A Cache Of Fruit At Rain Lake

I was very excited about this trip. My sister, Heather, had booked it way back in March and we had been counting down the days ever since. It would be 9 days and 8 nights backpacking through the West Arm trails of Algonquin Park. First stop was the office in Kearney to get our permits and let them know that we had arrived. 

The actual trail is another 40 km drive away from the office. When we got to the parking lot of the trail head, it was so crowded that there was not enough room for everyone so, people were parking along the sides of the road. We were a bit surprised by this. But then, in light of the fact that everyone was out trying to have a vacation during the days of Covid-19 and the fact that this parking lot was the jump off point for canoers and fishermen, it shouldn't have been that surprising I suppose. Heather had checked the website before we left and found out that every site in the whole park was booked solid. Good thing we reserved in March. We managed to get a parking spot though because someone happened to be leaving just as we were coming in. 

Our first destination would be Rain Lake. There are two sites on Rain Lake and they are on a first come, first served basis. We were hoping to get to the first site on Rain Lake rather than the second one because we planned to meet up with my nephew, Devin, and his girlfriend, Jasmine, who were kayaking to where we were. (We pre-paid for their permit at the office). If we got the second site it would be a little more difficult for them to reach us (but not impossible). 

The trail head had a map of the trails and warnings about bears and reminders to keep your food up. We have come across bears before, but never a moose and since Algonquin is known for its moose, I was hoping to be able to see one this trip. 

Our route would take us 46.3 km around the first loop (left side loop  at the top of the map below). We would be going from Rain Lake, down to Islet. Next would be our longest part of the journey which was Weed Lake to North Pincher (almost 9 km that day). Then we would go from there to Gervais Lake and start heading back upwards to Brown Lake. From there we would go to Ishkuday Lake (which we were told is more of a swamp now than a lake because of the work of beavers, and there would be no water there). The last leg of our journey would be from Ishkuday back to Rain Lake again and then out. 

And so our journey began by crossing a bridge. 

We hadn't gotten very far when we already noticed that someone had left a bag of garbage in the brush on the side of the trail. Really!?! Now why couldn't they have taken that the rest of the way out? We were too far to turn back and we couldn't carry it for 9 days so we had to leave it. We were very disappointed to see that. (We did not see it on the way back so someone did the right thing and took it out. Thank you to whoever that was!)

The first leg of the trail is like a dream. It is wide and open and flat. Very easy to travel and we were able to hike it quite quickly. 

The reason that it was so flat is that this part of the trail used to be an old railway line. You can even still see some of the old railway ties embedded in the ground. In some places you will find bits of old metal from the rail way embedded in the dirt too. This leg of the trail (from the entrance to Islet or to Ishkuday) would be great for first time backpackers or for those who are not quite up to too much climbing. It's very easy going. 

The scenery is beautiful here. Much of the time you can see the lake from the side of the trail, or you cross over little creeks. 

The leaves were already just beginning to change colour here and there. Not too much. Just enough to remind you to enjoy what was left of the summer because before too long it will be autumn. 

From time to time you would see a little toad jump out of the way. They were quite small and you really have to be careful not to step on them. 

There were unusual things to see like, a wall of sticks (presumably made by beavers long time ago).

As well as a lumpy tree that looked like it had a couple of butts sticking out of it. 

It took us about an hour but it seemed to go by faster than that. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the first of the two Rain Lake campsites. 

And we were in luck. There was no one else on it. We were the first to arrive. The first Rain Lake camp site is down a slight slope so that it feels like you have a wall around one side of you. It was kind of neat. 

We set up camp and put a tarp over the tent. We were expecting to get rain at about 4 in the morning according to the weather man. 

This campsite has a tiny little "beach area" maybe 10 feet wide. Heather and I both decided to try to do more swimming this year. We find that the older we get the less swimming we do. So, we wanted to change that. I was going to try to convince myself to go swimming at as many of the sites on this trip that I could.  I began by going in for a swim here. The water was a bit cold but it was clear and clean. The bottom was not mucky like you get in some places.  

