Camping has always been a part of my life, and while I do completely respect that it is not an activity for everyone, it is personally one of the highlights to any summer vacation. Being surrounded by uninterrupted beauty and, well, nothing else, provides me with a sudden sense of where I stand in the world. The fact that one has no choice but to be ‘unplugged’ in the deep recesses of nature, allows for a true feeling of being away. No work or business can interrupt my thoughts, there are no notifications or reminders, I can’t even blog if I want to! I just. Slow. Down. I love travels to all corners of this planet, but the places where wifi can’t reach me are, in my humble opinion, particularly special.
The first summer when COVID shut down the extent to which we can travel, people needed to find some sort of salvation and retreat from the isolating confines of their homes, and for many that reprieve came through wilderness adventures and exploring our own backyards. The sites for the upcoming summer were scooped up and reserved before the second week of February, the lakes were crowded, and every shelf at MEC was picked clean. At first this frustrated me because it meant that our quiet and private getaway suddenly came with neighbours, but I then came to appreciate that it also meant that more people were getting themselves outside and into activities they might not have otherwise thought to do. Yes, it meant hearing Dock Rock anthems from across the serene lake when I’m trying to find peace and quiet, but I still found myself smiling at the thought that whoever it was that brought their stereo across multiple portages, was nevertheless discovering something new. Still, fortunately this year’s excursion saw a return to normal, with the lake empty, the loons sharing their song, and nary a note from the Summer of ’69 could be heard.
The trip itself, for those curious or perhaps interested in trying it out, starts at the Kawawaymog Lake access point, in South River, about a 4-hour drive from Elora. We split it up to spend the night before in Huntsville, which allowed us to hit the water earlier in the day so we could take full advantage of our time. A paddle from the access point will take you to a beautiful winding river, which is where the world truly starts to shut down and all interruptions melt away. You then have a quick 135 metre portage, another stretch of river, followed by a slightly longer 255 metre portage. This is where North Tea Lake begins: standing on the western arm, which has plenty of wonderful campsites to explore, but our preference is to continue on to the Eastern Arm, where one can discover the mythical, magical Candy Island (circled in yellow in the image above), and it’s sisters: Adventure Island and Candy Island 2, all of which have provided us shelter for three solid years now. All told, it’s an approximate 15 kilometre paddle and it’s worth every effort. The portages are quite manageable and the kids have been great at helping out with carrying their fair share of paddles, bags and water bottles. Likely motivated by the aforementioned suggested magic of the island that awaits them…
Candy aside, I also recommend being prepared for a few day trips out on the lake; while settling in on a site is great, it doesn’t mean you need to stay put the entire time (even though Candy Island is private with only one campsite and has not one, but two sandy beaches to play on). If I were to make one recommendation above any other with regards to a quick day trip, it would be to paddle on over to the portage that connects North Tea and Manitou, where you’ll be rewarded with an amazing waterfall/rapids experience. It was something we’d not done in past years and I wish now that we had, because it’s where my daughter encouraged and inspired me to be brave and try something I’ve never done before.
This was a great blog. Those kids are lucky to have such wonderful parents. Those parents are lucky to have such wonderful kids. Sounds like you had a great time.