Hi my family of five ages ranging from 40-8 would like to take the plunge! Wed love to end up camping on an island. Is that out of our league? Any suggestions for a route? we have 5 days in July to make the best of it. Any advice is appreciated

We can help you, but a little more info would be great, like from where are you coming in from, do you want to portage or not, do you want to be near "the crowds" or to be a bit secluded, swimming, fishing, etc....I think you get the picture.

I'm not sure I understand why camping on an island might be out of someone's league.

Do you mean you've never camped in Algonquin's interior?

Have you much canoeing experience? (Not that I had any canoeing experience at all for my first interior camping adventure...LOL)

Do you have much camping experience at all? Backpacking?

Tell us more about yourself and your group, and maybe we can get a better handle on what we're talking about here.





Barbara

Rose Island on Rock Lake is a great place may suit your needs. No portages, about an hour or less paddle, good swimming, fishing, Booth Rock is close, Echo Bay close. Would be a good first time trip.

Camping on an island won't be out of your league. You're league will determine which lake you end up on...how big that lake is and how many portages are needed.

ponders
- I presume with a group of 5 you'll be taking two canoes.
- It sounds like you're looking to paddle in and setup base camp and do day trips from there (a good idea for a first visit)

Some suggestions:

If this is your first time trying canoe camping, then Rose Island, which has already been mentioned...is the easiest possible first trip. There are lots of things to see and do on rock lake. You can take day trips to Penn Lake, and perhaps Lake Louisa...get your first taste of portaging without carrying all your camp gear.

Been canoe camping once or twice before someplace else? Ready to try a short portage or two? Try the Booths Lake Trip, start at access 17, a short paddle across farm lake, 90m portage to Kitty Lake, a short paddle across Kitty Lake, 550m portage to Booths Lake. Booths Lake has island sites and a number of very nice sites on points on the mainland. Good swimming, fishing, a nice marsh to explore, and small lakes that can be visitted for day trips.

Are you a trained canoe paddler, who's been on a trip or two before? Try Happy Isle Lake, Take the water taxi from the Lake Opeongo Access point, portage 2K (long but a nice trail) to happy isle Lake. It's a fair sized lake with lots to explore...I hear there are caves someplace on the mainland though I haven't found them yet. Merchant lake is a short day trip, and has lots to explore including an island with a few trees full of great blue heron nests.

Karior

Tanamakoon Lake, Thru Cache Lake access#8. Many cottage studded islands to navigate thru on Cache Lake, thus providing cover from winds, then up the channel to Tanamakoon Lake, with an island campsite perched in front of you as you emerge onto the lake(Campsite signage on opposite side of island).
Like Deputy Dog mentioned earlier, this route also has no portages, and will take you about an hour or less(depending on paddling skill, weather conditions, etc) to reach the campsite.

Cheers

I like how dano and I are the only ones who prefer to find out more about this group before jumping into giving advice blindly, and by making some wide-ranging assumptions.

We don't even know the ratio of adults to children in the group.

Awful lot of guessing going on here, folks. Not really the best way to give out advice on a public forum.




Barbara

paddling up canoe to joe is an option giving you island, plenty of branching explore spaces. some going to burnt island, some to tom thomson, with little lakes/channels between (making them more or less easy to paddle)-- a bit like the tanamakoon option. your first day may be a big one for you, paddling up canoe lake (and a portage into joe)-- but doable, and you can take your time along it-- as much time as you need. but then u'd arrive at joe and there are a few nice island sites and even a few nice non island sites. explore for 3 days, all through the secluded (from the wind) twisty areas there are, a few small portages around too (if you want to try them), and decent moose viewing too. make sure to get everyone up for an early morning misty paddle around your island to look for moose! it's the best time to see them (if you're quiet!).

