Not good for those who like to camp at Mew Lake.  I only hope it opens on May 1st for my yearly Algonquin Park interior trip.  I can quarantine myself on a number of lakes to not affect or get affected by others re the coronavirus.  This is terrible because it is very possible we could have an early spring ice out and still Algonquin Park could be closed.  

Sorry Cody, not buying it.  I can get in my car and drive up and have an amazing hike on Track and Tower trail, all without breaking the rules.  I'll pump gas with a glove on : )   This is exactly what I was planning to do with my family in a day or two for reasons noted in my first post.  Closing the parks is a step in the wrong direction for an issue that will potentially be with us for many many months and hopefully not a year or more.  I completely understand the logic in flattening the curve but depriving people of this outlet won't help our health.

GordK wrote:

.....This is exactly what I was planning to do with my family in a day or two for reasons noted in my first post. 

boknows wrote:

I have my own equipment and I seriously doubt anyone would have been at my designated campsite the day before I go in.  I fill my car with gas in Ottawa and this is enough for me to get to where I want to go and get back to Ottawa.

I have no doubt that both of your trips would be well thought out and follow every precautionary measure. The people on this forum aren't the problem, it's the other vast majority who might not have the best camping etiquette or precautionary measures. We've all witnessed first-hand the lack of preparedness and carelessness that some people have while camping in Algonquin.

Last point I'll make... with the long incubation period of the virus, what happens if you start your trip and fall ill on day 2 or 3? That would be a really, really bad scenario. How are you going to portage back or get help when you have a fever and difficulty breathing? Maybe you have an InReach, but the average camper doesn't. Even if you have an InReach and need to get rescued, your access to medical care would be delayed and you'd be using resources that the community can't afford to spare right now. You could have the virus before you even leave for the trip, and not know it.

I get how everyone is upset with the decision, I'm just saying that in my eyes, there are many different variables and risks to consider, and given that we're in the early stages of the viruses exponential growth and we're not sure exactly how bad it's going to hit us, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to mitigate risk.

I've never gone on an ice-out trip and I was really hoping this year would be my first. It's not looking like it will happen now. It sucks, but if the decision to close the parks was made with the health of the community in mind, it's a sacrifice I'll accept.

Just my 2 cents. Not trying to change anyone's mind if they're upset with the decision just wanted to share my opinion on the matter. I've been following COVID-19 extremely closely since early Jan and although I'm happy that Canada is starting to take drastic measures, I do believe that this is a more serious issue than most of our community recognizes.

Just for the record, you can still camp on Crown Land.  And I definitely will be camping somewhere before summer!  After all, I still need my sanity after a long winter and lately staying indoors as much as possible which is giving me cabin fever to the utmost extreme.  Thank God I have an Algonquin Park map to peruse over and over and over again.

Not knowing everything about this virus is definitely a problem for me and others.  Time to just wait and see just how bad this virus is going to affect people in Ontario and our beloved Algonquin.  Once again, pretend you have the virus and practice all the safety rules in place.  Tell others to do so as well.  This will help stop the spread of this dangerous virus.  End of my rant!  I am leaving the pulpit and looking forward to reading others views on this subject and hope I don't see you on Wendigo Lake come May!



 

Last edited by boknows (3/19/2020 12:35 am)

I don't think permit offices should open, no - that's not safe for anyone right now. 

Which means it's time Ontario Parks got their heads out of their behinds and let us print out our own permits. 

"what about the risk to the personnel manning the permit office?" there are easily a half dozen ways around that- online permits like most Ontario Parks, and self serve stations like they use all winter are both tried and true methods, they could also simply put up screens like many hospitals and Drs. offices have done- no need to even sign the permit- legally you use of a credit or debit card is proof  of your agreement.

I think the biggest concern with such a broad directive (ie close everything) is that we are at a very very early stage of the pandemic. At the same time, I would argue that there is absolutely ZERO risk to the population by backcountry camping in March (given so few people actually do it, and those that do are in very small groups)

If all goes to plan, this infection will be circulating at a low level in the community for the next year and longer (until vaccine available). If the social distancing is not as effective as hoped, the pandemic will peak in the summer months.

So I'm either case, we are at the very start of this. But now we have closed down everything. There is no question the infection burden in the population will be worse by May, and even worse by the summer.

So when there are 10000 cases in Canada on May 1st, will they open the backcountry?

Last edited by Marko_Mrko (3/19/2020 8:40 am)

I really understand that a lot of us are disappointed in this decision. I think we really need to look at the larger picture like mentioned earlier. What happens if you get sick on your trip, what happens if someone hurts themselves and needs backcountry rescue? Our first responders and hospitals are already taxed. do we want to be contributing to this problem? Our front line workers have higher priorities than trying to rescue someone who has slit a vein in their hand with an axe, or flipped a canoe and is hypothermic. 

I am sure everyone has seen that even for rescuing a dog its usually a minimum of 5-10 first responders between police, fire, etc. 

Do we expect our Ontario parks workers to be in a confined space in a float plane or helicopter getting people out of the backcountry?
Do you think that parks needs to deal with some a#hole camper in a yurt or cabin that sues parks for getting the covid virus because they feel that facilities weren't cleaned properly? 
Most parks are operating at limited staff capacity already because its "off season". what is their capacity if workers get sick? 
How do staff respond to problem black bear issues because campers are careless with their food, garbage etc? They need a team of staff, not 1 tracking down a black bear. 
What if there is a fire in a provincial park? remember the fires from a few years ago? who do you call on to evacuate camper and  put the fire out?
I am sure Parks is thinking about how they hire for seasonal staff and summer students right now. The issue is, how do you hire these people if you can't conduct mandatory training because you can't have people in groups? How to you onboard new staff to their job duties and keep a distance? is it fair to put staff in that position?

And really, how do you expect government to be messaging social distancing without setting an example that they are following the rules themselves? It would be extremely hypocritical not to. 

We need to flatten curve, collectively. We will be camping later... 

Last edited by Sunfish (3/19/2020 9:52 am)