Algonquin First-Timers: Canoeing the Ralph Bice – Daisy Lake Loop

Do you ever make a spontaneous purchase? I make a lot of those. Earlier this year, one of my spontaneous purchases was to buy the Maps by Jeff’s updated Algonquin series of maps. As a lover of maps, I had to have them.

Here’s the thing, I’d never gone to Algonquin Provincial Park before, and I had never done a backcountry canoe trip. Darrell had done some canoe trips in the past and we’d been talking about doing it, but never quite got there. But those maps? They got me excited about it and by the end of January I was reserving a permit for Algonquin in May.

After reading through Kevin Callan’s book, A Paddler’s Guide to Algonquin Park, we had settled on doing the Ralph Bice – Daisy Lake loop. It looked like an easy enough trip to start with.

I’ll admit that I was a little worried about the 1.5km portage on that route. Not crazy in the scheme of Algonquin, and super easy for us when hiking. But while carrying a canoe and gear? After the snow melted we put some time into walking around our property with the canoe and packs, trying to get us in better condition. The dogs loved it.

Unfortunately, the dogs skipped this trip because we have yet to figure out a good way to put the three of them, the two of us, and our gear into our canoe. Not to mention the bugs. The weekend after Victoria Day is prime bug time. Instead, they went to Grandma’s house and spent the weekend with their extended pack.

Day 1 – Magnetawan to Ralph Bice

Driving into the Magnetawan access reminded me of all the time we’ve spent exploring South River, a little further north, only the access road sure beat the logging trails we normally follow.

A sunny day, beautifully leafed-out trees, and the shimmer of Magnetawan Lake greeted us, but my nerves weren’t as calm as the scene before me. We do spend some time in a canoe these days, but nothing like we used to. And this canoe tends to feel tippy to me. Even getting in and out can feel super awkward for me. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for the trip ahead.

Before I could second-guess the whole thing, Darrell arranged the packs and told me to hop in. Those first few paddle strokes helped to calm me down and we quickly made our way across the short section of water to the portage to Hambone Lake. My first portage! At 190m, it wasn’t a long one and I quickly realized I’d had harder walks putting the canoe into the Grand River.

But still, it was an accomplishment.

The bugs were swarming as we set off across Hambone Lake, paddling the wrong way at first and then correcting our route. It was peaceful on the lake and I enjoyed the quiet that comes from not having a boat motor turned on.

We arrived at our next portage from Hambone to Ralph Bice and I actually kind of enjoyed the walk. Spending time in a forest is always nice. Of course, I didn’t have the canoe on my shoulders, so I got to enjoy it more. I’m sure Darrell was sick of me asking him how things were going every dozen or so steps.

Putting the canoe into Ralph Bice, I realized I wasn’t going to keep my feet dry. Darrell has the balance to walk on logs and get into any boat. I’m one of those animals you see falling down the cliff. I walked into the water and climbed back into my seat.

Since Ralph Bice Lake was our destination for the night, we weren’t in a hurry to get anywhere else. We paddled along and tried to fish, but every time we slowed down to cast, the blackflies descended in clouds around our heads. They were in my ears, flying up my nose, and constantly pinging into my eyes. The bug spray was having no effect.

We stopped at the first campsite we came to, and after a quick walk decided it would do for the night. It had two things going for it. One, it was across from the portage we would take the next day, and two, it was acting like a wind tunnel at that point and the bugs were almost non-existent on site. Worked for me!

After setting up camp and an early dinner of OTG meals, we headed out in the canoe to try and catch some fish. Catching fish is, after all, the goal of most of our trips.

We caught sticks and rocks, admired the view, and bobbed up and down in the chop and the breeze continued to blow. It wasn’t long before I’d had enough of feeling tipsy in the canoe before I wanted to head back to camp, where we continued to fish from shore. Darrell got a fire going and we sat down to watch the loons.

By that point, I was pretty certain I wouldn’t be rushing to book another canoe trip. The angst from feeling so tipsy in the canoe, the having to lug our gear all over, and honestly, not having the dogs around, was starting to get to me.

Then I had an awful night of very little sleep.

I laid in the tent, freezing cold because we had to pack our summer sleeping bags for space and weight-constraints and it was only 6 degrees Celsius. My body was aching from sleeping on the ground and I tossed and turned and everything hurt and even Gravol could only get me an hour or two of sleep. Darrell solved the heat issue by zipping our bags together, but that ground sucked. Even listening to the loons didn’t help that night.

Day 2 – Ralph Bice to Daisy Lake

By the time we crawled out of the tent on Saturday morning, I was pretty sure I calling the trip and heading back to the dogs. I didn’t want to get back in the canoe. I didn’t want to do the 1.5km portage. I definitely didn’t want to sleep in the tent again. There’s a reason we bought the teardrop trailer after all!

However, I’m also stubborn. Darrell and I talked about our options. Turn around and head back, finish the loop that day and head home, or finish the loop and spend the second night camping as planned. He then walked away to fish and let me think about it. I couldn’t stand calling it quits on a trip that we had planned for so long. If we didn’t finish it, I knew I’d never convince myself to try again.

So, after pulling a weather report on my inReach to make sure the weather wasn’t going to be any worse than some rain, we loaded back into the canoe and got going.

