Hey all,

I'm heading into North Tea on the upcoming long weekend and I was hoping to get some campsite advice as it's one of the few areas I haven't been to in the park.

I understand that with the wind there will likely be a lot of paddlers going along the shores so we were hoping to grab a decent site that was somewhat out of the way. We have our eye on the single campsite island in the middle of the lake as first choice and was just wondering if it was an okay site. Are there enough trees on it to break a serious wind if we get one. I already assume we'll have to hit the mainland for wood so that's not really an issue.

We were also looking at the most westerly site on the north shore by that little island or the one by the portage to Cayuga Lake.

Any opinions on those sites or any other ones that are just so good they need to be checked out would be really helpful. Thanks very much.

Dave

The best advice I can give you about North Tea is to get there as early in the day as possible. It is a very popular jumping off spot and competition for campsites for first and last tripping days can be fierce, especially on a long weekend. Since islands seem to be particularly valued by many canoeists, they are among the first to be occupied. So, if you arrive after mid-day, you may want to lower your expectations for an island. On the other hand, that makes it all the more enjoyable and rewarding if you luck out and find a nice site still open.

We booked the West Arm for our last night on two different trips last summer and, coming in late in the day, ended up at the very last campsite on the west end of the lake before we found a decent opening. That campsite has a lot going for it, nice smooth rock landing, good swimming, and a great vista of the lake. On the other hand, all the traffic on the lake goes right by; the campsite itself is heavily overused; and it has a thunderbox without a lid that is near collapsing (the place has obviously been overlooked by Park staff for many years).

Whatever you find, though, I'm sure you will have a great time. While you are there, just think of the all the rest of us poor folks on AA who would rather be in your place.

North Tea from the westernmost campsite closest to the portage to the Amable du Fond.



Mark S.

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

Ask Markus and Joan who are coming out soon after having camped on the west arm


I wimped going here the past two days to rv with Joan and Markus
due to weather forescast but really mostly due to the fact that my brother
who I took to Shawville on Saturday past with pneumonia ended up being
sent to Ottawa by ambulance as it sadly now looks like "small cell cancer"
and they need to confirm soonest as chemo must happen before radiation

This is my older brother who introduced both BoKnows and myself to the
beauty of AP respectively in the early/mid 60's.

BTW:
Big Trout was our destination and it was a long ( 12 hour) journey in
from Canoe Lake via Burnt Island/Otterslides

I was hoping to take my brother back there this year but even if the worse
should happen , he will get back to this paradise one way or another !


HTH
Raton Laveur
aka
Racoon

I can attest to the campsite that Mr. Scarlett pointed out as being quite nice. We stopped for a quick fish fry there once. On the north side of it is a little "bay" formed on north tea. if you look in the water, you can see some old gears -- very large, and likely quite heavy. an artifact from logging days i'd imagine. the swimming area is nice too, but privacy isn't great during the day as paddlers pass by.

on that note, Mark, what a stunning photo of the site.

Randy, sorry to hear about your brother -- best wishes to you and your family, and hoping for the best.

Getting off topic, but this is what a piece of the ironwear Bryce mentioned looked like last summer. Our best guess was that it was a flywheel of some sort, very heavy and likely still sitting by the shore where a couple of guys fished it out last year.



Sorry to hear about your brother's illness, Raton. We wish you all our best in what seems to have become a difficult and challenging time for all three of you. It's good to know you have each other to turn to.

Mark S.

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