Journal Entries

At Rideau Ferry (community name, not actual Ferry) after 5 hours of paddling (with breaks) we rested and had a big town meal at CC’s On the Rideau.

After hours of paddling into the wind it felt so fabulous to stop and get on dry land. And after 5 nights camping it felt great to have a freshly cooked high calorie meal.

We don’t do fancy camps meals that require refrigeration etc. Apparently fancy meals are a thing with canoe camping -steaks, baked potatoes - I’ve seen videos. That’s not our style. We’ve packed food very similar to what we eat backpacking - all dried and packaged foods, but with a bit extra since we’re not doing a big resupply halfway. In a canoe it’s super easy to pack 8 days worth of food, it’s a bit trickier backpacking. Our limit is around 5 days.

So we have enough food with us for all 8 nights but we needed a town stop after all those waves and wind yesterday and today on Upper Rideau and Big Rideau Lakes.

Burgers, fries, poutine - yum!!

After late lunch which was also an early supper we got a few items at the general store including some alcohol, which we didn’t pack. And more chips and beef jerky - all the salt! And after a nice break in the warm sun we were off again to our camping spot - Lower Beveridges Lock. Which was not plan A for the night but turned out to be a wonderful plan B.

Leaving Colonel By island we traveled north east through Big Rideau Lake, aptly named.

Unfortunately, the wind was blowing south so we were paddling into a head wind most of the day.

We paddled hard today and we’re learning how to negotiate and manage wind and waves. How, where, and when to turn. Where to point our bow etc.

With breaks we averaged 3 km per hour, into 15 km per hour winds. We felt pretty proud of ourselves especially when we got to the end of the day and realized we did more km’s than we thought.

Leaving Colonel By Island with its strange, dilapidated (and boarded up) house.

This is the kind of place made for haunted house stories.

We weren’t bothered by ghosts but we were visited by the resident mink in the night (our houseboat neighbors told us about her).

Sometime in the middle of the night we awoke to loud sniffing outside the tent. @toesalad thought it was me, I thought it was him. But it was not either of us. We whacked the side of the tent and shortly afterward heard a loud splash as it entered the water to swim back to its beachhead home.

It was really loud as it entered the water. We heard it twice in the night. I would have thought it would be more stealthy.

The best part of vacation and going on adventures is losing track of dates and days. Turning the midway point of this trip I’m always asking “what day is it?”

Our neighbors at Colonel By Island, moored nearby in their pontoon boat, invited us to share their fire.

We had a great time around the fire shooting the breeze about Ontario hiking trails (they highly recommended the Bruce trail and Frontenac Provincial Park), boating , retirement (theirs, not ours), and commiserating about Covid. Oh yeah, kind of forgot about that out here. Maybe best part of this trip.

Something we have noticed is that everyone we’ve met out here is retired, and on boats. We’ve only met one other paddler, a young man kayaking.

It’s a quiet year with Covid but also I think this is mostly a motorized boating waterway. However we’ve encountered very few boats, period, on our journey. Maybe as we approach the weekend we’ll see more boaters.

I’ve been looking forward to camping on Colonel By island, the most natural camping spot of our trip, since our other nights are all at lockstations.

Kind of a strange place with an old run down “cottage” that was at one time a destination for American tourists and big wigs.

Now it’s owned by Parks Canada and is part of the Rideau Waterway network.

Paddled probably 16km today from Newboro lock.

We arrived at Colonel By Island around 4pm as the wind was reaching a peak speed of 27km per hour.

The wind was to our backs so we were riding the waves in, they would crest beneath the canoe.

I was glad I didn’t turn around and look back at the waves while we were paddling, it would have freaked me out.

It was a warm day today, warmest of our whole trip, around 23C so I was bare foot and barelegged. Enjoying the last of summer.

This was at one of the quiet spots out of the waves.

Paddling Big Rideau Lake.

The water is calm in this sheltered spot, resting between more strenuous sections.

After a lunch break at Narrows Lock we’re packed and ready for an afternoon of paddling.

Coming into Narrows Lock after canoeing Upper Rideau Lake.

The waves were pretty gnarly as we approached the lockstation. Most difficult waves so far.

This section we’re doing today and tomorrow - Upper Rideau, Big Rideau and Lower Rideau Lake - is the area we’re most likely to encounter rough waves. (Colonel By and River Styx which we did on Day one in the rain can also be rough).

We’re not experienced canoeists but we feel confident learning in this environment since there are lots of islands and shorelines to take refuge if needed.