Rain fell as we paddled and the blackflies still managed to fly up my nose. When we reached the pull out, we came across all sorts of wildflowers in bloom, and even a very tiny, incredibly adorable toad. It seemed like a sign that I’d made the right decision. I questioned that thought a few times over the next hour or two.

The portage was beautiful when we weren’t trudging through the mud. Trees all leafed out, everything green and perfect, so many pops of colour from flowers along the way. Birds and frogs calling. But then there was that mud. At one point I was following behind Darrell, walking the exact path he had, and somehow ended up falling into the mud halfway up my shin. I laugh now at the memory, but was peeved in the moment.

Somehow, despite all the huffing and puffing, all the up and down, we finally made it to Daisy Lake! I felt stupidly proud of us.

Although the put-in at Daisy was crap thanks to shallow water and a boggy bottom, I immediately liked the lake. There are just some lakes that feel comfortable, and on this trip, Daisy Lake was that for me. I suddenly didn’t mind paddling a little further, or taking extra time to check out access to campsites.

We ended up at a campsite that would give us a fairly straight shot to the next portage the following day. That wasn’t by design. What convinced us both to take the site was that it looked like a good spot for fishing. Some nice structure in shallow water with a steep drop-off.

The steep slope in the water translated on land as well, as the site was super sloped. We quickly put up the tent and bug shelter, just as it was starting to rain again. The Eureka NoBugZone is a must-have on any trip, even if you end up not needing it, and in this case it proved to be the perfect place to make lunch and hang out for a bit.

Darrell started fishing while I read a book. When I saw his rod lift up quickly and slam right back down, I knew he’d missed a fish. Apparently a brook trout had chased his lure in. He continued to fish and then said, “Is that a moose?” I looked up and sure enough, swimming between two points on the other side of the lake was a moose with only its head visible. That was a pretty cool moment.

I took some time to fish, but with no bites, I went back to my book. Mr. Pro Fisherman though, he changed up to a white curly-tail grub and started targeting perch, hooking into a small one. Not long after, I heard a splash and saw his rod bent over. Trout on! A nice lake trout came to shore, though in the pictures it has the angriest face I’ve ever seen on a fish!

My fishing conquests amounted to a perch and a chub.

Sleeping on a slope was so much better for my body and I got a good night of sleep, listening to the incredibly loud loons calling to each other.

Day 3 – Daisy to Magnetawan

On Sunday morning we woke to overcast skies and mist over the water. Both of us felt well-rested and ready for our final day of paddling and portaging. Before that though, it was time for pancakes and our morning tea. Sitting in the bug shelter at the edge of the lake, looking out at the water as you eat breakfast, is a pretty great way to start the day.

Darrell headed out to take a few casts while I finished cleaning the dishes. Just as I was heading out to dump the water, I heard a “Got him!” and ran over to see him reeling in his second lake trout of the trip. That fish was pissed that the perch he was chasing turned into something with hooks. My favourite part of trips like this is when Darrell hooks into a nice fish. His excitement and joy makes it all worth it.

We slowly cleaned up camp and the clouds began to clear, leaving us with a beautiful view of the lake. Rather than the nervousness and apprehension I’d felt earlier in the trip, I was excited to get out on the water, take some casts, and make our way through the next portage. 

Leaving Daisy Lake, we paddled up the creek to the portage that would take us into Acme, which is more of a pond than a lake. The water level wasn’t very high and we had to push our way over a beaver dam. Did I mention that Darrell is a beast and stubborn as hell? He figures out ways to get through situations when I have no idea what to do. It came in handy quite often on this trip.

The portage started with a steep slope that neither of us looked forward to, but we made it. Our typical hiking trails usually leave us with more elevation gain and descent than the portage, but doing it while lugging all the gear? Oof.

By the time we reached the put-in at Acme, I was ready to be back at the truck. That said, Acme was a beautiful little waterbody to paddle across, and I took my time to enjoy it. We opted to skip the short portage into Hambone as the water level was just high enough to let us through the creek.

Hambone was just straight up paddling. I was done. We met up with another group heading out at the portage and they mentioned they had done 10 days. I really doubt I will ever do a 10 day canoe trip! Three days was good.

We finished the last portage, got back into Magnetawan, and a moment later, we were back at the access point.

I was so happy to be back to the truck, which is usually a more central figure in our adventures. My sopping wet hiking boots and socks came off, the gear and canoe got loaded up, and off we headed to Kearney to reward ourselves with burgers.

I have to admit, I was thrilled that we had accomplished this trip to Algonquin. I know it’s an easy loop in the grand scheme of things, but for me, I wasn’t sure how I would do physically or mentally. Physically, there were tough moments on portages, but overall, while I felt nicely tired, I didn’t hurt like I do when I push myself on some of our hikes. Mentally, I psyched myself out so many times. I looked at the negative and let those feelings get to me. But when my stubbornness kicked in and made me finish the trip, I felt so much better and ended up with so many beautiful new memories.

There are more paddling guide books in the mail and we’ve talked a lot about changes we would make for next time and places we want to see. Although the canoe and tent won’t replace the boat and teardrop trailer, it’s safe to say there are more paddling trips in our future. Now if only we could figure out how to bring the dogs along!