Shawn - BullTinkle made me laugh out loud.  A lot.  That as very, very clever. 
Peek - I'm pretty sure it was a female....I'll save that for the re-telling.
Paddlerunner - I also thought about "Finding My Way".  Seems like a canoey kind of a theme. 

I'm pretty sure I'm going to become MooseWhizzer.  That seems to be testing through the roof.

A very good friend of mine was on his first Algonquin canoe trips as an infant, held in his mothers' arms in the bow while his dad paddled them around. 

So, a couple of things, obviously you've got a lot of safety concerns to address, not the least of which is bugs if you are trying this time of year - and if you are I'd really think about pushing to later in the summer. 

Having said that, Magnetawan to Hambone might be nice.   There are a handful of campsites on that lake.  The portage is very short, and the two lakes are small.  If you needed to bug out quickly, you could, and if you had to make seventeen trips on the portage as the Sherpa-dad, you can....and will....and it won't take very long.  You could day trip from Hambone easily enough to Ralph Bice or Acme or Magnetawan for that matter, just to paddle around, although Hambone is certainly a pretty enough lake to explore.  While it is a bit of a highway lake, nearly all of those traveler are heading to Bice, so the southern part of Hambone should be pretty quiet. 

That's what I'd think about anyway.  I'm sure you know you won't get anywhere remote in this instance, but that's probably not the goal here anyway.

I'm sure you are all over this already, but safety first for the little one! 

 

My daughter has long felt that my username, dontgroandaddy, is somewhat suggestive.  I disagree with her entirely, to me it is an obvious reference to a dad who groans every time he stands up, sits down, picks something up, etc., however, to a cheering crowd of one I announced I would change my name.  The kids are 14 and 16 now, they seldom call me daddy at this point anyway .

(I'm not sure if Barry can just switch a username for me or if I would have to start a brand new account, but one thing at a time - new name first.)  Names are below, with explanations.  My son came up with the last one, and within our little family focus group that name tests the best, but I thought I'd expand the focus group.

Half the Paddler – a little self-deprecating humor, based on the rivalry between kayaks and canoes, “half the paddle, twice the paddler”.  I figure I’m simply half the paddler. 

Into the Wind – If there is another direction in which to paddle a canoe I've never found it.

Ceiling Unlimited – A Rush song title that conveys the idea of adventure.  Maybe a little over the top though.

Muttering Under My Breth – not a misspelling, this is both a nod to my last name and the vocal interactions I have with all of my equipment (from brave canoes bucking a hard wind to sleeping bag zippers that get caught up in pitch dark), the natural world (animals, trees, rocks, sky….) and sometimes my canoeing partners (truly muttering).

Here's the one from my son:
MooseWhizzer or MooseWhizzer Dave.   This goes to the story of me unknowingly peeing on a moose (in total darkness) on the last night of my first trip to Algonquin.  I am leaning toward this one, it just makes me laugh.  Sounds like something Bob and Doug McKenzie would say.


  

I think a lot of folks can relate to the rushed feeling of a travel day.  You carve out time for a trip, then hustle through it.  In my youth, tripping was about motion and progess, with long travel days.  Then I had a 16-year window without a trip, and somehow got older. Go figure.  On a travel day now, it is still all about motion and progress. I can't stand eating lunch at portages, and won't do it unless it is absolutely necessary, I just want to keep moving.  I can still do a long day, and sometimes plan one if it makes sense, but prefer not to.  Long days leave little space for relaxation, are tiring, put you are risk for a campsite, etc.   These days I like enough travel to put me into a site in time for a late lunch.  To me, washing up on the shores of a campsite at 1:30 or 2:00pm is ideal.   After a little I'll explore on foot or by boat, and yes, I end up pacing around a campsite attending to little unnecessary chores, but I really enjoy watching a day unfold, and to me that's the battery recharger.  I'll go stand and watch the view from a place for a few minutes, and revisit that place a dozen or more times during the day.  Different critters are active at different times of the day, the wind changes, the temperatures change, the sounds change.  Such a big difference between 25-30-year old me and 50+ year old me.  If I was any older, well I'd be 54.

I would agree with Ian.  I've read horror stories about the route you're talking about, the Hot route is not bad.  That bass fishing is nice on Islet, it is a pretty one, and there are some nice sites as well, but I think you'd want to be a little picky about which site you select.

The forecast leading up to my little 3-day trip was all over, so I took clothing loose in the car, and made decisions upon arrival.  I wore my winter coat – waterproof outer layer with removable fleece.  Overpacked a little, using one large and mid-size small pack, so I had to triple carry, but only had one 250-meter portage, and the smaller pack was needed anyway as a daypack for a day 2 side trip. 

At Canoe Lake, it was around 7-8 Celsius, with a very stiff wind blowing straight down the gut of the lake from the north.  Hooray.  Cars were everywhere.  The combined impact of a late opening day with Victoria Day weekend.  The lineup was several parties deep at the Permit Office.  I couldn't help but notice the one guy preparing to push off with his group who was wearing shorts and a t-shirt.  The problem with playing Johnny Toughguy is that when you are freezing a half hour after push off, it is kind of hard to retreat from Johnny Toughguy and say "you know, I think I'll put on my..ummm....windbreaker", and save face.  Just sayin'.  Of course I looked like Johnny Freezalot out there, so that wasn't much of a look either, especially when the balaclava went on.  Look out, ladies!  

Pushed off at 10:30 into a nasty, chilling wind, and wore neoprene gloves (sorry ladies, I'm married).  I headed for the islands to catch a wind break.  The wind was a little easier to deal with on Joe and the rest of the way to Littledoe, but still a tiring nuisance all the way.  It took four hours to reach my campsite.  My forearms and elbows were smoked.  The following day I realized that the neoprene gloves greatly reduced my wrist and hand flexibility paddling.  Without them, I was fine, with them, I was putting strain on tendons.

The Canoe Lake area is not what you’d call “remote”.  I expected that, but still.  It was my first ice-out trip, so it was nice to know people were around, on the other, when a kid is on a paddleboard parallel to you

17th Canoe to Littledoe.
18th, side trip to Vanishing Pond area.
19th, Littledoe to Canoe. 

On the evening of the 18th a couple of mosquitoes buzzed my ears while I sat at water's edge, as in three.  Saw one black fly on the morning of the 18th.  I walked all over the area of the campsite on Littledoe as well.  Nothing.    Yet......... 

Maybe just me, but that food would be on my mind the whole time I was away from it.  Sitting here in front of a keyboard, there's a 100% chance it will be there when you return.  Laying in a tent two days away from the food stash, that percentage will degrade while I'm trying to sleep wondering how the chipmunks are doing dividing up my food. 

The other thing that occurs to me is if your plans change due to weather or whatever.  The stash either forces your hand to return to that area no matter what, unless you selected a spot that you had to go past on the return swing anyway.