Algonquin Provincial Park Local Customs

Right now we're stopped at a site on Big Trout Lake because it's too windy to canoe. It is 4:29 pm.

We woke up this morning at 7:40 am and we were on the water by 10:15 am. There was a 1800 meter portage between Merchant Lake and Big Trout Lake. We find the portages difficult, Dad has a hard time with the canoe. I think Lori is the best in shape. We stopped earlier in Big Trout for lunch.

We saw a mink. On the site now we saw another mink. This time it stared at me and Dad before ducking away behind a tree.

Last night we tried the dehydrated "Alfredo Primavera" and "Rasberry Cobbler". I give them both a B-.

Because of the wind, we've lost a lot of time and we have decided to rethink our route. We don't think we can make it to Cedar Lake by Wednesday as was earlier planned. By tonight we will have the new route figured out.

I'm pretty bored waiting for the wind to die down. we are all sitting by the canoe, looking out at the lake and hoping it will get calmer.

It is now 6:30 pm and I'm sitting in the middle of the canoe. At 5:00 pm we decided to brave the waves and finish Big Trout Lake. The lake was extremely rough; Dad and I were paddling and Lori was navigating. We ended up on the opposite side of the lake that we were supposed to be heading towards! All our work was not wasted however.

We have decided to go to Trout Lake and make Canoe Lake our final destination instead of a loop back to the Opeongo. We will call Mom on Friday to tell her to pick us up and we'll camp out on Canoe Lake on Friday Night.

We woke up at 7:30 am this morning. Dad got up first and made us hot chocolate to drink in our tent. When we came out of our tents, it was extremely windy and the sky was completely covered in white and grey clouds. Bad day we think! In about an hour, however, the clouds shifted to reveal a blue sky. The lake looked calm. I was surprised at how quickly the weather changes.

It is now 10:35 am and I'm sorry to announce that the lake is rough again and some greyish clouds loom overhead. We're having pancakes for brunch...Yum!

This morning I noticed a bed of small plants that I thought were beginner spruce trees. Dad says that they are not trees but rather a plant which does not grow any higher than the ones we were looking at. I want to look up their name in a book when I get home.

We are heading to MacIntosh Lake now (which was our original plan). We have changed our route several times. We had no idea what to expect. We have to account for windy weather in route planning.

The wind picks up once in a while and Dad asks me to lie down to cut the wind resistence. We need to bring more toilet paper next time; we only brought one roll on this trip.

Blue heron flew by...beautiful! This is a huge swamp. i'm surprised that we haven't seen any moose for a while since we've mostly been in swampy areas...scared of people...

On Trout Lake we saw campers with lawn chairs and lots of clothes on clothes lines. Dad suspects that the lake might be accessible by an old logging road or something. Trout Lake was breathtaking but too busy!

I'm sitting in a camp site in macIntosh Lake. It is 9:06 pm. We stopped at the site around 5:00 pm. We had plenty of time to cook and set up the tent. I'm very happy to relax after a set of portages. For dinner we had "Chicken & Rice" by Mantain House. We all agreed it was a B. Lori and I tried to make the "Chocolate Fudge Cake" by Harvest Foods. Looked like _shit_ and tasted like it too! Mark: D-

NOTE: Contact-C for Lori and she also needs an hankerchif.

Lori discovered tracks just to the side of the campsite. We identified them as moose tracks. They were very deep in a part of the ground where we step and don't leave a mark. I can imagine how heavy the moose was that walked across our campsite.

1:24 pm - We're in the tent. Second time we've come in here because of the rain...it clears up every once in a while.

We are still on our campsite on MacIntosh Lake. Earlier, we spotted 6 loons together on the lake! A few were rising above the lake, flapping their wings. I've never seen so many loons together at once. It might have something to do with mating. They looked like they were having a wicked party!

Lori reads...Dad relaxes on his Therma-Rest matress...I write in my journal. We wait as the rain falls on our shelter...sounds like the "pop", "pop" of popcorn...

Continued on the next page.

I have recently come across the travel notes from my teenage daughter Lydia, written during our very first Algonquin interior trip. I though they would make interesting reading to someone contemplating a trip of their own.

The logs give a young person's insight into the experience of the Park.

The following are her writings, unedited...

So ended Lydia's travel log. I am not sure what made her stop writing but I suspect that the physical exersion started to take its toll and all energy from there on was directed to the essentials...canoeing...eating and sleeping, to use Lydia's own words.

It was a great trip and it thought us much that was to be useful for our next (better organized) Algonquin adventure.

We're looking at the map trying to find the turnoff to the Petawawa River. Dad thinks he knows where we are going. I hope he is right. I am not afraid of getting lost, it is just that I don't want to paddle through the wind for nothing. The wind is getting worse. Paddling in the wind is not what good canoeing is about.

Last night Lori pointed out a large animal swimming in the water. Dad said it was too big to be an otter so it was probably a racoon. I have never seen a racoon swim like that before.

Dad is now saying we should canoe back to where we came from so that the wind is in our backs. I would be disappointed if we did that. I'm still anxious to explore the Park further. Dad claims another alternative is to stay at this camp until tomorrow when the wind is possibly better. I really want to go on but I know dad is tired. He paddles all the time although Lori and I take turns at the paddle.

12:53 pm - We are back on the water again. I am sitting in the middle.

We are convinced that the Oatawawa is not accessible. We found an inlet that seemed to be the way but there were too many branches, etc. and it was very shallow. We expect that the water level is down and there is no way through.

Last night we found a slice of land just before the swamp and we stayed there for the night. It was so small, I could see one end of the island from the other.

For dinner we cooked "Oriental Sweet and Sour Supper" from Harvest Foods. It was terrible. We all threw most of it out. I give the food an F.

This morning we were in the canoe by 9:00 (we woke up 8:00 am). We canoed into the swamp in extreme wind conditions. We stopped at a campsite to take a rest.

Looking at the map it seemed to make more sense to head for Misty Lake via Petawawa instead of MacIntosh via Grassy Lake. We figured by the map that we would have to backtrack. We headed back but we can't find the Petawawa plus it's too windy to scout the lake.

We are stopped now in a campsite at the beginning of a swamp. It is 12:04 pm and it is like we haven't even started paddling for the day!

Earlier this morning, our map flew out of the canoe. In the wind, we had to turn the canoe around to fetch it.
NOTE: Waterproof all copies of the map in future trips.