Quick Trek to Algonquin (previously known as trek to James Bay)

[qcdavid]

We had been planning to head to James bay and had prepared for the trip since early spring. However our teenage boy ended up having to go to summer school to make up his grades for one of his courses and registration was smack dab in the middle of our planned trip.

Since the we had the vacation time and the Jeep and trailer were ready to go, I did a quick trip planning session and we decided to head out to Algonquin Park. Though we had no reservations, they have some non-reservable sites available on a first come first serve basis, so we decided to chance it.

The plan was to get there quickly (in case we couldn't get a site and had to go somehwere else) but for the trip back we'd take the back roads. Here's a quick review of our trip, which was not quite James bay, but enjoyable none the less.


Depart from Montreal
====================

We left with the Jeep and trailer packed and went straight to the school to register for summer school.

The plan was to leave from the school and head to Algonquin Park using the highways so that we could get there early. We didn't have reservations so we wanted to make sure that if we couldn't get a site, we had time to find an alternate location.

We followed the directions determined by Google which had us follow the major highways. This would ensure we would get to our destination in the least amount of time. From the west end of Montreal, we followed highway 40 which turned into the 417 once we hit Ontario. We stopped at the tourist information to pick up an updated map and some information on Algonquin Park.

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We headed back onto the 417 which took us through Ottawa (where we ran into a bit of road construction) and continued north until it turned into the 17.

We stopped in Arnprior to top up the gas tank and grab a quick bite at the local Tim's. After a quick trip to the washrooms, we headed back onto the road. The sky seemed to be clouding over and shortly after resuming our trip, we saw some rain but it didn't last very long.

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We continued on the 17 until we reached highway 60 where we turned west towards our destination. The drive on highway 60 was scenic, taking us through some small quaint towns. There was quite a bit of truck traffic on this road and the going was slow at times as going up the bigger hills, the fully laden trucks had difficulty.

The closer we got to Algonquin, the darker the sky got until finally it opened up, complete with huge bolts of lightning which could be seen over the distant hills. The rain continued until we reached the town of Whitney, just east of the park. We stopped to fuel up before heading into the park. By the time we got to our campsite at Pog Lake, the rain had stopped and the sun came out making it easier for us to setup camp. Here's a picture after we finished setting up camp.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5196/5903463540_160c04411b.jpg

Total travel time was about 5 and half hours, including our stops.


More to come...

[frankspinz]

I've visited Algonquin a few times but never camped at Pog Lake ...
Nice setup David... looking foreward to reading more ....

[TheOtherSide]

Love that set-up....

[R_Lefebvre]

So... sound like you're available to come with us up to Poisson Blanc! :party:

;)

[qcdavid]

I dunno Rob. I've got major grass to cut in the country that I wasn't able to get to last week. When are you guys leaving?

[qcdavid]

We spent a total of 4 nights at Algonquin Park. We camped in the radio & pet free zone of the Pog Lake Campground. This is a fairly large campground with a mix of serviced and unserviced sites. The radio and pet free zone consists of unserviced sites, which is what we always go for when staying at a campground.

There was a small beach nearby though we didn't actually go swimming. However we would take a walk to the beach in the evenings to catch the sun going down over the trees and watching a couple of ducks that seemed to hang out there.

Though our first day was overcast, it wasn't really raining, just sort of misting. This seemed to be perfect weather for hiking and headed out to some of the hiking trails in the park. The Lookout Trail was about a 2 hour hike that took us to some rock cliffs overlooking a valley. The scenery was beautiful up there.

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The following day we went to see the logging museum that is within the park as well. This was an outdoor museum that took you through the start of logging in the area to present day. They had various components on display from original shacks they built as living quarters, to river boats, log sleds, and some cool logging trucks from when vehicles began to replace horses to haul the logs.

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July 1st was a gorgeous day. Because of the long weekend, the campground was packed with people. In order to escape the crowd and relax, we headed off to Lake Opeongo to rent a canoe for the day. We brought a lunch with us and headed off in a canoe to explore the lake. The water was calm but the sun was hot. We hugged the shore so that we could pull into the shade of overhanging trees every so often to keep cool. We spent about 6 hours on the lake before we decided we had enough.

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After a well deserved shower at the sanitary block next to the Opeongo Store, we headed back to camp.

We were tired after our day of canoeing so after our supper, we lit a campfire and sat around talking until it was dark enough to go to bed. I was so tired, the noise of the people partying it up didn't bother me at all.

Tomorrow morning, we would pack up camp and make our journey home.


To be continued...

