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We are coming from the US for our second Algonquin trip in mid-October. It will be a five-day, four-nighter, and I'm looking for guidance.
We are currently looking at either: 1) a West side, Access#3 Petawawa/Little Trout/Ralph Bice type of route; or 2) a south side, Cache Lake/Bonnechere/Smoke Lake type route.
Our previous Algonquin trip was from Access #2: Tim River/Rosebary/Longbow - which was a fun trip (though I found myself cursing the winding, beavery, Tim at times 
). We've also done many BWCAW, and other American canoe trips - so experience level is about one or two trips a year for about a decade. Priorities include great scenery, wildlife , and, of course, as few people as possible. We fish, but aren't very good, so not a huge priority. We try to keep travel time to 4-5 hours a day, and a layover day is always welcome.
My questions are:
1) Does either of our potential routes clearly outweigh the other (whether scenery, difficulty, wildlife, remoteness)?
2) Is the Petawawa likely to be navigable in October?
3) Is there another type of route we should be looking at ((for travel purposes, on the west or south sides)?
Thanks for any advice - I've enjoyed perusing the site and forum!
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Welcome (and welcome back to APP)!
Ramses wrote:
1) Does either of our potential routes clearly outweigh the other (whether scenery, difficulty, wildlife, remoteness)?
I would stay away from the Cache Lake/Smoke and any other routes along Hwy60 in mid-October. The leaves are changing colours, it can be really busy along Hwy 60. West side will be less busy during this time (and a bit less busy overall).
One reasonable trip would be:
Access #3
Night 1: Misty Lake
Night 2: Grassy Bay/White Trout (if you can make it - would be worthwhile).
Night 3: McIntosh
Night 4: Daisy Lake (about 90 min from take-out)
No portage longer than 1000m.
2) Is the Petawawa likely to be navigable in October?
Yes.
3) Is there another type of route we should be looking at ((for travel purposes, on the west or south sides)?
See above. Other option would be Access 1 (North Tea Lake).
Access 1
Night 1: North Tea East
Night 2: 3-mile (via 2900m portage from Manitou)
Night 3: Biggar L (site beside ranger cabin is really good)
Night 4: NTL East
More remote than Access 3. Winds could be an issue on NTL, but if tandem paddling it's fine 99% of the time.
I like these two routes better than most along Hwy 60.
Hope that helps!
Cheers
Marko
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Be aware that October 8 (Monday) is the Canadian Thanksgiving. That weekend will likely be crowded (read: crazy!!) in Algonquin especially anywhere near Highway 60.
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It might be busy along Hwy 60 in October, but mostly literally along the highway... if you're going south into the backcountry., it won't be very busy. Especially if you're going mid-October AFTER our Thanksgiving long weekend (Oct 8 as mentioned above), it will be pretty dead quiet.
Honestly, I think there are great routes to consider in the south...
- Smoke to Cache, looping through any combination of Bonnechere, McGarvey, Phipps, Pardee, Head; hiking the Skymount lookout off Head lake for a nice scenic fall view
- Rock Lake loop; looping through Clydegale, Welcome/Harry, Louisa, back to Rock; hiking the Booth Rock trail lookout for a different fall view
- Just north of 60 starting from Canoe, passing through Otterslide, Big Trout, Sunbeam, back to Canoe. I almost think this is one of the best options because of how popular it is in the summer months.. meaning mid-October is your chance to do it with barely anyone around, while being able to snag all the campsites that you want (which would usually be a roll of the dice whether they're available on these lakes)
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Thanks for the great responses - I'll take these ideas to the group - some fun looking trips!
I think we may be in over Canadian Thanksgiving, but looking at the reservations, it doesn't seem the backcountry sites will be very crowded. It actually looks pretty empty, mostly.
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Thanks for the great responses - I'll take these ideas to the group - some fun looking trips!
I think we may be in over Canadian Thanksgiving, but looking at the reservations, it doesn't seem the backcountry sites will be very crowded. It actually looks pretty empty, mostly.
Honestly any time after Labour Day (Sept 3 this year) once school starts up again the backcountry gets pretty empty relatively speaking. Hwy 60 will be filled with tourists during peak fall colours, but very few will venture into the backcountry. If I were you, I'd end up booking whichever route interests you the most based on the route itself, not based on the chances of running into other people.
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