| Trip Planning » Cedar Lake campsites between Radiant and Catfish » 4/07/2019 3:26 pm |
As I post this, the thread at the top of Trip Planning is "Cedar Lake - North Shore Campsites", but it reminded me that I'll be spending a night on Cedar on my ice-out trip this year, and the possible weather conditions and guaranteed dangerous water temps may not give me the luxury of paddling around looking for a good place to stay. I've been through Cedar a number of times but never camped there, and I never scoped out campsites on my previous visits.
So.. I'm coming in from Radiant and heading up to Catfish the next day. In the stretch between the two Petawawas, where would you camp? I won't want to head as far as the North shore just in case of bad weather. I'm thinking only these sites I've "circled" are in play, and the Northernmost island sites would have to be amazing for me to risk waking up to three foot waves:
Suggestions?
| Catch-all Discussions » ice out 2019 - too early to discuss? » 4/07/2019 3:11 pm |
The weather is more important than the current state of the ice thickness or the snow depth - just keep reminding yourself of that. Last year Spring refused to arrive, but there doesn't seem to be any indication of that repeating this year.
So I'm actually feeling pretty optimistic right now. My 7 day ice-out trip is booked for May 13th, but if it goes out sooner then I may just slip in a trip ahead of that.
| Trip Reports » Mark in the Park Episode 4 (Video) » 4/06/2019 3:35 pm |
Nope nope nope. Birchcliffe Lake is now on my “to do” list, but not through that creek. I love my kayak, but that route would be all but impossible in it.
Great video!
| Trip Planning » Nipissing River - Can I Travel Upstream?? » 4/01/2019 5:15 pm |
I don't think there's any route in Algonquin that can't be done in either direction. The Nip is a pretty lazy river for the most part - you'll be against the current, but not that much current.
| Trip Planning » "Rangers Cabin" on portage between Ralph Bice Lake and Hambone » 3/28/2019 12:04 pm |
Here's the "old ranger cabin" on Guthrie. A tree fell on it a few years earlier, before that it was apparently in pretty good shape still. 
| Trip Planning » "Rangers Cabin" on portage between Ralph Bice Lake and Hambone » 3/28/2019 11:47 am |
Cabin icons in green are an 'old ranger cabin'. Meaning at one point in the history of the park there was a ranger cabin there. In many cases you'll still find remnants of the former cabin, but don't expect to find any of them intact. And in some cases you won't find anything at all.
Ranger cabins marked in black are rentable, maintained cabins.
| Trip Planning » Early Ice Out 3 day trip options/suggestions? » 3/28/2019 7:17 am |
Take a look at the ice-out thread in catch-all discussions, but I'd say we're mostly feeling pessimistic about ice-out this year. There's a lot of snow and thick ice. I rebooked my May 4th start to May 13 a few days ago.
As to loops... 3 days doesn't give you a ton of options, but I guess it depends on the weather you get and how hard you want to work. North Tea might be a frightening place to be when the water's still dangerously cold, so I'd suggest you hug the North side to the portage into Sisco, to Lorne, then it depends on your ambition level. You could just stay on Lorne, or push on to Kakasamic or Fassett. If it's looking like good weather days you could then head down Fassett creek to Manitou and stay there night 2, then paddle out the next day. If the weather's not going to be on your side you could just stay on those smaller lakes and head out the same way you came in, avoiding having to paddle most of the big water in dangerous conditions.
Access point 2 is nothing but low maintenance portages everywhere, and I haven't been over most of them to comment on their condition. But at ice-out there will be some blowdowns for sure, even if recently cleared, so any loop might end up a pretty frustrating experience. Plus there might be issues with the access road that early in the season.
The 3480 from Rosebary to David creek I've been over, and aside from a creek in the middle you'll have to navigate, it's mostly a former logging road so is wide, flat and good footing throughout. But of course going that way will lead you to eight low maintenance portages from Mubwayaka back to Tim.
You might just want to basecamp on Rosebary and explore from there.
| Catch-all Discussions » ice out 2019 - too early to discuss? » 3/26/2019 6:50 am |
I know it's still March, but it's a little disheartening that, as I write this, it's -20 in APP. I no longer have the luxury of heading in for my Spring opener trip whenever I feel like it. With a wife, a dog and a 3-year-old, my trip has to get locked down well in advance. So while I had originally booked for May 4th, I just pushed the starting date back to May 13th. It's way too early to have any sense of when ice-out is going to happen, but I'm not feeling confident enough in May 4th to take the gamble.
| Trip Planning » Spring Trips? » 3/23/2019 9:26 am |
My Spring opener tends to be one of my longest (if not the longest) of the year. Much like you, "spring fever" has a lot to do with that. By the time of my first trip I probably haven't been camping in 6 months, and going in for only a few days seems unfathomable.
