Canoe Trip Plans - Summer 2010

As rewarding and enjoyable as this past summer was, I never had the chance to take the canoe out other than some local daytrips. With the return back to the city and the paddling season effectively over, I've decided to start planning for a 7-10 day solo trip with the Cedar Canvas canoe next summer. This won't really be a true, extreme wilderness trip. Given that my wife will need access to our sole car, I've decided the most appropriate trip is in neighbouring Algonquin Park, 30km west of our summer cottage. I've camped in the North end of the park years ago, but have never seen the "jewel" of the southern part, Lake Louisa. So this is the area I'm intending to visit.

I've already started some basic planning with Jeff McMurtrie's absolutely stunning and free Algonquin Map. Getting to Louisa from any direction requires many portages (something I don't mind to get away from the crowds). I'm hoping that the descriptive names of some of portages - "The Devil's Staircase" and the "Double Devil's Staircase" - will intimidate other paddlers from the area...wishful thinking, I'm sure.


Louisa on Jeff M's Map
Algonquin Adventures has fantastic trip logs documented from all of Algonquins Access Points. In particular, this recent pic heavy posting by Mike Burns sealed the deal that I wanted to check out this area. Many thanks for the details Mike! So as another welcome distraction over the winter, I'll be gradually planning my route and preparing my gear, including some new paddle designs to test out.