Presquile Point Provincial Park Kayaking

We just got back from a weekend camping trip to Presquile Provincial Park. What a beautiful park! We kayaked on Popham Bay as well as Presquile Bay. We launched right from the cobble stone beach at the day use area to access Popham Bay. We were only out for a couple hours as it was later in the afternoon and it looked like more rain was moving in. The cobblestone beach was a little steep which made getting our kayaks into the lake a little harder. Dave fished, but didn't catch anything. We were on the lee side of the peninsula with a wind blowing pretty much offshore when we headed out, but we had a some chop by the time we headed in. The launch for Presquile Bay was at Calf Pasture Point. It wasn't too bad. We launched right into the bay instead of the little inlet where the actual launch was. We were planning on launching there until we noticed swans. Where possible, we try to avoid them when it's nesting season. I kayaked out to the lighthouse where there really wasn't any current or waves. A wind eventually kicked up from the SW which made for a rough paddle back to shore. Dave caught about 6 perch (smaller) and a beautiful pike. His new fishing gear is working very well on his kayak. We're hoping to make it back to Presquile again for more kayaking. Here are some pics:

Popham Bay - Presqu'ile Provincial Park

Popham Bay

Cloudy Day - Popham Bay

Dave Fishing - Popham Bay

Dave Launching - Popham Bay

Heading out on Presqu'ile Bay

Lighthouse - Presqu'ile Bay

Dave's Pike - Presqu'ile Bay

Sue - Presqu'ile Bay

Dave's Fishing Gear

Beautiful Sky on Presqu'ile Bay

Welland River Kayaking

I finally made it out kayaking! I took a short 8km trip on the Welland River, not too far from home. The weather was beautiful with clear blue skies and nice warm temperatures. Not a soul was in sight where I launched at Wellandport. Along the way a heron graced me with it's presence as did a few pretty songbirds, swallows and some rather active carp in the river. I was either too early or too late to catch the carp spawning. Last year when I kayaked the Welland River, the carp were spawning and the water was boiling with them. A few thumped the bottom of my kayak as I was paddling along. I was so surprised how sore my shoulders and wrists were after the paddle. I tried my new kayak skirt for the first time, but I took it off even before the launch because I couldn't get it on comfortable with my lifejacket. Weird, I'll have to try again some other time. My newly repaired kayak worked better than it did after I first bought it! Anyway, it was a beautiful first paddle for 2011 and I'm looking forward to more this year. Here are some pics of the paddle:

Parks of St.Lawrence Kayak Trip

We camped at Long Sault Parkway in August 2010. It was an ideal place to kayak either the St.Lawrence River or Lake St.Lawrence. We were out everyday kayaking somewhere while at this park. The scenery was very nice and the river very clear. I can't say enough about how beautiful the campground was that we stayed at. The boat launches were plentiful giving access to many different spots along the St.Lawrence River and Lake St.Lawrence. We found that by afternoon everyday, a North wind usually kicked up enough to blow us off the water. Here are some more pics:

Ship in St.Lawrence Seaway

Dave Fishing, St.Lawrence River

St.Lawrence River

Sunny Day on the St.Lawrence River

Beautiful Evening Sky

Hoople Bay Boat Launch

One of Dave's Bass

Old Railway Bed - Lake St.Lawrence

Lake St.Lawrence

Ottawa River - Voyageur Provincial Park

Leaving the Bay

We kayaked the Ottawa River in August of 2010. We spent a few days at Voyageur Provincial Park and launched from there. All of our kayaking was above the Carillon Dam. The weather was mixed with some rainy, grey days and a couple sunny hot ones thrown in. Dave caught some nice bass. The picture to the left of this is my favorite one taken on the water. We were kayaking out of the bay towards the Ottawa River. The sky, water and parked boats in the distance made for a cool picture. Below are some other pictures of our time on the water.

Beautiful Morning Sky

Heading for the Launch

The photo to the left is taken just before the boat launch where we took out. We had a lot of fun paddling here. I encountered many herons along the way along with many other species of bird life. A few times as I paddled along a fish jumped beside my boat. The scenery was beautiful and the river wide with no current. The only work came from paddling back into the wind to reach the launch.

Dave's Bass!

