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Skies are clear today so there is a really good Modis satellite photo available. Algonquin still appears to be snow covered and all lakes frozen. Round Lake and Golden Lake east of Algonquin on highway 60 (and at a significantly lower elevation than lakes in Algonquin) are still frozen. Hopefully, we'll start to see significant changes with the warm weather expected over the next few days.
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Well, you heard it here first:
I just talked to one of West Gate information staff, he confirmed that the park will continue selling interior permits for the backpacking trails during the current "backcountry blackout." He did add that the trails are in pretty rough shape right now (snow/ice/mud).
Might be worth confirming with the info people if you are planning a hiking trip: 1-705-633-5572.
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AO_GordB wrote:
Well, you heard it here first:
I just talked to one of West Gate information staff, he confirmed that the park will continue selling interior permits for the backpacking trails during the current "backcountry blackout." He did add that the trails are in pretty rough shape right now (snow/ice/mud)..
The notice on the park website now states that you can still get interior permits for the Highland and Western Upland trails. I am pretty sure that information was not there when the notice was first put up.
There is some risk in hiking the Western Uplands trail early in the season because the first few hundred meters of the trail can flood if the Oxtongue River overflows its bank. Many years ago when visiting the park in the spring, the MNR person at the West Gate told us that someone had had to wade through that water, up to waist deep, to get back to their vehicle just a day or two earlier.
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Lakes in North Bay took a beating today.. warmer temps predicted for the next 3 days with pure sun...at this rate trout opener might be possible.
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You could literally see the change between the two MODIS images from today.
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Going for a drive to Kiosk today, will report with pictures when I get back! 
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Well with the past 4 days of warm sunny weather we have had the best we could hope for in terms of ice melting conditions. There is still substantial ice coverage, but the sun melts ice by going deep and breaking down crystals within the ice mass, so even though we see little surface melting, the ice is degrading within the ice mass. With continued sunny weather for this week, albeit not quite as warm, things are looking good. Anyway, for highway 60 corridor lakes at least, my guess is we will have ice free conditions by Monday of next week. And while the the pictures of Canoe lake posted by Algonquin Outfitters yesterday show lots of snow and ice, the satellite images are definitely showing increasingly greying conditions that you can see from day to day. Anyway, this is my positive spin and I'm sticking to it! Looking forward to seeing Token's pics of the Kiosk area, although I imagine there will be lots of snow and ice up there.
Moonman
Last edited by Moonman (4/17/2016 8:36 am)
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Kiosk Lake still looks to have substantial ice coverage. The shore is starting open up in most places up to 2 or 3 feet. My young puppy (born in the early winter now 60lbs) was smashing in the water and tried to jump up on the ice at the beach but he legs instantly fell through. It was impossibly for her to get on the ice pretty much anywhere without breaking through even where the ice was tight to shore.
Was driving down highway 630 to Kiosk at the perfect time to catch these people out on the Amable du Fond River. I was quite envious but wow that water would be cold!!
You can see open water in the last two pictures which is looking toward the railway land bridge. I'm not sure if there is enough current from the small opening in the bridge to open the water up this far down? If so between that section and where the Amable du Fond dumps from the lake there wont be ice much longer... maybe until the end of next week at the most?
On Tuesday I will probably go back for another drive to see the progress. I might even bring the canoe. ;-)
Anyone look at the Satellite images from today?!?
Looks like the lakes on the Eastern part (Sec, Grand, etc) are almost open at this point. That area is a lower elevation so should loose ice sooner! I think canoeing in that area will be a go this weekend.?
Last edited by token (4/17/2016 3:05 pm)
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Traverse has a wide open channel.. Radiant not far behind.. won't be long now..
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I booked my trip this morning and was pleasantly reminded that the backcountry is closed until April 28, open on the 29th. For some reason I thought it was open on the 28th. I have a scheduling conflict on May 5th so I scheduled my departure date for the 6th so I have a full eight days. I'm still hoping it's open by next Wednesday so I can reschedule.
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Just got back from a drive through of the Highway 60 corridor. Pretty much all the lakes are ice covered, with the ice tight to shore. It's very dark looking though. Going south down 35, once you hit Boshkung most of the lakes are ice free (some have a bare skimmer of ice in the middle that probably won't last another day.) Going north from Boshkung, Halls Lake was almost totally covered except a bit of open spots at shore in small bays, but Lake of Bays had a pretty big open spot, I'm assuming because of the river going through Dorset. All the ice looked dark and degraded.
We have a car camping trip booked for Rock Lake on the 29th. The Rock Lake Road looked to have a few inches of snow at least on it still. A drive through Mew Lake campground didn't raise my optimism. Some sites were bare but really muddy, and some had a good 2 inches of ice or more and good sized snowbanks. We stayed at Mew for a few nights at the end of March Break and all the sites were like skating rinks.
No moose sighted, not even tracks in the mud in the ditches. And to top off a disheartening day, Henrietta's Bakery wasn't open. Still better than being at work.
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Posted another Algonquin Outfitters Ice Out Report this past weekend. Most of last week we still saw negative temperatures every night, often double digits negative. Any ground we made during the positive day temps were lost over night. This week looks much better and I expect we will start to see many lakes opening up this week.
My full report with lots of photos from lakes across Highway 60 from Friday April 15th 2016
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Thanks for these reports. It really builds anticipation for the season.
Great pics! I really enjoyed the pictures of the spectacular ice formations. I can see why people wanted the locations.
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Updated: Tuesday, April 19, 2016
Nearly all lakes in Algonquin Park remain totally ice covered despite the above seasonal temperatures.
Secondary gravel roads providing access to the Park's backcountry are snow covered and/or very muddy making much of Algonquin Park inaccessible to the public. For example, in the past week, Park staff have been using snowmobiles to monitor conditions such as the images of Brent Campground shown below.
Last edited by Barbara (4/19/2016 7:53 am)
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The latest satellite pic is out for today. Very encouraging! If you look at the 17th then today, Lake of Bays and Kawagama are ice free now. It wasn't all that warm there yesterday. Cross your fingers!
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Hey Splaking you beat me too it! I was just came on to post the same info. In fact, areas of Opeongo look surprisingly dark gray to very dark gray. Seems like a lot of melt since a couple days ago, even with the warm temps and sun. Here is the link for today's satellite pic:
Moonman.
Last edited by Moonman (4/19/2016 1:39 pm)
