I'm not travelling as far as I used to in a day, at least not on most trips. It used to all be about the 'go go go' for me, but I'm starting to appreciate more and more having time to relax and enjoy my campsites. I'm still generally on the move every day though. 

My single longest day was Catfish (Shangri-La Island campsite) to the Opeongo parking lot, after which I drove home. I was supposed to stop at Big Crow for the night but just decided to keep going for no clear reason. 

I'd be surprised if they reinvented the wheel when it comes to travel times/distances. I imagine the old system is the same as the new one, which is to say, more than anything, the total portage distance seems to be the biggest factor in determining if it's "beyond a reasonable travel time" (and probably number of portages worked in there as well, otherwise it might never let anyone cross the Dickson-Bonfield). 

One of the ones I laughed at when booking last year was that I wasn't allowed to book Misty to David Lake and had to call in instead. I just tried the new system, and it's telling me the same thing: 43 - Misty is too far away from 78 - David. Select a different site..

... it was less than a 4 hour travel day. 
 

Yeah, that's also a good idea, although meeting up with an AA'er and swapping camping stories (along with keys) isn't a fate worth than death - but it does make planning easier for sure. 

I knew better than that, but just wasn't thinking. I'd put up a ridgeline and had the tarp on it hours earlier, ready to peg down the corners if the weather turned, and yet when the storm rolled in I never even thought about the tarp. Dumb of me for sure. 

As tends to happen when I'm speaking with people the conversation ends up, sooner or later, turning to the topic of camping (hard to imagine I know). A new arrival to my street (and to Canada), Alex, soon decided he wanted to come camping in Algonquin. And better yet he's more of a kayak guy than a canoeist, and so we rented him a pack boat and set off for a 5-day loop out of Opeongo. And I got to test paddle a Swift pack boat during a camping trip as a result!

This video covers days 1 and 2 of our trip, Opeongo (water taxi) to Merchant and then to Burntroot. While the video covers this, I'll mention that we got caught up in about a ~20 minute storm on our campsite on Merchant that resulted in a very large tree coming down quite near Alex's tent. It reminded me to be extra vigilant about tent placement, as much as it's possible to do that when surrounded by trees. I could have killed him that day. 

Hope you enjoy it!



 

Plenty of good options with 5-6 days to work with. A lot of it is just going to come down to what part of the park you feel like exploring this time around.With that in mind, I went and checked "The Count" section of your website to suggest a route that would get you somewhere new, and it seems you've never been on Biggar or Three Mile, or the nice and very-lightly-visited lakes north of North Tea. 

In an effort to save you the extra drive, I'll suggest the Kiosk access point instead of Kawawaymog. Up Maple Creek (I know you've been - this time bring pants) to Maple, west to Three Mile, to Biggar, across North Tea into Lorne, Kakasamic and Fassett, down Fassett Creek to Manitou and then back to the access point. 

That ticks off I think 7 lakes you haven't been to (or at least don't have listed on your website). Not a super strenuous trip, although Fassett and Maple creeks can both be a slog, but it's going to be summer - relax and go swimming!


 

Great trip Ryan. I'm not sure I have anything to add that hasn't already been said, but I'll write something anyway!

The only downside to your loop as planned is that your two toughest days are the first two, when you're carrying the full food weight for a lot of people for a long trip. I'm not suggesting you can't do it, but especially with kids just be extra careful to take it easy enroute to Catfish, and then to Hogan. Neither is a particularly long day from a distance perspective, but they won't be fun - a lot of portaging, a lot of climbing, and the route through Sunfish can be a slog in low water conditions. And the campsites on the west end of Hogan are the ones taken first, as they're both nice (for the most part) and along the route most people will be doing. Prepare yourself for possibly having to head to the east end of Hogan to find a site. 

After that your days get much, much, kinder. Big Trout is a big, beautiful lake, but mid-summer it's also one of the premium destinations in the park. You may find yourself paddling the length and breadth of it looking for an open campsite. After the slog of the first two days, I'd suggest you skip Big Trout and either spend two nights on La Muir or on Burntroot. Having time to relax and enjoy where you are, especially after you've earned it, will go over well with everyone (I have a soft spot for La Muir, but Burntroot is the prettier lake with better campsite options). 

For that matter you may want to skip Hogan entirely, and go Catfish to La Muir. While it may seem like that's making a tough day tougher, La Muir means you can scope for campsites while still being on your route, instead of Hogan where you might end up backtracking many kilometers just to find a camp. Then you can easily spend two nights on Burntroot and maybe two nights on Catfish as well. 

I'd say that's probably a better idea, yeah. When the trip is over I just want to get home, whereas switching cars at the start of the trip makes it part of the adventure. And of course everyone can finish their trips on their own schedule, without having to worry about being at a meeting place on a specific date and time.