I said dubious not impossible because the statement  doesn’t make sense to me.

It’s drier because it’s from the North? The AP area has excellent forestry. When we moved to Northern Ontario the most signifant difference I noticed was that the trees were smaller/ more scraggly so to say our wood is better because it comes from the north while standing in a park that is located in one of the best forested areas in Ontario makes me question the whole statement.

And thanks for clarifying that wood can come from anywhere in the province. I should have said in my experience the wood is from the AP area. I haven’t bought firewood south of Sudbury that was sourced north of Sudbury but yes it is possible. The whole description seemed dubious to me.

Thanks for sharing the tender process. We have friends who sell wood to the parks so I was familiar but hadn’t read the official documents before

Agreed most bears in Algonquin won’t recognize blue barrels. I was really at the point that we were looking for a different option but certainly the idea of bears getting habituated concerns me and I felt like a ursack was the right combination of safety/ weight for me. I don’t think we are at a point where we need bear vaults in AP but I think the ursack is a good middle ground. Your mileage may vary 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hi Everyone,

This has been bothering me for awhile and I would really like other people on this forum’s interpretation. I am honestly a little reticent that post because when I’ve discussed it in other forums people have been unkind but I think everyone here will be civil.

Okay here goes:

This is what the FOA website says:

Under the ban, no person shall possess any non-burnable food or beverage containers other than containers and eating utensils that are specifically designed and intended for repeated use and for which no deposit is charged; and containers that are specifically designed for dehydrated foods. Metal foil is permitted, as are containers of fuel, insect repellent, medicine, or other items that are not food or beverages.

The garbage bags from AP say don’t burn plastic on them.

So if I read this, I think this means

- I can take burnable disposables (so no plastic)
- I can take reusable containers that don’t require a deposit (so Nalgene bottles, Ziplocks, etc.)
- I can take metal foil
- I can have dehydrated foods in packaging

But I can’t take non burnable non reusable non dehydrated packaging.

So for example, I couldn’t bring a plastic vodka bottle or Starbucks
Via coffee (because it comes in plastic but I could bring instant coffee I’ve transferred to a Nalgene).

Does anyone else read it this way? I am constantly finding the plastic packaging from single use lemonade and granola bar wrappers on trail. Am I nuts to think we aren’t supposed to have those (presumably because people drop them all over the place)?

I thought I’d provide an update on using a Ursack. We traditionally used blue barrels and hung them. It got to the point where carrying them was too hard on my body. We always carry a throw bag and I do a pretty good job with a hang bit when we converted to Ostrum packs I originally was going to hang food in dry bags and just wasn’t happy with that option.

We have a bear vault that I bought to try backpacking but I didn’t love that option in terms of space so I bought a 30 L ursack. I bought the kind that is good for both bears and smaller animals. I do hang it.  At this point I’m comfortable with that. I don’t see any difference between the chance that my ursack might get knocked down and stolen and the chance that my blue barrels might get knocked down and eaten. Just a much lower chance that the bear is going to get a reward from the bag vs the barrel. Which is why I protect my food. I can paddle out in a day or two if I lose all my food. My main priority is not contributing to a bear being habituated.

The other thing that really changed my mind is I watched a video by a woman named Chris. They had an issue with a bear who came out of the woods when they opened their blue barrel - like it made a pop as the lid came off and the bear came. They chased it off. Hung a perfect bear hang between 2 trees. In the middle of the night the bear came back, climbed across their rope, tore open their barrel and ate everything. In contrast we saw a video in the US where he barrels are less common and the bear gave up after sniffing out the barrel. What I took from this was novel has some value. And it also reminded me that in order of protection from most to least, it is really: bear vault, ursack, blue barrel, dry bag. A ursack is more protective than a blue barrel - less than a bear vault.

So for me it seemed like the right choice - easier to carry than a blue barrel and more protective. I’ll use a bear vault in locations that require them and ursacks where i

And also since you don’t have the check in the sign in offices are much less busy so they have the time to make reservations 🤷🏻‍♀️

SeekingSolitude wrote:

ChristineCanoes wrote:

Because if you show up without a reservation you don’t get charged that fee at all so you can save the whole fee (not just the 2$)
 

 
Really, I wonder if that was a mistake & they should have charged you but didn't?

Reservation Fees from Ontario parks website very clearly states

"Reservation Fees for Call Centre and Park
Base Fee    HST    Total
Reservation Fee    $11.50    $1.50    $13.00
Cancellation Fee (minimum)    $9.29    $1.21    $10.50
Change Fee (minimum)    $9.29    $1.21    $10.50"

So in person at the park should incur $13 reservation fee.

Nope not a mistake. I’ve asked at multiple park offices about it in multiple parks. And I’ve reserved at multiple parks in person. There is no fee in person. And why would there be? How can they justify charging a fee to charge you? It would be like a hotel charging you to book a night. It makes no sense. The parks have never chatted a fee to reserve in person. The fees were created because the park is a paying a company to run a website/ phone line.
 

If you book on-site you don’t have to pay the reservation fee. If I am booking a 20 day trip it’s worth the 9$ to save the time figuring out my route online. But for one night or two nights where the site isn’t sold out. We always drive up and book in person. I’ve saved 30$ in reservation fees in September doing this 🤷🏻‍♀️

Yes you can still do this. I usually just book online before driving up but you can book in person

I think I’m finally at the point where this doesn’t happen. I think it’s because I am light enough and have my food dialed in so it doesn’t take as long anymore. But it took a lot of practice and gear upgrades to get here!