The Tom Thomson Route: Achray to Basin Depot August 23, 2024
For several months in the summer of 1916 Tom Thomson worked as a fire ranger based out of Achray on Grand Lake in Algonquin Park.
Cabin at Grand Lake, sign painted by Tom Thomson, artist, Algonquin Park. 1925
Algonquin Provincial Park Archives & Collections, APM 1132.
Used with permission.
Edward Godin was a ranger in the Park. Thomson shared the cabin with Godin at Achray during the summer of 1916, and painted the "Out-Side-In" sign that hangs over the entrance.
According to Ottelyn Addison, the daughter of Mark Robinson, Ranger and Superintendent in the Park between 1908 and 1941, Thomson made frequent trips “by canoe and tote road to Basin Depot for supplies and mail” (Addison 1974). Addison notes that Thomson would sometimes stay with the ranger Bill Hughes and his wife at the ranger cabin at Basin Depot.
The ranger cabin at Basin Depot ca. 1940
Algonquin Provincial Park Archives & Collections, 1977.8.20. Used with permission.
As early as the 1850s Basin Depot was a central logging depot on the Bonnechere River with roads radiating from it to the Madawaska, Barron and Petawawa Rivers. Later, the Basin Depot Road became the supply route used to transport people and material from the train station at Killaloe to the stopping place at the head of Round Lake, and then along the Bonnechere River to “the Basin”. From there supplies were transported to logging camps throughout a large area which would later become the eastern section of Algonquin Park.
For some years my brother and I had talked about trying to retrace the route Thomson would have followed from Lower Spectacle Lake to Basin Depot. In May of 2020 we explored the first section of the route from Basin Depot to Carcajou Creek. The focus of this trip report is our recent effort to cover more of the route – this time from Basin Depot to Lower Spectacle Lake. We set out from Basin Depot at sunrise on Aug. 23 on the logging road that runs along the west side of Basin Lake.
Starting out -- the road is restricted to authorized vehicles only. It was a cool start to the day with a temperature of 10 degrees at 6:30 AM. I was glad I had brought along a toque and gloves.
While today the road looks like an ordinary, aging logging road, in 1916 it was a much travelled route. A reference on the Algonquin Park Online Archives site refers to it as the “old road to Grand Lake.” Roderick Mackay notes that it was also called “the Carcajou Road"; “… the tote road to Carcajou Creek, the route being taken by men and supplies heading from Killaloe Station on the Canada Atlantic Railway, to the J.R. Booth lumber camps on Grand Lake” (Mackay 1996).
Maps dating from 1914 and 1922 show the approximate route of the road from Basin Depot to Carcajou Creek, Lower Spectacle and on to Grand Lake (see maps below). I have found no record indicating whether Thomson would have taken the road right from Grand Lake, or would have paddled from Achray to Lower Spectacle, and started down the trail at that point. But it’s reasonable to assume he travelled the section of the road from Lower Spectacle to Basin Depot.
Map of The National Algonquin Park, Department of Lands, Forests and Mines, 1914.
The map shows the portage trail from Basin Lake to Spectacle and Grand Lk.
Map of Algonquin Provvincial (Ontario) Park, Canadian National - Grand Trunk Railways, 1922.
The route is designated as a "road" not a portage. A bush telepone line has been erected between Basin Depot and the train line at Grand Lk. On this map Carcajou Creek is referred to as Caribou Creek.
Morning light -- marsh along the trail after leaving Basin Depot.
Sunrise over Basin Lake.
The first 3 km of the trail follow a ridge along Basin Lake. The terrain is quite flat and makes for easy walking. The current route from Basin Depot to Carajou Lake seems to follow quite closely the original road outlined in the old maps. Not long after passing the upper end of the lake you come to a trail that would take you up to Frog Lake. We walked that route some years ago. In the past that trail went as far as Foys Lake but the section from Frog Lk to Foys Lk is pretty much grown over now.
​
After crossing over Basin Creek you come to a building that was used during logging operations that took place several decades ago. Years ago there was a sign posted in a nearby clearing indicating it was a site for emergency helicopter landings. The sign is gone now and the forest has reclaimed what there was of a clearing. After this point you begin a long steady climb; the road being washed out in places.
Building used during past logging operations.
At around the 9 km mark along the way there is a small clearing with a trail heading off to the east. The logging maps for this area refer to it as the Turcotte Lake Road. It looks not to have been used for many years. We have not hiked this trail but in studying the maps it appears that while the trail does go in the direction of Turcotte Lake it ends quite some distance west of the lake.
