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Introduction

A five day trip to celebrate Canada Day in the northern sector of Algonquin Park. We toured up to the most north-west corner of the park to spend a night on Shad Lake, and completed a loop of about 75 km in the area.

July 1, 2015 - Kioshkokwi Lake to Manitou Lake - 3 portages totalling 1930 m

Got up early with Katja, packed the car and drove to Arnprior for breakfast. PJ's was closed so we went to East-Side Marios instead. The rest of the drive was very wet with lots of rain, but true to form, the weather improved upon arrival at the park. Stopped in at Algonquin North Outfitters to pay for the boat and obtain a topo map and then to Kioshkowki Lake where we picked up the park permit. After a quick lunch on a picnic table by the beach, we were off. A steady breeze from the north-west made travel rough, but we were able to cross the lake more or less directly, however still felt quite relieved when we reached the calmer waters sheltered in the south arm. As we approached the portage, two canoes emerged out of the woods, so we decided to stay on the water a bit longer and finish up the second half of our lunch while they got going. More canoes arrived and it became clear that this was a large and somewhat disorganized group, so we paddled in and got moving on the trail, squeezing between about a dozen or so girl guides. The water was high enough on the Amable du Fond river, so we could paddle the low water section and skip a portage. Another short portage brought us to the main river channel. Had to paddle up a short rapid, which took some work, but was accomplished without leaving the boat, and then a gentle couple of kilometers further brought us to the final and longest carry of the day. Here we met another half dozen girl guides who were trying to catch up to the other group we had seen earlier. After helping them unload a canoe, I bid them adieu and hurried down the trail to catch up to Kat. Manitou Lake was a welcome sight after the carry, but the cold, gray, and windy day did not feel very summer like. We paddled along the north shore, and checked out the first campsite which was not very nice, so moved onto the second which we declared suitable. The mosquitos and black flies were somewhat fierce, so we retired to the tent for the rest of the afternoon to read and snooze.

Lucnh before departure.


Choppy seas today.


Arriving at our beach-side campsite.



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