1922-23 DEPARTMENT OF LANDS AND FORESTS 83 



Pickerel Narrows 



This bay runs in a general direction southwest, a distance of twenty miles 

 and varies in width from five to eighty chains. The shores and banks are, 

 generally speaking, rock, rough and very steep in places with high rocky hills 

 surrounding it, burnt bare in places by fire which has swept all of the area at 

 one time or another. 



Two rivers are tributary to this bay (which is by far the longest in the 

 whole lake). The one from the southwest about a chain in width empties out 

 of Big Sandy Lake; this is still water with the exception of its upper reaches 

 near Big Sandy, where there are some small rapids and the remains of an old 

 dam, which was used in the early days. The other one enters from the south- 

 east and is twenty-five feet wide and is remarkable for the fact that it falls 

 twenty-eight feet at its mouth, thus showing up the nature of the shore line 

 at this point. 



I continued the traverse, doing both sides of the Narrows at once, to Black- 

 fish Portage, which is the end of the Narrows and portage to Big Sandy Lake. 

 I tied into Niven's meridian line en route, and was very lucky to find the post 

 as the country had been well burnt over and there was no semblance of a line. 

 I then traversed the portage and Big Sandy Lake continuing the Portage to 

 Dinorwic where I arrived on the 29th of June. 



Big Sandy Lake 



This lake, as its name implies, is a big sandy lake. There are many sandy 

 beaches but the rock and gravel beaches are by far in the majority. The westerly 

 shore appears to be very rocky on the points and shallow, making it difficult 

 to land a canoe or boat. In fact I found ^this difficulty throughout the whole 

 lake. It seems very shallow and can churn up and become a turmoil in the 

 shortest time of any lake I know. 



The beaches, mostly rock and boulders, have been piled up, both on main 

 shore and islands for a distance of twenty links to three chains by the action 

 of the water or ice in the old days when the water was raised by dam on the 

 outlet of this lake. The difference from the present to the old water level is 

 approximately nine feet. The bays with the sandy beaches would be suitable 

 for summer resort lots but the others are eliminated on account of the shallow- 

 ness, rocks and reefs. 



Portage to Dinorwic 



This portage, approximately nine miles long, varies in width from just a 

 trail to one chain and even wider in some places. The portion near the lake 

 is rather rough, rocky and high, but it drops down gradually to Dinorwic. 

 The latter part of the road is mostly clay and in dry weather one could not 

 wish for a better road. 



This leg of trip was then complete and we transported men and what 

 supplies we had left back to the mouth of Pickerel Narrows where I had cached 

 the bulk of the supplies. I then continued traverse around the various bays 

 of Minnietakie Lake till we reached Twin Lake on the 25th of July. 



Twin Lake 



This is more in the nature of a long narrow bay from Minnietakie Lake 

 than a separate lake as its name applies. The strip of water that connects 



