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  1. #1
    Senior Member sturgeon's Avatar
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    Algonquin: Western Uplands short loop

    This is a trail in Algonquin Park in south-central Ontario. There are three possible loops. I did the shortest most southerly one, about 35km.

    I wanted to get out of Toronto. So I drove up about 3 hours and started around 4 one afternoon and walked about 12 km (7.5 miles?) to Maggie Lake before dark. Next day about 10 km (6 miles?) to Oak Lake, arriving around lunch time, and the third day about 13 km (8 miles?) out to the trailhead.
    Doesn't sound strenuous but the trail is a constant up and down and the weather kind of sapped my energy. In the fall it would be pleasant.

    The weather was warm and sticky (26*C=78*F?) and the bush was green green green. Nighttime lows of 16* and 17*C (about 60*F).

    Tried: My new 3-season Incubator, and my Warbonnet tree straps with Dutch's whoopie hooks (thought his straps were a bit short for my taste, hence the WB ones). Used Tarp Flyz on the tarp, and Hennessy Snakeskins. Everything worked really well.

    Learned: Be careful with hot stuff. Burned my thumb and index finger lifting a pot lid. Second Skin Burn bandages with the moist gel in them are awesome and highly recommended, as is the Polysporin that has Lidocaine in it to dull pain. Also learned: If you hike solo, make sure you can access all your first aid stuff with one hand (and your mouth) if the other hand is burned and being held under water. Get bandaids that are easy to open, and ziplocs that use the zipper thing.

    Loved: took Aquatab water purification tablets this time. A lot less fuss than drops.

    Spotted: herons, cranes (rare in the park), loons, beaver, frogs, snakes, moles, chipmunks and squirrels.

    Here are some pictures. It's not the Rockies, but it has its pleasures and character. Enjoy.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/6545182...7630229841870/
    Last edited by sturgeon; 06-21-2012 at 23:04.

  2. #2
    Senior Member dant8ro's Avatar
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    Man, I love that park. I've been going for as long as I can remember and it always feels like coming home.

    Dan.

  3. #3
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
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    Great pictures!! Picture #11 is a northern wood sorrel. They can be found in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, too. I love your lake-side campsite! Thanks for posting.
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
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    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

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  4. #4
    Senior Member jayf124's Avatar
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    That place looks amazing! You're making me want to head up North for a trip. Thanks for sharing your report and the incredible pictures.

    Jay

  5. #5
    Senior Member sturgeon's Avatar
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    Thanks for the comments, all. Pips, thanks for the identification. (Oxalis montana) If it's sorrel, then I'm guessing that it ( in small quantities) might be a nice salad green, then...Maybe next time.
    Last edited by sturgeon; 06-22-2012 at 13:29.

  6. #6
    Senior Member Pipsissewa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sturgeon View Post
    Thanks for the comments, all. Pips, thanks for the identification. (Oxalis montana) If it's sorrel, then I'm guessing that it ( in small quantities) might be a nice salad green, then...Maybe next time.
    Yes, sorrel is pleasantly sour.
    "Pips"
    Mountains have a dreamy way
    Of folding up a noisy day
    In quiet covers, cool and gray.

    ---Leigh Buckner Hanes

    Surely, God could have made a better way to sleep.

    Surely, God never did.

  7. #7
    Senior Member sturgeon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dant8ro View Post
    Man, I love that park. I've been going for as long as I can remember and it always feels like coming home.
    Dan.
    Funny, I just discovered it last year.

    I'm originally from northern Ontario, so I'm used to the boreal forest of thin little trees and a pretty limited number of species and just the northern border of Great Lakes -St Lawrence type forests. It's a little weird for me to go to Algonquin. The trees are really big! And there's an open under-story in places. And beech trees, and yellow birch! And hemlocks!

    It's like going to London or New York or L.A. for the first time and seeing places you've seen all your life in magazines and TV shows and movies. Oh THAT's St. Paul's Cathedral, Oh THAT'S that building i've seen on TV. Oh, THAT's what a beech tree looks like!

  8. #8
    Senior Member Bubba's Avatar
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    Thanks for the pics. I did the big loop solo years ago. Its a good trail especially further north where it is not as well traveled as the small loop. Like Dan, I love Algonquin. Been going there for 20 years.
    Don't let life get in the way of living.

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