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Looking for some input and suggestions on potential routes for my first solo trip this summer. I'm thinking 3-4 days. A couple of points in my thought process:
1. Avoid big open water. Given this will be a first for me, avoiding strong winds and dicey conditions seems like a no-brainer.
2. Ideally I'd like some good fishing opportunities
3. I'm somewhat torn between a leisurely trip and covering a lot of ground. Moseying about and fishing seems appealing, but my concern is that too much time alone without much to do might bother me. Breaking/setting up camp and covering ground seems like a potential solution.
4. Scenery - speaks for itself.
5. Solitude - that's the point of a solo, right?
Considering everything mentioned, I was thinking starting at Rain Lake access point and doing some kind of loop to include Sawyer, Jubilee, Islet and Moccasin. Maybe even up to the Petawawa? I've never been to this part of the park though.
North Tea/Manitou/Kiosk is definitely on my list for this summer, but I feel like tackling those solo might be a bit too ambitious.
Other suggestions?
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One big questions is, will you be single carrying or doubling back? This can significantly affect travel time and it's difficult to give suggestions without knowing this.
I make some 'arguments' for the Source --> Linda route in this post:
That was in reference to a 2 nighter there and back, but you can easily turn it into a 3 day loop (2 nights Linda, one night Polly, out at Cannisbay and shuttle back to Source). I didn't mention it in that post, but during my trip to Linda this past summer, I spoke with another couple that fished on the lake and they said it had great fishing. Overall would be a really great option for first time solo, in my opinion.
Jumping back to your first post...
#1 - no large bodies of water... check
#2 - good fishing.... check (supposedly, can't say first hand)
#3 - leisure vs. covering ground... you'd be covering good ground on day 1, as well as a couple long portages during the rest.. with a leisure day in between. Seems like a pretty good balance without overdoing one or the other
#4 - not the best in the park, but not bad. Campsites are nice on Linda and it's a pretty lake
#5 - surpisingly good privacy. The distance of campsites, the way they face, and their position on the lakes, make them pretty good for solitude.
I've done the Kiosk/Manitou region as well... it was a 3-nighter from Kiosk to Manitou, Three Mile, Maple, out at Kiosk. It would definitely be doable solo, but there are some longer portages and big lakes. If you haven't paddled solo before, I'd probably advise against it (although my first solo was Canoe, Joe, Burnt Island etc. which were very windy). It would be about 6hrs travel every day assuming you double carry, so wouldn't be as leisurely as the Source --> Linda area.
Last edited by trippythings (2/20/2017 7:19 pm)
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The plan is to single carry. On all of the tandem trips I've done we always single carried so I'd like that to remain the case while solo. I found MartinG's posts super useful from an old thread -
I'd completely looked over that option. The large majority of my time in the park has been spent off of the 60 corridor and while planning trips for this year, I've kind of approached it it with an "anywhere but there" mindset. Algonquin is big, and I want to see some different areas.
I spent a day paddling solo, as part of a larger group trip in Killarney last year. I'd say I'm comfortable, but just haven't had much experience solo. 95% of my paddling has been riding stern in a tandem. Covering distance and longer portages aren't a concern for me, its just more so fighting the wind as you mentioned, and the nagging idea in the back of my mind that I'll be solo and "what if".
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basilthegood wrote:
The plan is to single carry. On all of the tandem trips I've done we always single carried so I'd like that to remain the case while solo. I found MartinG's posts super useful from an old thread -
I'd completely looked over that option. The large majority of my time in the park has been spent off of the 60 corridor and while planning trips for this year, I've kind of approached it it with an "anywhere but there" mindset. Algonquin is big, and I want to see some different areas.
I spent a day paddling solo, as part of a larger group trip in Killarney last year. I'd say I'm comfortable, but just haven't had much experience solo. 95% of my paddling has been riding stern in a tandem. Covering distance and longer portages aren't a concern for me, its just more so fighting the wind as you mentioned, and the nagging idea in the back of my mind that I'll be solo and "what if".
Assuming you pack light, put your food in a dry pack instead of a barrel (which then goes into your pack), and rent a lightweight solo boat, you'd be looking at probably 60-80lbs total. Pack on your back, boat on your shoulders, paddle strapped onto the thwarts. It's definitely doable, but it can still make an easy portage difficult and a difficult portage extremely tiring. I also single-carry 100% of the time with a group, and I've done both solo... I honestly prefer to double carry when solo. The shorter the trip, the less you bring, the more realistic it is to single carry though obviously. But personally, if you're going to plan a trip assuming single carries, I'd leave a lot of buffer time... enough buffer so that if you change your mind, it won't ruin the route.
