Paddling the Foxes and the bays of Philip Edward Island

We came how far?
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On our third day out (and still only 1km from our starting point!) we finally hit the good weather.  We crossed the Western Entrance quickly and easily, and soon found ourselves meandering among the many rock islands along the coast of Philip Edward Island. The clear, blue-green water was perfectly calm. Idyllic and beautiful, like being suddenly transported to a Disneyland version of a kayaking expedition.

After an hour of paddling, we pulled up onto a rock to check our bearings and readjust the spray skirt. (By then I had the no-stay skirt which had been tightened at the edges fit better on the boat. So tight that it became a two-person job to actually put it on).

The clear, blue-green water was perfectly calm

View of Martin Island
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Feeling good about our paddling and clear skies in every direction,  we decided to leave the shelter of the shore, and make a crossing directly to West  Fox Island, the furthest out of the Fox Island chain. We covered the 3km distance within an hour, the amazingly calm water surface marred only as it slowed and gently waved over the occasional sand bar. (There were a couple of these. It was strange to look down several kilometres from shore and see bottom!)

We landed on a cobblestone beach, and spent an hour exploring the island, finding evidence of a huge storm from the previous week. Thin layers of soil & root pulled up into a vertical walls where trees were toppled by strong winds. Below, brown stains marked the rock surface where the trees once stood.

Evidence of a major storm
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Lunch was at the beach where we had landed. A perfect spot, except one thing: Hiding amongst the tens of thousands of cobblestones, were an equal number of spiders. Wolf spiders, I think. Clearly happy in their own lupine-arachnine ways, these were the fattest spiders I've ever seen. With my limited understanding of stone beach-niche biology, I can only imagine cannibalism is rampant.

These were harmless enough and quick to scurry away and hide, but terribly unappetizing. I found a big rock and hoped for the best: i.e. that the rock was too open and exposed to appeal to spider curiosity.

Substantial roots
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With continued calm weather (the water could now be officially mistaken for glass), we followed along the far side of the Fox Islands straight into Desjardins Bay. Here we found an obstacle course of islands, many with long stretches of rocks reaching like fingers into the lake. Fun for camping, swimming and general mucking about.  Also, all the good spots were already occupied, so we turned back towards Killarney (to avoid adding time to our return trip) to look for a site in the next bay over.  One island looked particulary promising. As we approached it, Andrea said,

Descent
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"Ah too bad, already occupied. I can smell campfire".

Campfire, no. Fire , yes.  I was stunned and fascinated as we paddled past the still-smoldering remains of an enormous tree. (It must have been ancient to have gotten so tall in that thin soil). The tree had fallen over, and all the soil burnt or fallen away from its roots leaving only a charred, skeletal outline. We guessed it was a lightning strike from the previous day's storm. We also guessed that we find somewhere with rather less risk of a fire breaking out in the root systems under our tents in the middle of the night.

Spotting, or seranading?
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With arms unused to holding kayak paddles, I was beginning to get tired and hungry. Also, a little bit lulled into lack of caution. While in the protected islands around Desjardins Bay, the wind had come up. We rounded the edge of a little bay, with just a teeny bit of exposure the larger lake, and it was like coming around Cape Horn.  This is something of an exaggeration, but it is true that we went from flat, flat water one minute and were suddenly were up against wind and swells. And me without my neoprene skirt or the ability to put it on myself.  Ah well, the waves aren't that bad. Hopefully we would land soon. Fighting the wind for a very long twenty minutes, spotting a white cap or two later, I realized that this wasn't a good idea in retrospect. Most of the waves were not too bad, but it was very intimidating to have them sloshing about my deck. A kayak is much lower to the water than a canoe.

Cobblestone Beach, West Fox Island
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We found our campsite soon after,  Our best guess was that we were on a smallish island on the far side of Winakaching Bay, but it was difficult to tell where exactly. (Apparently I was learning nothing in the orienteering events I'd just started going to in the city).  In any case, we managed to unload the boats and jump in the water for a quick swim before the clouds rolled in, and the evening turned chilly. Aidan made a particularly good channa masala for dinner, then cooked up an entire package of muffin mix in his "outback oven" for dessert. Came out like a cookie-muffin-cake, with the occasional fresh blueberry tossed in for good measure. This for two people, though Andrea did help us out some. (Andrea, being a vegetarian, cooked separately. We realized later that we ate veggie meals for the most part, anyway, so really could have planned that part better). Pleasantly tired, we turned in soon after it got dark, leaving all the painstakingly gathered firewood for the next lucky campers. (There really isn't much wood to be found). I slept very well, but woke at one point to an ominous rumbling, a large storm brewing over the horizon. There wasn't a breath of wind, an meteorological oddity that made the whole thing seem a little disturbing.  Andrea, already awake wondered if we should secure the gear better (it was neatly tucked away, but not really ready for a good storm lashing. Good idea. Though, as it turned out, the weird storm must have run out of steam over the water -  the wind never did pick up and we woke to a reasonably calm day.

Granite fingers
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More to come:

shall we wait for it to clear

mind the shoals

The Eye
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sailing the channel

the difference of a couple of days

it all looks the same....

another day, another downpour