CEDAR LAKES paddling, hiking, & camping
Aug 26-28, 2024 - CEDAR LAKES backpacking & packrafting. West Canada Lakes Wilderness. Day 1 - The drive into Sled Harbor was good, & to the Pillsbury trailhead was mostly good but 3 bumpy spots needed some care. The first couple of hiking miles were smooth flat sections mixed with rough rocky uphill sections. Things got muckier after that - not helped by the fact that someone had driven an ATV in*. Crossed the Cedar River on a bridge below the old dam. 2 campsites were vacant, 2 people were in lean-to #1. Started to rain before we made it to lean-to #2 (aka Beaver Pond Outlet), our home for 2 nights - has a filtered lake view & a sand/rock beach, & nice wood pegs to hang things on (better than nails). 6 miles, 705' gross el gain, 3.9 hours. Skies cleared. Blew up the packrafts & went out for a paddle to Noisey Inlet which gets shallow quickly. Water level on Cedar Lakes looked about 4' lower than when the dam had been in operation. Lots of loon calls, bal...