7-Day Solo Canoe Trip in Algonquin Park

I headed to Algonquin Park on the 29th of August, the day prior to my seven day solo trip. I camped at Mew Lake Campground so I could get an early start on the 30th. It had rained all night and into the morning when I picked up my gear at the Canoe Lake Outfitters and set out on Canoe Lake. I started paddling in the light rain against a headwind which only got stronger the further into Canoe Lake I got. Due to the headwinds it had taken me over an hour to Now on Joe Lake still fighting a headwind I made my way to Little Joe Lake. I decided to bypass the small portage between Joe Lake and Little Joe. It was slow going but a pretty paddle. From there I was on my way to Baby Joe Lake. There was another portage between Little Joe and Baby Joe which I also bypassed. Though there was a little more pulling the canoe than paddling it wasn't too bad. I just made it to Baby Joe Lake. I'm a little behind schedule 2.36 or maybe I'm not. Actually I bypassed a couple of portages so I probably made up some time. But that headwind was brutal today. Okay let's see what I got for lunch day one. After lunch it was a short paddle down Baby Joe to my last portage of the day which would take me to Burnt Island Lake. Once on Burnt Island Lake I set out to find a campsite and thankfully the sun began to come out. Let's see what we've got. This would be a nice spot for a tent. Got a nice fire pit, a couple of benches and a beautiful view. I'll take more video once I have camp set up. Okay so we're all set up. Got the tent set up. Got the water going for the coffee. Drying out some of today's wet clothes. It did rain quite a bit. I'm just gonna chill out and relax now until supper's done. First night's dinner done. Steak, roasted red peppers and potatoes. Okay it's the morning of day two and what a beautiful morning. It was a cold one last night. It got down into the single digits but it looks like it's going to be a beautiful day today. Breakfast today, two bacon egg english muffins. Today's paddle will take me from Burnt Island to Little Otter Slide Lake. At the end of Burnt Island I will have my longest portage to date at 790 meters. There's an eagle soaring overhead there. Shortly into the paddle the wind began to pick up again but before too long I was at my first beautiful trail but it definitely had some tricky spots. I had to watch my step carefully. The last thing I wanted to do was twist an ankle. But at last light at the end of the tunnel. Once on Little Otter Slide Lake I had my lunch and then began the paddle to Otter Slide Lake. It was a pretty easy paddle and beautiful. The creek between the two lakes was very scenic. Once on Otter Slide Lake I began the search for a campsite. Okay so this is day two's campsite. With tonight's campsite I'm kind of spread out a bit. This is just the bonfire area. Someone's built a nice bench which is kind of cool. But it's a bit breezy here for cooking supper. So further up here is where I'll be doing the cooking. It's out of the wind but still nice and open. Relatively flat. And then just a little further up is where I set up the tent because it's a grassy area. Hopefully softer than last night since I realized the air mattress is not working. The view from up here. It's a beautiful little campsite. Tonight's meal, homestyle chicken pot pie. You make it in the bag, heck you can eat it in the bag. No dishes. It's the morning of day three. I woke up this morning around five something to the sound of something trotting past my tent but I'm not sure what it was. It was moving kind of fast so the gate didn't sound anything like a raccoon but it wasn't real big so maybe a fox. One last look at the campsite here before I start making me some coffee. It's pretty foggy this morning but the moon was shining through it when I woke up at five. Day three morning. Sitting here eating my hash browns, bacon and eggs. You can't ask for much better. I begin today with a very short paddle to my first of many portages. It will be a short 250 meters to Otterslide Creek. Beginning of Otterslide Creek. It's going to be apparently a pretty short paddle to my next portage and that seems to be a theme for today. I decided to try and bypass some more portages which meant getting out and pulling the canoe over beaver dams and shallow rocky areas. Sometimes making you wonder if the portage might not have been easier. Having bypassed the 390 meter portage I decided to walk the next one which was only 265 meters and that way I could get some of the water out of the canoe. At the beginning of the trail I spotted a bee colony under some rocks which I was happy I spotted before stepping on them. Okay just finished the portage and loaded up the canoe. Forgot to have the camera on while I was doing it but based on the sounds of the rapids I heard and through the woods I'm thinking it was a good idea I did. Plus now the canoe is nice and dry inside. Looking there I could see that would have been a lot of pulling the canoe through there. It's very shallow but rocky so good decision. Take the portage. Now back on Otterslide Creek I had what I thought would be a nice leisurely paddle to my next portage which would be my longest of the day at 730 meters. But at one point I could hear what sounded like rapids and I thought I might have missed my portage. It turned out to be a large beaver dam so once again I was out of the boat a canoe rest which they do on some of the longer portages. It allows you to get the weight of the canoe off your back without having to bend over and set it down and then pick it back up again. I was feeling pretty good so chose not to use it but I guessed I was probably halfway through my 730 meters. Show you some of the rapids that I'm avoiding by doing this portage. And once again back on Otterslide Creek. Then a brief paddle to my last portage of the day. Okay just did my last portage of the day. This is the end of Otterslide Creek and I'm on my way to Big Trout Lake which is where I'll be camping tonight. It's only 3.13 so I'm going to take my time find myself a nice site. There we go. There's a mouse. Big trout lake. Checking out possible campsites. There's one here I haven't done that yet this trip so that might be one. Check this out. Over here we have a fire pit area. Not exactly sure what someone was doing there. Clothesline maybe? Look at the chairs they made. Oh and I've got