4-day winter trek with RangerJoe - Puzzle Lake Again

[kgd]

I will get to the video later this week and post it up once I've finished stitching it and editing it together. For now, the standard trip report.

Part 1 Video: [youtube]Hn6WwUABf3g[/youtube]

Part 2 Video: [youtube]Fmnf1yEZWUY[/youtube]

RangerJoe and I went back to Puzzle Lake over the Feb 23-26th extended weekend to enjoy a last hooray of winter camping and trekking. We left Thurs. at 5:00 am and drove the 7 h drive to the Gull Lake boat ramp and park area arriving right around noon. On the drive there, the land was completely baron of snow. This even occurred as we turned off Hwy 401 towards Napanee, there was still no snow on the ground and the rivers were running clean. We both had a bad feeling about all our gear strapped to sleds. Driving 1 hr north to our destination we started to see patches of snow on the ground. Not a good foundation by any means, but enough to drag, haul the sleds through. The lakes were also frozen and we were glad to see ice huts on one of the larger lakes en route.

At the landing, we parked the truck and removed our sleds.

Mine -

Joe's-

We did a bit of poking around on the lake first just to make sure the ice was thick enough. The ice fishing trip reports said that many of the lakes held 6 - 8" of ice the previous weekend and after jabbing and chipping away our confidence built. However, the ice was as clean and snow free as a skating rink. It made walking a rather precarious activity of slip and fall, but the sleds glided along friction free. We made really great time that day!

Some of the ice was smooth, and others overlaid with a thin crust of crystaline ice with solid ice underneath owing to all the freeze thaw cycles of the past couple of weeks.

Beaver lodge...

Seeing all the fault lines in the ice does give you the heebee jeebees though and I knew that the stream connecting Gull Lake and Puzzle was likely to be ice free and flowing as it was last month. So I steered us onto the other side of the lake and approached from the bank.

Here is the open water at the portage site that we were avoiding (and successful at avoiding).

The first portage - Gull to Puzzle, and a bit of a nasty one. The hill was very icy from all the freeze-thawing and it was hard work hauling the canoes up without sliding down yourself.

Along the portage trail, you can see how patchy the snow is on the ground. Fortunately, that was about to change!

A couple of shots of Puzzle Lake (Lake #2 of the 5 chain series).

After about 20 min. walking Puzzle we came to the Puzzle - Loyst portage trail.

Loyst Lake (we would camp out here on the 3rd night as we returned partway back).

The Loyst-Mud Lakes Portage Trail..

The wetlands surrounding the Mud Lake to Norway Lake junction (separated by a Beaver dam) was open water and we had to detour off and follow an ATV trail over to Norway. Again, very patchy here with the snow and our sleds were touching more ground that snow.

Norway Lake - is stunning with its rock ledges and iconic pine covered islands.

We walked the entire length of Norway towards a small marsh and stream that signaled the point to begin bush-whacking it towards Bear Lake. However, we traversed enough distance (far more than we could have hoped to do) in one day and decided to set up camp near by. This was about 3:00 pm and we had walked 3 solid hours to this camp destination. We were tired and also conscious that we only had about 2.5 h or usable light left to set up camp.

Camp was just in a bush. The terrain was not very flat. We both set up on slants. I had a slight tilt, feet down. This was a pain since my emergency blanket used as a ground cloth kept wanting so act as a magic carpet slide every time I got on it. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable sleep that night.

The next morning we bushwacked it to Bear Lake. Its only 500 m as the crow flies from our camp site to Bear Lake, but a straight line is not possible due to the ruggedness of the terrain. It took us an hour and a half to get there. The previous day, walking mostly on ice we covered 10 times that distance in only twice the time. My what hilly country can do to make distances misleading! Needless to say, I didn't take out my camera much for all the hauling up hills but I think there is some good video shots of it in the forthcoming vid.

For both Joe and I, this was our 4th foray to the Puzzle Lake chain of lakes and each time we had a goal of setting up camp at Bear Lake which has no formal portage trail from its nearest lake (Norway). For one reason or another we were always defeated in that attempt. Not this time!

