Maps provided courtesy of Toporama which contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. I have marked my route in blue and portages in red.

We woke up to a wonderfully calm and sunny day. Not wanting to tempt fate, we got up and out to get through the big waters of Rocky Island before any wind came up. I snapped a quick photo of the site before leaving. It seemed the water levels were even lower!

We got across the big bay and as we approached the islands on the far shore, I began to get worried. We followed the route on our map but ran out of water! Water levels were so low, this whole section of the lake had disappeared! For a minute, we were thinking that we would have many kilometers of portaging across a muddy lake bed. It was a moment of panic. Could they really have let this much water out of the dams!?! I was so temporarily flummoxed that I didn't think to snap a picture, so I can't display it here. 

I left Dad at the canoe and walked past the island we were near. Yes! I could see shining blue water behind the island in the direction we were heading! If we backtracked and went south of the island, it looked like we would have a passage into Stimpy Channel. Crisis averted.

As we paddled through the channel, we were able to relax again and appreciate the scenery. The shoreline contained several cliff faces and amazing rock formations, thus probably giving the lake its name. We couldn't help but wonder what kind of environmental impact was being caused by the incredible fluctuation of water levels, though. With the water that low, it seemed so unnatural.

Once through the channel, we entered the second of the large bays of Rocky Island Lake. We passed an island where we saw some nesting bald eagles in their treetop eyrie. About halfway across the bay, a motorboat passed us. It was surreal. It was the first motorboat we had seen since our first night of the trip! But, that is what we had come there for.

As we were approaching Seismic Narrows, we stopped at the island campsite to have a swim, lunch, and filter more water. The day was hot and the sun was unrelenting.

And what a site it was! It appeared that there had once been a cabin of some sort on the island and there were several etchings on the cabin's remains, which had been stacked in a pile.  Some of these carvings were posted and others were strewn about the site. Some dated back 40 years or so.

Past the narrows, we encountered a couple of more fishing boats on our way to Rocky Island Dam. There, we portaged from outside of the buoy line which seemed like it might have added a couple of hundred meters to the carry. It was along a road for the entire length and easy despite its length. We returned for our second load along the river rather than back up the road to get a good look at the dam.

Water levels on Aubrey Lake seemed normal compared to Rocky Island Lake. The forest was denser. It seemed like we had entered an entirely different area. What a difference a portage can make!