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Hi folks,
Thanks for this site and your coverage of all things Algonquin.
By way of a diversion...
I imagine most of us have been on the giving or receiving end of trades/loans/gifts of supplies or gear on our trips.
Last spring, my wife and I were doing Proulx - Lavielle loop and had gotten as far as Big Crow Lake on day one. We met two trippers who turned out to be the only others we would see on the remainder of the trip. We got talking and they realized that in their preparations at the Opeongo dock they had not picked up worms. We had brought more than we could use - my daughter usually comes with us, and I guess I brought the usual quantity without giving it a thought. So, we gave them a box. They asked if there was anything we were short on, but we were just happy we could be of help.
Next day we passed them on the river and stopped to chat. I had mentioned the previous day our ambition to bake a laker on Lavielle. We would use our dehydrated onion, celery and peppers with butter and bread crumbs. I'm getting hungry just writing this.
One of our new companion travellers, without a word, rummaged in his pack and pulled out a fresh lemon and tossed it to me in our canoe. And we did bake a laker and a couple of very nice specs on the trip.
Anyone else?
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I tried to barter with a chipmunk once but he was a jerk and took my food without giving me anything in return
But the closest I've actually come was probably when I let a group come ashore to look at the anchor on my Anchor Island campsite, and they ended up pulling a reading for me from their InReach to tell me the weather forecast for the rest of the week. Not really a barter, more just people being nice to each other in the backcountry.. but maybe it counts?
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Back in the eighties we stashed beer in the snow at the start of the portage into Welcome. On the way out we traded beer for a 'smoke'. We did pack out the cans if you're wondering. The following year two of our crew got stopped by the Ranger in Harry with cans of beer. They got fined but no confiscation. I missed that particular trip when my youngest got hatched. The trade off of missing the trip was well worth it.
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i have fed many people in the park over the years, mostly europeans , i have picked up hitch- hikers going through algonquin. that stopped the day that a knife fell out of a fellows pocket, like what the hell are you thinking man??? i have helped people over trails,, also i have given a guy t 3`s from my first aid kit, he could hardly walk after twisting his knee,, we all need to look after each other out there,, the canadian way eh
on the barter side of things, one time on the way out of happy island i traded a spoon for a fresh laker,, win , win situation,,
Last edited by swedish pimple (4/10/2020 7:28 pm)
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Okay, not Algonquin, rather Pukaskwa. After a good hike in, my wife and I came to our camp spot only to see it occupied by several tents and no one around. The other site in the vicinity was - let's just say - less then desirable. The site occupants returned and I approached them on the matter. It turned out there were 6 of them, including two father-son groups, who had to reschedule last minute and didn't realize their site had changed. They were very apologetic and offered to trade spots but there was no way we would do that to them. As a kind gesture, they said they would go out fishing some more and share any catch. It was not a platitude, as less than an hour later we were presented with a fully filleted side of pickerel along with the cheeks. An unexpectedly delicious dinner was had by us, and the good will all around made for a super awesome 'barter'.
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Also, not Algonquin but my girlfriend (wife) and I once canoed out to Ishpatina Ridge, unaware that the black fly season up there was later and more fierce. Upon getting back to the car and loading the canoe I heard some far off voices so, desperate to again see humans, I went to check it out. Two brave guys paddling up the Sturgeon River had sustained a crackedk paddle so we gave them one of ours as a spare. When dropping off our canoe at the outfitter they accepted our story and I assume the paddle was eventually returned to them because we never heard anything more.
Online!
several years ago, we ran into a party whose only map (the official park map) fell apart in the rain, and were unsure of their route, I gave them my spare set of photocopied portions of Jeff's maps, as we split up they passed my kid a bag and said be careful with it- turned out "it" was a nice bottle of Crown royal.
Another time a guy had sunk an axe in his calf, leaving a gaping 3" gash. I cleaned, (stapled (yes I'm trained) and wrapped it so they could get out (before the days of "spot"). when we headed out 2 days later, I stopped for gas, and when I went to pay, the attendant asked if I was the guy who fixed up someone with an axe cut and I said "Yeah". The attendant said the kid was ok and had paid for my gas!
Last edited by scoutergriz (4/11/2020 11:07 am)
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In the 80's on one of my scout troop trips, we encountered a couple who had run out of toilet paper. We had extra and a couple of the boys went over and supplied them. They returned with some dessert treats of some kind. they got a pretty good grilling by the adult leaders to determine whether the boys gave the TP away which they should have done freely, or traded, which would not be a scouty thing to do. Who knows what they told the adults, but it was never clear to me what the boys did.
I hitch-hike helped a couple of guys from Poland once. The only trip my dad and I ever took, we got out on Magnetawan, and there are two couples there. They were parked at Rain, had exited at Magnetawan not realizing just how far a walk it was. The guys asked for a ride, and we obliged in my little 1990 Nissan Sentra, leaving their wives on their own. No barter exchanged, but the memorable part was my first bear sighting (and my dad's ONLY bear sighting). It popped out on the access road in front of my car, very close to the Magnetawan access point, and ran the same direction we were, so we were following it. The bear was running 28mph. Phew. Then, it took a right turn on an animal trail that you could have measured with a square it was so tight. It was an amazing sight, and I realized right then never to underestimate the strength, speed, and unbelievable agility of a bear.
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Not really bartering but certainly was trading information, we would be coming out of the south end of the Park , Big Porcupine area and would pass the next groups coming in, sometimes passing 18 to 20 canoes in that time frame, we would be peppering them to see who won what was usually the first round series of the Stanley cup playoffs and we would be passing them along all the info on what we caught and where we caught any fish that we did catch. As someone said above the CANADIAN WAY.
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The tail end of a father/son May trout trip in 1979 to Lavieille; weather was terrible all week and bad enough to keep us off the water for a couple days. We planned on fish for dinner most nights so we were rationing food and losing weight.
On the way out my dad caught a big laker and we were all excited for a meal of protein. We were going to camp in the meadow about 1/3 of the way out the Dickson/Bonfield portage but ran into a couple local boys on their way in who were carrying burlap bags of carrots and potatoes. The win on our side was we got much more bulk in veggies to feed 8 mouths and the win on their side was a much higher quality meal of fresh laker vs. root cellar leftovers. Both parties were happy with the exchange.
Side note: we were boiling the veggies over the fire in big coffee cans and one of the kids running around knocked one over onto the ground...we all bent over and picked up all the big pieces of food, wiped them off and tossed 'em back in the can.
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It isn't camp food unless it has some bark and soil in it.
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"camp seasoning", you could call it.
Hunting in the Czech Republic a few years ago with my coworker resident, Jakub...after driving through fields and forests we stopped into a pub for dinner. He pointed to the branches and leaves under the front of his Skoda and said "forest mascara". Same concept...different medium.
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