Canoeing The Madawaska River In Algonquin Provincial Park
Bob and I decided to go canoeing on the Madawaska River in Algonquin Park after having been told by other canoeists that it was a beautiful route for a fall canoe. We began our outing by launching our canoe at East Beach on Lake of Two Rivers in Algonquin Park, in Ontario, Canada.
We had smiles on our faces because this was only our second full day of sunshine having already experienced 7 dull, chilly and damp days.
The reflections on the water of the Madawaska River were incredible.
When a Common Loon popped up unexpectedly, I had time for only one shot!
The Madawaska River in September is simply beautiful.
A very short portage was required around the dam at the end of Pog Lake in order to continue towards Whitefish Lake.
Spectators watched from the bike trail at the dam at Pog Lake as Bob put our canoe back in the river.
Overlooking the quiet water above the dam, we had a picnic lunch.
From the Pog Lake dam, it was a very quiet and peaceful paddle down the Madawaska River to Whitefish Lake. We did hear the occasional person hiking on the trail alongside the river.
I was really taken with the variety and ethereal quality of the clouds.
At one bend in the river, three American Black Ducks perched on a fallen log.
After a brief show of attitude, one of the ducks decided to check us out and swam towards our canoe.
We believe this American Black Duck was an immature individual. It was brave enough to actually swim right over to our canoe and alongside us for many minutes.
When it did its “wing thing”, the duck was too close for my camera.
A rocky point marked a turn in the river as we neared Whitefish Lake proper.
As there was a fairly stiff breeze, Bob and I stuck to the lee shore and scanned the shoreline for animals. This Great Blue Heron was fishing in one patch of reeds.
Midland Painted Turtles were sitting in the shadows.
At one point, I had mentioned to Bob that it was odd that we hadn’t seen a Mink. When movement was noticed on shore, we figured that’s what we had. There was time for only three shots, and it was only later that we determined the animal to be a Pine Marten.
The Pine Marten was in deep shadow, and it moved along quickly after taking a quick look at us.
Our objective was to paddle out onto Whitefish Lake until we had a view of Centennial Ridges Trail Lookout.
There were about a dozen people visible on the rocky cliff.
After a short while on Whitefish Lake, we turned back. We soon were back at the portage to Pog Lake.
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Frame To Frame – Bob and Jean
Thank you for sharing your beautiful trip down the Madawaska River. We will now put it on our to do list. Great pictures!
Thanks for your kind comment, Dayna. Hope you find the river as mesmerizing as we did.
Very nice. I’ll bet those ducks were expecting some kind of handout. It’s good to up there and not have to worry about bugs.
Hi John. The juvenile duck was a bit naive, we think, and the two adults kept a keen eye on us. It was a pleasure seeing few insects except the occasional dragonfly.