McCrae Lake loop
Friday, August 10, 2001 to Saturday, August 11, 2001
route:
length: 2 days
difficulty: beginner
leader: Chris Mack
participants: Chris Mack, Shadow ,
report:
Due to the lack of water at Palmers last weekend I decided to pass on the slalom race and go tripping instead!!
I thought it would be a good idea to take my dog with me (2 yr old shephard/huskie mix). I have been getting him used to being in the boat on some local rivers so I thought he was ready for his first trip.
I only wanted to go somewhere for the wknd and hang out by the water to beat the heat so I decided on the McCrae Lake loop which goes out to Georgian Bay. http://www.mccrae.siteaction.com/">Welcome To The McCrae Lake Website
We hit the water by 8am and spent the day working our way out to Georgian Bay to relax on the rocks and enjoy the cool water. I met a couple of girls who had their dog (Emily) with them (black lab/pit bull), picture a lab with an attitude ;-) We paddled together and our dogs really had a howl chasing each other along the portages and my dog (Shadow) finally decided to follow Emily in the water, more to cool off than to play, but it was a start at least. A 300m portage for us turned into about a 2km run back and forth for the dogs as we grunted our gear down the path with them flying back and forth thru the
bush and in the water.
The girls stayed at McCrae Lake so I continued out to the Bay for some cold water to cool off in. Everything was going so well until evening when I decided to throw up the tent and sit under a tree to relax when I noticed that Shadow was limping and licking his paws a lot. When I had a look I discovered that he had worn off the thick part of his pads, all of them!! They were not actually bleeding but I could see blood was only a skin layer away and a few of them had clear 'ooze' coming thru the skin.
I decided to get him home at that point so I threw everything back in the boat and headed back to the van, stopping at the girls site to get their opinion on Shadow's paws. They confirmed that infection woulod be a concern at this point and I should get him home ASAP. By the time we made it to the portage he would not even get out of the canoe, I had to carry him over the portage, no easy feat for a 65 lb dog. After that my prospector did not feel that heavy and awkward any more and we were back in the boat and headed for the put in where I had to carry him back to the van. A couple of nice people in the parking lot gave me some gauze and we bandaged his paws for the ride home.
I did not get home till late so the next day we went to the vet and she told me that his paws had probably blistered underneath the pads and then the top layer of the pads popped off. She thought that going from the cool water to the hot rocks had contributed to the blistering. So now I have him on antibiotics and have to give him tepid salt water soaks on his paws and no outside walks for at least a week. My wife Dorothy and I had to carry him out to pee and bring his food and water to him till Tuesday, but now he is up on his own and walking very slowly. Our 4 cats have never had so much peace
and quiet! |
