Crotch Lake Loop

A 4 day, three night paddling trip using a canoe and a kayak to accommodate our threesome. The trip is known as the Crotch Lake Loop and includes visits to Kashwakamak, Mud, Big Gull and of course Crotch Lake, with the Mississippi and Gull rivers tieing everthing together.

Day One:
Launched mid afternoon and with a strong tail wind on a beautiful day we moved quickly to our campsite on Kashwakamak Lake. The start point is a small parking area with nice launch site. The lake has a fair number of cottages but our island campsite was large and remote. Reservations with North Frontenac are required for the trip (est $25 per night).

Day Two:
This day had us progress over a dam into the Mississippi River and make our way east through half a dozen portages to a large island on Crotch Lake. Another beautiful campsite that easily handled our two tents, had a nice beach, table and thunderbox (as did the others). A big thanks to some trail angels that allowed us to take a shortcut through their campsite and also cooked us up a delicious hamburger!

Day Three:
Some nasty weather rolled in, thunder storms, heavy rain followed by high winds gusting to 35km. Definitely a challenging day but we took advantage of breaks in the weather to make our way to a site overlooking Big Gull Lake.

Day Four:
Dominated by the longest portage of the trip (1,250m) and complicated by a dozen or more blown down trees that obliterated portions of the trail. We spent a couple of hours hacking, slogging and cutting our way through the mess, hopefully making it easier for anyone following us. This portage was barely marked (one orange dangled ribbon), and had an unmarked fork in the trail (turn left!). The second portage also suffered from a lack of signage that caused some confusion and extra steps.

Overall a very nice trip, impressive campsites, beautiful lakes and had a fairly remote feeling (only one other group was noticed) but not much wildlife was spotted. Given the overall length, potential for weather events, expansive lakes and unmarked/uncleared trails I would rate this trip as difficult.