Jones Falls

Recently, DW and I found ourselves back at Jones Falls, which is part of the Rideau Lakes system and has four locks that can carry you from Whitefish Lake to Sand Lake, between Kingston and Smiths Falls. It was our first time back in more than 13 years.

We put our kayaks in at Morton Dam, which is about two kilometres away, as the crow flies, but about five kilometres by paddling down a narrow bay into the main body of Whitefish Lake. This bay is beautiful, with bare cliffs and lovely foliage on both sides.

We were with our Paddlefolk, and the last time we were out here, we were with two other people: our kids.

In late August and early September, 2013, DW and I rented a 17-foot ultralight canoe, loaded it up with camping gear, food, and other supplies, and our two kids, and we paddled from Kingston Mills to Ottawa along the Rideau Lakes waterways. It took us 10 days to travel the 202-km route.

On that late-summer day, we reached the locks too late to travel up them. We had a Parks Canada pass that allowed us to travel through the locks, which saved us the effort in having to portage. But because we missed these locks by only about 10 minutes, we had an uphill climb to get to the top of the first three locks, which opened out into a beautiful basin.

It was a hot day and we were drenched in sweat from a day of paddling. I was especially sweaty, as I was the one who walked back and forth from the bottom to the top of the locks, hauling the heavy gear and carrying the canoe to the spot where we were going to camp for the night.

We all had swim suits under our day clothes, so as soon as our site was set up, we jumped into the basin to cool off. The water felt so good.

Of all the places that we stayed over the course of this journey, Jones Falls was my favourite of them all. Especially, the next morning when we looked out onto the still basin, with the sunlight shining on the fourth lock and an old blacksmith house, across the basin.

Having returned to this spot, DW and I have decided that we're going to paddle from Kingston to Ottawa, again, next summer, but without the kids and in our kayaks. And we'll portage around the locks, rather than go through them, to save time.

It took 10 days to paddle the system in a canoe. We'll try to do it in five, with the kayaks.

BTW: the video of our kayaking adventure from Morton Dam to Jones Falls will be released on my YouTube channel on Friday, November 6.

Happy Thursday!