The great things about an early spring trip:
No bugs
Few people
The bad things about an early spring trip:
Portages likely haven't been cleared, and may also be flooded and/or still have snow in places
The water is dangerously cold
No swimming - at least not for more than a few seconds!
For me the toughest one is the 'no swimming' part - I love to laze in the water for hours when I can get away with it. But on the whole I love my ice-out trip: few bugs and few people is a tough combo to beat.
Last Spring it was 7 days, travelling 5 of them (although I did a very long day trip one one of those 'rest' days). This Spring it's 7 days, travelling every day, but I might add a day to the trip to give myself a day to be lazy somewhere in there.
| Catch-all Discussions » ice out 2019 - too early to discuss? » 3/23/2019 5:31 am |
I've never booked an ice-out trip through the western access points for just that reason - I'm always paranoid that the park will be open, but those logging roads won't be due to washouts.
My Spring trip is through Opeongo, so I won't have that particular problem anyway!
| Catch-all Discussions » ice out 2019 - too early to discuss? » 3/21/2019 5:00 pm |
I like the cut of your jib hartski.
| Equipment » Two paddles, or not two paddles, that is the question » 3/20/2019 5:32 pm |
I've never taken a spare paddle on a camping trip. I own two carbon fiber kayak paddles, but even so they weigh in at about 1 1/2 pounds each - more than I'm willing to tack onto my pack weight. I do tend to be very careful with my paddle as I'm keenly aware I have no backup, but entry/exit out of a kayak in many conditions requires you to use the paddle as a brace - so you're putting most of your weight on it.
Sooner or later I'll snap a blade on a solo trip and have an absolutely miserable time getting out. But so far, so good.
| Trip Planning » Cross Corner Lake » 3/20/2019 7:04 am |
Answering my own questions! I messaged David Lee as he was in the video I saw, and he sent me some info.
====
Hey Bob! Yup, we did stay at the campsite on Cross Corner on the north side of the lake. It is up a rise at the top of a granite mount. Decent campsite with a fire pit. It is on the border and I don't think it is an official park campsite as there wasn't any signs. Iit is a decent lake. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Pic of the campsite:
| Campgrounds and Front-country » Cell Reception » 3/20/2019 6:48 am |
Most of the campgrounds along highway 60 have cell coverage to one extent or another, but Rock is far enough off the highway that I'm pretty sure it doesn't.
| Trip Reports » 4 Day Trip - Access Point 3 - May 2017 » 3/19/2019 3:31 pm |
You guys were putting on some mileage.That's taking the long way to Burnt Island, but a beautiful route for sure. Algonquin's too gorgeous to film in 480p though - next trip up the resolution!
| Trip Planning » Cross Corner Lake » 3/19/2019 1:55 pm |
An AA member invited me on a trip to Cross Corner Lake this August. I won't name him directly, but let's just say he's on a quest to see All of Algonquin, and so he Drew up this trip plan (subtle as a 30-pound hammer to the skull).
A search of this forum turned up MartinG's hilarious "where am I" response in which he listed every lake in the park. A broader internet search turned up a trip video, but Cross Corner was just a stepping stone to the real story, and they barely showed it or its campsite.
So - have you been? Is that stretch of the Hollow River likely to be navigable in late August, or will we be walking the entire thing? There are two campsites on Cross Corner - one Algonquin site, one crown land site. Is either decent? How's the lake itself? Worth the slog to get there?
| Trip Reports » Kayak Camper: North Tea Loop Day 3 (video) » 3/18/2019 3:48 pm |
@Martin I don't actually hate canoes you know. I mean I don't want to have to sit in one or paddle one or own one or really be too close to one, but the canoe has a long and storied history in this country and in APP (I can only assume by people who hadn't discovered kayaks yet). So as long as they're not just long stories doing nothing but extolling the virtues of the canoe, I'm sure I'll appreciate them.
I found both your recommendations in ebook format, so I'll add them to my collection. Thanks for the suggestions!