Turcotte Lake road.
I don’t have many photos of the route between Basin Depot and Carcajou Creek because there are no ponds or streams to feature; nor are there open areas or high points that provide a vista for a better view of the terrain.
It’s about 5 years since there was logging along the west side of the road, but once you pass the point where the logging ended the road gradually reduces to a single track trail, and by the time you are about 1.5 km from Carcajou Creek the trail becomes more difficult to follow due to the rapid growth of ferns, poplar and white pines. Had we not been there 4 years ago it would have been difficult to find, without a lot of searching, the spot along the creek where there had once been a narrow bridge. I believe the bridge was removed in the 1980s. There is a wide marsh along this section of Carcajou Creek with just this one location providing a way to get across the creek and surrounding marsh to the higher ground on the far side.
In 2020, when we did find this location where the bridge once stood, we would have had to wade through 4 ft. of water to proceed any further. This time we were prepared to have to get into the water but were surprised, and relieved, to discover that since last being there beavers have constructed a dam on the spot where the bridge once stood.
Crossing Carcajou Creek on a beaver dam.
Looking east on the creek.
Looking west
Beavers have been hard at work all along the creek. Jeff's map indicates the creek is no longer a park-designated canoe route and is only suitable for very skilled and adventurous paddlers. On their very extensive website, The McElroys of Point Alexander, Bob and Diana provide two reports of downstream canoe trips on Carcajou Creek made in June 1978 and June 2001.
Another view looking east
Seeing the creek today it is difficult to imagine how at the height of the logging era, with Carcajou Creek being one of the major inflows to Grand Lake, huge log drives would have passed through here on the way to Grand Lake, and on to the Barron and Petawawa rivers to finally reach the Ottawa River.
Getting across the creek was the first of a number of challenges to be faced. After crossing we encountered a thick wall of Joe Pye Weed standing 6-7 ft. in height. At this point we are on a narrow peninsula about 10 ft. in width with water and marsh on both sides (see aerial photo below). There is no way forward but to work your way through the thick vegetation. I had to get down on the ground where there was an opening at ground level to see where the trail went through all the vegetation.
Joe Pye Weed growing 6-7 feet tall.
Go another foot or two and you disappear from sight. I must admit at this point I had a bit of doubt about making it to Spectacle.
For those interested in the plants of Algonquin Park this area along the creek provides an abundance of species.
Clematis Virginiana, also known as Devil's Darning Needles.
After getting through the jungle there is one more narrow section of running water to cross. The remains of what may have been a small wooden bridge can still be seen in the water and these old square timbers enabled us to get across without getting wet.
Remnants of a second old bridge.
This aerial photo from Fish On-Line provides a view of the creek and where we made the crossing. This aerial photo dates from 2015.
Once up on dry land we hoped to find some indication of the where the road from the creek to Lower Spectacle would have started, but despite searching in various directions we could not find any sign of the trail. The maps of 1914 and 1922 showed the road following pretty much a straight line between the lake and the creek. However, the aerial photos and a Google Earth image we had with us showed the faint outline of a trail taking a different route toward the lake. It started off toward the northwest from the creek, made a sharp turn to the east for some distance, and then turned north in a straight line to the lake.
The trail that is visible in these more recent images is probably a road used the last time the area was logged. But it is often the case that the more recent logging roads would follow the route of the early roads and portages. In preparing for the trip we had recorded a number of GPS points on this aerial photo where we hoped some indication of the original road might be found.
Aerial photo showing what was probably a logging road above Carcajou Creek.
We made our way to the first couple of GPS points but still could not find any sign of a logging road or trail. The whole area is covered with dense forest. The old maps and more recent satellite images suggest that the original road went to a spot on Lower Spectacle Lake which is now the location of the campsite on the south shore of the lake. It’s a fairly level area of bare rock that juts out into the lake. Having found no sign of the original road, we decided it would be best to take a compass reading and head in a straight line to that spot on the lake.
While it is not a long distance between the creek and Lower Spectacle (just under 2 km), bushwhacking across this distance is a hard slog.
We flagged our route. Doing so takes time, but it makes the return trip much easier.
It was very slow going through this boggy area. We had to jump from one moss-covered hump to the next to avoid sinking down in deep muck.
