We went on our canoe this week from Smoke Lake to Parkside Bay. We had 8 people 5 kids and 3 adults. It was crazy but fun! Let me tell you teaching kids how to do a canoe trip properly is an interesting task.
We left Monday at around 11am. We were able to put in at Smoke lake by 1pm after lunch at the Portage Store. Paddling up smoke lake wasn’t that hard…the wind was with us.
When we got to the portage we had to make a couple of trips(first timers always pack to much). Just as a side note…the portage to Ragged Lake from Smoke lake is a steep climb. If you are going that way you should plan to do it in two trips…one for the canoe the second for the packs. When we got to Parkside Bay we got an awesome site. We had a whole Island to ourselves. The site was nice and big up top and there was a great swimming area. Lots of firewood was available as well.
We had 3 benches and table and a prep table on our site. There was a grill left as well. Parkside Bay ended up being quiet area. There was hardly any canoe traffic. It was a really pretty spot. On Tuesday we got a huge thunderstorm after dinner which made it impossible to do anything. I ended up in my tent reading the hobbit.
All in all it was a good trip….a little windy on Smoke lake on the way home. That was very frustrating but I got through it. Next year we are looking at doing Rain Lake to Jubilee. I’m a little sunburnt but I had a great time!
~Enjoy your Trip
