Algonquin's Iconic Canoe Lake

There was something so lonely about sitting in a little canoe in the middle of a big blue lake; the only sound was the wind and the waves loudly slapping the sides of your boat.  It was a strange sensation that I felt long ago as a kid learning to paddle a canoe at summer camp, but had never felt again; even as an adult in a kayak on the Canadian West Coast. This may sound weird, but I felt so intensely Canadian.  It felt like I had stepped into a Tom Thomson painting...

Tom Thomson's Jack Pine

You see, growing up in Vancouver as a young inner-city kid, our grade 1 teacher had taken our class on the public bus to The Vancouver Art Gallery to see some Canadian art. The VAG features Emily Carr's painting collection that captures the Canadian West Coast.  I fell in love with Emily Carr and her totem pole paintings that day.  To contrast Carr's work, the teacher took us into a"Group Of Seven" gallery that was on tour to the VAG, where I saw images of windswept trees clinging to rock outcroppings overlooking vast "oceans" that were actually lakes.  Words like "Canadian shield" and "Great Lakes" were tossed around.  As a 6-year-old, I had no idea what they were talking about, but there was one painting that I remember seeing in the gallery that really piqued my imagination for years to come.  It was Tom Thomson's painting "The Jack Pine" with its gnarley branches twisted by the wind.  The colours were not lush and nurturing green like Carr's paintings, but ochre, brown and grey, which felt so hard and rugged; so different. I remember the teacher saying Tom Thomson painted in Algonquin Park.  From that moment on, I knew I had to visit this place and see the landscape through my own eyes.

Tom Thomson came to Algonquin in 1912 and fell in love with what he saw.  He stayed in Algonquin Park working and painting the Canadian landscape until his mysterious death in 1917. Tom Thomson's body was found in Canoe Lake on July 17th, 1917; 8 days after he had gone missing. leaving many unanswered questions about his death.   Thomson left a legacy of 400 sketches and over 2 dozen canvases that are in art galleries all over Canada.  We visited canoe lake, because of my childhood fascination with the artist and didn't realize that last year had been the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson's tragic death.  The stories about Thompson's death were like a magnet that pulled me in to want to learn more about the beauty of this peaceful lake; the lake that is reported to be haunted by Tom Thomson's ghost...


We had a brilliant plan for the day.  We would head over to the store at Canoe Lake and hire a canoe for a half-day and explore Algonquin park without having to use our legs.  You see, yesterday we walked the Centennial Ridges Trail, a ten and a half kilometre hike the previous day that involved going up and down five separate ridges.  Our legs were stiff and grumpy, so the thought of putting them through another hike was daunting.  So we figured we would use the upper body to paddle a canoe all day to result in making our WHOLE body stiff! Yay!

Italy Meets Canada!

Rental Shop On Canoe Lake

We headed West from our Kearney Lake campground to The Portage Store at Canoe Lake.  The little Portage Store is a charming store, cafe, gas station and boat rental on the shores of Canoe Lake, which is in the heart of Algonquin Park.  Along with canoes, you can also rent kayaks and stand up paddleboards.  The Portage Store also offers campground canoe delivery service (how awesome is that!?!) and guided canoe day and overnight trips.  In 2017, the 100th anniversary of Tom Thomson's death,  The Portage Store offered an exclusive Tom Thomson guided day tour visiting many historic sites on Canoe Lake and explaining the mystery of Thomson's death.  I don't know if this tour will be offered in the summer of 2018 and beyond but you could ask for the canoe map of the lake and many of the sites are listed on it and you can discover them on your own.

Charming Little Lighthouse

We rented a 17 foot 3-seat aluminum canoe, piled some blankets on the bottom of the boat for the dachshunds and hopped into our rental canoe.  The dogs were surprisingly comfortable in the boat, probably relieved that we didn't have to do any more walking today!  It was about $25 for the 4-hour rental, and that included the life jackets and paddles and a map of the sights around the lake.  We headed out on the lake, laughing and splashing as we tried to get the hang of paddling our canoe.  It had been many decades since my summer camp canoe lessons and mastering my J-stroke!  TIP: Check out this resource for first-time canoers.  We stuck close to the shore as we headed North on the lake, passing by many docks leading up to quaint summer cottages.  We passed Popcorn Island which is the only public access island on Canoe Lake and is a great place to go swimming or stop for a break.  Then we passed by Braught's Lighthouse which was built in 1941 to help guide you past the three islands in the middle of Canoe Lake.  Once past the group of islands in the middle of Canoe Lake, the smooth waters got a bit choppy and more difficult to navigate.

Thomson Cairn Canoe Lake

The goal was to try to get to the Tom Thomson cairn on Hayhurst Point, the place where Thomson was thought to have died. This is a popular destination for art lovers to pay homage to this brilliant Canadian artist.  The memorial cairn was erected in September 1917, a few months after Thomson's death by fellow artists that ended up becoming Canada's Group of Seven painters.  The dock at Hayhurst Point is the only public dock on Canoe Lake, all others are private and belong to exclusive lodges or privately owned homes.  The dock leads to a steep path that climbs up to the memorial cairn and a totem pole.  This is also the spot where every July 17, the day of Thomson's death, at dusk or in the early morning fog, a solitary canoeman suddenly appears and silently glides by the Point only to quickly vanish again.  Some say it is Tom Thomson's ghost looking for solace.

Rental Canoe

Suddenly the wind started to pick up and we decided to head to some calmer water.  Paddling like mad against the wind and waves we decided to head to Whiskey Jack Bay.  The rental staff at the Portage Store said that this isolated bay is a great area for spotting wildlife and the narrow passage feels more like a river, offering calm waters.  Often moose, beavers, otters, herons, loons and turtles are seen within the tranquil waters of the bay.

Lotus In The Lilies

We spotted a mother loon with about ten awkward fuzzy babies following along behind her just as we entered the mouth of the bay.  The further you paddle into Whiskey Jack Bay the calmer and shallower the water became, revealing the grassy lake bottom just inches below your boat. The canoe parted lily pads and lotus flowers like a comb, and marsh birds flitted in and out of the long grasses and bullrushes.  This was a lovely and relaxing way of exploring Algonquin by canoe.

Little Penny Enjoying Her Canoe Ride

The four hours in the canoe went by so quickly!  This was an excellent introduction to a quintessential Ontario experience and the whole canoe culture of Algonquin Park.  After returning our boat to the rental dock, we decided to grab some lunch at the Portage Cafe.  The Cafe is nice, but there is also an appealing lawn with picnic tables and a small public dock located here.  It was nice to sit in the sun and watch all the boats go by while licking an ice cream.
Reflecting on the afternoon's canoe experience, I felt hungry for more.  More paddling; but for longer, and with camping gear and portages to remote backcountry campsites!  I wanted the WHOLE Ontario experience!  I wanted to stay in that Thomson painting for longer!
I went into the Portage shop and bought my self 2 essential items:  A waterproof, tear-resistant Algonquin Provincial Park ADVENTURE topographic map with all the portage routes and backcountry camping spots. Also, I bought a campfire popcorn popper-because it can't ALL be roughing it after all!

I can see more Algonquin canoe adventures in my future...

Follow me on FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM  and NEW BLOGLOVIN' for daily photos and updates! #slowtravel🐌