Foys, Frog & Basin Lks
Loop August 29, 2024
This would end up being the longest hike we've made in years -- though that wasn't what we had planned. More about that later. We intended to hike in on the 5 km cart trail to Foys Lake and then look for the trail to Aurora Lake. Depending on how that went we thought we might have time to head back on the cart trail a short distance and bushwhack to Frog Lake. That was the plan -- the following is how thing actually unfolded.
Start of the cart trail to Foys Lake along the Basin Depot Road. Start time 8:40 AM.
The trail is wide and in good shape most of the way to Foys Lake.
The first part of the trail runs along a long marsh.
Beavers have built up the wall along the edge of the pond -- the level of the pond is now higher than the surface of the trail. As you go further water has flowed over the edge of the dam and onto the trail.
The trail climbs to some higher and dryer ground.
Interesting tree -- it grew between two rocks and then turned upward. The tree has lifted the upper rock as it has grown.
Approach to Foys Lake.
Campsite -- one of 3 sites on the lake.
Foys Lake -- looking south.
After leaving the lake we spent some time searching for signs of the old logging road to Aurora Lake. The road originally crossed Basin Creek not far from Foys Lake but we could not find the spot where the road would have started off the cart trail. This area is more flooded today than it was 30 years ago. Back then, getting over toward Aurora was not difficult.
We decided to leave the cart trail and bushwhack south to Frog Lake. This photo provides a sense of the what the forest is like. The area was logged not so many years ago, which explains the thick growth of maple and poplar. Not an easy kind of terrain to bushwhack across.
This pond had numerous clearly defined animal trails leading to it -- with signs of beaver and moose using the trails.
After hiking along the length of this pond we came out to the west corner of Frog Lake, just below a stream that flows into the lake. We planned to make our way around the lake to the east corner, to a site we had hiked into 3 years ago. That time we had hiked in from Basin Lake to the south. As we made our way around the lake we came to a large marsh in the southwest corner (see pic below). There is a long pond, not visible in the picture, to the left of the row of dead trees in the marsh. It took us much longer than expected to get to this point, so going all the way around the pond and back to the lake was not an option. We were able to get half way across the marsh on the remains of an old beaver dam, but after that it meant walking through the marsh and muck to the other side.
Map 1. Cart trail to Foys Lk (orange line) and bushwhacking to Frog Lake (green line).
Frog Lake - to get to this location on the lake we had to cross the marsh in the centre of this image. Socks and boots are soaked now.
Making our way along the shoreline of the lake -- the south shore is easier to get around.
Once we reached the east corner of the lake, and a spot we had hiked into in April 2021, we had a decision to make. Do we return to our starting point following the route we had taken to this point, which would mean crossing the marsh and bushwhacking again; or go forward and get on an old logging road we knew would take us down to Basin Lake? The dilemma was that if we chose the latter route we would have a fairly good trail to walk on, but it would mean a much longer walk -- down to Basin Lk and then all the way along the west side of Basin Lake, into Basin Depot, and then from Basin Depot north on the Basin Depot Rd. back to where the truck was parked at the start of the Foys Lake cart trail -- more than 17 km. Without hesitation we chose the longer route, which tells you how miserable that bushwhacking section of our hike had been.
Frog Lake, April 29, 2021
We made our way to a logging road which is shown on Jeff's map, put on dry socks and picked up our pace knowing we had several hours of walking ahead of us. In another 2 or 3 years parts of this trail will be grown over.
Where the Frog Lake trail meets the logging road along the west side of Basin Lake.
The island on Basin Lake -- there is a campsite on the left corner of the island in this photo.
We made our way to Basin Depot where we took a short break. We had hiked 20 km at that point. The remains of the settlement are located at the 14 km mark on the Basin Depot Road. Our truck was parked at km 24 on the road. We had 10 more km to walk.
Passing the trail to High Falls on the Bonnechere River.
Basin Depot Rd -- as we were walking up the road a bear crossed the road ahead of us. In the morning, on the drive in, we saw a bear with a cub along the road.
Pond along the road. Signs that moose had walked along the edge.
This photo highlights the ability of beavers to build an impressive dam. They have raised the level of the pond to the point where water is beginning to flow onto the road a short distance away.
Spring water at km 22
Km 24 on the Basin Depot Rd - back to where we started. Finish time -- 5:20 PM. Distance: 30 km. ​
The high temperature in the afternoon was around 21 C, which made it more comfortable for a longer hike. But we both felt that at 30 km we were pushing the limits of what was physiclally possible for us on a day hike that includes the kind of bushwhacking involved on this route.
Family members and friends sometimes ask why we undertake such hikes which appear to always involve difficulties and discomforts of some type. But that needs to be balanced by the fact that there are many beautiful, isolated lakes and locations in the Park which are accessible only by bushwhacking and walking long distances. Seeing those locations and meeting the challenge of getting there makes it all worthwhile.
Map 2. The route of the second part of the hike from Frog Lk back to the cart trail to Foys Lk.
Maps courtesy of Maps by Jeff.