This route is classified as a loop, but the way we did it, the end points are about 15 minutes drive apart.


Sunday, August 24
We left Guelph at noon and drove to Sudbury and stayed at the Comfort Inn on the Kingsway – a nicely refurbished place.

Monday, August 25
We drove to Lake Kukagami and pulled in at the Sportsman’s Lodge.

There was film crew filming a series for ATN, so we had to be quiet. I found that difficult!

We arranged a shuttle to a nearby causeway to avoid the movie shoot. After paddling and sailing across Lake Kukagami and into Outlet Bay, we portaged towards Maskinonge Lake. Along the portage was a campsite, so we decided to stay there.

It was a good campsite, well appointed and sheltered.

With appropriately positioned rocks for a cooking surface, we tried out the new Dragonfly stove.

However, as we found later, the stream bouncing along the rock face made it noisy for sleeping.

We saw a caterpillar which was probably that of an Imperial Moth. It was about 3 inches long and by its appearance, it looked as if it was ready to pupate.

Tuesday, August 26
We did the portages along Carafel Creek and paddled Carafel Lake. A lift-over was done at the end of Carafel Lake and we were into Maskinonge Lake. The wind was favourable, so we sailed down the lake. It was rough - a bit dicey at times! We pulled in at an island about halfway along the lake and made camp. A very nice site – sunny with a small beach. A good time to wash up and relax.

Dave decided to increase his fishing comfort with the chair. It worked pretty well.

Wednesday, August 27
After a short paddle down Maskinonge, the weather started to turn sour with rain off and on. We camped in Rice Lake. Dave caught a bass between the rain showers. The sky cleared over night, but it was a chilly 9⁰ C. (especially for August!)

Thursday, August 28
With clear skies, we headed through Lower Matamagasi, portaged into Edna and Karl Lakes, past Karl Falls, which involved a flat section (easy to do)

. . . and a tougher part through large boulders (damn those glaciers!)

Along the portage there was a well constructed multi-use fire pit. Obviously, someone had some time on their hands!

Karl Falls

We had planned to camp about halfway down McCarthy Bay, but the site was already occupied, so we did another 5 km of paddling to a site in Matamagasi Lake. As it turned out, it was a good site with a great view.

Friday, August 29
When we awoke, the fog was really thick, but it cleared in about an hour.

We paddled into the wind all the way to the pull out along McLaren Creek at the MTO gravel pit. This last stretch was a tough haul!