the cons to this kind of route may be traffic. 'may be', depending not on whether there will be traffic but whether the traffic will bother you. you wont see parades of people paddling by or anything (nor will they come reliably like planes dotted in a line at different altitudes), but frequent enough that you wont jump up to see whos paddling by everytime. some people like crowds, or the feeling of people 'around'. cant think of any other significant con to this route. as i said paddling Canoe L may be a bit difficult (against wind), and includes a portage, but you can break however frequently you like on Canoe, and do the small portage in several runs (minimizing the equipment on each one).

you mention island. do you mean you would like to be on your own 'private island'? or on an island simply? anyway some interior canoe trips are out of some people's leagues. not all. the kinds that have been suggested i would recommend to anyone new or anyone just familiar with canoe camping. in my opinion the 'out of your league' business is toward preparing your trip properly (in a equipment/use sense), less the journey (assuming a fixed route and season).
water pulls and boats nudge, the land moves you by. matches light and water steams, below a simple sky.

algoalex

sheesh, why do I feel like I've just been reprimanded for being helpful?
It's not my fault that a lack of info was given, and it is not my 'job' to query someone to provide more info.
Frankly I don't have the time to either, I was just giving a quick destination off the top of my head.
The info can be taken or left as is.

If someone buys a car and the dealer asks, "Do you have a license?", is it the dealer's fault that the driver has an accident 5 secs after they drive off the lot and has no driver's license at all?






Mark Rubino
Mark's Algonquin Park Sampler - Blog
Mark's Algonquin Park Sampler

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

If someone asks "what canoe should I buy?", do you just start rhyming off models without knowing what the intended use will be?

If someone asks "what sleeping bag should I buy?", do you start rhyming models off, without knowing anything about the intended use, what seasons, what temperature ranges?

I'm not saying don't be helpful, but it is a common occurrence here to read posts by people are laughing at newbies struggling, sometimes failing, in their first attempts at interior camping/canoeing.

I see a correlation between the two topics. Maybe I'm the only one.

Sometimes it's tough to step back and think about how our answers are received by the general public, especially those who are striking out on a first adventure. I know folks who would recommend first aid rescue courses, canoeing classes, etc, etc, before giving any advice to newbies. All I'm (and dano) are asking is for some simple bacground. Don't get your knickers in a knot, eh.



Barbara

hi Barbara i know what you mean, i would rather know the facts before i say anything. but you know how it is.. you get excited (for them) and want to throw something in (for them) and dont want so much to wait (for them). i dont think there are any terrible consequences to doing this. if, let's say, the trip has some special interest (like swimming on a beach), then our offers go wasted, since in our offers there are no beaches, but you cant assume that the person didnt say something they should have said, and remind them to re-think what they have said. you assume that, in the absence of their criteria, they are easy going-- adaptable or even wanting to be thrown into something less calculated. that goes for whether they mean big or small island or putting in at the N or at the S or whatever.

anyway, not having a beach or not having a private island (just a big one) are not terrible loses. if they were, specifications would have been made by the poster. something is strange about me asking if someone likes apples, just because i like apples, so i can tell them to paddle near the apple tree. i dont see anything wrong with giving 'blinded' advice when the advice given does not (reasonably speaking) inspire some kind of terrible accident. of the most terrible accidents, one may be them not being able to paddle or portage the route suggested. but we were told 5 people, aged 40-8. i think it is safe to assume that there are two adults in this group (as that is more the typical set), and, as so, our routes fit. degree of paddle experience? from being a newbie to familiar, these routes are fine for all (weather permitting-- it is assumed they will not persue through a hurricane). the fact that it is summer makes a huge difference too (it releases some emphasis on paddleability).

it's amazing how much can be learnt from a few words and specifications, and in how it's said too. you get feelings, ideas of the person and of their interest. then suggestions come up, and you write them up. true, you dont know the matters of fact. but there is value in guessing too-- use to it-- so long it does not trample toward terrible loss. when TeamX responds to this message, i bet you will find that a lot of our suggestions 'turn out' to still be appropriate. that is not a fluke. and that is why people continue to assume.

algoalex

i do think you are right though, about us needing to take more care with our responses to people. especially that this forum is public, as you say.

algoalex

I'm not seeking to be "right", alex. I'm just trying to put a different way of looking at things out there.