some split firewood. Damn I have The island I had picked for my campsite last night, though beautiful, is at the opposite end of the lake from where I will be heading out tomorrow. And as the wind has picked up again I've decided to get closer to the other side of the lake. Once again I was going to have to fight a pretty heavy strong headwind. Just made it. I'm on the last campsite on Big Trout Lake and then right there's the mouth to White Trout Lake which is where I'm headed tomorrow. I am super glad I did this today. It was supposed to be my rest day but because I picked a campsite so close to the edge of Big Trout I was worried I might be adding too much time to my travels tomorrow. And it's a good thing I did because to get from one end of Big Trout to this one took me two hours and 20 minutes because I'm facing this headwind. Hopefully I don't have that tomorrow but if I do at least I saved myself two hours. I wasn't happy with the site so I moved on to White Trout Lake to see if I could find something just a little more sheltered. Well I arrived at my campsite. It's like 3.09. That was a hell of a paddle. It was anything but a rest day today but this is where I'll be staying tonight. I'm actually on White Trout Lake. There's the fire pit and we got a little walk up the hill. This is a very cliffy area here. Look at the leaves are turning there and then up here we got a flat ground. It's a good place to put the tent either here or there. Beautiful trees. This is home tonight. And from up here look at that view. It's hard to take eh? I thought I'd give a brief breakdown of what is in the pack I've been carrying. The green dry bag holds a rain poncho, a large rainfly slash tarp which I never used, and in the white bag is the clothes I brought and then the sleeping bag. The yellow dry bag holds the cooking gear and the orange one holds the food. The food bag was at least the size of the orange bag when I started out. They provided way more utensils than necessary. I could have got by with the fork and knife, spoon, and spatula. Then there's the cup, the bowl, the plate, and the egg holder. The french press for the coffee. The burner. A cutting board. They provided two pots and a frying pan. The large pot was not necessary for a solo trip. They also provided three propane cans when two definitely would have sufficed. I boil a lot of water for coffee and still haven't finished one can. Then there's the fold-up sink with a rag and a sponge. The food bag started much fuller. Day one had a sandwich for lunch, snacks, and then a steak, potato, peppers, and onion for dinner. For breakfast day two there was two bacon and egg english muffins. Lunch was a hand sandwich, more snacks including veggie sticks, and then for dinner I started the freeze-dried stuff. Day three was bacon and eggs and hash browns for breakfast, another sandwich for lunch, and more snacks. And then from that point on breakfasts and dinners were the freeze-dried bags and will be. And lunches consist of snack type items, bars, jerky, trail mix, pepperoni sticks, and the like. Large bag is the staples bag. It held the snacks, seasoning, oil, cream cheese, most important coffee. I also brought my own coffee because I wasn't sure how much they would provide. Turns out they provided a lot. They also threw in instant coffee as a backup. Then their first aid kit, bug spray, fire starter, flashlights, spare batteries, and we had the bear rope and toilet paper. This was the camp saw they provided, quite large. When she asked if I wanted a camp saw I assumed it would be a small one like this one, which I found on one of my first portages, much lighter. This is the tent and the air mattress, which was useless because it had a leak, and the backpack that I used. And then my camera gear with my SLR camera, the GoPro, the batteries, and charger. Okay, the morning of day five. I'm on White Coat Lake just having breakfast. Once breakfast was done, I packed up my camp and headed out. Today's paddle would take me from White Trout Lake to McIntosh Lake. There would be two portages the beavers were providing plenty of obstacles, but eventually I made it to my first portage. Well, that is a long portage. I think it's my longest so far on the trip, 745 meters. And it's not an easy one. There's a lot of uphill, downhill, tricky rocks. You cross in the creek a couple of times. But I will say this, it is beautiful. And that is the one advantage of doing this in two trips, is that when I walk back to get the canoe, I actually can enjoy the scenery in the portage instead of grueling through it with a pack and a canoe on my back. But now it's time to lift McIntosh Creek. Then it was just a beautiful scenic paddle down the creek. With the occasional obstacle from my beaver friends. But before too long, I was at my second portage, a 510 meter hike. Now I was on McIntosh Lake. The wind had picked up a bit, but I wasn't too concerned about it, as I would be camping on this lake and just needed to find a suitable site. It had been a hot one today, and with all the portaging, I was in need of a swim. This is a picture I took from my campsite. It really was a beautiful spot. Morning of day six, and my last full day in Algonquin. All packed up and heading out on McIntosh Lake, on my way to Tauntaunsen Lake. It is a beautiful morning, and the lake is so peaceful, it's gorgeous. Do a quick spin to take it all in. It was my campsite last night. Well, I made it to my one and only portage of the day. This one is by far the biggest of the trip, and one I've kind of been dreading. It's over 2.3 kilometers. This was definitely a grueling portage, and I was quite happy to see the canoe rest this time, and I took advantage of it. Finally, light at the end of the tunnel. I don't think I've ever been happier to see the end of a portage. Now on Tauntaunsen Lake, I could explore and find camp for the last time this trip, it was time for a swim. After my swim, I decided to take a I made dinner, read for a bit, and then early to bed. Morning of day seven. I made breakfast, packed up camp, and now on the water. I plan on paddling slow today, as I'm in no hurry to get that, Canoe Lake, which meant it was inevitable. I'd be seeing people soon. How you doing guys? You guys have a good one too. After finishing my last portage, I was once again on Canoe Lake. When I heard the sound of boat motors, I knew my trip was at its end.