The Happy Camper: Taking on the Frontenac Challenge, Part 2
Three stumbles, one big fall, a knee brace, a broken hiking pole and a full bottle of pain medication, but this 60-year-old finally finished the Frontenac Challenge—a total of 11 trail loops or 260 kilometres in southeastern Ontario’s Frontenac Provincial Park. Yay!
The challenge is to take on every trail before the end of October and I finished with a week to spare, and throughout it all I successfully found all the Friends Of Frontenac‘s clues placed on metal signs somewhere along each separate trail. Now, I get a certificate, a colourful badge and bragging rights along with over 2,500 other people who have also completed the challenge since its inception in 1993. Here’s my experience with the second half of the trails:
Little Clear Lake (7KM) & Little Salmon Lake Loop (10 KM)
I completed two full loops by hiking both in a figure eight loop. Little Clear is seven kilometres and Little Salmon is 10. I was contemplating adding on the five-kilometre Hemlock Trail and doing what regular park hikers call the “Snowman,” but 22 kilometres in one day was just a little too much for me. Besides, I had a friend tagging along this time. Sean Rowley of Paddling Adventures Radio and we decided it would be a good outing to paddle out to campsite cluster #3 on the north side of Big Salmon Lake and camp out for the night after finishing our hike.
We arrived at our reserved campsite around 9 a.m. Campers who reserved the site (#3D) the night before were still occupying it, which they were allowed to do until 2 p.m. So Sean and I simply beached the canoe and our gear into a side bay and hiked inland to find the trail. We’d paddle back over at the end of the day and set up.
Little Salmon Lake Trail was a stone’s throw away from our canoe and we set out walking in a counterclockwise direction. In hindsight, we should have gone clockwise due to some steep grade at the end of the day. I’d rather get such arduous hiking done at the beginning normally.
We were glad to have a well-signed junction in the trail where the Little Salmon Lake Loop links up with the Little Clear Lake Loop. There was a labyrinth of paths. Sean and I went clockwise on Little Clear and it took us just over three hours to loop back to the junction. The views of Little Clear were pleasing and Sean had a blast taking black and white photos of Old Thor—a rusted-out truck left behind in 1953— and the remains of the nearby Green’s homestead.
The back end of Big Salmon ran through the south end of Moulton Gorge valley. Footing was precarious at times but the scenery was breathtaking.
It took us a total of seven hours before we looped back to our canoe on the shore of Big Salmon Lake, leaving us a mere hour to set up our camp before darkness came. A fire was then lit and dinner was made. I poured a dram of good scotch and then Sean made his notable “Sunset” mixture of Tequila and Tang.
Tetsmine Lake Loop (10 KM) & Hemlock Lake Loop (5 KM)
The end of October was closing in and I still needed four more trails to hike to complete the Frontenac Challenge. So before sunrise on a cloudless morning, I drove to the northern access of the park, at Kingsford Day, to get an early start on another two-loop figure eight day: the 10-kilometre Testmine Lake Loop and the much shorter five-kilometre Hemlock Lake Loop.
I took on Tetsmine counterclockwise. I wanted to walk through the Moulton Gorge at first light. What an incredible place! It’s like a backdrop to a Lord of The Rings movie. Along the way, shards of Mica scattered the trail. The mineral was mined here between 1899 and 1926 to produce glass coverings for lanterns and wood stoves. Remnants of the old steam boiler can be seen where the Tetts Mine office and boarding house were situated near Lynch Lake.
I hiked clockwise around Hemlock Lake and looped back around to the back end of Tetsmine Lake Loop. Hemlock is a nice walk with lots of marshes and ponds to gawk at. Fluffy cotton grass and leather leaf with prime fall foliage rimmed the shorelines.
I met more people on the last hour of the hike than on any other walk I had done for the Challenge so far. All of them were park regulars and on the hunt for the trail clue signs. I was glad to find them myself throughout the day. Mind you, it wouldn’t be a hardship to hike these two trails again. It was my favourite so far. And I managed to hike them in just under six hours.
Arkon Lake Loop (11 KM)
The Arkon Lake Loop is a short but rugged hike. It’s made up of several beaver ponds and rocky ridges, and I’d say it’s one of the most scenic of all for the Frontenac Challenge. I accessed the trail at the Arab Lake parking lot, took the Corridor trail towards the park office and went north at the junction for Arkon, crossing the road and heading in a clockwise direction. Halfway, there’s the Bufflehead Trail that splits the Arkon Loop in half, making an 8-kilometre loop that takes about 2.5 hours to complete, but I chose to complete the full Arkon loop.
The highlights of the trail, beyond the numerous beaver ponds, were the north shore of Arkon Lake and the south section of Moulton’s Gorge. There were some incredible old maple and oak trees rooted along the ridges and lowland swampy bits, and the colours by this point were at a prime.
Slide Lake Loop (26 KM)
Other fellow hikers had me so worried about this one. It’s the one trail that ends up breaking so many of folks who attempt the Frontenac Challenge. And now I know why. It’s a rugged trail with lots of ups and downs. It’s also a long one. The park info says it’s 21 kilometres but to access it you have to add on another 6-plus kilometres. You can start at the Big Salmon Lake parking lot, Perth Road, or the Arab Lake parking lot, which was my choice. Either way, it’s a long day hike. That’s why I decided to do it overnight.
I figured strapping a full pack on and splitting the ordeal in half was much more doable than trying to complete it in one swoop. Thank goodness I did. I spent a total of 13 hours walking this beast of a trail. Looking back, it was a majestic walk in the woods. One of the best I’ve ever done.
The route has countless scenic vistas, including Mink Mountain and The Flag Pole. And similar to all the loops in the challenge, the Slide Lake Loop has a unique feel to it. It’s not like Algonquin or Killarney. It’s north Frontenac, what the First Nations labelled the “spine” of the earth.
I pitched my tent for the night on campsite cluster #1 alongside North Buck Lake. It was a clear but cold night, autumn leaves were falling like raindrops on my tent and three different species of owls—Barred Owl, Great Horned Owl and Barn Owl—hooted through the night, while a pack of coyotes serrated me to sleep. I would hike this trail again in a heartbeat!