Maybe it's just that I have needed to take those steps back, and really look at what is being asked, in other circumstances. Some times we make things out to be more complicated than they were intended, some times we don't take them as seriously as we should.

It's been amazing to me that people have suggested, in the past, some right gnarly lakes for a first-time trip. Even getting to Booth Lake has been a challenge on occasion. First was the access lake...looks small, but can be a nasty place when the winds whip up, being that it's a shallow lake. A "simple" trip, so one feels almost obligated to load the canoe down with all manner of items and people. Just makes a bad situation that much worse.

And then there's Booth itself...a horrible place to be striking out, with the destination being an island, in high winds.

When we first started out, we didn't realize the importance of "stay close to shore". Even after a few trips, it was bad experiences that taught the lesson that it's the lee of the wind that you need to stick to, and how important it is to take a few minutes to read the lake.

There's over 100 pages of threads here on AA. Lots of discussion and advice, but how do we determine how much others have researched? We can't. So I am going to continue to assume only one thing...that without any information, I can't give a helpful answer. That what I could write could indeed lead to someone having a bad experience, one way or another.

That, and the fact that I can't understand why people want to be camping on an island.




Barbara

Lighten up Barbara! I am sure you have tons of experience, but you're coming across as arrogant and self serving. Not everybody crosses their 't's and dots the 'i's everytime they ask a question. I personally see nothing wrong with any of the answers the members have given to this question. All are easy and do-able trips for the first timer or seasoned veteran of Algonquin. Let's not forget, camping is not rocket science! Our ancestors did it without GPS, Kevlar and Goretex, and they managed quite well, probably better than the rest of us 'experts', who have left the park in complete shambles. On my first trip to the park forty years ago, there were no permits, you camped where you wanted to and you stayed as long as you wanted to. Unfortunately, those days are gone, as so is the true spirit of Algonquin.

Michael

Obviously, the only correct destination for a first trip to Algonquin Park is Dickson L. Be sure to bring lots of food and gear to make your trip comfortable, and plan on triple-carrying the Bonfield to Dickson portage. I guarantee your fellow canoeists will be talking about your trip for as long as you are still on speaking terms.

That said, the campsite on Tanamakoon L that Markus mentioned looked pretty neat when we passed by on May 5.

I'm not sure exactly how it's self-serving to be cautious and ask questions, but that's your take on it and you're welcome to it.

Arrogant? Whatever, dude.

I'm still not going to jump on a bandwagon just cuz it's the "popular" thing to do.




Barbara

Barbara,

My intention was not to get your knickers in a knot, which I obviously did from your reply. I didn't say you were arrogant, I didn't have to, you did that yourself!

We live in a world were everything has to be 'right' and thought out. What happened to packing the hot dogs, hamburgers and beer and just going for it? Many years ago, 40 to be exact, my buddies and I would just go, to Algonquin. Now, if you don't have the right gear, you don't have the right clothes and you don't have the right 'attitude' then you aren't meant to go? Personally, I find this very distrubing!

Michael

Or, if you feel a little more adventurous, try Hilliard Lake. It is only a 700 meter portage from Canoe Lake. The trail is relatively flat and has a couple of rest areas. Once on Hilliard, there is only one campsite a short paddle from the end of the portage. From there you can stay put or explore further south through a series of short portages and small lakes. Quite an easy and enjoyable trip away from the crowds and easy to get to!

