This portage is 1.6 km long and is the second longest one on the route. I will deal with more than the 1.6 km but extent all the way to floating in Twin Lake. The portage is in effect longer and in several parts.
One you start this protage, you will have to continue on through to the Twin Lake forest service rec site to find a place to camp.
The first part from Mohun Lake is not bad, go left when you hit what looks like the end of a road about 100 metres from the water. About 400 to 500 metres in we ran into some problems. The portage goes uphill and the section that was steepest was in rougher condition than most of what we saw on the route. We sweated our way through this section. Once we reached the top the trail was in decent condition and we made a good time to the of the portage.
Twin Lake is 60 metres higher than Mohun Lake, and the trail rises up another seven or more metres above that meaning you gain 67 metres on this portage,
Clearly there had been some trees that fallen on the route over the winter. We saw evidence that someone had come along and cut through the fallen trees to keep the the route clear. I do not know who it was, but I thank them for maintaining the trail.
As a rule of thumb, if you have wheels for your canoe and you are not super fit, count on being able to do one to one and half kilometres of portage per hour.
The far end of the portage does not bring you to Twin Lake, but a someone what swampy 300 metre long beaver pond. The end of the trail does not have a lot of space for gear and people and we felt very cramped with nine of us and four canoes.
There is a short portage at the end of this narrow 300 metre lake/pond. Depending on time of year and conditions, you need to make some decisions at this point. 20 metres away over a small rocky portage there is access to what is shown on some maps as part of Twin Lake. You need to see how deep the water is. The water levels are controlled by a beaver and may be too low to float your canoe.
If the water is low at this point, you need consider portaging an extra 100 metres to your right and find a spot to put there. If not you are going to be punting through mud or swimming through mud and pulling your canoe.
After you get through this you may wonder where the hell the route is. Do not worry, the only choice available is the one you need to follow. That choice involves going over a number of beaver dams when the water is low, also lifting over logs and similar things. Depending on water levels and the work of the beaver, you might also ground out on mud. Our biggest canoe had the heaviest load and had to be pulled through a section of this area. The Scout that had to pull was up to his arm pits in peaty mud.
The channel has few markers, but it really is the only water course, so follow it.
At the other end of this channel you pass the beaver lodge and then hit the properly open water of Twin Lake. Earlier in the year you will have higher water and less problems.
In low water, getting from the end of Mohun lake to the Twin Lake forest rec site takes quite awhile. We took 5.5 hours, but we had to do a double trip on the portage because we only had 2 sets of wheels for four canoes and we had five youth on the trip aged 10 to 13. Others I spoke took 2.5 to 3.5 hours to complete this stretch.
Showing posts with label Mohun Lake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mohun Lake. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Mohun Lake
Mohun Lake runs about 10 km south to north. The lake is doubly named on some maps with the northern 1/4 called Goose Lake. I have seen this on the popular Vancouver Island BC Backroad Mapbook which is one of the most common map resources people use for the canoe route.
The Mohun Lake Campground is located just off of the Menzies Bay Mainline. Launching from there it is a short paddle to the island in Mohun Lake. This island has one well marked campsite on the southwest corner. We had planned to camp at that location but someone was already there. We paddled around the island to find a different location. We did find a good spot in the woods off of the northeast bay on the island. The location is not obvious from the water, but once we walked into the woods 10 metres we had a location where we had no trouble having all nine of us camp, though this location was not appropriate for a campfire.
Mohun Lake does have a moderate amount of motorized boating on it. This is not only people fishing, but also waterskiiing, tubing and kneeboarding.
On the eastern shore of Mohun lake between the island and Morton Lake provincial park there are two nice beaches that can easily be used for camping. The one about 3 km up the lake had an outhouse. With higher water the beaches may not have as much space for camping.
As you canoe northwards, do not take the first channel you see on the eastside at Morton Lake park, keep going another 200 metres north to the boat launch.
