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2/09/2016 4:47 pm  #1


Algonquin May Trip

Hello Everyone,

I am fairly new to backcountry camping in Algonquin park and I was wondering if I could get some advice on a few things relating to my May trip I have booked for me and my girlfriend.  We are taking the water taxi from Opeongo Access to the portage to Redrock Lake and spending 3 nights there.  Were both avid fisherman and are hoping to catch some brookies.  Im debating on the size of food Barrel to purchase and was wondering if the North 49,  30L barrel is too big or 2 small for 2 people.  We are hoping to do the 1880M portage in 1 trip.  Also is the fishing worth staying at Redrock for all 3 days or should we make a daytrip to one of the surrounding lakes.  Any siggestions or info will help, Thanks guys

 

 

2/09/2016 5:02 pm  #2


Re: Algonquin May Trip

You're fine with a 30 liter for 2 for 3 days.  No idea of fishing.

 

2/09/2016 5:07 pm  #3


Re: Algonquin May Trip

thanks for the reply,  has anyone heard or tested the blue 30L barrel and harness from North 49?  The price is right for it at Le Baron.

     Thread Starter
 

2/09/2016 9:23 pm  #4


Re: Algonquin May Trip

Without any idea of what you would take for food, advice about the size of the barrel is hard to give.

Are you taking all dehydrated food?  What's your packing list?

Barbara


Take everything as it comes; the wave passes, deal with the next one.

Tom Thomson, 1877-1917
 

2/10/2016 8:19 am  #5


Re: Algonquin May Trip

For two people on a 3-night trip doing single-carry portages, my personal leaning would be no food barrel, especially if it's something you have to buy new for the trip. I just don't really see the point of them, except for large groups and/or long trips. Of course as Barbara suggests it depends on what you're bringing for food, but if you're bringing so much volume between the two of you that a food barrel is the most efficient way to pack it, I don't think you're doing the portage in one trip. Anyway, that's how I see it, others may feel differently.

As for fishing, there are others who'd know better than me, and if you're real lucky maybe one of them will PM you. But my understanding is, and I'll say this without being too google-friendly with lake names... for brookies you're probably good to fish the lake you're camping on and/or its closest neighbour. If those lake brookies are being difficult, you can take the 3085 m portage and look for them in the river. If you want to mix it up with some lakers, the 1330 m portage to H.I.L. might be a good bet.

Last edited by DanPM (2/10/2016 8:21 am)

 

2/10/2016 12:16 pm  #6


Re: Algonquin May Trip

I'll toss my two cents in here as well. 

I've never used a food barrel myself.  Having said that like others have said it depends on the food you intend on bringing on the trip.  I typically do anywhere from 3 day to 5 day trips.  The food I normally bring is pasta, dehydrated meals and usually on the 5 day trips I bring steak for the first nights meal.  I pack all meals prepared by me in a zip lock bag and for the pasta sauce i put what I need into a 500ml water bottle crumple it down and stuff it into a ziploc just in case the bottle leaks (hasn't happened yet knock on wood).  After I clean the bottle out and it becomes an extra water vessel, I just crush it down until I need it.  And of course I hang my pack off of a tree overnight. 


Hopefully this info has been helpful to you.

Enjoy your trip!

 

2/10/2016 1:08 pm  #7


Re: Algonquin May Trip

TO add - 

I don't use a barrel 
My son and I did a 3 day trip ( 2 night ) trip 
all our food fit into an 8L dry sac as well as the cook kit and some other food ( chips, cookies, and snacks ) were all in a small backpack that could be "chest carried" with larger pack on back 


We had steak and potatoes the 1st night 
then the typical breakfasts ( coffee / oatmeal ) 
Lunches for other days were tortillas with peanut butter or tuna 
other dinners were pasta 
+ several mountain house type meals which we never ate . 


A little planning and theres no need for a barrel 

We also did about 4000m portages ;-)  - hambone-daisy-petawawa-queer-little trout-ralph bice-hambone 

all single carry 

My son ( 13 at the time ) had his main pack on his back and food pack on his chest (just a small backpack ) he also carried paddles 
I had my pack and canoe 

it's doable to do single carries but take lots of planning when packing. 

Have fun!
 

 

2/10/2016 4:06 pm  #8


Re: Algonquin May Trip

I use a 60L barrel and use it for both my solo canoe trips as well as my family trips. I find it's perfect for what I carry, everything from my stove to food to clean up materials goes in, fuel, water filter etc. Depending on the length of a portage dictates a single carry or not. I single carry on longer portages and it can be an interesting time with a 60L barrel, my pack, paddle, canoe etc but it is doable if you have the will lol. 

 

2/10/2016 6:08 pm  #9


Re: Algonquin May Trip

So I have been increasingly unhappy with using barrels and move forward I will only use my 60 L barrel when I absolutely need to. Which would be for trips with the whole family when not too much portaging is occurring.

Could list all the reasons I don't like them now but primarily I find them awkward to portage and difficult to single portage with.

I actually made a few purchases today to move over to a system that I hope will serve me a lot better.

I really wanted to be able to get everything I'm portaging including all my food inside my canoe packs.

So Solo just bring my 70L canoe pack. 2 people on a week long trip everything we need is in say a 110L and 70L pack. Etc

So all my food has to fit in these packs and be stored in something that meets the following criteria I set out:
1) I can hang it
2) It's Waterproof
3) Keeps food odours to a minimum or eliminates them all together.
4) Resistant to little rodent teeth.