Michael

i mean, i think that what you have said was fair, which (being fair) i think to as right.

we are fortunate to have people like you around here, to notice when we might missdirect visitors, if/when we do. so thanks for helping with that because, it is obvious that our interest is, indeed, for the safety and wellness of all visitors of the park.

i can appreciate what you say about not wanting to give blind advice because it may lead to them having a bad experience. i think a lot of us open that 'advice valve' freely, without with much critique as to what comes out. having said that, i think that the consequences of blind advice are only negative in very specified circumstances. as in, for example, promoting opeongo or smoke in the spring to a new camper. i think that promoting a lake that is near the access point in the summer for a sit-in type trip is a pretty fail-safe business. despite being without exact knowledge as to the ages of (all) these people, skill level, etc, a route can be easily mapped out to suit.

another thing to consider is that advisors may have varying philosophies as to what kinds of things are important advising about. for example, you may feel the group would dislike the idea of having to paddle against a hard wind for a few hours. this causes you to feel it is important that you advise a route windless. another advisor may feel that part of canoe tripping includes the play of wind, and advises nothing against it. which advisor is more suited toward the visitor how to say? you may say that this is when we ask questions to the visitor, and see if wind is or is not a concern for them. but the point is that if you do not impulse to feeling it is a concern, you do not impulse to asking if it be a concern. as we do not bring blankets to the shivering unless we have shivered before them.

this is where we say "okay, i dont know much about these people, but instead of me assuming that there is something about them i need to know, im going to assume that there is nothing about them i need to know (for i am not a doctor to plot and cure), and will, with what i've been given, provide an answer most suited to their criteria. And if they frown in that wind, let it shape their questions next year, but let it not pre-assemble me to investigate into their interests, for their interests have come at me (not me at them), and am left to assume that they have arrived complete, just as if they have come more thick".

obviously i lose that approach when the stakes are higher, such as with spring tripping or dangerous routes, etc.

another thing is that you can ask all the questions you like-- you will have done nothing but evaporated the things that you would normally be concerned with (which you extend into them). just as not asking them is an extention of no concen into them. i don't like getting into all this. That's why I deal with what's on my plate (with what they dish to me): I don't assume they have forgotten the peas. Because if they didn't forget it, still, there could be no peas on my plate (which happens to be what is in front of me).

we are very adaptable people too, we don't have to get things perfect. some of us even enjoy the freedom of imperfection (which may have been the incentive behind the short posting). thanks for your help Barbara, and again, i think it is very nice that there is such a genuine concern for the health of other people's trips, like yours.

algoalex

I correct myself, I meant to say Cache Lake, not Canoe Lake!

Michael

Hello,

I am not trying to cause trouble, rather to provoke thought. What is the problem with pushing yourself, hurting, straining and having a difficult time managing portages and terrain? Isnt' that what a trip in the interior is meant to be? After all folks, if all we wanted was a weekend at Howard Johnson's, wouldn't we book one at Howard Johnson's?

Part of the fun, the mystery, the experience in going out into the outback ( whether it be Algonquin, or wherever ) is the unknown. I'm not foolish enough to send newbies along a 5000m portage, but if that if were their decision and they have a great time doing it, what's the problem? I don't think that it's fair to assume that because we ( who have had years of experience ), know everything and influence the decisions of fellow trippers. To them I say 'Paddle my friends, enjoy yourselves and the challenges ahead. Take great pictures and post them all for us to see'.

Michael

There's nothing wrong with pushing yourself, but this is far from what Team W asked for.

hey check out "baits island" only two miles from the opeongo parking lot. with many day trips within easy reach. the island also has a nice sand bar beach. many campers would die for this island site during good weather.
just a thought eh???

Who is team W?
Michael

I agree 100% Michael. People forget more than I'll ever know about camping and canoeing. Sometimes I wonder if I plan too much.

As far as trips are concerned, there isn't an island but Tim Rover to Rosebary Lake is a nice trip, one small portage, big beach, chance to see moose, day trips, etc. And if that's too much, Tim Lake is very accessible, and has an island.

