| Algonquin - A Perfect Weekend |
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| Holly, one of our
camping buddies, is the type of person you
don’t make idle promises to. If you start to
throw out ideas from off the top of your head, be
prepared. She’ll remember every one, and if
you commit she’ll hold you to them. So
almost a year after discussing a weekend in
Algonquin with Holly, we were on our way, as
promised. Coming
from Quebec, we had a great opportunity to take
advantage of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste holiday
weekend. In addition, we turned a long weekend
into a longer one by taking an extra day off
work. We make a point each year on the Quebec
holidays, which aren’t shared by our
neighboring provinces, to travel to Ontario or
New Brunswick to avoid the crowds.
When we arrived at
Algonquin, the park was almost empty. The first
night we stayed at a front country site where we
were meeting Holly and Johnny, her husband, to do
the last minute planning.
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| We got there
early, just as the weather was clearing, and used
the time for some exploring along the Lookout
trail. This is a great little hike up to a broad
ridge that’s accessible from the main
corridor. The ridge provides you with an
excellent view of the park. The trail is a
relatively easy climb that loops back down a
slightly steeper section. The path is somewhat
rocky and has a lot of roots, so watch your
footing and be sure you have appropriate
footwear. Not
long after we got back to camp, Johnny and Holly
arrived, and we finalized our route and
itinerary. After our planning session, we climbed
into our tents and enjoyed a pleasant first night
out.
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| The next morning
the weather was perfect; we woke up early enough
to catch the last of the mist rising from the
lake. In the surrounding forest, the sun was
breaking through the trees. Dana and Cameron, the
final members of the group, were coming in from
Toronto. We were to meet them at Canoe Lake. We
were soon packed up and eagerly on our way. Since the majority of the
group had never been to the park, we decided to
take an easy route to ensure that everyone
enjoyed the experience, rather than doing to much
portaging.
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| (Personally, we
like portages but not everybody shares our
feelings.) With so few people in the park, we
didn’t have to worry about crowds, even on a
nearby lake. We paddled the length of Canoe Lake
and, like so many times before, we couldn’t
remember which side of the point to take to get
to our portage. (Now what happened to that damn
map?) |
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| We finally asked
a camper on shore whether we were going the right
way. Of course we weren’t. We didn’t
feel so bad when he added, "You’re
about the eight billionth group to make the same
mistake." Back we went around the point and
as we approached the shore, we were greeted by
the sight of five small ducklings sleeping on a
log, with the mother nowhere in site. They didn’t seem
concerned when we approached with a camera and it
struck us that this is very much typical of
Algonquin, where the animals and people live in
something akin to harmony. (We could make the
obvious biblical reference, but we’ll spare
you.)
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| The portage to
Little Joe Lake is short and flat and only took
us a few minutes. As we were packing the gear
back into the canoes at the far end, we helped
another party with small children land their
crafts. They rewarded us with the directions to
the site they just left, which they described as
perfect. |
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| So we
headed out around the island to have a
look. They were exaggerating only a
little; the site was awesome, with three
good spots for the tents, a central
common area for cooking and easy lake
access. Two of the tent sites were up the
hill, which gave us a great view of the
lake through the pines. The neighboring
campsite wasn’t occupied, so we had
access to a great diving rock on the
point. |
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| Algonquin
- A Perfect Weekend Continued / Page #2 |
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