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As an interloper to Algonquin from the south I had to accept that there would be no Spring 2020 trip, no Fall 2020 trip, no Spring 2021 trip....but I did kind of mentally target my hope for Fall 2021.
Until I saw the 75% fully vaccinated requirement. Now I don't know what to think. Could my next trip actually be Spring 2022? My last Algonquin trip was October 2019, a 4-day from Magnetawan to Casey and back. Great trip: logging ruins, moose on a portage, and an eagle flew right over my canoe, but it wasn't "this will hold you for 2.5 years" great. Have had two Adirondack trips as substitutes, but to me Algonquin wins in a runaway.
I see that 73.44% of the 12 and older population has had at least one dose. That sounds promising. 14.67% of that same group is fully vaccinated. That sounds like...the Adirondacks in September.
A lot of people have had it far worse than me, with job losses, the death of loved ones...I've been very fortunate. My family had to quarantine three times due to exposure but the COVID-fairy passed us by each time. My dad contracted COVID in his skilled nursing facility but got through it asymptomatically. I doubted I would ever see dad in person again, but visitation has resumed. If a delay happens that prevents my Fall 2021 trip, I'll grudgingly accept. Still.....we need our little pleasures in life, and a big little pleasure for me is taking 4-5 day trips to Algonquin twice a year.
I miss pine needles covering the forest floor, the little things that are worthy of close-up study, the fantastic silence that makes your ears ring with tinnitus, the super-calm of the water in the morning, the marvelous sounds of breezes working through the forest, the hollow thumping sound of the ground, red squirrels laughing at me on the thunderbox and dropping alarm clock pinecones on my tent, and moose that surprise me on portage trails. So many of the things I love about Algonquin are the sounds. You can't get that in a photo, but please be sure to post lots of photos this summer and post a whole lot of trip reports. I gotta have something to tie me over, whether I get to trip in September/October 2021 or May 2022.
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Second doses need to be within a reasonable timeframe of the first, so I would expect that fully vaccinated number to climb fairly dramatically in the next couple of months. Entirely anecdotal I realize, but I've seen tons of my Facebook friends posting about getting their second doses. I had my second dose just yesterday.
I'm not saying September is a lock for you, but don't rule it out just yet!
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As of today, Canadians 12+ are vaccinated at 75.4% and fully vaccinated at 22.9%. We're on pace to have everyone who wants to be vaccinated fully vaccinated by mid August.
But don't take my word for it.
Last edited by AlgonquinGuy (6/22/2021 12:06 pm)
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We can easily get 75% by late August based on availability of vaccine. The only hold up will be peoples willingness to roll their sleeves up. You should be fine for fall.
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I can’t remember way back to March, but my guess is that our one dose numbers then were looking a lot like our two dose numbers now. I’m with the group, I’ve got a good feeling you’ll get that fall trip in. (Also, got my second shot this morning, I was surprised by how much it felt like a weight I didn’t even know I was carrying had been lifted).
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I sure hope it works out like everybody seems to think!!!!!
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I still feel like the border will be open in September although I feel there may be certain stipulations for us Americans like a quarantine plan, negative test, or both and most certainly proof of vaccination.
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AlgonquinLakes wrote:
I can’t remember way back to March, but my guess is that our one dose numbers then were looking a lot like our two dose numbers now. I’m with the group, I’ve got a good feeling you’ll get that fall trip in. (Also, got my second shot this morning, I was surprised by how much it felt like a weight I didn’t even know I was carrying had been lifted).
I felt the same relief! Here's hoping for a regular September!
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Fully vaccinated Americans can come across the border on August 9th.
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I saw that! Delighted to hear, but I am disappointed that the U.S. has not reciprocated.
This could still get interesting for trying a canoe trip.
1) have to be fully vaccinated. No problem there.
2) you have to have a COVID test within 72 hours of crossing the border. OK, can manage that.
3) Random COVID testing at the border. OK. Roll the dice on what I assume is the rapid-test. I guess if that happens and I come back positive with a breakthrough case they'd have me turn the car around and go back home.
4) Fully vaccinated travelers who "meet specific criteria" will not have to quarantine. Gotta find out the criteria.
5) All travellers must still provide a quarantine plan and be prepared to quarantine if it is determined that you don't meet the criteria. Gotta find out the criteria. also, what quarantine plan could I possibly come up with? Imagine crossing the border at 4:30am, and the customs agent says "you don't meet the criteria, so you have to quarantine for X days". I think my quarantine plan would be to turn the car around, because any quarantining would end the canoe trip immediately. If that were to happen, I guess I'm lucky I live about a half hour from the border and not hours away from the border.
The quarantine plan kind of bothers me. I want to have something in place if I can, just so I'm following the rules as closely as I can, but for real, if I get told I need to quarantine before continuing with the canoe trip, the canoe trip is over, so in a practical sense there's no reason for me to go to the trouble of working out a quarantine plan.
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The quarantine plan kind of bothers me. I want to have something in place if I can, just so I'm following the rules as closely as I can, but for real, if I get told I need to quarantine before continuing with the canoe trip, the canoe trip is over, so in a practical sense there's no reason for me to go to the trouble of working out a quarantine plan.
I know a place that you can quarantine for like $10 a night, it's super secluded and far away from people, basically the middle of the forest. You'll have all of your own food and supplies too, so you'll have no need to interact with any other humans either.
But seriously, what is mandatory during a quarantine? Does it need to be in a physical shelter? Do you need to have cell service to communicate with public health authorities? Because if it's just "isolation" then couldn't you argue that Algonquin Park is your quarantine? If you had a cottage on Smoke Lake, would you be allowed to quarantine there? If so, can't Ragged Lake just a couple hundred metres away be just as quarantine-able?
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I read the quarantine requirements. Don't remember exactly, but off the top of my head they were along these lines: isolation from others for whatever period of time, in a place where you have access to food, water, and sanitation.
It did occur to me that there is a certain irony in that camping could just about meet the criteria as a form of quarantining. I think that quarantining also included access to medical care if it turned out you needed it, but I don't remember.
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