Aside from the thunderstorms, how was the route through Vanishing Pond? I'll be heading up to Sunbeam in a couple weeks and based on last years constant Advisories for low water levels in Vanishing Pond, I just assumed I should take the portages through Willow, Astor, etc. I'll also be double-carrying so the Vanishing Pond route would shave off an hour of travel, assuming I don't get stuck in there. I'll be travelling solo and I don't weigh much, so less likely to bottom out (unless it's too shallow that it's inevitable). What would you suggest?

I'll be continuing on through to Burntroot before turning/looping around, so I'll have some more questions once you put up part #2 (particularly about the poison ivy portage and campsites on Burntroot).

AlgonquinLakes wrote:

From a water level perspective Vanishing Pond was good. There were two very small beaver blockages I had to drag over, but no real problems at all. It's definitely worth it to shave off time and reduce the portaging.

As for the poison ivy portage, it turns out it's also a snake sun bathing zone. Poison ivy + snakes = Drew doesn't stick around long.

Thanks for the tip.

Snakes aren't fun, but at least they're non-poisonous and won't give me itchy blisters for weeks after an encounter - I'm more concerned about the poison ivy. I look at pictures of it, but it looks just like every other shrub in Algonquin to me. Is it prevalent enough on the portage that it hangs onto the trail and I'll inevitably brush against it; or if I unload the canoe, do the portage, load up and leave, without wandering around, do I not have to worry?

edit: talking about snakes, that reminds me I need to put up my trip report from last weekend. I ran into 2 snakes on two different campsites, unfortunately only got pictures of the smaller one.

Last edited by trippythings (8/23/2017 10:02 pm)

@trippythings. If you stick to the trail you should be fine. I couldn't tell what was poison ivy and what wasn't, so I just made the assumption that everything green was poison ivy. You can get through the path without brushing up against the undergrowth, but there is a pretty big patch of something green that you walk through, so watch your step.

@ATVenture. I think from now on I'm going to stop at every site on the lake I camp on and ask the people if I know them. Seems like the only reasonable way to avoid this in the future.

Great report, by the way. Looking forward to part two.You've got a great writing style.