Going north on the lake is Morton Lake Provincial Park. This park has an attendant from the start of May to Oct 15th. Camping here costs money as it is provincial park. There is a nice boat launch on the northern end of the park that accesses Mohun Lake. Morton Lake is a popular local swimming location and will be busy in the summer months with day trippers. The campground can also be full and I suspect if you want to use it in the summer you should consider reserving your spot.
The Morton Lake boat launch area offers you tables to eat at, fresh water, garbage drop off and good outhouses.
North of Morton Lake you will see a drop off of motorized boating. About 1.2 km north you come to a narrows that has several old trestles of logging railways spanning over the lake. Only the supports remain.
As a quick aside, historically the region was criss crossed with hundreds of kilometres of logging railways. You can still see evidence of them throughout the area in the form of trestle remains or roads that maintain consistent grades over long distances. The Mohun Lake West forest service road is one example of an old railway bed.
North of the trestle the lake becomes much quieter and much more of a wilderness experience. this is the segment known as Goose Lake on some maps.
There are a number of campsites around the trestles and there are several small islands just to the north of here that also offer locations where you could camp.
At the north end of Mohun Lake is the start of the portage to Twin Lake. There is a camp site here with a fire circle and an outhouse. We chose not to camp here because there was a lot of broken glass here. The site has no beach and has a dirt bank you have to pull your canoe up.
This location is about 1.6 km from highway #19 via the Goose Lake Forest Service Road. I expect that this explains the broken beer bottles. It also makes this a good location to get help if there is a problem.
The Mohun Lake Campground is located just off of the Menzies Bay Mainline. Launching from there it is a short paddle to the island in Mohun Lake. This island has one well marked campsite on the southwest corner. We had planned to camp at that location but someone was already there. We paddled around the island to find a different location. We did find a good spot in the woods off of the northeast bay on the island. The location is not obvious from the water, but once we walked into the woods 10 metres we had a location where we had no trouble having all nine of us camp, though this location was not appropriate for a campfire.
Mohun Lake does have a moderate amount of motorized boating on it. This is not only people fishing, but also waterskiiing, tubing and kneeboarding.
On the eastern shore of Mohun lake between the island and Morton Lake provincial park there are two nice beaches that can easily be used for camping. The one about 3 km up the lake had an outhouse. With higher water the beaches may not have as much space for camping.
As you canoe northwards, do not take the first channel you see on the eastside at Morton Lake park, keep going another 200 metres north to the boat launch.
Going north on the lake is Morton Lake Provincial Park. This park has an attendant from the start of May to Oct 15th. Camping here costs money as it is provincial park. There is a nice boat launch on the northern end of the park that accesses Mohun Lake. Morton Lake is a popular local swimming location and will be busy in the summer months with day trippers. The campground can also be full and I suspect if you want to use it in the summer you should consider reserving your spot.
The Morton Lake boat launch area offers you tables to eat at, fresh water, garbage drop off and good outhouses.
North of Morton Lake you will see a drop off of motorized boating. About 1.2 km north you come to a narrows that has several old trestles of logging railways spanning over the lake. Only the supports remain.
As a quick aside, historically the region was criss crossed with hundreds of kilometres of logging railways. You can still see evidence of them throughout the area in the form of trestle remains or roads that maintain consistent grades over long distances. The Mohun Lake West forest service road is one example of an old railway bed.
North of the trestle the lake becomes much quieter and much more of a wilderness experience. this is the segment known as Goose Lake on some maps.
There are a number of campsites around the trestles and there are several small islands just to the north of here that also offer locations where you could camp.
At the north end of Mohun Lake is the start of the portage to Twin Lake. There is a camp site here with a fire circle and an outhouse. We chose not to camp here because there was a lot of broken glass here. The site has no beach and has a dirt bank you have to pull your canoe up.
This location is about 1.6 km from highway #19 via the Goose Lake Forest Service Road. I expect that this explains the broken beer bottles. It also makes this a good location to get help if there is a problem.
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