Algonquin Adventures / 3 nights on David Lake (w/ 100+ pictures of nearby sites)

**Posted by trippythings** 8/28/2018 10:03 pm

Here's a trip report for my first trip of the season... it's quite a long report, accompanied with a 5min video and 100+ pictures (mostly from nearby campsites on Ralph Bice, Little Trout, Queer, David, and Mubwayaka). Hope you enjoy.

Report here: http://www.myccr.com/phpbbforum/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=46985

**Posted by ATVenture** 8/29/2018 6:44 am

Awesome report and video! That island site on David is a beauty! And it looks like that canoe is nice and light and balanced well.

**Posted by Steve E** 8/29/2018 6:57 am

Dude that's a great trip report! Love all the pics...well done and thanks for sharing...

**Posted by trippythings** 8/29/2018 7:40 am

ATVenture wrote:
Awesome report and video! That island site on David is a beauty! And it looks like that canoe is nice and light and balanced well.

Thanks!

To be honest, that boat was extremely easy to portage... very light for a two person and it really did balance really well and was easy on the shoulders

Also I meant to ask, do you guys rent a SPOT or InReach by any chance?

Steve E wrote:
Dude that's a great trip report! Love all the pics...well done and thanks for sharing...

Thanks Steve

**Posted by oldboyscout** 8/29/2018 1:12 pm

I enjoyed it very much!!!

Thanks

**Posted by dontgroandaddy** 8/29/2018 2:49 pm

I spent two nights on David as my first solo trip September 2016. That little island site really is lovely, and the long view it offers of the lake is very nice. With the wind predominantly from the west, the tent areas are really well-protected from the wind too. Unfortunately a lot of significant hatchet scars, etc. on some of the "cornerstone" trees I guess you'd call them. At the time, the thunderbox was kind of rocking and with a rotted lid, but hey, the view was nice. I also remember just barely seeing in time a big hole on the island, that, if you fell in I'm not sure you'd be able to get out. I wondered if it was a retired thunderbox hole, but prefer not to dwell on that since I pretty near stumbled in.

**Posted by trippythings** 8/29/2018 8:50 pm

oldboyscout wrote:
I enjoyed it very much!!!

Thanks

Thanks

dontgroandaddy wrote:
I spent two nights on David as my first solo trip September 2016. That little island site really is lovely, and the long view it offers of the lake is very nice. With the wind predominantly from the west, the tent areas are really well-protected from the wind too. Unfortunately a lot of significant hatchet scars, etc. on some of the "cornerstone" trees I guess you'd call them. At the time, the thunderbox was kind of rocking and with a rotted lid, but hey, the view was nice. I also remember just barely seeing in time a big hole on the island, that, if you fell in I'm not sure you'd be able to get out. I wondered if it was a retired thunderbox hole, but prefer not to dwell on that since I pretty near stumbled in.

I agree, definitely a beauty of a site. It's a rare thing in Algonquin to be 'guaranteed' a site as nice as this (ie. a lake that only has one reservation)... and with it being so easily accessible from the access point, I can see why it's so popular.

The thunder box we had actually looked pretty new in terms of the box itself, just the hole was very full. Pretty sure it was in a new spot from when you were there though, because we had absolutely no view (it faced the main campsite area). And they were digging a new hole the day we left as well, so no clue where it's going next.

**Posted by dontgroandaddy** 8/29/2018 11:46 pm

The bad news: you missed out on getting to use the new throne. The good news: the island gets slightly bigger every couple of years.

**Posted by R2** 9/03/2018 1:21 pm

great report as always , I am heading to Ralph Bice with my daughters in 2 weeks , never been on that lake before so looking forward to it. Is there a site you saw that we should aim for . There will be 5 of us one tent and 3 hammocks.
Thanks

**Posted by trippythings** 9/03/2018 2:50 pm

R2 wrote:
great report as always , I am heading to Ralph Bice with my daughters in 2 weeks , never been on that lake before so looking forward to it. Is there a site you saw that we should aim for . There will be 5 of us one tent and 3 hammocks.
Thanks

Thanks!

Ralph Bice is probably the lake I saw the least of (in terms of camp sites), and I didn't pass by any sites on the south half. The two in my trip report definitely aren't bad, but they're nothing to write home about either. The first one in my report is particularly nice on a sunny day because of the way the sun reflects on the shallow waters and you can see the bottom quite clearly (see the last picture for that site in my report).

The island with one site looked nice, it's on a slope but has a lot of open rock by the water (there are pictures on the PCI). I paddled very close by that one so was able to get a good look, but I didn't get a good look at the rest of the sites unfortunately.

If your trip is still two weeks out, you probably won't have that much traffic on the lake in mid-September, and considering how close it is to the access point, you'll have the luxury of time to paddle around to find a nice site. Either way, enjoy the trip