Hi Michael,

*What is the problem with pushing yourself, hurting, straining and having a difficult time managing portages and terrain? Isnt' that what a trip in the interior is meant to be*

the problem with pushing, hurting, straining, etc, is whatever it is, in the eyes of the camper who pushes, hurts and strains. note that your estimation of what a trip entails is your estimation (however popular it may be), and may not be shared by everyone else. i like to get dirty on trip, to push myself-- to do the things that i, on other days, dread doing, for what comes out of them. i imagine that you are someone like this, perhaps someone more so. but there is plenty option in algonquin park before howard johnson flashes in as an alternative-- plenty of it between hotel and ambitious tripping. whether you think of your tripping as ambitious or not is irrelevent; the point is that some may think of it that way, and therefore IS that way, to them.

since we are striving to help them, and not ourselves, we rig a trip that is suitable for them, as opposed to for ourselves. if you are wondering how it is that we think we know that they are looking for a less ambitious trip, we don't. (likewise, we don't know that they are requiring an ambitious one). But some things are inferred from statements in the original post: it sounds like a family trip, it sounds like they want to stay on one island for the entire trip, and, since it was asked whether the trip is out of their league, it sounds like the group are stepping into interior camping from car camping (or from no camping). with those things considered, it is reasonably inferred that the trip they are looking for is not an ambitious one. But aside from these inferences, it is still good to propose less ambitious trips, and that is because doing less is more capable among us than doing more. So if we want to help someone who is a mystery, we propose less, just as, when we fill a fuel bottle whose 'limit line' has faded, we place less.

I agree with you (in that i appreciate the idea) that part of the fun and whole experience is the element of the unknown. This, like travel distance, is completely subjective stuff. Barbara, who was asking questions, was asking because she found it important for these answers to be known, before advising a route. That is, she has different views than you (and me even) as to how far the unknown should scope (yours being more loosely spread). I have to agree with her on this too (not as a taste like kewi) but as the right attitude to have for mysterious persons, for as I said, doing less is more capable among us-- specifying our interests (and rigging a route accordingly) is more managable/ enjoyable by us. For you can enjoy a journey that is meant to be full of surprizes and also a journey more calculated (since you can calculate it toward consisting of what you like), but another person may only enjoy a calculated journey, since the elements of an unknown experience may affect them badly (as they have never encountered the unknown theme to KNOW that they, like you, like it). Again, this is subjective. Barbara is not the things that you say-- quite the contrary, she is incredibly helpful and can be very sighted when we are not so. I think that you should have thought about whether it was possible to missinterpret someone's text before assuming that your interpretation was correct. Especially if you were going to write about it in public.

*I'm not foolish enough to send newbies along a 5000m portage, but if that if were their decision and they have a great time doing it, what's the problem*

No one said there was a problem with people having a great time doing what they decide to do. When people ask for us to assist their decisions, we do, and do not say "Go and be free!", because, for one, they asked for our help, and for two, poorly planned trips can cause trouble. And we don't want visitors (each other) to have trouble out there.

thanks for showing that your intentions were well,

cheers,
algoalex

calling the park and asking the same questions, or having the park mail out a algonquin map to help people decide after reading the whole map front and back,, nice start! and thirdly people should call a outfitter and ask.
how can people slagg a volunteer like "barbara" with more experience and first hand knowledge than most seasoned vets. talk about biting the hand that feeds ya!! enough already,, everyone has a opinion on this thread we are all equal. someone asked for help and barbara was there.
next time look in the mirror before passing judgement on any VOLUNTEER, from this site,, and name calling,, shame , shame. what do you want??
there was a large grey area created with the open ended question.
we are all here to help and to have some fun.

OMG, ya'll need to get out and do some paddling I think.

I do agree with Barbara though ... why do people want to camp on an island anyway? Forest, water and a sand beach is where it's at ... well, I actually prefer white sand and the clear blue Caribbean ocean but that's a whole other story

Joan
36 days and counting

Why an island? If Team W is much like our own when we started family camping, the assumption is that an island is "safer," i.e. less likely to appeal to a wandering B*** (Oh no, not that thread again?).

