Algonquin – Galeairy Lake

We somehow managed to convince my younger sister and her boyfriend how much fun it is to canoe to your campsite and rough it in the wild. Given that C & E aren't avid campers (or canoers), we planned a route that wasn't particularly ambitious. We were secretly hoping they'd have such a great time that they'd want to go backcountry camping with us again.

Algonquin – Misty Lake

Algonquin has become an annual tradition for us. For some reason we are quick to forget the (literal and figurative) blood, sweat and tears from our past trips, and are eager for more. More paddling, more portages, and more pain. The forecast was calling for nice weather over the August long weekend, which was great because we planned quite an ambitious route to Misty Lake.

Charleston Lake Provincial Park

Charleston Lake is located in South Eastern Ontario, just north of the St. Lawrence River. The rocky lake and surrounding forest area are an extension of the Canadian Shield, one of the largest and oldest geologic continental shields in the world. The shores as well as the islands of this lake are a mix between private property and the provincial park. Nevertheless, it is one of the best provincial parks in Ontario that is relatively close to Toronto for fishing, swimming, boating and camping.

Bon Echo Provincial Park

Bon Echo Provincial Park is located in southeastern Ontario and is situated along several lakes, including Mazinaw Lake - the seventh deepest lake in the province. For years we've been saying we'd like to visit Bon Echo, in large part because it's located close by K's family cabin. So this year we finally made it happen. While there are just over 500 car camping sites to choose from in this provincial park, we booked one of the 25 coveted canoe-in campsites located in the backcountry on Joe Perry Lake.

Algonquin – Mink Lake

The weather forecast for this weekend was less than ideal with cooler than average temperatures and rain (lots of rain). Today was supposed to be the worst with 20 mm of rain and a severe thunderstorm warning on the horizon for later this afternoon and evening. So we were anxious to get out onto the water and find a decent campsite on Mink Lake before the storm rolled in.