In terms of paddling... has your solo paddling been in a tandem boat or solo boat? The solo boat will take a bit of time to get the feel for it, and your strokes will have much more influence so it's a different experience in general. To be safe, on my first solo I took a kayak paddle as a backup. While the double blade will tire you out, it's very efficient for paddling in windy waters. If you do decide to bring an extra paddle, make sure you take this into consideration when thinking about the logistics of a single carry.
So far my only solo trips have been pretty short (hoping to change that this summer), but if you want to do a bit of reading on my experiences...
First solo:
Second solo:
Third solo:
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I guess it's going to be one of those things I'll have to try and then figure out what my preference is. I'm going to pack with the mindset of single carries, but I hear you in it not being as enjoyable. It may end up that I single the longer ones and double the shorter ones? Tripling portage distances irks me just thinking about it.
That day was in a loaded solo canoe, but I've also spent some time leisurely solo paddling my 16'. I'm shopping around right now for a new kevlar that I'd like to have double for tandem and solo duties so what I'll be paddling is TBD. I hadn't given much thought to paddles yet..add that to the list!
I appreciate the input! I'm on a trip log binge right now - I'll make sure to give those a read while procrastinating at work!
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I guess it's going to be one of those things I'll have to try and then figure out what my preference is. I'm going to pack with the mindset of single carries, but I hear you in it not being as enjoyable. It may end up that I single the longer ones and double the shorter ones? Tripling portage distances irks me just thinking about it.
That day was in a loaded solo canoe, but I've also spent some time leisurely solo paddling my 16'. I'm shopping around right now for a new kevlar that I'd like to have double for tandem and solo duties so what I'll be paddling is TBD. I hadn't given much thought to paddles yet..add that to the list!
I appreciate the input! I'm on a trip log binge right now - I'll make sure to give those a read while procrastinating at work!
The logic makes sense, but I find you'll usually end up doing just one or the other. If you can manage a long portage single carry, then why waste time doubling back on shorter ones? Triple walking the portage sounds silly at first, but if you plan your day accordingly, it's really not that bad. And it's surprisingly nice to walk through the trail with no gear, actually getting to look around instead of just at the ground with a canoe blocking your whole view. Doing this in October when leaves were at their peak colours added a whole new aspect to the trip, and the idea of double carries.
But like you said, pack for a single carry. Plan for the best, but prepare for the worst. Leave yourself enough time to double carry. What if it rains and the portage is muddy and slippery and you don't want to risk walking it with all that gear on your back? What if you're battling heavy winds and you decide to paddle close to shore which therefore lengthens your paddles? Setting up camp, cooking, gathering wood... all takes a lot longer solo as well. I'm sure it sounds obvious, but just be cautious when planning.
Also if you end up going with a tandem boat, that's not going to make it any easier to single carry and control the boat in windy waters.
Anyways, in my "first solo trip" report that I posted, there's a link to another thread where lots of people gave me some great advice before my first solo. Would definitely recommend adding that to your list of bored-at-work reading material 
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One of my first solos was Rain-Daisy-Petawawa-Moccasin-Sawyer. It's a great beginner solo -- small lakes, reasonable portages, reasonable distances. The only drawback for you would be that bass would be limited to Jubilee, Sawyer and Rain, though there would be trout opportunities elsewhere on the loop. I did it in a leisurely 3 days, camping at Daisy and Jubilee. I always single carry on tandem/group trips, but I was not able to pack for single carries on that trip, due to a combination of the backpack I was using and the warm clothing I needed. Hence the first night on Daisy. But single carrying on solos is possible, and then you'd cover more ground.
I know that's not quite what you were suggesting - you were thinking of looping through Cranebill and Islet? Between them is one long portage and one short one that involves climbing almost vertically over the old railway berm. Probably easier with company. Maybe you want to start with the loop I described above, and then extend it south into Hot and Islet at the end for more bass. But don't expect to complete the loop through Wee and Way unless water levels are high.
Personally I think you're totally right to avoid larger lakes until you have more experience soloing. Manitou's winds have stumped me even paddling tandem.
Solitude - that's the point of a solo, right?
Well, kinda. I agree that you don't want to be somewhere crowded where you can hear other campers from your site at night, but at least for a first time solo, I think it's good to be in an area where you can count on passing the odd fellow traveller during the day just in case. Incidentally, when I did the loop described above it was mid-week in early October and as such I saw zero people the whole time except at the access point arriving and leaving, and it was a bit daunting. Not rational fear of anything happening, just the psychological weight of being alone in a landscape that humans don't seem to be part of. I've been on a couple of other solos that had a good balance of campsite solitude with daytime encounters.
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