However, a storm was brewing and anticipating snow and possibly freezing rain I used one of Iawoodsman's tarp shelter configurations to beat the storm. This involved using a wooden lean to frame to lend rigidity and support snow loading.

Making things more difficult was that the ground was solid ice. I could not tap any stakes into it. I cut some hefty logs and rolled the back corners of the tarp under the logs to secure them. I was able to tie the front tabs to nearby trees. Joe used snow anchors to secure his tarp lines.

Having set up camp, we went off to explore Bear Lake. All the times we were here in the past was by hiking in (without gear, usually camping at Norway) so this was the first time that we were able to cross the lake and explore the other side. What we found was absolutely beautiful and in hindsight its a real shame that we didn't explore first and set our camp onto the other side of the lake. Next winter perhaps!

(Continued)...

 

[kgd]

The snow started coming down and as walked and explored.

This fallen over white pine would have made a nice base to a natural shelter!

Another beaver lodge.

We walked to the very end of Bear Lake where it turned into a swamped out dead cedar stand.

We decided to rest a bit and had a little fire. All that dead cedar made for an easily gathered and ample fuel source. Fire starting method - feather stick and Zippo lighter

Now the snow really started to fall. Time to head back to the campsite!

We spotted this little guy right in the center of the lake. Not sure what he was doing, but given the snow falling, I'd see he was screwed....

Joe traversing the lake through the storm. I had to goad him to carry his axe like that for the shot. It was quite slippery with the bare ice and newly falling wet flakes of snow....it would be dangerous and fool hardy to walk that way!

I don't have any pictures of the camp out at Bear Lake that night. It was a miserable affair. After it stopped snowing, the temperature rose to just above freezing. All the snow accumulated on the tree branches started melting. It was literally raining from the trees and when ever the wind would blow it would carry with it thick chunks of melting snow. We were getting pummeled and soaked despite our best efforts at trying to dry ourselves by the fire.

It turned out that I poked a pin hole in my exped downmat on the way in due to faulty packing. My fault, I had all my gear in one seal all and while it seemed the tools were sheathed, some sharp edge must have got the pad as I found a hole in its little stuff sack too. Anyhow, the downmat deflated during the night and I soon found myself sleeping on the cold earth about 2 h after going to bed and well into the dark. I actually pulled out my PSK and had the exped repair kit it came with. Reading the instructions it warned that glue takes 24 h to set and not to inflate the product while patching it. What a STUPID field repair kit!!! Well, I decided to try it anyway and added some gorilla tape over that for good measure. Unfortunately it didn't work and I spent the night on the ground without a mat. The good news was that the temps stayed around 0 degrees C for the rest of the night and my Wiggy's bag is truly exceptional so while I was a bit chilled from the ground side it wasn't completely unreasonable.

The wind whipped mightily throughout the night. I had secured a heat sheet as a make shift door over my tarp to keep spindthrift at bay. It rattled and shook all night. I normally do not get spooked in the woods - I actually usually sleep incredibly well. However, the failed ground pad and
noisy door unsettled my mind somewhere. I dreamed a series of nightmares and slept incredibly poorly.

The next morning, the sun was out and despite the tree's shedding their snow and dripping it on us all night long, the lake was blessedly covered with beautiful snow!

Joe was happy to dawn his snowshoes. I had mine along, but mine are traditionals and offer more of an advantage of floatation in the deep stuff so I didn't put mine on. Guess, they will have to hang in the garage unused yet another year!

We began our partial return trip with the plan of returning to Loyst to camp that night and take the short trek back to the car park the next morning. This time we went to the very east end of Bear Lake and tried finding an old ATV trail that we came across back in April when we first explored the area. We were in luck and our trip back to Norway was far easier and faster than the bushwhacking route we took the previous day.

In the woods, the addition of snow made hauling the sleds better. On the lakes, the snow added a great deal more friction than the pure ice and slowed our progress considerably.

My sled wasn't balanced very well and during the trails it had a habit of wanting to tip over. Finally, after righting it many, many times I broke down and repacked it all. This actually cured the tipping problem - simply keeping the weight towards the center of the sled. Funny how a small thing can really make your life easier...

