Summer 2010

So this summer has been a great one for camping - both car and canoe. It has been dry (mostly) and hot which makes for nice paddling, portaging, cooking and camp fires. I hope to recap my adventures over the summer here as the days move forward into fall. Partly, I hope that this makes easing the transition into school season easier, but i also hope to simply share my travels with others, including those who've joined in on the tours.

This week i'm heading back to Algonquin Park along the 60 corridor to relax and rejoin on all that is Algonquin. This will mean car camping with day trips backpacking and/or canoe throughout the corridor and central regions. My 4-year-old, Evan, and Aunt Bev, my true companions will join me. I look forward to  reporting back when I return! :) We will park at Lake of Two Rivers (the easiest and one of the most well know of car camping campgrounds in Algonquin) and venture from there. When we stayed there in May of this year we had the joy of having a cow Moose and her calf walk down river with us (in canoe) and across our site through the camping area. We were in awe. Later that evening we experienced a bull moose walking down the path in front of our site. He was tentative of onlookers and made his way west until he could cut through to the river and marsh behind our row of sites. No matter how many of these guys i see I am no less in awe and thrilled than the very first time.

The second time that i've stayed at Lake of Two Rivers, as a stop over to an interior trip, a bear roamed the campground. He was drawn to area from his home in the interior due to human stupidity and carelessness related to food (coolers) and garbage being left out. Once a bear knows where there is a potential meal s/he will continue to visit again and again. In Algonquin, a bear need only to return three to a populated area (a.k.a. a campground that used to be his home but has been turned into a place for human recreation...@#$%) before it is put down by park wildlife specialists. The first time a bear is determined to be a "nuisance", one of its tooth is pulled out. The second time the same occurs. This way park wildlife staff can keep track of which bears are visiting. Bears are trapped in live traps, or shot with tranquilizers and moved to the interior of the park.

In any case, I am hoping for some wildlife viewing. There is a public wolf howl (pending pack availability) on Thursday night and September marks the beginning of moose mating season.

More to follow.

S