The worst is when someone has piled up trash in the thunderbox. Where possible, I McGyver a system with sticks, to remove what's reachable, and pack that out.  Not fun. In an ideal world, people who go backcountry would have to first pass a test (maybe online, as with boating licenses?) on how to properly handle dish/grey water, sanitation issues, etc. The things no one really talks about with newbies.  And no one tells people checking in about how to handle women-specific sanitation issues (I suspect new women campers are not knowledgeable about how to pack out their sanitation products/waste). There really needs to be extensive education on this.

Hopefully this summer's messaging will help to educate and deter some bad behaviour. But IMHO it has been worsening, over the years (pre-pandemic). On a typical 2-week interior canoe trip, we pack out about 5-10 lbs of garbage (what we can carry). Each year it's a new "theme". I recall the year of the twist-tie, the year of the bread-plastic square, or the ubiquitous candy wrapper year.  Was actually thinking of starting a thread called "leave it or pack it out?" [referring to OTHER people's garbage you encounter], as sometimes it's tough to carry [other people's] trash out, such as on a long backpacking trip, yet I hate leaving it.  Empty fuel canister - leave or take out? Broken deck chair - leave or take out? Discarded nalgene bottle - leave or pack out? Super nervous about this year's 2-week WUT trip in Aug and how much garbage we'll find. The most prevalent last year was pre-pkgd foil/plastic meal pouches - lethal to wildlife but scattered at almost every site.  While not perfect, removing that requirement to check in, have human contact with staff, and be reminded about garbage is probably going to cause problems this year, with people being able to just head into backcountry.

We've definitely seen signs of "emcampments" or whatever term is appropriate, along the Highland trail (maybe about 3-4 km in). It's in the distance, but it was an obvious permanent structure cobbled together out of tarps and wood. Was there in the early spring of 2019. Not sure about now, but I'll try to note it when next around that area, to see if it's still there.

I bet everyone who's done that upper loop knows that spot. It seems like you should go up a short steep hill (and there is a worn-enough path to suggest many folks try that), when really you have to make a sharp right, and follow along the edge of a creek. There's not a trail marker anywhere to direct you until you get very far along the creek.

It's very strange, indeed. It's hard to imagine such a route change wouldn't be reflected in the online reservation system, or something that could happen by accident. The change of hiking campsites into canoe sites on Loft L. is really puzzling, as it wasn't just that a line somehow got left off.  Hope it's just a printing error, but that's too bad for FOAP since they might have to absorb costs.

We've hiked the upper sections of the W.U. trail several times and ordered a new map this year, which just arrived. For fun, were comparing with the prior map and noticed some very disconcerting changes (errors?)
- on the new map, the entire section/trail linking Rainbow L. with Loft, East End, and Brown is missing (gone!). No line, no distance markers and no campsites indicated on Loft. Oddly, the single backpacking site at East End is still showing on the map (as a distant remote island, without it being on a hiking route).  Strangely, the online reservation system lists Loft and East End as reservable. There's nothing indicating any change to the loops. This could cause a whole lot of problems if people are booking sites online, using the online map, if these lakes are being phased out.
Did anyone hear of Ont. Parks changing that upper loop?
(I have emailed Friends of Alg. Park, who prints the map to let them know).