Norway Lake on the way back was super windy. The wind was cutting right through our clothing although this was also doing a good job of drying out our baselayers (but stripping our heat as well). We would tuck into little bays here and there to take a break from the wind.

Some rose hips on one of our stops that I munched on. Joe doesn't like rosehips....

This is the beaver dam separating Norway Lake from Mud Lake.

Not far from Mud is Loyst and that is where we camped. I used the same configuration of tarp set up as I did the previous day. I also had in my kit some Hotbond which I used to fix my ground pad. One nice thing about the exped downmat is that when you poke a hole in it, down wiggles out and it is really easy to find where the hole is. The reason I didn't use the hotbond sealant the previous night is that you need to boil it in water for 5 min before applying and I didn't have access to fire at that time.

We set up fire in front of a rock ledge that served as a great heat reflector. That was good, because Sat. night was the big freeze with temperatures dropping from 0 degrees Celsius in the day to -18 degrees Celsius (or 0 degree F).

Sunday morning (today) at 6:00 am, we cooked breakfast and packed up in order to begin our journey home. We broke camp at 7:50 am.

Joe almost losing his sled on the slippery slope separating Puzzle - Gull Lakes.

Despite the frigid night, that streamlet was still open at Gull.

Gull, and all the Lakes now covered in snow.

Finally we arrive at our car park. It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to walk back from our Loyst campsite to the car park. We then immediately commenced the 7 h drive back.

Hope you enjoyed the thread!

 

[Walkabout]

Looks like a wonderful time! I have yet to try winter camping.... this is making me very tempted.

Thanks so much for taking the time to post these great pictures.

 

[matthew krissak]

Awesome pictures! Sadly I didn't get out once this year for winter camping. Love that knife too, What kind is it?

 

[sicily02]

Ken and Joe, what a awesome looking trip, if you like snow lol the older I get the more I am finding that I dislike the cold and snow even more lol. Great pics too Ken.

Bryan

 

[JV3]

looks like a nice trip! too bad about your exped though. i know all too well how it feels like sleeping on frozen ground with a deflated pad...ugh. i looked at my repair kit and there's 2 types: there is an emergency repair patch version that only takes 10 min to cure and there's a long term version which takes 30 min for the initial part then another patch over that that requires 2 hrs to cure...maybe ask exped for the newer repair kit?

 

[kgd]

looks like a nice trip! too bad about your exped though. i know all too well how it feels like sleeping on frozen ground with a deflated pad...ugh. i looked at my repair kit and there's 2 types: there is an emergency repair patch version that only takes 10 min to cure and there's a long term version which takes 30 min for the initial part then another patch over that that requires 2 hrs to cure...maybe ask exped for the newer repair kit?

Same here, I had two repair kits in my pack. The one that came with the pad is functional but requires 24 h to set so its not good as a field repair. The other item I had was from thermarest, its the thermo-bond pack that you boil in water for 5 min and apply. This sets within 20 minutes and you are good to go. I didn't have fire access when I found out about my hole and that is why I didn't use it, although it was an option if things were in a bad way. I also could have used my wool anorak and wool pants as a pad if need be. Truth was, at zero degrees and given that I wasn't on snow (I was on open ground), it wasn't all that bad. Plus the Wiggy's really is a kick-ass bag so I was able to make it through that night okay. Sure as heck was glad I had the pad fixed for the deep freeze that came the next night though!

Rick told me last time that Gorilla tape doesn't work in the winter. Being dump, I packed gorilla tape. Rick is right (perhaps for the first time)....

 

[Brian Sargent]

Wish I was with you two!

 

[crossada]

I don't think I will ever get tired of your Puzzle Lake trips. Great write up and pics as always.

 

[Mack]

Looks like a great trip.
I'm not sure why but out of all the fantastic pics, I really like this one.

 

[ROCK6]

Looks like a great trip.
I'm not sure why but out of all the fantastic pics, I really like this one.

It looks like Ken had some left-over chocolate smors on his right glove

Excellent trip report Ken! Quite jealous even though it gave me shivers reading through it. I've been too far south for too long as I cringed seeing you guys walk across the frozen lakes!

