For a visitor without a canoe, there really is no reason to visit Kawartha, as there are no facilities set up for car camping, or for hike in camping….But if you love to paddle then I think you will enjoy this park. Kawartha is one of the youngest of Ontario’s parks, opened in 2011, 375 Square Kilometres of preserved wilderness and some particularly nasty portages.

There are over 100 campsites scattered over six recommended paddling loops, Karen and I have camped on Bottle Lake, Crab Lake, Cold Lake, Sucker Lake, but this is our first trip from Long Lake access point.

Of all the access points in Kawartha, this was the best and easiest to launch from.

The weather was perfect, no wind (very unusual for us, we usually have a head wind regardless of what direction we seem to be heading) We made it to the portage in about an hour….And what a portage! the trail was very muddy, and I had drastically overestimated my youthful vigour, while the trail was only 350 metres we had also over estimated how much wine and other camping necessities to bring, resulting in a four trip portage.

We were fortunate there were very few motor boats on Long Lake, from what I have heard they are generally ignorant to the plight of paddlers, and rarely slow down.

Buzzard Lake is a beautiful lake, I am glad we visited during the week, as there are a few cottages scattered around the lake (grandfathered from before it became a park) for the three days we were camping we only saw one other person. But I can imagine on a holiday weekend, you may not have quite the secluded back country experience you were hoping for.

There are nine campsites on Buzzard lake, the reservation website includes some pictures of each site, based on these I selected 423 as what looked like the nicest site. During our stay on the Lake we saw all but two sites, and I think that other than perhaps site 428 at the south end of the lake, 423 was the nicest.

When we first got to the site, we were welcomed by several snapping turtles. Marcus did not appreciate them trespassing on his site. Site 423 is flat and can easily accommodate three or more large tents, as with all sites it comes with a fire ring, picnic table and of course the best in outdoor plumbing…….

The mosquitoes and Deer flies were out in full force. If a fly bites you, and you say “Ouch!” loud enough to be heard across a small lake, chances are it’s a deer fly while Deet and Picardin may keep mosquitoes and black flies at bay…I am convinced that they both act as gravy to the flesh eating Deer fly. If you are accustomed to a leisurely morning “constitutional” you may find yourself setting a land speed record to avoid savage damage to your nether regions.

Exploring the lake we decided to check out the two other portages, one into Mountain Lake, the other into Vixen lake.

Both portages were in poor condition, but with some dryer weather will improve. I would not have enjoyed portaging the canoe on the Mountain Lake trail, it was very wet on the first few hundred metres. Mountain Lake does have a single campsite, giving you the entire lake to yourself.

At about 0430 AM I was woken up by a crazed Whip-poor-will song (calling it a song is a stretch – it had one chorus repeated at top volume for about twenty minutes) These birds are becoming quite rare, so despite an early alarm clock, it was interesting to hear. Check out their song here.

And now a short pause for our weekly sponsor. This episode is brought to you by the Platypus Gravityworks 4 litre system. We have been using it for about four years now, great way to purify your water. We added a carbon element, found it gets rid of any brackish taste you sometimes get.

We had planned on staying four days on Buzzard lake, however the weather forecast changed, and there was heavy rain and thunderstorms forecasted for our last evening and the next day. While we have often camped in the rain, if given the option, we prefer to avoid thunderstorms and camping, so we cut the trip short by a day, and packed up. Our return portage was made considerably easier by the lack of wine now in our packs.

A great trip, and highly recommended, Karen and I love visiting Kawartha, next year we hope to try out the Northern Serpentine route. If you can plan your trip to avoid weekends, I think you will have a more pleasant experience…..until our next trip I will leave you with a few more pictures.