Fact of the matter is, B***s take to water like ducks. Their signs are commonplace on every island we've ever visitied on Georgian Bay (we even came onto one swimming across a bay nearly 1k from shore), and no doubt they find the generally calmer waters of AP even less restricting. Islands are not one iota safer from B***s (or the mainland more risky), if that is a concern.

On the other hand, I can assure you, when the water temp is under 10 and your Swift decides to go looking for a Langford mate, an island is not your friend .

Mark S.

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

..just got back



algo

i get the impression that no one likes islands..
true?

why is that, actually?

i am hugely attracted to islands, esp the small winded ones in the middle of larger lakes.
the ones with just a few pine still standing-- the survivers crawlin up the rock like spidar.

pitch my tent to arrow in the blow
rig up some anchor systems
set up an air eddy for my whisperlight
and things are solid and swell.
wish for wet clothes to hang,
make some wet if none.

walk out there in my wind top and feel it walk me back
that's an amazing feeling. (and perspective)
to feel it press on you like a pillow wantin to get past.
you feel like you're at the heart of the place,
seeing it all in at once, alone out there with it,
watching-- facing it-- dead on.
coffee steam whips out your mug so fast you cant see it
you trust that its hot.
the base in your ears,
the tongue of the wind it be.

black flies may swarm inside the nalgenes, but that's about it.
let them go like hot air baloons.
lake in every which way, thrashing against one side of your rock, snug against the other.
stars so wide and bright
water laps at night, left and right
the pinch of first light.
all from an island site.

carribean is hot sure.. blue water and white sand.
but a week o that dont compare to a white rock smoothened like hilly skin, stood in the heart of a lake raged with blow, leeched with a couple jack pine-- who lean with the wind, as if some contract was signed on co-operation. the others were too proud. a couple small boulders held in holes-- they could be teetering on uneven bottoms, some water trapped like ponds in cracks (with life trying), and i could stay there for one day-- one night, over a week anywhere else (unless that else meant canoe tripping in canada).

lol i realize there are not many of these in algonquin that are designated camp spots. but some are. but islands like bates or ragged-- they are islands by fact, not by feeling. i like them by feeling.

but why do people not like islands, islands like bates (with its surroundings), and islands like dots in the middle of big trout or lavielle or ope?

algoalex

I like island sites, especially islands with just one site. I like the feeling of privacy, and water all around, and all the other reasons Alex mentioned (your words paint a beautiful picture!). I also like that most of the island sites I've been on don't have the possibility of thunderstorm runoff making your tent into a waterbed (happened to me once on Casey L). I also don't like when a difference of opinion gets out of hand on one of these threads. I hate clicking on a post with trepidation, wondering how much time I'll waste reading a pointless argument. Let's all be nice, people!

Beautiful, algoalex. Yes. I also love islands, I just dont delude myself with the notion, one that I held for many years, that they can ward off things that go bump in the night. Imagine countless islands like you describe, nothing but islands almost, waves forms frozen in rock, gneiss ribbed, pink elephant skinned islands, Harris and Thomson trees teetering above water too big to see across, water made to swallow a canoe in one bite. Thats the awesome beauty of Georgian Bay for me. So, I straddle two wilderness worlds, the lush highlands of the Park and the island studded waters of the Bay.

I digress, though. We're talking AP, and Team W didn't say why an island in AP. They left us to speculate (at least those of us who couldnt wait for answers). I hope our AA enthusiasm for engagement, with visitors and each other, didnt overwhelm them. There are some excellent recommendations in this thread to pick from, and I hope they have a great time.


Mark S.

