Just came out yesterday. Bugs were quite unfriendly on portages, but virtually nonexistent on any of my campsites other than the deerflies. I was wearing a bug jacket while travelling. 

I was up and moving very early though - the bugs likely wouldn't have been as bad if I had been portaging at 1 PM instead of 6 AM!

I think the answer is that they won't be, at least not for this year. Although the online booking system does now let us provide license plate numbers (and tent and boat colours) so maybe they're checking plates against a list. 

1. If you're leaving Tuesday then you wouldn't have to make a booking for Tuesday. The Monday booking covers Monday night, and you'd be heading out on Tuesday. 

2. I bring burgers for the first night, which ride up in a cooler that never leaves the car, it's just to keep them cold as long as possible. I know plenty of people who bring frozen food in for the first two nights. With a bit of care in wrapping and storing it to stay cold, it's not much of a stretch for food to last that long in the summer. Beyond that you're probably into cooler territory. I don't imagine many people here ever take in a cooler, but I've certainly seen people do so. A very small cooler like those zip-up ones might be reasonably practical as you could hang that without too much trouble. 

3. I doubt it's going to matter to your kids, but Crotch Lake has a power line that runs through it, which for me is a turnoff. Can't comment on the campsites on either lake, sorry!

It was about 9:30 I think, so I may have beaten the Friday crowds. I passed one couple on Canoe Lake, but otherwise yeah, it was empty. There were certainly a lot more cars in the parking lot when I came out than when I headed in. 

I was home in time for brunch! 

I didn’t notice any garbage, so it may have been cleaned up. Or I was just oblivious, which is also possible! It’s clearly a well used site - finding firewood took me a while.

Well it wasn't an ice-out trip, so I'm calling it Covid-out. No? It'll grow on you. 

This was a quick two-nighter into McIntosh a few days after the interior opened. I was hoping for few bugs but expected the bugocalypse, and took a Eureka NoBugZone in with me as a result. As it turned out I barely used it - my site on McIntosh was virtually bug-free, and I had a peaceful and relaxing time. New kayak, new camera, and yet no problems to report - even the Tom Thomson/Ink portage felt easy. 

Hope you enjoy it! 



 

On a nice day, no problem. If you get a windy day for your paddle out then it's going to be quite the slog. 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news Ryan, but I don't think you're going to be able to cross the border in mid-July. 

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-usa-canada-exclusi/exclusive-canada-u-s-set-to-extend-border-closure-to-end-july-sources-idUSKBN23G301

"Inundated" is meant in the relative sense of course - it's still the back country. Popular lakes near access points will likely be booked up or nearly so (Ralph Bice, anything off Canoe Lake, Booth etc), but there will be plenty of options and availability further in.