4 adults (my folks, fit 60-yrs old, and hubby & I, 38), 2 kids (ages 8&10) for August '09, 2 canoes. 3 of the adults have done this before, but it's been 20 years. (yikes, am I that old???) The last time we did this, we didn't have to specify which lake for which night on our reservation, just an entry date, a rough route and a departure date. My mom and I are thrown by really trying to pin down how far we can reasonably go in a day.

We want to push ourselves a bit and really get as deep as possible into the interior, but I'm struggling to not pick something that will make us all miserable. This may be a once-in-a-lifetime for my husband and kids. The amount of time off work isn't an issue as we're teachers. So, if there's a better way to split this into more days in a way that makes sense, please let me know what you think. We all in reasonably good shape, but not super-jocks. We're planning to stay along Rte 60 somewhere the night before and after the canoe part of the trip. I'm hoping to have packed in such a way that the longer portages can be one-tripped, but we'll see.

Day 1 -- Canoe Lake to McIntosh via Potter Creek, Brule L, Straight Shore L (is Potter Creek still a mess of beaver dams and a hard battle going upstream?)
Day 2 -- McIntosh L to Shippagew L via Timberwolf, Pandion, Shah L, and the Tim River (is this doable with all the turns the Tim takes?)
Day 3 -- Shippagew L to Burntroot L via Longer L
Day 4 -- Burntroot L to Hogan L via the Petawawa, Sunfish L, etc (I know this is a looong day, but I don't know where/how to break it up if at all, and the portages seem to be generally downhill...plus the days before and after are way lighter)
Day 5 -- Hogan to Big Trout L via Lake La Muir (still debating whether to take the long 2590 portage or paddle back up through Longer L and then down)
Day 6 -- stay at Big Trout, day-paddle around
Day 7 -- Big Trout to Burnt Island L via the Otterslides
Day 8 -- Burnt Island back out to Canoe L

My dad suggested stopping the first night at Brule L and then the 2nd night at Shah L, continuing on with the rest of the trip as outlined above, after that. Is that too slow a start? Is it better to start tough when you're fresh, or lay off a bit until you're in the groove of the trip?

Thanks for any and all advice and kindness to an AA newbie.

--Heidi

This is a wonderful loop but my initial reaction, given the nature of your party and the age range/experience is that it is pretty aggressive/ambitious. I don't think you've built in enough rest days or days to accomodate bad weather, be it high winds or heavy rain, that will throw off your schedule. We generally trip with our 3 kids, 6, 8 and 10(this season) year old boys. I can generally get two, two hour stretches of tripping out of them before they have had it for the day and want to do something fun. Being in a canoe all day and portaging gear is not something they enjoy. Pushing them to travel everyday for 8 days may ensure it will be their last trip. We have done a canoe trip every summer when one of the kids was not in infancy for about 20 years and it's easy to forget the amount of time and work it takes to move a large party through the park. This summer we completed an 8 day trip but spent 3 nights in one spot and 4 nights in another. That first portage had us carrying 35 meals and a fair number of snacks! The amount of time and patience it takes to filter water for a party this size is also a consideration. On one trip with just my wife and I, we thought we would make McIntosh on our first night, following the route you've set out. The water was so low on Potter Creek it took us the entire day to drag the canoe to Potter L. Even with the experience my wife and I have had canoeing with our kids, we would find your loop challenging. Even without our kids it would be a challenging trip. I know nothing about your capacity or ability and you might be able to handle a trip like this and have a blast. We may simply plan for a different kind of trip than your are hoping to have. Having said that, I still think you should plan a day off after each day of long tripping. This is really important so that you can slow down, recover and enjoy where you are instead of always moving. It also allows you to dry off gear/clothes which will get wet from sweat and at least one good dump of rain. If you really want to get to the interior consider taking the water taxi from to the top of Opeongo and start and finish there. It saves a ton of time and work and you are in the interior in no time at all. The trip logs are a great resource and many of them allow you to anticipate fairly accurately what you can do based on the experience of others. Planning is a lot of fun.. good luck.

Heidi,

I'd generally agree with what Fred offered, but I would also add that you're days 5 through 8 looked quite reasonable. Perhaps there's a way, as you indicated, to add a day or two in the first four to shorten a couple of those days or add an exploration day into the mix.

I'm a pretty aggressive traveler in the park (our first day typically consists of 15-20 miles of travel) but then we tone it down to 10 or 12 miles per day after that of loops from base camps.

Your route looks fantastic and you'll see a ton of stuff...but I don't know that you'll have the time to enjoy it!

Here are some alternatives...

Day 1 - as you said, from Canoe to McIntosh isn't too unreasonable with an early start but will be a barometer for how the rest will go.

Day 2 - instead of heading to Shippagew, perhaps head down through grassy bay and into Big Trout for the night. This might be a bit faster and easier allowing more time for relaxing on the site or in your backyard.

Day 3 - short day into Burntroot via longer...time to check out the alligator on the way to a site near the bottom end in Burntroot and time to check out the storage cellar as well.

Day 4 - Head down the Pet to Catfish for a night here

Day 5 - make your journey to Hogan via sunfish with time for swimming and exploring the cliffs of Hogan in the afternoon.

Day 6 - Hogan to Big Trout via LaMuir (I would opt for the portage, but that's just me...it really cuts a lot of paddle time)

Day 7 - Chill on Big Trout, nurse your feet!

Day 8 - Big T to Burnt Island via otterslides...this could be a challenge with lower water but you'll be lighter and in good shape after the previous week's travels!

Day 9 - Back out to Canoe with images of moose and songs of loons dancing in your head!

That's the same basic route but throws in some extra time with shortening a couple of the days. It wouldn't hurt, in my opinion, to add a day on Hogan or Burntroot for chillin' and recouperation. You're going to be quite heavy for the first 3 or 4 days. pack as lightly as humanly possible! I usually trip in May and we're burdened with a fair amount of cold weather gear and clothing...at least you won't have a lot of that weighing you down! Best of luck and I'm looking forward to other input from members on the board.

Days 1, 2 and 4 look very long considering the kids and gear (I'm not worried about your parents, they are NOT old!)and going up Potter Creek may be challenging in view of high water levels (you may have to track walking in the water).
The portage from LaMuir to Big Trout is like a highway and it's very wide and smooth so I would not discount it because of the length.
I would look into more days for more enjoymnet. You don't want to spend from sunrise to sundown just travelling.

This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm hoping for. Cutting out the Tim River part seems interesting. What is along the Tim River that we would miss out on?

--Heidi

I did the route suggested by Pa in 2000 with 3 friends (all 29). The trip was 8 days and included 2 rest days, so that route took 6 days of paddling for reasonably fit people. We double-tripped the portages for the first few days, and then were able to single portage after some of the food had been eaten. My friends were definitely grumbling after the 2k-ish portage into Tom Thomson L, because our packs were heavy being the first day.

Quote:
This is exactly the kind of feedback I'm hoping for. Cutting out the Tim River part seems interesting. What is along the Tim River that we would miss out on?

--Heidi
End Quote

You'll miss meandering in a narrow river which passes through grassy banks and trees with few, if any, panoramic views.

Kevin Callan's book on Algonquin, Brook Trout and Black Flies, possibly one other of his, gives a good description of taking this route and you'll find some hits if you Google advanced on Shippagew Lake as the exact phrase and Tim as one of the must have words or variations on those search terms.

-Jester

I know enough to know I don't know enough