Uncle Ben (below) continued to do everything the rest of us were doing, unfortunately to no avail. One of these years he'll land the one speckie or laker that will make the rain and the snow and the good times and the bad times worth it!
Saturday, heading west in the East Arm of North Tea.
Every good Algonquin blog must have a loony photo in it!
We hit the giant lake in good time on Saturday, and for the paddle through the endless East Arm, Ben soloed the small 14' cedar strip canoe. The East Arm is lined with cedars and spruce trees, giving way to white pines and hardwood maple trees as the shores rise. It is a sheltered portion of the lake, but it can still create trouble at times. And at that time of year we were not going to risk mishap, so we stopped to rearrange the loads. The gear in Nathan and Cliff's canoe was transferred to the little canoe, and Ben into their canoe, with Cliff in the middle. The boys put a tow-line out to the small cedar-strip, normally used as a soloist vessel, but now a rather dignified little freighter. We were now ready to tackle the main bays of the giant lake.
Nate, Cliff, and Ben, and 2 hand-crafted cedar strip canoes...
The cape where 3 bays of North Tea lake meet... The first portion of the lake is where the North Arm meets the West Arm meets the East Arm, which sounds like a microscopic version of the Cape of Good Hope at the tip of South America, where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean meets the Arctic Ocean. This day, though, it was fine. Until I gave myself a nasty cut on a finger at the break just inside the West Arm.
A 9 year old boy on a giant lake... Cliff had been practicing his paddling skills, and so a calm lake with a brilliant sunset created some wonderful photographic opportunities.
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A young man taming a giant lake!
Sunday, May 12th, dawned early and dramatic. It turned out to be a vicious day weatherwise, but not until the last hour or so. On giant lakes such as North Tea, particularly in the shoulder seasons of spring and fall, it is always wise to take advantage of calm conditions and paddle as far as you can towards your destination. This is always beneficial the next day when the weather can take a turn for the worse.
Enjoying a rare moment of sunshine in the shelter of the Amable on the way out...
Ben attempting to paddle up and over a beaver dam on the Amable du Fond River...
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Steady as he goes...
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Success!
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The iconic red trillium kept Cliff and I company as we waited for the boys to come back with the vehicles after we aborted the last leg of the trip, a crossing of Round Lake, (see the video above!) instead keeping tight to shore for three or four hundred meters and landing at a road. So ended yet another successful Algonquin Spring trout fishing adventure!
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