Lily Pads

My Manitoulin Kayak

Corillion Dam, Ottawa River

Clearwater Design

I finally made it to Clearwater Design, the factory where my kayak was built. It took us just over four hours to drive there, but it was worth it. We met Michelle at the factory and she told us to bring the kayak in and they would repair it for us. My kayak had a few issues and needed skilled hands to repair the rudder and a few other issues sustained in unfortunate accidents over the last season. Skilled hands fixed it up and it looks as good as new. The weather here is not great for kayaking, but I'm anxious to take it out again and do some paddling. The rudder works so smooth now! I cannot say enough about the amazing service at Clearwater. We were treated to a little view of how my kayak was built as well - amazing! The pride in the company, its manufacturing process and the final product is so evident in the staff. At some point, I'm sure I'll want to upgrade my kayak as will Dave. When that day comes, we'll gladly drive to the Clearwater Designs factory and buy a kayak. If you're looking for something high quality built by good people,  look at a Clearwater Designs kayak and try to visit their factory. I have a link to their website on the sidebar of my blog.  I cannot say enough good things about Michelle and her wonderful company and staff!

Charleston Lake Kayaking

Kayaking past some large rock cuts

We spent a week at Charleston Lake in August 2010 for our holidays. The park has a nice northern Canadian Shield feel to it. Lot's of rocky islands and beautiful scenery. We bought maps for the lake including a specific fishing map for Dave. With so many islands, it's easy to get misplaced. Our first kayak day trip we paddled across Charleston Lake to the Blue Mountain trail head, where I pulled up on shore to hike this trail. I don't remember how long the hike took me, but I know that while I was up there the wind picked up a little and we were paddling through white caps on the way back across the two channels. What a work out! Once back to the launch, we kept going and found a nice rocky shoreline where we had our lunch and a swim. The fish were biting as well, so we stayed put for awhile. The next day we launched from the canoe launch and paddled around Whitefish Island in Runnings Bay. We paddled from Runnings Bay into Slim Bay as well.  From Slim Bay, I noticed a small channel into Mud Bay. Ever the explorer, I paddled through shallows and over a log into the bay only to find a huge population of Yellow Jackets flying all over the lily pads. Unbelievable how many yellow jackets everywhere. I quickly paddled back out into Slim Bay. There's a cool bridge we paddled under which is part of the Tallow Bay Trail. Some of my best kayaking memories I know will be of this trip. It was so very much fun. The afternoon always brought with it a wind that eventually blew us off the lake, but we had so much fun kayaking the times we were out on the water. The clarity of the water and beauty of the scenery make this park so worthy of a visit. Lot's of beautiful remote campsites too if that's how you roll. See my link on the side for the Ontario Parks site. Now enjoy some photos:

On shore for some lunch & swimming

Leaving the boat launch

Buckhorn Campsite

Dave trolling - Runnings Bay

Runnings Bay

Dave's Fishing Gear

Slim Bay

Bridge On Tallow Trail

Guelph Lake

We spent a day kayaking at Guelph Lake Conservation Area in September of 2010. We were actually camped at Rockwood CA, a short distance from this lake. Guelph Lake was created when a dam was built on the Speed River in 1974. It's a decent size lake for exploring from a kayak and a nice bonus is the supposedly good fishing opportunities. It was a cool September morning when we launched at the park. We spent time exploring the shoreline where we were shocked at the difference in water level between Spring and September. The high water lines on shore were amazing. Check out some photos:

Guelph Lake Launch

Where the old road ends.

Guelph Lake beach in the distance

Dave, fearless kayak fisherman

Spring flood level.

We brought our lunch with us and enjoy it along the beautiful shoreline. The weather didn't improve unfortunately and by the time we packed up and headed back to the launch, we had some wave action. The shape of my hull doesn't allow waves to come in the cockpit easily, but Dave's boat is a little different and he ended up pretty wet. Come to think of it, so did I but that was because I suffered from a rather challenged entry when we launched after shore lunch and almost flipped my kayak over. Duh!! It was good for a laugh, what else can I say. Here are a couple pics of our paddle back to the launch.

A little rough

Dave kayaking

Guelph Lake was a nice place to kayak and we didn't even finish exploring it's entire 1,608 hectares. I'm sure we'll come back here again. Incidentally, Dave the fearless kayak fisherman did not catch any fish here despite the glowing reports. You can find the link to Grand River Conservation on my links above.