ATVenture wrote:

Check out these guys I seen on Pimisi Lake yesterday. The first portage of the Mattawa River is on the far shore just slightly to the right of the photo. That's where they were headed. Funny thing is I know they weren't the first people to run the entire Mattawa this Spring. Bill Steer ran the River from Pimisi to Mattawa on May 1st.
There were also around 10-12 kayakers playing in the Amable Du Fond yesterday, beside Highway 630 around the snowmobile trail crossing.

Was in the interior of Pukaskwa in early May with a buddy one year. First 2 lakes we paddled through were ice free, the last one looked like that.
My friend was in the bow, and against my wishes, he hopped out on the ice with his hands still on the gunnels to drag the boat forward a few feet at a time, then he'd hop back in.
I knew it was stupid, but there was no stopping him. Eventually just as I thought, in mid drag he fell straight through a patch of rotten ice and was in the lake up to his neck hanging onto the gunnel. I'm eternally grateful he didn't grab the gunnel when he fell through as he would have flipped the canoe and both of us would have been in the lake.
He managed to climb back in then we made for shore and lit a fire.
Was really foolhardy and scary, never again.  
 

Was Hardcore wrote:

Mike back in the day we use to fish the outflow of Bruce nuke and would always have to push our tinny that way over Baie du ore till we broke through we would wear our 5mm neoprene and you could kind of tell when the ice was going to break.

The things you do for fish eh?
 

Rob wrote:

Not to be a killjoy but has anyone stepped back and took a look at where we really are right now?
The Park's planned opening is less than a week away and lakes still  have ice, access roads on the West side are still impassible doe to snow cover and the status of the Brent Road is still unknown not to mention whatever damages has happened to the roads and need to be fixed over the Winter. Not to mention that staff have not made it in to do any pre season maintenance.
Ya I know that a few closed access roads will not stop the rest of the Park being opened but also looking at the the last few years, current Park Management seems reluctant to open the back county to overnight travel if there is ice remaining anywhere in the Park. It seems that the days of the South being opened while there is ice in the North end are long gone.
Ya I know, not what anyone wants to hear but someone had to say it.
Let's just hope I am wrong but I am not ruling out the date being pushed back a little more to protect us from ourselves and keep the Lawyers happy.

 

I am still 50/50 on next Friday being opening day.  I have a strong feeling they will push it to the 18th for the long weekend.
My buddies and I have a good backup plan for next weekend if it is pushed back again.  Better to be safe than sorry!

I would *like* to hope that, given how late we are into the season already, that they'll get less wedded to a Friday opener, and push back a couple days at a time (if needed). Do I have any evidence they'll do that? Nope. But if I were running Algonquin, I wouldn't want the first day for a bunch of new staff to be Victoria Day Friday. If I could open a few days before then to give them a soft opening, I certainly would!

Took a drive up the Brent Road this afternoon.. got as far as the 11km mark then found this puddle...  we didn't try it. 

I wish I knew that! Did you make it to Brent ?

PhillyPhilster wrote:

Took a drive up the Brent Road this afternoon.. got as far as the 11km mark then found this puddle...  we didn't try it. 

HAHA Im surprised I didn't see you out there yesterday!!! I turned around at the EXACT same spot.
On Saturday the hill at KM4 that had a tiny bit of snow yesterday was 1ft deep on Sat so that shows how fast its going, but I hiked up the hill we stopped at and there are spots that are over 18 inches deep up there. Going to be a few days yet.
Phil : if you wanna go fishing that bad chip in some gas and we can take my lifted Chevy back there for some fun. 
And dont you guys remember last year? I couldn't even access Brent in my car TWO days before the park opened, but they still opened on time. Same with both Mag and Rain, neither were accessible just TWO days before opener, but they still did it! As soon as there are ruts in the snow/ice it only takes a day or two to clear off the road.
Now that I think about it the Warden went into Mag the day before opener last year and he hardly got his Ford out there through the snow, the next day when the park opened he was only letting people in with extra clearence (no cars) but all the snow had melted overnight and the road was good to go by morning.
Also Fork Lake is now open, so itll only be a couple of days for the rest now.

Last edited by ATVenture (5/07/2018 5:50 am)

From Kincardine and remember all to well pushing the boats across the ice and jumping in and also running them up on the ice and dragging to shore,   best fishing spot I ever fished.

Was Hardcore wrote:

Mike back in the day we use to fish the outflow of Bruce nuke and would always have to push our tinny that way over Baie du ore till we broke through we would wear our 5mm neoprene and you could kind of tell when the ice was going to break.

"Most of Algonquin Park's lakes are expected to shed their ice this week. Some large lakes which traditionally melt slower could retain their ice cover into the weekend of May 12/13, 2018 (stay tuned for details)."
Based on their wording I'm assuming some access points will remain closed for the weekend. I'm guessing Cedar, Tim, Mag, and Rain.

Last edited by ATVenture (5/07/2018 11:52 am)