Dontgraondaddy, gotta agree on all accounts.  My wife had a Subaru Forester for a few years and we had the hatch open one time...hit my head so hard I dented the thing and saw stars.  Haven't repeated that performance since.  Although it is similar to banging your shin on a trailer hitch...have done that repeatedly.

Just picked up my brand-spanking new Souris River Quetico 17 last night in Albany, NY as part of the "circle tour" of delivery.  400 mile round trip (gas mileage went from 42 miles per gallon on the way up to 35 miles per gallon on the way home - so the wind resistance was a substantial detriment).  Can't wait to get it on the water this weekend!

She dwarfs my little mini, but was locked on tight with two front ties (the kind that fit under the hood), two back ties and two straps over the top.  Rode through some blustery winds at 75mph  on the way home without incident.

They don't get much easier than that one.  At least I THINK so.

Big Crow from the overlook?

Unwashed, non-refrigerated eggs will keep for a few weeks.  It's what is commonly done in Europe (strange to see the eggs on a shelf next to cereal with no refrigeration, but look it up, it works) so find a local farm and ask them to set aside a dozen or two then use one of the protection methods above for transporting them un-damaged.

Disappointed to hear that, Bo.  Is it the Achray road or the cart path that is in bad shape?

The two sites on the Northeast shoreline of Happy Isle were less than desirable...poor landing and then a nearly vertical five meters or so up to the level of the campsite.  Just not particularly appealing in layout or anything.  

The two sites on the eastern end of Redrock were so poor but not as a result of the site but rather the conditions of high winds and blowing snow.  With winds from the opposite direction they might have been cozy, protected abodes for a cold night but they turned out to be brutally exposed.

A couple sites on the lower Nipissing were also unappealing.  The one just above Moose Lake was ill-outfitted with virtually no firepit, no visible thunderbox and a moose bed in the meadow virtually in the site...easy to bypass that one.  The first site below Moose Lake was OK but also had an eroding steep bank that had to be ascended to reach the site.  Not terrible, but I've stayed at many far nicer!

I expect quite a few sites might pose the Jekyll & Hyde character based upon conditions.

I think the distinction between 2008 and 2009 is that they identified 2009 as the inaugural attempt to have a PARKWIDE survey done.  Whereas 2008 had a survey completed, it was likely just initiated from one or a handful of access points (i.e. Opeongo and Cedar).  

So a survey was completed in 2008 but it was just a partial survey and not as far-reaching throughout the park and all of its access sites.

My gosh those posts were made a long time ago.  Hard to believe it's been nearly 10 years since those were made.

Hey Basil, the way I described my use of the painter lines does just what you're looking for...helps to control the "pitch" of the canoe during a carry so you can lift the bow or stern with a gentle tug on the rope.  The real benefit though is the comfort of keeping your arms at your sides during a carry instead of up on one or both of the gunwales.

One trip I had the length down just right so that I could give a couple twists of the line around a few fingers and then was able to rest my forearm on the painter while my elbow was bent at 90 degrees...it felt like I had my arm resting on a sofa while portaging.  That's about the only time I could envision associating a sofa and portaging.

Hey Methye - I guess my moniker should be "PAPaddler" since PA is the official designation of the state of Pennsylvania where I have lived most of my 49 years.

Although I am a dad as well, but nobody calls me "Pa".  Don't know if you're from north of the border or south, but the funny thing about Pennsylvania is that many Pennsylvanians refer to the state as just two letters P A when talking about it in conversation.  Multiple other linguistic idiosyncrasies - folks in the western part of the state refer to a group of people as "yinz" (instead of "are you going downtown" they might ask "are yinz going downtown").  And many in the central part of the state love scrapple.

My apologies for being so long-winded...you clearly got more than you bargained for on the inquiry!

For a cute reference....http://www.onlyinyourstate.com/pennsylvania/pa-words/