Around the halfway point to the lake I accidentally stepped on a ground nest of wasps. My brother must have wondered what was going on as I bolted away through the bush swatting at the air like a mad man. As a result I walked the rest of the way with wasp stings on face, behind an ear and on both hands.
It took us more than 2.5 hours to make our way through the bush to Lower Spectacle. We came out directly behind the campsite. The previous day I had checked online to see if anyone had reserved the campsite for Aug. 23. The results showed it and the other campsite on the lake were both reserved, but when we arrived there was no one on the site, and no sign of anyone on the lake.
Lower Spectacle Lake
View of the campsite from the water.
In the distance, the portage to Upper Spectacle Lake.
Looking east -- the far corner, below the hill toward the centre of the photo, is where you enter the lake coming from High Falls.
A juvenile Northern Watersnake in the lake in front of the campsite. My brother did go in for a swim but, not caring for leeches and snakes, I chose to pass on a swim.
As we were finishing lunch two canoes came onto the lake from the east. They paddled along the north shore past the campsite located on that side of the lake, and headed for the portage to Upper Spectacle.
After starting out on the return journey, about 100 yards behind the campsite, we did see what looked like signs of a trail going south. It is mostly grown over but the outline of a trail is visible. It’s possible it might have taken us back to the crossing point on the creek, avoiding the marshy area we had to cross coming in, but after giving that option some thought we decided to follow our flagged route out, and we removed the flagging tape as we went.
The trip back to Basin Depot was mostly uneventful. The day turned quite warm (27 degrees C) so we made a number of stops along the way to have some fluid. At one point about half way back we did come upon a black bear, not yet fully grown, eating berries along the trail. It took one look at us, turned and headed into the bush.
The Basin Depot area holds some special meaning for us as it has some historical family connections. One of my uncles worked for a time at the Park gate cabin on the Basin Depot Road -- work related to the bush telephone line that connected many points in the eastern part of the Park. And there is also Phil Roche, an ancestor going back a couple of generations. He was a Park ranger for years, and then moved to Basin Depot with his daughters in 1908. He would remain there until the latter part of the 1920s when he retired and moved back to Killaloe. I can recall my father, born 1914, talking about going to Basin Depot, as a boy, with his father (around 1922) to visit the Roche family and others at Basin Depot.
Roderick Mackay notes that Phil Roche was probably the last proprietor of the boarding house at the Basin. He and the girls were living at Basin Depot during the summer of 1916 and were likely aware of Tom Thomson’s visits.
​
In his book Northern Light: The Enduring Mystery of Tom Thomson and the Woman Who Loved Him, Roy MacGregor includes the photo of a pack of playing cards inscribed with the following words:
Summer of 1916,
Best summer ever was known
August 2nd
[signed] Tom Thomson
On the reverse side of the pack cover are 4 names: Tom Thompson (misspelled); Carl Goddin; Charlotte Roche; Alice Green
The image is included in the sample pages of MacGregor's book presented on the following website.
​
Charlotte was one of six daughters of Phil Roche (see photo below). We believe Alice Green may have been a first cousin of Charlotte. Annie Roche ran the school at Basin Depot in the log building that is the last remaining building at the site. Today, you can still see her name carved into the front door of the building. It reads "Anna Roche, Teacher 1914-1917".
The Roche family at Basin Depot. Algonquin Provincial Park Archives & Collections, APM 3719, Used with permission
L. to R. - Back Row - Phil Roche, Joe Boudreau - Front Row - Annie Roche, Mary Jane Roche, Katie Roche, Barb Roche, Charlotte Roche, Margaret Roche.​​
The calendar on the wall suggests the picture may have been taken in September, 1915.
It would have been nice to find a photo of Tom Thomson at Basin Depot to include with this report, but there is at least this reference which suggests he was there in the first days of August, 1916.
The following two maps provide an outline of the route we took to Lower Spectacle. The total distance travelled was 28.3 km (17 miles). It was great to spend a day exploring a part of the Park that is not often visited today but which played an important part in its history.
Map 1 - Basin Depot to Turcotte Lake Road​​
Map 2 - Turcotte Lk Road to Carcajou Creek and on to Lower Spectacle Lk.​​
Maps coutesy of Maps by Jeff.
References
-
Addison, O., 1974, Early Days in Algonquin Park, McGraw-Hill Ryerson Press Limited, Toronto.
-
Mackay, Roderick, 1996, Spirits of the Little Bonnechere: A History of Exploration, Logging and Settlement 1800 to 1920, Friends of Bonnechere Parks, Pembroke.