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NOGANOSH LAKE LOOP
This page has a short description of the Noganosh Lake Loop trip that I did with my friend Matt from June 21 to June 23, 2002. June 21, 2002 Drove to access point at Fleming's Landing UTM 565200E,5082300N (Based in NAD 27, Zone 17N) W on Pickeral River P 200 m into Smoky Creek LO or P 75 m over beaver dam P 350m into Smoky Lake S through Smoky Lake Camp on site UTM 558600E,5076500N Todays portage distance = 550 m Total portage distance = 550 m Todays paddle distance = 11.1 Km Total paddle distance = 11.1 Km June 22, 2002 S through Smoky to Noganosh S to end of Noganosh N back to campsite on Island, UTM 556544E,5074212N Todays portage distance = 0 m Total portage distance = 550 m Todays paddle distance = 10.8 Km Total paddle distance = 21.9 Km June 23, 2002 N through Noganosh to Smoky N through Smoky to Smoky Creek P 350m into Smoky Creek LO or P 75m over beaver dam P 200m into Pickeral River E on Pickeral River to Fleming's Landing Todays portage distance = 550 m Total portage distance = 1100 m Todays paddle distance = 14.5 Km Total paddle distance = 36.4 Km Maps & Info:
Journal: June 21, 2002 We woke up this at 4am this morning (I slept over at Matt's place), and were on the road by 4:20am. We stopped for Timmy's just before Barrie. At Parry Sound (Nobel actually), we stopped at the Timmy's/Wendy's for breakfast, but found that Wendy's was still closed, so we continued on to the restaurant up the hill on the west side of the road. We had eggs and bacon/sausage. It was about 7:30 at this time, and we were back on the road at about 8. We took Hwy.69 to 522, and then headed East. We put in at Fleming's Landing, after we drove around for a while looking for the put in. Fleming's Landing is on "White Birch" something-or-other road, and the put in is the first left after that. We had the canoe loaded and were on the water by 10:20. We headed W on the Pickeral River to Smoky Creek. Just before the portage to Smoky, we saw a helicopter fly by a couple of times, then it stopped and hovered close to the portage for a while. At the start of the portage, there's a pontoon-type houseboat moored. When we paddled up to the take out, we realized that the radio was on. A dog came out from the boat and sniffed at us a while, then when back to lie down. The portage is short, and at the end was a garden tractor (!) and trailer! As we were leaving the portage, an old hermit-type man came up in a motor boat. We assumed he was from the house boat. We forgot the map case at the end of the portage trail, so headed back for it, only to find the old man coming back with it for us! Soon, we came to a 4 foot high beaver dam with it's own ladder! We unloaded the packs and lifted them up the ladder, then dragged the canoe across. Then, after another short portage through a marshy area, we came to another portage. Here, we found......another garden tractor! This took us to a small bay just off of Smoky Lake. The fish camp at Smoky (Tornados Resorts) looked like it was just opening for the season, and the helicopter was flying around and landing repeatedly at the lodge. We paddled to the S end of Smoky, and found a nice site at UTM 558600E,507650N. We went swimming as soon as we got to the site and it felt great! Then we set up camp, and eventually ate supper of steak, potatoes and mushrooms (mmmm....). After supper, we went out and played around - flipping the boat and such. We went under water and popped up into the air bubble under the boat, and a fish swam right up to us. We tried to flip the canoe really fast and catch the fish inside, but the trout was too fast. I tried to gunwhale bob (sort-of), and just generally screwed around with the boat for a while. After getting the boat out of the water, we cleaned up the dishes and then sat on the rock by the lake for a while. Now, we're in the tent hiding from the bugs! June 22, 2002 This morning we woke up late (9am) to light rain and mosquitos. We had breakfast of oatmeal and dried apples and GORP. We saw a turtle at the campsite and guessed that she was laying eggs, because the ground was all dug up. We were on the water by approx. 10am, and headed to Noganosh. Just before Noganosh, we saw the old man in his boat again. We paddled to Noganosh through a narrows, and then all the way to the S end, and checked out all of the campsites on the way. They are all very small, and have no room for tents. They seem to be shore lunch sites rather than campsites. The hunt camp on the S end seemed to be in use, and they had a generator running. As we were looking for campsites, we saw an island that was not on either map. We marked a waypoint (approx. 730,567). On one of the campsite, there were 3 large trees that had blown down and "peeled" off of the rock. At this point we heard a chainsaw and saw a guy across the water cutting down a tree (illegally I'm sure). Since all of the campsites were no good, we paddled back out to one of the island sites (at UTM 556544E,5074212N). It's not too bad, and actually has room for the tent! We found a nice length of floating rope that someone had left behind, as well as lots of little pieces of parachute cord. We had lunch of bagels, cheese, pepperettes, salami, GORP, apples and cookies. Then we went for a swim to cool down and get rid of the itchyness. (damn bugs....) We then set up camp and had a nap for an hour. Matt went and pumped some water. We sat around for a little while and then decided to make supper of KD with sundried tomatoes, tuna, mushrooms and cheese. It was good, but we had a few too many tomatoes. We cleaned up the dishes and started a fire to burn the cans. After the fire burnt down, we went out to pump some more water. We then cleaned up and took the food back into the bush for the night, put out the fire, and came in to the tent. And here we sit.... June 23, 2002 We woke up this morning at around 6 to another warm and buggy day. We had breakfast of oatmeal and bagels, and then quickly struck camp. We were on the water by 7. We paddled Noganosh to the narrows again, then through Smoky. We stopped to fill up with water just before the fly-in camp. We went into the marshy bay before the portage, but weren't sure we were in the right place. We didn't think it looked familiar - probably because we were watching the helicopter the first time we went through. As we were studying the map, we spotted a deer - just before it ran back into the bush. We eventually decided that we had to be in the right spot, so kept paddling up the bay. We found the portage so knew we were back on track. We did the portage quickly (350m) and noticed that the lawn tractor had moved since last time. As we paddled the next marshy section, we saw the old man - again! - coming towards us in his boat. This time, he had two dogs - and one was the one that we saw at the houseboat - so it is his houseboat! We heard him fire up the lawn tractor - and then stall it - when he reached the portage. At the beaver dam, we lifted the packs out and slid the canoe over. After another short paddle, we were at the last portage. We completed it quickly, and were on the last section of water soon. We made good time going upstream on the Pickeral. We had a tail wind that more than made up for the current. Before we knew it, we were back at the car. We tied the canoe on the car, loaded up our gear, and decided to go for a swim. We had a quick swim off of the dock, then changed into clean clothes. We were on the road by about 11am, and we stopped once at Nobel for Wendy's, and once just before Hwy 407 for a cold drink - it was 33oC while we were driving home! Matt dropped me off in Waterloo, and then headed back to Woodstock. I cleaned up some gear, had a shower and now I'm ready for bed. Again, another excellent trip. A little (ok, a lot) hot and buggy, but fun anyway! Darren, Matt Fallowfield |
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This page was last updated on May 27, 2015 at 01:07 PM |  |
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