But then I was wearing my brand new water shoes that arrived in the mail just the day before this trip. If you get a chance to pick up a pair like this (got mine on Amazon) you will love them! They are super light weight,and they are mesh everywhere (they even have holes in the soles) so the water doesn't stay in them and they dry pretty quick. Gone are my "Ronald McDonald Shoes" as I called my previous pair. These are definitely the way to go. Not just for water either. They are a great way to let your feet breathe after taking off  your hiking boots and to wear around the camp. (And in case you are wondering.... no, I am not paid to endorse these or anything like that. I just really like them. But hey, if anyone wants to pay me to endorse these, I would be up for that, lol!).  

A momma loon and her baby were also enjoying a swim with me in rain Lake. 

All in all it was a nice little site. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that since it was so close to the jump off point for canoes, there was a whole lot of canoe traffic and other hikers going by here. So you didn't quite get that "your alone in the wilderness" feeling that you get when you are deep in the woods on a backpacking trip. It felt more like a car camping trip at this point. But we had 8 more days ahead of us so I was sure that would change as the days went by. 

As expected, Devin and Jasmine arrived by kayak around dinner time. they were only staying for the one night and then they would be kayaking to Sawyer Lake while Heather and I continued on to Islet lake by land. 

We had been sitting and chatting for awhile when along came a young couple in their early twenties, hiking along the trail. They stopped for a moment and looked at us and seemed a bit confused. We realized that they probably thought that we were on their site and that they didn't realize there were two sites. We explained to them that there was another site just up the trail a bit and that it wasn't too far from where we were. So off they went. 
But what had us watching them with awe as they left, was that they were carrying between them a big blue food barrel; the kind you use for canoeing. They had it between them, each one holding a handle, as they walked on down the trail. They had been carrying this thing for a couple of kilometers already. We chuckled to each other and said " I guess that's one way to make sure that you stick together on a trip!" Clearly they were new to hiking. 

Talking about the couple with the blue food barrel led us to talking about the food that we had brought with us. Devin said that he had brought 3 cans of fruit with him. He figured it might be too much for him and Jasmine to bring and he asked me and Heather if we wanted to take them. Of course we knew it would be too much extra weight for us so we declined the offer, But then we came up with an idea. Since we knew that Heather and I would be coming back to Rain Lake on our way back out in about a weeks time, we figured why not hide the cans of fruit somewhere. Then when we got back we would have something good to eat and we would only have to carry the cans out with us, not for the whole trip. So I took a can of peaches and a can of pears and I set about looking for a good spot to stash them. 
  Across the trail and up away was a wide open space that I thought may have a spot that would be good for a cache. 

 At one end of the wide open space was a big sandy hill. The whole area seemed a little out of place really. I climbed to the top of this hill and found the perfect spot. 

At the top of the sand hill was a leaning tree with a hole under its roots that was big enough for the cans. I placed them both under the tree. 

I filled in the hole with stones and moss and sticks until the cans were no longer visible. The idea was to keep it from getting too hot, and to protect it from the elements and to keep animals from getting it.  This was no guarantee that it wouldn't be found by some kids or something though. But I felt that the odds were more in our favour than not. I guess we would see in a weeks time. 

I climbed back down the sand hill and headed back to the campsite. I noticed a large rock with a big smile on it at the bottom of the hill. The rock seemed happy, so I was happy.  :)  The rock would guard our cans of fruit. 

When I got back to camp I told Heather about the odd area that I had hid the cans of fruit in. She pointed out to me on the map that the area had been an old logging camp and that was why it seemed a bit different than the rest of the area. I studied the map for a bit to get a feel of what was to come. This had been one of our shortest days of the trip. We hiked about 2 km today. Tomorrow would be about 6 km. 

We didn't do too much that evening. Mostly we just sat around and talked. We built a fire and Devin roasted hot dogs. 

As it got darker, the stars started coming out. On about our 4th night of this trip the Perseid meteor shower is supposed to be at its peak. We are hoping that we will have good weather and be in a place where we can see them well. As for this night, we could hear the call of the loons and of a barred owl in the distance. The mosquitoes that were nearly non-existent on the trail today were starting to make an appearance now. But they weren't too bad. 

As I got into my sleeping bag I thought about how wonderful it was to finally get out of the city for awhile and away from all the craziness going on in the world right now. Here, it was peaceful. Here, it was beautiful. Here, I was falling asleep happy.