I had planned to do a solo trip at the end of September, but when I mentioned doing a trip to my friend Maya (who I completed the Basic Canoe instructor course with a few weeks prior) that plan changed and we decided to go to Kingscote Lake together. We planned to do some fishing and exploring, but we didn’t expect to also be catching the start of the fall colour change in Algonquin Park.
Friday Night
When we arrived at Kingscote Lake we immediately noticed the number of people in the parking lot which made us worry a little about finding a site. It would seem that this lake once quiet lake, is gaining popularity. It took us a few minutes to organize and pack the gear in my canoe before we headed north on the water.
Maya had brought binoculars with her which came in handy for checking if sites were occupied or not as we paddled past. We paddled through the narrows passing occupied site after occupied site. The choices were getting slim and we were fully prepared to turn around and head back to the put in to look for a site at the south end of the lake. Luckily at the end of the narrows we found an open site along with one other possible site further up the shoreline in a secluded bay. With no canoers behind us, we agreed to paddle on and see if that last remaining site was open. If not, we would turn around and head back to this open site.
It was after 7pm as we arrived in the bay of the last site, which was available, so we decided to check it out. It had three tent pad options (although they were small), a great fire pit area, and a possible view of the sunset, so we decided to stay.
It got dark, like really dark, real fast so we quickly set up our tents, got organized and then got the fire going strong to cook our supper – steaks and asparagus over the fire. Seeing how it was really dark and that we were both super hungry, I totally forgot to take a picture of the food, but it was yummy (even without photo evidence, which now that I think about it provides no indication of flavour). As the night went on we were visited by many little mice who crawled around our feet and gear looking for any crumbs we might have dropped. These little guys made quite the noise as they crawled over all our items. We had to make sure the food barrel was always closed as they really did enjoy crawling up and around the lid.
Kingscote put in 
Down the lake, look at the colors already 
beauty canoe 
Love our campfires 
Night time visitor
Saturday
Morning came fast, however neither of us was in a huge rush that morning as we had no real set plans. We took some time to take in our beautiful view across the lake then eventually had breakfast and planned our day. We decided to paddle and portage until we reached York River where we would try our luck at fishing.
Barrel far in the woods 
Good morning site 
Gorgeous morning 
Our day trip took us to the 1300 m portage into Big Rock, then the 660 m into Byers Lake where we would fished paddled up the York River until we reached Branch Lake. These two portages were not too difficult, however my legs really did get a good workout going up and down some of the trickier hilly sections and through some deep muddy parts as well. It was a good thing I had my bigger boots for this trip.
We fished all afternoon with no luck! Our only excitement for the day was putting out a small fire that was located on the base of the tree with the portage sign from Big Rock to Kingscote. We both smelled a smoke, which was weird because because there was no obvious place for a campfire. Then we looked down and saw a fire about the size of a small dinner plate at the base of the tree. After dumping multiple bottles of water on it, we were satisfied that it was out and cooled down. Our only guess as to what had started this fire was ashes from a cigarette.
Crazy pile of trees from a storm earlier this year 
Branch Lake 
Very muddy portage
Back at camp we decided to fix our fire pit as it needed some attention, then gathered a whole bunch of wood to burn for the remainder of the afternoon into evening. For supper I tried a new meal from Happy Yak: Moroccan Feast. Next time I would split this meal in half as I had a hard time eating the entire portion myself. I find it is hard to know exactly how much of these meals I can eat on my own, and this is one meal that I will definitely have to alter the portion size of.
That evening we ate the strawberry marshmallow desert that Christina had introduced to me (and has become a staple of all my trips). Maya really enjoyed this and it was a great treat for the end of our day. As it got dark, our little visitors came back to check out the newly fixed fire pit and attempted to crawl up and down our legs and gear in search of food. Other than the little mice, our evening was very quiet and peaceful. I was surprised on how quiet it was this time of year.
Sunday
Another morning came fast and we were both not ready to leave camp. With no real plans or need to get home, we headed back onto Kingscote Lake for the morning hoping to catch a fish for lunch. Again we were skunked! Nothing, nada, no bites at all. It’s unusual for me to not have some sort of catch, but I guess it was only a matter of time.
Let’s try this again 
Smiles, but nar fish 
Morning warm up drinks
Back at camp we packed up our gear, had lunch, and made our way to our vehicles. On the way back we decided that we would stop and check out High Falls before heading home. These are the same falls that Hayden and I hiked to and swam in during our trip in July, so it was nice to see the falls as the colors on the leaves were starting to change.
We both really enjoyed our afternoon hike and it was time to head our separate ways and go home. Thanks for being great company, Maya! I hope we are able to coordinate more trips in the future.
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