Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario Canada

The reunion has ended; it was one of the quickest weeks of my life. Time to move on down the road.

The way to Algonquin Provincial Park included a couple of airport stops. First we dropped off Jenna at Buffalo Airport. Then we moved on through the border (those immigration officials are getting to know us via the computer and there have been fewer questions as we cross countries) to leave Judy and Jim at the Toronto Airport. The car was filled to capacity when we left Peek 'n Peak. After dropping off Judy and Jim we hit a traffic jam outside of Toronto. It was a Saturday of a long weekend; Canada has a holiday on August 1st. Toronto folks were ready to get away for the weekend. Traveling was stop and go leaving the most densely populated city in Canada. Sandy and I did not worry about our 9 hour day of travel because we started the day extremely early. Traffic eased as we drove north. We stopped at a nursery/vegetable stand to pick up some fresh fruits and vegetables for our first night camping.


We arrived at the Park in the late afternoon. The park was beautiful. It was a warm, clear day. Our campsite was a nice flat shady spot in a small campground.
After setting up the tent we explored the 35 mile road corridor. This park is close to 3,000 sq miles in size. It is enormous but there is only 1 road through the park. The only way to reach many of the back areas is by boat or hiking. I have never seen a park with as many large lakes as there were in Algonquin. We took a short hike that afternoon on a trail showing the beaver's habitat. The picture was of a beaver dam. We saw a lodge as well. This brief hike made us aware of the series of lakes hidden behind the tree lined highway.


Day 2 was a full day at the park. The first thing we did (after breakfast) was rent a canoe on Canoe Lake.


Our plan was to ride along the banks of the lake. This lake connects to other lakes but we decided not to venture beyond Canoe Lake. As we were paddling along we saw a loon. We quickly set our path to get as close as possible. This was hard to do since it was a quick swimmer. Then we looked over and saw 6 loons swimming along. Two took off flying. We toured the shore some more. There were private residences along the shore. The only access to these houses was via a boat. Many had deck chairs set up for viewing the lake wildlife. On one of the islands was a kids camp. Then we saw a family of loons. We got as close as we could without scaring them and then we sat and watched. It was a highlight of the day.








Later we would take a couple of hikes. One was along a stream. Each of the hikes had an information booklet noting points of interest. Water lilies are a source of nourishment for the beavers. Many of the small ponds were filled with water lilies. Regretfully we were a little early to view their flowers. And we never did see a beaver.




Our last hike was up Hardwood Lookout. This trail was through the hardwood forests up to a lookout with a view of Smoke Lake. In the 1800s the old growth hardwood trees were in high demand. Folks felt it would take 700 years to chop down all the trees. In 70 years they were all gone; it was a land of stumps. A fire occurred clearing out the stumps. This allowed space for a new forest to grow. In 1893 a move was made to preserve this land as a park. Now it is full of trees, predominantly Sugar Maple, Spruce, White Pine, Alder, and others. The picture was the view from the lookout.

A ranger talk about birds completed the day. This talk was informative but too long. We had to leave before it was over; I was falling asleep listening to the rangers making birds sounds.

My highest recommendation goes to Algonquin Provincial Park. Canada has a great park system. Our only complaint was the state of the pit toilets in our campgrounds.