We had a racoon do a tightwire act to access our pack one night on Burnt Island Lake.  They enjoy white bread.

I've related the story previously of my first trip to Algonquin when I was roughly 10 years old in 1977 where a similar mistake befell us.  We camped on the elevated Hayes point site on Lavieille in mid-May.  Rainy day coming in over the Dickson-Bonfield, cold, hungry & tired.  The first few days were rain and wind but the wind shifted the second night and one of the four canoes that had been tied to a tree along shore went for a float sometime overnight.

We noticed it missing in the morning and made a plan for the remaining three canoes to fan out over the lake to search.  That afternoon one of the canoes comes upon two guys with a motor on their canoe coming out of Thomas Bay who said they saw a canoe down at the far end of the bay.  That thing had floated over three miles in the breeze!

Technically, since I wasn't the one who didn't tie the canoe, it wasn't my mistake.  My mistake was taking a 17 foot aluminum Michicraft canoe (75-80 pounds) over the Dickson-Bonfield in my late thirties.  Remarkably stupid.  

The numbering is messed up...the first half-dozen or so were on one or two threads.  I'd say stick with 897 since it's been that many since we started counting!

Cork Lake, southern bay.

@ Bo - I expect all of the folks who were airlifted out of Kiosk will have to wait until the roads are repaired to get their stuff.  Their personal insurance may help with the temporary costs of rentals.

Nature is awesome.  Kudos to our paid and volunteer personnel - rewarding work to help others in need.

Technically, you are littering by leaving something unattended on public land.  Nobody in their right mind would issue a citation for the behavior as it is a somewhat common practice and they would have to wait for you to come back to the 'scene of the crime' to apprehend you.  Officers have much bigger fish to fry than a smart stasher.

Walk 50 or 100 meters into the woods and stash the cache and you will be fine.  Typically the risk is human intervention messing with your stuff and not animal intervention. 

Beautiful scenery and nice account of a walk in the woods.  It's remarkable how few people actually travel off the beaten path and designated trails - so much to see, experience and learn!  Thank for the post!

Booth and Ragged are two fair options.  Ultimately, seeking to catch fish in August means primarily bass and pike.  Trout and walleye are possible but certainly more challenging and time-consuming to locate, but the bass and pike are an aggressive warm water species that are considerably easier to locate and catch.

Both of those options are pretty easy to access to set up a base camp and you have multiple options for day trips to alternative water (and species, if you so desire).

I'm pretty confident there's not a standard.  It's not as critical of a matter for most Algonquin sites as they have a tendency to be 'on' the water and mostly visible when inhabited...although some have a more concealed character.

Compare that to the Adirondacks' St. Regis canoe-only access area - those sites are small openings in the foliage at the shoreline and then 10-20 meters back a trail in the forest is where the site is located so there is virtually no evidence of occupation visible unless the canoe is left tied at shore.  That's intentional on their part - to preserve the natural look of the shoreline when on the water and keep unsightly tents, tarps, flags and banners from being visible.