THE HONEYMOON WAS 32 YEARS AGO

It was almost 32 years to the day when the two of us set out from Canoe Lake for our honeymoon. And now, many years later, here we are setting out again for a paddle in Algonquin Park...albeit heading in the opposite direction down Smoke Lake to Ragged Lake.
Although we were gone for only two days and an overnight it felt much longer, which was a good thing. We had an easy paddle in calm-ish waters to start, then a short portage and then we reached Ragged Lake. Lots of bays and interesting points of land made up the shape of Ragged Lake, much like Lake of Bays. 
Along the way we spotted several beavers swimming, a painted turtle sunning itself on a log, and a couple of eagles soaring overhead. The temperatures were about 27C and because of the little moisture around the bugs were really not a problem. Annie, our boarder terrier, didn't take long before she felt comfortable back in her saddle, riding the packs and balancing with her forelegs on the gunnels of the canoe
There was nobody on the lake anywhere and so we checked out a few camping spots and had our pick. We settled on an idyllic point with a nice sandy landing area for the canoe and a good SE exposure for the morning sun. It didn't take long before Julia was in the lake for a swim. She thought the water seemed a bit warmer than Lake of Bays, which was about 66F or about 15C. 
Dinner was beautiful. A bit of smoked salmon with crackers, followed by one of Julia's interesting concoctions of beans, onion soup, chili and rice. We topped it off with an amazing bottle of 2007 Chateau des Laurets sipped out of a pair of plastic coffee mugs....ah, camping is still so very romantic!