ROCK6

 

[jcl-MD]

Very Very Nice Guys!!

 

[DOC-CANADA]

Excellent trip report! BTW, what is that white stuff on the ground?

Punctured Thermarests, etc., are the reason I would use a non-inflatable pad like a Zrest (sp?).

Doc

 

[PropThePolecat]

Awesome trip Ken.

Unfortunately, i havent been able to do a single overnighter this winter. Besides, this winter has been real short and the lack of serious snow was too bad.

I know of alot of winter hikers who bring along a closed cell foam pad, as backup. Personally i carry i Pacific Outdoor inflatable pad. It contains a thin foam core, which can act as a back-up pad in case of a puncture.

Did you not bring any hard-shells along for this trip? Theres nothing worse, than temps slightly above freezing, when snow starts melting...one ends up soaked, when staying outside.

There are too many great pics, to comment them all, so ill just say: GREAT thread!

 

[kgd]

Awesome trip Ken.

Unfortunately, i havent been able to do a single overnighter this winter. Besides, this winter has been real short and the lack of serious snow was too bad.

I know of alot of winter hikers who bring along a closed cell foam pad, as backup. Personally i carry i Pacific Outdoor inflatable pad. It contains a thin foam core, which can act as a back-up pad in case of a puncture.

Did you not bring any hard-shells along for this trip? Theres nothing worse, than temps slightly above freezing, when snow starts melting...one ends up soaked, when staying outside.

There are too many great pics, to comment them all, so ill just say: GREAT thread!

Good points - I will be packing a spare foamy next time. I usually use a foamy/thermarest combo but I guess I got a little cocky with the exped's R-rating and wasn't thinking about damage. I did have a wool anarok and thick wool pants that I could have shoved under the sleeping bag and I could have even added the seal all bags and spare cloths to make it work, but that night wasn't really that cold and my Wiggy's bag is pretty darn good at insulating even without the pad. If it were the last night on the trip, where temps dropped to -18 degrees C then I would have had to pull all the stops to make it work. I had my pad fixed up with the HotBond glue by that time. Again I think gear failures like that teach you a lesson. The next time I'll bring a 3/4 length foamy which can be used for all sorts of things such as a comfy lining to my bushchair in addition to just being a failsafe pad.

Shells - I was wearing Entrant (Gortex knockoff) pants the whole time. I had a nylon packable rain jacket but when I put it on, I just sweat from the inside. So it was a constant battle - get wet from sweat or get wet from melty snowflakes. Either way, we were getting wet. Fire helps to dry things off like my outer garments and I kept a few items like my thick wool bushshirt and thick wool pants packed in the seal-all for use in the deeper cold - which I brought out on the last day when temps plummeted. As I learned the last time with Rick, moisture management in freeze/thaw cycles is the most challenging thing to deal with.

Some other gear thoughts. Next time I think I will bring a bigger tarp. I love my 7.5 x 9.5' silnylon tarp for its compactness, but having room under the tarp can be helpful for many things like changing and provides more options for tarp configurations. I have an Etawah 10 x 12' tarp that I think I would bring in place of the silnylon one on future sled-trips. I also kicked myself for forgetting to bring my spare pack-boot felt liners. It is really nice to have a dry set packed to switch them out along with dry socks at night when sitting around the fire. An ice auger and fishing gear would be a fun supplemental activity if more time is available to do things as well.

Winter was very mild here too and having temperatures hovering around freezing in that area at this time of year is unheard of by anybodies' recollection. This year has a been a weird one for sure and I feel lucky to have gotten out winter camping twice.

 

[tknife]

Great pics. Pulling the pulk seems so much better than carrying a pack. But trudging through the snow with it looks like a tough workout!

 

[oldrich]

Hi. Great pics of an epic trip! :thumbup:

 

[Big Mike]

Great write-up and photos my friend. :thumbup: :thumbup:




Big Mike

 

[WILLIAM.M]

Outstanding write-up and photos

Thanks for taking the time to share with all of us

 

[neeman]

Nice one!!!