Steve E wrote:

Nice videos!  I normally prefer these videos without music but man, great song selections!!!  Thanks for sharing!

Thanks a lot! I really appreciate it

Last weekend on Harness Lake:

I was there on Saturday/Sunday, colours were spectacular, but I think I made it just for the end of their peak.

As of yesterday, the Algonquin Fall Colour Report was at "Peak". I just looked right now, and it's at "Just Peaked", where it will probably stay for the next few days to a week.

http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/visit/general_park_info/fall-colour-report.php

Are you planning on camping, or just hiking? I camped on Harness and then hiked Skymount the next day (off of Cache Lake) and it was a 10/10 view. Then I hiked the Beetle Lake Trail, and it was much less exciting. I'm just sifting through my pictures right now... I can post a few, but if you're going to see it in person, I'd say it's worth it to save the suspense.

Thanks for the report. 

I love tiny island sites, but I never knew David existed. Then when I was planning a solo trip about a month or two ago, I saw it on the map, and thought "this is perfect!". So I read a few trip reports, and saw that the distance/paddling/portaging was the perfect amount for travelling solo. It was going to be a 2 nighter as well, and this looked like the perfect place to call home for that amount of time.

Then I checked the reservations, and it was booked

I ended up going back to Linda Lake, which I was at last year as well (this year was solo, last year wasn't). I got the tiny island site both years, which is one of my favorites. If you like these types of sites, you should check it out (you can read my trip report here: http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=45348). I also like to write a lot...

But David Lake is high on my list and will probably be a solo trip next year. Thanks again for the detailed report.

RCShevalier wrote:

pgarvie wrote:

If your are looking for a great place, my favorite for a short trip.... access #7 Source to Bruce to Raven to Owl to Linda.  We've stayed on all these lakes with our favourite, on the Island on Linda, it has a picnic table.  great place to watch both sunrise/sunset, fish, swim and if you take binoculars you can watch the moose, bear and bikers on the trail.  

I'm interested in exploring this route sometime this Fall. Does anyone know how long it would take on average to get from Access #7 to Linda Lake?

Jeff's Maps is pretty accurate with it's 2hr40min prediction. The portages aren't too difficult other than 1 or 2 tricky landings to load/unload the canoe if I remember correctly.

The post from pgarvie is pretty spot on... the island site is well used with no firewood and susceptible to the wind, but it's spacious (for such a small island), has gorgeous views of both sunrise and sunset, lots of flat rock for swimming and stargazing, and the site/firepit faces northwest, so you're facing away from the other campsites and passing traffic. It's one of my personal favourites.

Here's my trip report from last year: http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=44235

The site closest to the portage leading into Iris looked pretty nice as well, and I've read that the south site is good as well. Considering that they only reserve 3 of the 4 sites, you're bound to get something good.

I wouldn't recommend camping on the lakes prior to Linda though, the sites aren't anything special. 


When do you plan on going? I'll actually be heading back to Linda solo for a few nights during the September long weekend.

Sepandee wrote:

My first post!

Usually I book several dates, 3-5 nights each, somewhere in Killarney, most of the time with a two-night stop in OSA. I love it there. This year, however, I thought I wouldn't be here for the summer, so no reservations were made. Alas, I'm here, and the long weekend is coming. I have 2-3 people who insist on going camping/canoeing in the backcountry. They're beginners, and I myself, despite having done this 15-20 times in the past few years, *don't* consider myself an expert. 

I tried to look for a few familiar spots, but of course they're all booked until September 2037.

SO i thought maybe I should try somewhere else, somewhere new. NEver bene to Algonquin before. If someone can guide me and come up with some suggestions, I would be most grateful. I guess so close to the long weekend, it will be almost impossible to find anything. However, in the off chance that some spots are still available, given the level of experience we're carrying:

* Get to campsite in 6-8 hours, and stay there for 2-3 nights
* No more than 3 portages, 3km max, unless a bit more gives us the advantage of being able to book an empty campsite when nothing else is available
* Not too choppy waters
* Preferably somewhere not too crowded. Every time I go to OSA, in 4-5 nights, I see no more than 10-20 campers along the entire trip. Doesn't have to be that secluded, but some seclusion is nice.

Thanks. I really appreciate the help. Looking at so many campsites and lakes can be a bit overwhelming when you're not familiar with the territory.

If you've only been to Killarney and never Algonquin, keep in mind you've set the bar very high for yourself. Algonquin is beautiful, but it's not as mountainous and picturesque as Killarney... but I've had the nicest sunrises and sunsets I've ever seen in Algonquin.

Anyways, what you're looking for is pretty impossible... you won't find much seclusion if you're only going to be doing one days worth of travel, with mi