JOURNEY #22 - September 29, 2001

Meech Lake: "Return To Meech"

It was just a little over a year ago that we were on this beautiful lake in the Gatineau Hills. Julie had rented the kayak that she now owns to try it out that day, which sort of launched us (no pun intended) into the sport, so we felt a bit of nostalgia with this return visit. There was even more deja vu going on, since the weather was virtually identical as well. About 15 degrees with a strong wind blowing the length of the lake, from southeast to northwest.

There was a big group of novices launching from the same spot (the parking lot between the two beaches has a nice launch area across the road) but there was plenty of room and the lake was not crowded. There were no power boats out at all, and aside from a couple of canoeists that were travelling at a good pace, we never ran into anyone else.

The most interesting area of the lake is the north end. There are three bays to explore, the smallest is to the west next to the road. There is a small creek there that can be explored. The water is low and there is lots of beaver activity, so we could not get too far at this time of year. In the middle bay we encountered what we think was a pair of red-throated loons. When the photos get processed hopefully we can get a positive identification. They were powerful swimmers who seemed to be enjoying the fishing in the area.

In the next bay, which is very large and includes several smaller bays of its own, we startled a blue heron, and spotted some canoesists on the rocky shore enjoying a shore lunch. There is a small creek that can be explored here as well, as we did last October. We gave it a pass today and headed down towards the south end, the site of the infamous Meech Lake Accord negotiations. It's a beatiful spot. There were lots of hikers out and about. We surprised another heron sitting at the base of the cliffs below the building. We recognized him as the same one that had flown between us from behind about twenty minutes earlier, swooping slowly along the water.

Heading back to the northwest there were some pretty strong waves, which seemed out of line with the moderate breeze. Near the centre of the lake we encounted a single common loon who put on a rather bizarre show for us, repeatedly flapping his wings and rising high out of the water. He did thus at least half a dozen times, presumably to show us who was boss. Either that, or he was hoping to mate with our kayaks. In any event, it was very entertaining.

We arrived back at the landing after perhaps three hours on the water. The tour group were also just getting out. We carried our boats right through them and across the road rather than messing around with the launch area. We hadn't been out for a couple of weekends, so this little trip was a pretty good workout. When we got back we checked our bird guide but still aren't sure what we saw.