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Boundary Waters / Quetico Discussion Forums >> Other Places to Paddle >> Algonquin
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Message started by Nandagikendan on Nov 28th, 2013 at 4:52am

Title: Re: Algonquin
Post by solotripper on Nov 28th, 2013 at 6:17pm

Quote:
Is coming from the north a better way in than one of the southern entries for example?


I've been there 2x. First time I went ( both trips solo) it was from the southern entry point at Canoe lake.
It was a spur of the moment trip because the guy who was going with me to the Q backed out at the last minute and I wasn't a solo guy at the time.

I figured Algonquin would be a good test to see if solo was for me.

First thing about that entry you notice is that it's like a superhighway for novice paddlers.
Close to Toronto, they have people come in to just day paddle or overnight.
They have a shop/restaurant there and people were actually taking Styrofoam containers with lunches into their canoes for day trips/overnight.
I saw one hipster couple with 2 kids heading out for a day trip. The adults were wearing black leather coats.

I decided that if I wanted any solitude at all, I needed to get as far into the interior as I could paddle on the first day. I ran into a trail crew who's sole duty was to check campsites close to put-in for discarded lunch containers because they had a major problem with bears there.

I had nice time once I got into interior, but to do that I took some well maintained but long portages, one was over a mile long.

2nd trip I came in off of Highway 17 from the North, and it was a way better experience. A couple of short portages I was pretty well by myself, at least for a crowded park like that.

I used Algonquin Outfitters for both trip and was pleased with their service.

If you want a good reference book, I'd recommend the one I used.
It has multiple routes and rates them and the portages.
It's called "Brook Trout and Blackflies" by Kevin Callan.

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