The Fun Bunch: on Location in Algonquin

On the Trail takes you on location to Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario, Canada.
By Sam Service

Recently four members of our beloved PH congregated on Site 32 of the Mew Lake campground in Algonquin Park. For two of the members, Mubarakin and Sam Service, Algonquin has been a part of their lives for a very long time, but the other two were first time visitors. Algonquin is to the Ontario Parks system what Yosemite or Yellowstone are to the U.S. National parks, it is known around the world and attracts visitors from just about everywhere. Algonquin is particularly popular in the fall when the sugar maples erupt in a blaze of glorious colour and there are few biting insects about to spoil the experience. Reserving a campsite for the occasion was interesting, as the selection was pretty grim by the time Sam got around to doing it.

Hatshepsut and Calliope met south of the border and joined forces to make the six and change hour drive easier to take. Despite some unfortunately confusing directions provided by Sam, they made it to the Mew Lake campground in time for dinner on Saturday. It came up in conversation that Calliope had one of those unfortunate moments at the border when all knowledge suddenly vacates the brain leaving one scrambling for sensible things to say. As a result she told the border guard that they were going to join Chris and Sam Smith of Toronto in Algonquin. Obviously, the border guard let them through and they continued on their way.

For those who have an interest in such matters, dinner was baked spuds, wrapped in foil and cooked in the fire, steaks cooked over the fire, and fried mushrooms. As the steaks were a decent size, vegetables were omitted from the menu. The thinking of the cook was that they would merely be ignored anyway and end up either in the fire or the garbage, why waste? The group spent the evening sitting around the picnic table talking, in fact we didn't notice the fire had burned down so far it was beyond redemption... The threat of rain earlier in the day yielded but a few sprinkles that could be heard hitting the tarp above us, and enough cloud to spoil the view of the heavens, as we took a walk to the garbage disposal before retiring for the night. All in all, it was not a bad evening.

The following day brought breakfast and a trip to the visitor centre and a walk around the logging exhibit. The visitor centre has displays about the natural and cultural history of the park and immediate surrounding area. Hatshepsut found the aquatic "food web" to be particularly cool in the way it was laid out. The logging exhibit follows the history of the lumber trade in the park, it is laid out like a trail with a path wandering through the woods and along the shoreline of a pond. The first displays are devoted to the time when there was only man and horse power, the final ones show more modern equipment which arrived with the advent of roads and trucks large enough to haul logs. Hatshepsut got a kick out of poking the mature puffballs we found along the trail and convinced Calliope to climb on the locomotive for a picture. The author hopes our laughter did not disturb the other visitors too much...

In the afternoon we took a walk to the cataract on the Madawaska river and joined the Highland backpacking trail for a bit which has been rerouted to removed one big climb. We walked along the old section until it met the new and then walked back along the new part. Returning to our campsite, we had dinner and then sat around the campfire for the rest of the evening. Calliope decided that Mu's Scotch was in fact quite tasty, while Sam did some damage to a box of wine. The walk to the garbage on this evening revealed the Milky Way in all its glory, as there were no clouds to interfere with the view.

Monday morning came all too quickly, and after a breakfast of pancakes, Calliope and Hatshepsut packed up their things and headed out on the long drive back to the States. Mu and Sam spent one more night in the park and then had to head home too, much to their disgust!

For more information on this trip feel free to read the commentary on the Fun Bunch thread on the community boards. For Sam and Mubarakin's perspectives on Algonquin, you can dig through the postings to the Mu and Sam's Excellent Adventures thread at On the Trail....