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

hi Mark,

do you have any pictures of the islands you described, or of the general 'look' of the bay with islands from any of your trips? i would really love to see them. i am in process of planning a cross cananda trip by canoe, and will be passing through the bay (entering from wasaga, so i can see most of it)... and am very much looking fwd to that leg of the journey. if you have anything that ud think i'd like please send to tikuisis@hotmail.com,

thank you very much!

and ps.. i used to prefer islands on that notion too
funny, how mistaken notions can put you through a time that gives bloom to other, more lasting notions,

algoalex

Glad to. I'll pull some together and get them to you in a day or two.



Mark S.

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

Mark,

Just wanted to chime in and tell you how much I like that shot you just posted. Thanks.

Cheers
Shawn

very nice Mark, thanks for sharing,
i see what you mean by pink elephant skinned rock..
very attractive,

(and a hot boat/load like that always spices things up)

algoalex

Neat place, eh? (I learned how to speak Canadian from my grandfather )

Notice in the picture the "Squaller Hauler" under the Winisk. Just a simple piece of 2x4 that White Squall (Georgian Bay's answer ot AO) ships out with all their rental kayaks. Saves all kinds of wear and tear on boat bottoms from Georgian Bay rocks. They's be handy things in the Park if they weren't such a pain to portage.

Mark S.

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

Now, THAT is a ROCK!!!!

Must look unbelievable in the light of sunset.

Thanks for posting the photo, Mark. (Do you haul a lot of camera equipment? At least a tripod?)



Barbara

I didnt notice but do now.

what a perfect little solution to the wear/tear issue.
i would imagine that it would cause some drag while paddling though.

lol just kidding.

it seems like it is more suited for the great lakes than for smaller ones, as the great lakes consist more of (i think) smoothened rock that gradualy dips down, as opposed to the rigid-look to islands of smaller lakes, which tend to rise straight up like cubes. so when you're taking your boat out onto a rigid island (this goes for the land in general in algo too), some upward hauling is generally required, and since that hauling is in effect, boats get placed upside down (as an inertia to their settlement). whereas, on the bay (and other great lakes), boats come out almost parallel with the water (as the land under them rises likewise), therby inviting the option
of laying them flat, making the beams ideal cushions for that settlement. Also, i would think that, since there are, as you say, many islands, and since they share that smooth quality (which i assume they do), there are frequent invitations to land on them too (especially true for tourists), increasing the amount of times boats arrive at sitting flat.

another thing is what you say on convenience-- that it is more inconvenient to carry them on your back than in the hull. no doubt, the beams would be handy in various algonquin situations-- but i know one thing! when i get my new boat im getting a pair of wooden beams quicker than a spray deck (maybe hard foam instead of wood), to baby that baby everywhere we go! it's a beautiful feeling taking such dedicated care of your boat, i think. i mean, taking care of yourself extended -- your boat. i may even paddle it wrapped in shrink wrap, so that bugs don't litter on it.

lol,
algoalex

Barbara-

I do use a tripod from time to time, but that is all I haul around other than the camera, which is a Canon S3IS (a 2006 model, 12x zoom with Image Stabilization). It is several generations old by now (the latest is the S10IS with a 20x zoom). I envy the clarity of a good DSLR, but for my purposes I still prefer the light weight and versatility of a long zoom model. Besides, if one of these ends up in the drink, I'm out a fraction of the cost of a DSLR and associated gear.

This is a shot of me taken in the Bustard Islands by my son Josh



And the shots I was waiting for . . . of the sun setting over Killarney's La Cloche Mountains.





And, yes, "magic hour" shadows on these wave sculpted rocks are wonderful (actually sunrise in this shot)



Enough of these foreign landscapes. Barry is going to censor me for going outside the lines.

If you send me your e-mail address off line, I'll include you in the photo collection I send to algoalex.

Mark S.

http://www.ABRweb.ca .. Algonquin Backcountry Recreationalists - Caring for Algonquin's Backcountry

I think these will potion Barry into forgetting the lines, for a moment as wide as the photo.

algoalex

Team, how about something off Cache Lake or Canisbay. A lot of nice lakes nearby.