What I landed on was various sizes of Sealline dry bags ( the harder rubber ones) right or wrong my feeling is they may be slightly more resistant to little teeth. I then added to my supply of OPsack odour proof bags. I have used them for a while now  but picked up some more so everything including toiletries can be in one.

I have various sizes of the dry bags now too so I can set myself up for all combinations of trip durations and number of people going.

Also I think using the odour proof bags are a good idea for long double portages when you may have to leave a bag with food in it unattended.

I have a ursack too which I will likely bring on longer trips still . Only holds 10L but I will just put a good supply of emergency food in it as a back up if my other main bag were to get raided.

May all be a bit of overkill but allows me to portage more easily and I think is a fairly animal proof set up.

Last edited by ShawnD (2/10/2016 8:54 pm)


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

2/10/2016 6:08 pm  #10


Re: Algonquin May Trip

Thanks guys, I plan on bringing a couple of the dehydrated dry meals and then for the first meal I will have a case role or something frozen from the night before, it sounds like most people can get away with a dry bag with there food hung in a tree, has any of you had critter or bear problems with your food only being in a dry bag? Also would bears not smell it alot easier?

     Thread Starter
 

2/10/2016 8:53 pm  #11


Re: Algonquin May Trip

Rick2james2 wrote:

has any of you had critter or bear problems with your food only being in a dry bag?

I can't speak for everyone but in my personal experience I have yet to have any issues with critters or bears going after my pack and I've been camping in the interior for years. 

Hopefully that continues for this year

 

2/10/2016 9:43 pm  #12


Re: Algonquin May Trip

I tend to hang my food in a regular ol' knapsack. It's the hang that will keep it safe, not any sort of scent control. You could invest in a totally scent-proof container, but the cooking, dishwashing, fish-gutting you do around the campsite is still going to make the presence of food known by smell. Hopefully the bears clue into the presence of you as well and stay away, and if not, the food hang will foil them.

 

2/10/2016 10:15 pm  #13


Re: Algonquin May Trip

Agree with you Dan that the hang is the most important part. Maybe the odour proof bags are overkill but I just figure they will help for a few different reasons.

I put my food in ziplock bags anyway might as well use scent proof ones. Certainly can't hurt to deter.

Will help on the long portages like I said. If you have to leave a bag somewhere for 30 mins.

Also I'm likely more than a few times guilty of leaving my food bag in camp while I go out for a quick paddle. If it is all in scent proof bags inside another bag, less risk of chipmunks doing back flips trying to get in or potentially attracting something larger.


We do not go to the green woods and crystal waters to rough it, we go to smooth it.
 - George Washington Sears
 

2/11/2016 9:09 am  #14


Re: Algonquin May Trip

ChrisMcD wrote:

Rick2james2 wrote:

has any of you had critter or bear problems with your food only being in a dry bag?

I can't speak for everyone but in my personal experience I have yet to have any issues with critters or bears going after my pack and I've been camping in the interior for years.

Hopefully that continues for this year

Oh yes.  Squirrels. Everyone thinks bear. Squirrel and mice. I always now barrel and for me hanging is not possible. I canoe from the Arctic to Florida and in some places you cant hang because of no trees. A good harness makes a barrel easy to portage. I use the 30 liter for all my solos and have measured it out to  10 person days.  

Hang is to me an illusion. Bears are very good climbers. If hanging was bear proof, I wonder why it is prohibited in some western parks...

 

2/11/2016 10:06 am  #15


Re: Algonquin May Trip

Well, I would disagree that hanging is an illusion, in the Algonquin context anyway. Yes bears can easily climb trees, but they can’t zip-line down ropes, which is why the guideline is to hang the pack such that it’s at least 2 m from the nearest trunk or branch. I cannot speak for western parks, except to say that many of their backcountry campsites are in high-altitude areas where trees are shorter and bears are taller. That’s why some backcountry campsites in the Rockies provide food lockers or hanging poles. Additionally, bears are intelligent animals who may figure out ways to hack some techniques in some areas and not others, like the stories we hear of western bears learning to chew through ropes at ground level (not sure if it’s just rumours). But the fact that hanging a pack from a tree is the officially recommended technique in Algonquin, and bear problems are so heavily monitored in the park, suggests fairly strongly that it hasn’t been defeated locally. I would trust a properly-rigged bear hang more than I’d trust any container’s claim to be scent-proof or claw-proof, not that I see anything wrong with using scent-proof containers as an additional layer of security as ShawnD describes.
 
Of course when you’re on the tundra, you have to do what you can and try to minimize risk… then again when polar bears are around, I’d be less concerned with them eating my food than eating my weary limbs.

I've had issues with rodents getting at my food pack when it's on the ground, even when I'm sitting right there. I have not noticed any evidence of them getting into it when it's hanging.

 

2/11/2016 11:04 am  #16


Re: Algonquin May Trip


Take everything as it comes; the wave passes, deal with the next one.

Tom Thomson, 1877-1917
 

2/11/2016 11:41 am  #17


Re: Algonquin May Trip

After 35+ years of camping I've only once seen a young bear in a frolicky mood batting a aluminum pail around rock lake campground years ago. It was in the middle of the night and the noise scared me.   ........less. He disappeared on his own but I do think non of us in the campground slept for another minute that night.
The worst camp side raide I ever had was last year on a wilderness site at Tim lake, a squirrel and a chipmunk, both chewed holes in my inner tent, and, never having had food in my tent I wondered what the heck they were looking for. They did quite a bit of damage to my tent. I later realized that it indeed may have been learned behaviour, and most likely to be successful, as Barbara stated. so, however you stash your food, I'm more concerned with invasion from the common small mammals then from bears.

 

Board footera

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