I haven't read Pete's trip report yet (starting to read it now) but for #35 on Big Trout, I was just camped on the island across from it last week and my friend that I was with paddled over to document #35. There are massive, long cliffs directly behind the campsite that will immediately draw your attention from faraway on the water. He said the views from the cliffs were beautiful (easy to access from the site), on top of the already great views from the campsite. He mentioned it's not the most ideal campsite for amenities / tent spots though, if you're going to be with a big group, but looking at his pictures there seems to be at least two decent tent spots among the otherwise sloping ground. Hope that helps

edit: just finished reading the trip report, it sounds like a great trip. It brought back lots of great memories from a trip I did that was almost identical to yours. To this day it's still my favourite trip I've ever done, with an almost identical route to yours. It was also mid-September, and also the longest solo I had done at that time. Thanks for sharing

Polly wouldn't be a 'very easy' trip since you have the long 2.6km portage that you'll need to tackle twice (getting in and out of the lake).

Sproule I think is a great option, she'll get to experience portaging but it will be easy and you can double / triple carry if you want to bring some extra luxuries since it's such a short travel day regardless. There are a few decent campsites on Sproule, but it won't feel very remote since you'll have neighbours nearby, you'll have cell service, etc.

Opeongo South Arm is ok as well but I'm not a fan of most campsites in the area and it will be even noisier with the boats constantly passing by. And no portages for her to experience unless you went on a day trip.

If Sunday or Little Rock is available I'd recommend one of those over Sproule probably. There will be fewer people on the lake and the campsite selection will be more predictable. There's only one campsite on Little Rock so you have the lake to yourself, and there are 3 campsites on Sunday but in my opinion, the 3 Sunday sites are all decent to good, while Sproule has a wider range (some are really nice, some aren't) so Sunday has a bit more predictability. And then you can always day trip into Sproule if you wanted.

I'd be interested in the Management Plan book if you're willing to ship just one! I'm not particularly big on fishing or birding so I'd rather those go to someone else. I think I've seen people say the direct messaging no longer works on here? Feel free to email me info@algonquinbeyond.com

Bampot wrote:

trippythings wrote:

The message reads pretty straightforward to me. They have video surveillance set up, for whatever reason, and it's a courtesy notice to let people know that if they see a camera, not to worry, it won't be retaining personally identifiable information. Unless you do something naughty, in which case they'll be obligated to report it

A video camera is only one possible type of "ecological monitoring device". If it was simply a video camera, why is there not a similar, standing alert regarding the Visitor Centre and Bird Feeder/Ice Out video cameras?

I'm just guessing, but it might be because this notice is for the backcountry where people would otherwise expect to have privacy. The camera is likely hidden, not attached to a building or some other sort of infrastructure like the cameras along Highway 60.

That's the one, you're up Drew

solos wrote:

I should have taken a before photo, the pit had no structure at all and was just a large jumble of rocks. I dissembled that and cleaned it all off so it could be rebuilt from scratch. That took a lot of time and energy. If I was there another day I would have built up some solid walls.

There is something weird about your photo, I don't remember having a view of the water from in front of the fire pit. I took a closer look and in your photo the fire pit is build on the opposite side of the rock compared with my photo. Seems like it was moved.
 

Ok now I'm super curious to see what it looked like from the same angle as my photo lol. Were all of those rocks from my photo removed and it was just the bare, large rock? So both sides were completely dismantled and left in a jumble, and then you rebuilt it on the opposite side to how it was when I visited?
 

Kenneth Lake Campsite #1

They're more sheltered and enclosed, they're not as scenic as most of the other sites on the lake. The views aren't particularly pretty either, and everyone paddling the lake will come pretty close to the campsite as they pass by.

If you have decent weather I would take one of the more exposed and aesthetic campsites. And if you don't have great weather I'd still personally take one of the more sheltered options in the southern half of the lake; the two northernmost sites aren't worth the risk of paddling all the way there just to find out that they're taken, then needing to turn around. They get taken usually by people coming from the north that want to snag a campsite quickly without paddling the length of the lake.

Also for the comment about certain campsites being submitted by third-parties:

Everyone that submitted a campsite report to my website before the membership change, was offered a lifetime membership for free. I also offered to remove their submissions if they weren't supportive of the change. This communication was sent well in advance of the change taking place because I believed it was the transparent and right thing to do. Only one single person requested to have their submission removed.

And for everyone that submits a campsite report after the membership change, they get paid for their contribution (there is a page on my website that outlines this in more detail, but in summary, each report = $10 with bonuses for every 5th and 10th report). These people are spending their own time to take photos and write written descriptions of the campsites, they deserve to be compensated for their work, time, and effort.