MooseWhizzer Dave wrote:

I'll echo that, Shayne.  The sensation as I drive south, away from the park, and more signs of civilization appear, more traffic, more chain stores, more everything, culminates in kind of an exasperated under-the-breath "damnit." when I circumvent Toronto.  Toronto is an awesome city, but it represents the complete return to population, machinery, plastic, asphalt and steel.  There's no turning back to the quiet at that point, and what remains of that marvelous solitude and peace slip away except for occasional scent of swamp gas coming up from filthy clothes in the back of the car to visit me.   

Yeah I hear ya we usually get a late start out of the park (wanting to spend as much time as possible b4 leaving) and have a stopover around the Hamilton area where we splurge on a fancy restaurant, a shower and comfy beds b4 the final push home   

Last edited by Andy W (3/24/2025 4:15 pm)

I know this is not the place for politics but for those of you worried about coming North with U.S. plates, I do not know what kind of propaganda you are all being fed down there but I think I speak for most Canadians when I say that you (and your money) all are more than welcome in Canada. It is not the U.S. people we have a problem with just the big orange co-co-puff. Come on up, relax and enjoy yourselves.

 and since bucket list trips are ones you dream about on cold winter nights staring at maps but will probably never do.....
When we first moved I was playing around on google Earth and though it would be cool to leave from here and visit some family by canoe.
Start off from the beach on Lake Manitouwadge in town and through Little Manitouwadge-Fox Creek-Little Mose Lake-Mose lake and then pick up the Black River South to the Pic River to Superior. Turn left heading to Sault Ste Marie and through to Lake Huron and Georgian Bay turning left at the Magnetawan River entering the park at access three.
From there through Ralf Bice and Little Trout picking up the Tim River trough Shippegew to Longer and then Big Trout and on through Lake La Muir and spending a couple of days on Hogan, one of my favorite lakes in the park before heading tp Big Crow and Lavielle to Dixon and on to McKatskill  Hoping to find the start of the Bonnechere River and follow that south to Golden lake and again turning left to our cousins place just east of Deacon.

Ohhhhhhh, that fired a neruon.

I read trip report of someone who did a train-in, fly out trip.  Basically portaged into Union Station in Toronto, spent a day rumbling past Sudbury and giving the engineer a km marker to hop off at.
Portage from the tracks down to a lake and hit a route to an acceptable "fly-out" spot.

At the end of the trip you lash the canoes to the pontoons and off you go to a waiting car.

Would be a heck of a costly and logistics-heavy trip, but you'd definitely be off in the middle of nowhere.  Certainly an adventure.

Andy W wrote:

Thanks for the kind words, Rob. (Sorry I took this topic off course )  PS Still remember our encounter many years ago, us hooking up on the Pet, with us going up and you going down to Farm lake. You still have that rope you forgot? smiley face)
for me, a more qualified "bucket list" item that I currently can't afford is for my brother and I to do a fly in, somewhere in the Canadian remoteness. Getting dropped off with a canoe and spending a week + w/out anything other than our camping gear, (not flyin cabin locations) and experiencing nothing other than wildlife and great fishing  

 


Watch Northern Scavengers Gateway to the Arctic on Youtube for some motivation. These guys do a great job on videos and every trip could be a bucket list for me. Crossing Labrador is another great series. So many epic trips. Something for  everyone.  30 days to  more achievable overnighters   

https://youtu.be/exMgrfvgcn0?si=N_Fim8iPOJNbSYWQ

Last edited by Shayne74 (3/25/2025 5:24 pm)

Most epic solo:
Canoe, Shah, Longbow, Highview portage, Graham's Dam, Cedar (resupply and two day break), Radiant, Lavaque, Crow Bay, Little Crow, Little Otterslide, and back to Canoe.

Runner up:
Wendigo, Allan, Radiant, Philip, Hogan, Crow Bay, Dickson, White Partridge, Kildeer and out (was booked to stay on Radiant but somehow all the sites were taken).

Potential plan for this year:
Tim, Big Bob, Grass lake, Gibson, Lawren Harris, Biggar, Three Mile, Manitou, Pishnecka, South River, Stephen/Paxton, and maybe Big Bob.

My bucket list trip is a year in Algonquin Park.

I don’t see anyone having an issue with US citizens being here unless they are talking nonsense about things like annexing Canada. I’m assuming anyone who has spent time in Canada doesn’t plan on coming up here to be rude. So come for sure. Canada is pretty peaceful. For the record I live on the border and there are rumours that Canadians should not go to Michigan because Canadian cars tires are being slashed.

What a great topic! I have to say that every trip to Algonquin the last 30 years has been fantastic, they all had something special and that’s the reason we keep coming back. I started with my 3 kids ( hubby stayed home) when they were pre schoolers, and went every year till their late teens, they then took a break  for a few years due to their studies, with only my youngest daughter coming back to it. We have been tripping together ever since. Our hardest trip was last years, Rock lake,Welcome lake to Louisa lake and back to Rock. Our first loop trip with long portages.  My age and poor eyesight made this a real challenge. We picked the hottest week in September to do it and that first portage nearly had me go back. But I was so tired we just sat in the sand at welcome lake and decided we didn’t have the power left to go back. It turned into the most wonderful trip, we saw hardly anyone, loved the choice in sites we had, and the changing scenery crossing the different lakes. The portaging got easier, and we found Louisa lake stunning. The long portage back to Rock was the best one, and with wind in the back it blew us to the beach.
The most relaxing trip was last year in late October for a few days of rock lake, and scoring the island site with the beach sticking out. Doing day trips from there and the beautiful warm  weather was all we hoped for. Hiking through the fallen leaves on different portages where we saw no one was so enjoyable.
The trip I look most forward to will be this years, for the first time I hope my little grandson will come along with us and learn to love to trip as his mom and I do. And to have enough eyesight left to see it all and enough strength to still carry a full pack.