Methye – Thank you!
 
hiker72 – Thank you, Rich!
 
Algonquintripper – Thank you, Dave. It seems you and I share a bit of an interest in trees. I pay attention to the shapes of trees and often take photos of interesting ones. I did not notice the tree in your photo, but saw these other two just off the point that seemed to be pointing me in the direction of my campsite. So I followed them!
 
Believe me, I have thought about doing the full loop. Maybe next year.
 
CanoeClaire – Thank you! My wife thinks I like to go off to the forest to have fun. I’ve tried to explain to her that it’s more of a personal challenge than fun. OK, I do have a little fun  While this trip has quenched my thirst for backcountry for now, I’ll sure I’ll be back at it again next year.
 
MartinG – Thank you, Martin!

Sincerely, Tracy

Hi folks,
I have started packing for my trip this weekend, getting excited.
Can't take Friday off so my plan is to go up either Friday evening (stay at Mew Lake for one night) or early Saturday morning. I'll try to take some decent photos and submit a trip log afterwards.

Tracy

Hello folks, I am looking to do a little solo backpacking on the weekend of October 15-16. Emphasis on little, as I plan to walk a few hours into the bush, set up a base camp and stay there for a couple of days.

I was originally planning on going the first weekend of the month, but surprisingly to me campsites were booked up for that weekend when I checked at the beginning of September. It would appear as if backpacking is increasing in popularity. There's no way I could leave the family on Thanksgiving weekend, so the 15th became my next opportunity. However, when I checked the online reservation page, I discovered campsites cannot be booked in advance after Thanksgiving.

I sent an email to the Park asking about their policy and was informed that while reservations are not taken after Thanksgiving, I could call before driving up to check availability.

I don't consider this particularly ideal as there are limited sites available in a given bookable campsite area. Does anyone have any personal experience or advice to offer in regard to off-season gambling on campsite availability (aside from getting there as early in the day as possible)?

Thank you for your consideration, I appreciate it.

I've gone through several sleeping pads looking for that special one I would be happy with. I have a Iong history of not sleeping well in my bed at home so I placed a priority on comfort when camping/canoeing/backpacking. 

I started with the MEC Reactor 6.5 which is very comfortable but heavy and huge when rolled up. My next pad was a Thermarest Prolite Plus. Much better in terms of packed size and weight than the Reactor 6.5, but too narrow for a guy like me with wide shoulders who tosses and turns through the night. Constantly coming into contact with the cold ground in the middle of the night is no fun!

So I bit the bullet, spent more money than I wanted to and invested in a Thermarest Xtherm Max. I got the Large size due to its extra width. This is the one I'll stick with. It's rugged, warm, collapses small for transport and unlike most other sleeping pads it can be stored rolled up. In my estimation, the complaints of crinkling noises are overblown. I've used the Xtherm Max in weather ranging from +6C to +26C and not been uncomfortable. Check out the reviews online, this is a very highly regarded product. 

Regardless of which one you go with, here is a tip to keep yourself from coming into contact with the cold ground when you have a narrow pad: On my trips I take one of those All Weather Emergency Blankets MEC sells for $17 and lay that under the sleeping pads, shiny side up. If an arm or leg does happen to go onto the ground, the blanket reflects the body heat back up, resulting in much less discomfort.

Good luck!

I use a tarp over my tent when backpacking and canoeing even though my tent fly is very capable of withstanding even heavy rain. Here are several reasons why:
- Ever pitch a tent in a downpour? The tent gets wet. Putting a tarp up first gives you the chance to get the tent up while both you and the tent are shielded. Of course, when you are striking camp and it's raining, having the tarp overhead allows you to pack the tent and fly up nice and dry. The wet tarp goes in a separate bag and is no problem to dry out later.
- If the tarp is large enough (mine is a 9 x 12), you can get out of the tent in the rain to do something close to the tent and not get wet.
- if the rain is coming down horizontally, a large tarp over the tent pitched properly will keep some of that rain from getting in under the fly.
- When faced with a strong cold wind from a single direction, a large tarp that acts as a wall can actually keep you warmer.
- In hot weather, having a tarp a few feet overhead can keep the tent from getting very hot inside, especially in locations exposed to direct sunlight.

Just some food for thought.