TO PRESENT LAKE WITHOUT GUIDES* 



By C. G. WILLOUGHBY 



N the fall of 1904 

 a party of us had 

 just concluded a cam- 

 p a ig n in Northern 

 Michigan among its 

 f a m ous bucks and 

 does. Most of our 

 party for several 

 seasons past had en- 

 tertained a desire 

 to invade a more 

 inaccessible and 

 wilder region, so it was left to the 

 writer the task of locating such a spot, 

 if possible. By mere chance the above 

 lake was located on the Government 

 Survey map of 1901, and a route to it 

 was also subsequently arranged. Lake 

 Present, or Larder Lake, as it is some- 

 times called, is practically an unfre- 

 quented body of water surrounded by 

 virgin forests, located about fifty miles 

 north of the head waters of Lake Tim- 

 iskaming, or nearly five hundred miles 

 north of Toronto. On account of its 

 extreme northern location our party en- 

 tertained the idea that the climate must 

 necessarily become cold very early in 

 the season. Some of the boys had 

 plenty of steel traps, and, with fur 

 prime around October first (just think 

 of it) we were going to make some 

 money along with a good time. After 

 writing everyone possible in Northern 

 Ontario, and getting mighty little in- 

 formation as a result, the writer joined 

 at Pompeii, Mich., a small party, con- 

 sisting of Fred. Reade, Claude Oven- 

 den and G. M. Willoughby. With a 

 good-sized arsenal and about sixty-five 

 steel traps of various sizes (two bear 

 traps weighed nineteen pounds each), 

 we boarded the train September 25 

 with sufficient baggage to sink an or- 

 dinary flatboat. We had over nine hun- 



*Larder Lake on Government maps. — Ed. 



dred pounds in four boxes, which' were 

 made to stand a trip over Niagara. 

 They resembled rough coffin boxes 

 more than anything else, and must have 

 been seen to be best appreciated. Our 

 first transfer after leaving Pompeii 

 came at Owosso Junction amid the 

 groans and oaths of those who tried 

 their hand at the boxes. At Du- 

 rand another wrestle with the cof- 

 fin-boxes, the baggage-man being 

 worsted at every turn. The next 

 transfer was to take place at Port Hu- 

 ron. Here was a close connection. 

 The trainmen ahead must have ob- 

 tained advance information of what 

 was on the way as the Grand 

 Trunk pulled out and broke the 

 connection, thus forcing us to re- 

 main there over ten hours. About mid- 

 night a sleepy lot of boys saw their bag- 

 gage aboard and were off for Toronto, 

 arriving about 7 a. in., October 26th. 

 From Toronto to North Bay the trip 

 was without special interest. We were 

 not able to get a train out of North 

 Bay on day of arrival. Here we found 

 a junction with the Canadian Pacific 

 Railway, marking a very busy spot in 

 Northern Ontario. Next season will 

 find this place a veritable bee hive on 

 account of the mining craze at Cobalt, 

 some distance north. Our train was 

 scheduled to leave North Bay at 10 a. 

 m., but the "on to Cobalt craze" was 

 so much in evidence that nearly an 

 hour's time ensued in loading baggage. 

 Again those unsightly boxes gave us 

 trouble. Everything had been loaded 

 except these, when it was decided to 

 leave them behind. Our stock dropped 

 thirty points on hearing this. We 

 must act quickly. Getting hold of the 

 conductor we soon persuaded him that 

 our case was a bad one, and to our in- 

 tense surprise he halted the train and 



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