Photos and Words by Larry McHenry
The Galipo River system starts off with a typical, easy Algonquin-access at Rock Lake and ends up in a seldom-ventured-to chain of back lakes deep in the southwest corner of Algonquin. Typically, a trout fishing destination, the Galipo chain really can’t be accessed in the late spring or summer when low water arrives. In 2025 a team of two WCA members, plus 4 family and friends, made the trek over 6 days in early May, and it was still maybe a little late.
Unlike the Galapagos Islands you won’t find any man-eating lizards here, but the infamous Woodland Jumping Mouse befriended our group in search of oatmeal and gorp. We named him appropriately, ‘Steve French.’ (A Trailer Park Boys side reference). Additionally, Wanda the Mallard nested above our camp, and we encountered half a dozen Canada geese nesting on top of beaver houses.
The Galipo river flows into Penn Lake after coursing from its headwaters in North, East, West and South Galipo, plus a Frost Lake. Tiny gem lakes with crystal clear waters, portage trails are sketchy, root covered, very low maintenance and muddy in spring. The river is a narrow, corkscrew winding, marsh land, nestled between hills and glacial rock. Fauna includes many moose and hard woods of beech, maple, elm, yellow and white birch and the odd white and many red pines. With tamarack and balsam swamps and hemlock stands it’s a quiet spot. We saw one paddler on our route who seemed angry we were there.
North and East Galipo Lakes have glacial boulder bottoms with timber blow down strewn along their shores. Black spruce and balsam make up the shore habitat sought out by the elusive brook trout. These fish are more members of the char family with color phases ranging from purple black with yellow and blue and other dots on the skin. The brookies that hide out under stream bank undercuts are almost black in color. The trout fillets hold an extreme orange almost red hue attesting to their diets of insects, crayfish and freshwater shrimp.
Our trip began with a put in on Rock Lake, then a short portage into Penn Lake. Overall, our group saw a total of 8 portages the first day, with the longest 2 km single carried by our team. In total, we hammered it for 36 km in one day. WCA members Jonas Schulte and Larry McHenry were accompanied by Blake McHenry, Curtiss Bernard, Jesse Eades as well as Cayden Dorzek. This was Cayden’s first back country outing. We departed Rock Lake at 6 AM and arrived at our campsite around 4 PM. Our route took us through Penn, Welcome, Rence, and Harry lakes (Welcome Lake is a sandy beach Mecca) then heading south and west to the Galipo chain.
That night after camp was established a fine freeze-dried shepherd’s pie was prepared by Jonas. Paired with 3 separate rum and Mio cocktails. The tasting committee found the Lemon Lime and Berry MIO versions to be superb. A Nicaraguan Rum, a Cuban and the standard Bacardi were in order. Needless to say, the bar was not open long, and the crew collapsed in the tents. A famous quote by team member Jesse Eades: “If you can’t fix your sore back with rum, you have not had enough rum!”
Morning came early after a -4 Celsius night, and the crew hit the first lake with trout success. A black Chironomid and black may fly hatch soon revealed the trout’s principal spring food source and the lake waters burst with speckled trout rising to feed. Literally thousands from the hatch caused fishing to slow but occasionally it remained epic. For the pure paddling readers of Nastawgan we consumed only 6 fish and successfully netted and released many dozen more. Our group believes in preserving Algonquin’s pristine trout streams and populations and it’s critical to handle these fish gently, hands must be wet, and soft rubber mini nets protect the trout’s delicate fins.
We highly recommend the first ¼ of the trip to Welcome Lake for families. and If your kids want a summer with beaches, it’s ideal. Loons were everywhere, paired and breeding rituals were underway in many locations. One beaver flood between Rence and Galipo’s held 6 separate beaver lodges.
It is clear that we are not the only users of this Algonquin Region. The Algonquin of Pikanagun hunt moose, bear, and both fish and trap this area in the fall and winter. We recognize this as their ancestral lands and graciously felt thanks toward them for allowing us to spend time here. We offered tobacco gifts to the creators in respect on south Galipo. We encountered a traditional rock camp and shore lunch area used by the Algonkins equipped with a frying pan.
On our exit from the long 2 km portage from Welcome to Rence Lakes we encountered a black fin sucker run underway in the rapids. Interspersed between hundreds of suckers spawning we could see brook trout darting through the mass gorging on the sucker roe. Our fishing success took a turn to the positive at this encounter delaying our exit timing. Respectfully we released all here except one fish stray hooked in a gill. From a conservation perspective barbless hooks were used to prevent injury.
During our exit across Penn Lake, we took a moment to talk with Ontario Park wardens who were sampling the waters for clarity and various chemical contaminants. It’s great to see such oversight occurring regularly. We did not encounter another paddler until we arrived in Welcome Lake the night before our exit. We decided to portage the canoes that evening to the Rence Portage entry to lessen the load the next morning.
Our route presented a nice little-known trip for the adventurous souls out there. Get there as early after ice out as soon as you can. Your spring cold weather footwear should be seasonally appropriate. When you arrive at West Galipo site remember just to the right of the of the fire pit looking east there is a little raised rock next to the white pine. Say hello to Steve French the woodland jumping mouse who lives under that rock. Also, Wanda the mother Mallard who nests on the hill above you. During the trip Wanda routinely flew through the camp and basically accepted our presence with grace. One moose was observed on the trip, but the area is full of them with moose droppings strewn along every portage trail.