[TheOtherSide]

qcdavid't Liberty and trailer made it to OLC's front page! Nice setup!!

[R_Lefebvre]

I dunno Rob. I've got major grass to cut in the country that I wasn't able to get to last week. When are you guys leaving?

Friday morning.

[qcdavid]

Today was our trip home. Our destination was Fassifern, Ontario. Rather than use the highways like our trip up, we planned our trip back using the back roads with planned stops in Balderson to pick up some cheese and Perth to check out an antique show.

We awoke and quickly broke camp and were on the road by about 8:30. We stopped in Whitney, the first town east of the park and found a place for breakfast called The Mad Musher and had a hearty breakfast. They had wi-fi which allowed us to check the weather and catch up on news. After a fuel stop to top off the tank, we were back on the road and soon turned off the main road to start our journey.

Though there was some vehicle traffic in the opposite direction, we were pretty much alone on the road.

In Maynooth, we caught a glimpse of a potter's studio and decided to stop.

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The artist was very friendly and had some works from various regional artists in her shop. We bought a piece of pottery and after a few minutes of chatting about the area, we headed back onto the road.

The roads were small and winding.

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It was a beautiful day for driving and the scenery was beautiful due to the numerous lakes and the hilliness of the area.

Driving through the back roads put our navigation skills to the test as we often needed to find the correct turn off to take us to the next road we needed to follow. Many of these roads were not on the Ontario map we had and trying to follow the Google directions was not always obvious. However the rewards were worth the effort as the road was definitely not boring and I don't remember the last time we were able to drive hours without seeing a Tim's or a one of those modern multi-bay gas stations.

We passed through Vennachar Station and stopped to take pictures of an old abandonned church, the last relic of an 1800's village built around the logging industry.

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It was now nearing lunch time and we were getting hungry. At Snow Road Station, we came across a small cafe which was also a private campground. The lady who ran the place made us some great BLT sandwiches and was very friendly. She was saying that they would be having their annual bass fishing derby this month. The person that would catch the biggest would get their name on the trophy proudly displayed in the cafe.

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After lunch we headed out and continued our trip towards our next stop in Balderson. I love cheddar and one of the brands I like is Balderson which comes from its name sake town. Though we didn't know exactly where it was located, it soon became obvious when we arrived in Balderson. At the intersection of the two main roads in town, we found the cheese shop which is also attached to the Amish Furniture Store. We were a little disappointed that this wasn't the actual cheese factory itself, but we bought some aged cheddar anyways.

About 15 minutes past Balderson, we arrived in Perth. Compared to the towns we had been through, Perth was a metropolis, complete with the usual pizza and doughnut chain restaurants. The downtown is very scenic and was quite busy.

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They were getting ready for a kilt run which I understand is like a small marathon run with kilts on. We found the antique show and went for a quick look. Since the show was pretty much in the center of town, we took a little stroll in the downtown area to check things out before heading out.

The next town we hit was Smiths Falls where we stopped for gas. Smiths Falls used to host the Hershey Chocolate Factory but it was shut down several years ago. The building is still there and the street is still named Hershey Drive but alas, no more chocolate store.

From Smiths Falls we continued our journey and went through several more towns: Merrickville, the location of one of the gates along the Rideau Canal, Finch, Chesterville, and Maxville, home of the Maxville Highland Games. From Maxville, we were just a short drive from our final destination of Fassifern.

Here we are in Fassifern, at the end of our journey.

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Total travel time was about 9 hours, but this includes our various stops. Though longer than our trip up, the return trip was much more enjoyable and we saw numerous sights that we would have missed had we taken the highways.

[qcdavid]

Friday morning.

Sorry Rob, can't make it this time around. Enjoy your trek and drive safe!

[qcdavid]

Lessons learned...

Though we ended up going to Algonquin Park, everything had been prepared for the James Bay trip. So in the end, this was sort of a test run for a few things that I wasn't completely sure would work.

Vehicle
=======

- Make a vehicle checklist and follow it before a road trip. I had followed my checklist the day we thought we'd be leaving for James Bay. When that was nixed and we left for Algonquin instead, I didn't bother doing the checklist and I ended up forgetting to close the trailer lid latches. Doh!

- Traveling at 70 to 90 km/h on back roads actually resulted in better gas mileage than on the highway. As a bonus there were much fewer splattered bugs on the front of the Jeep.

- The ARB awning was great to have and more useful than I expected. Quick to put up to get out of the rain or heavy sun, and just as quick to put away. We had a few people ask us about it.

- This was our second summer with the RTT and it's amazing how much quicker it makes setting up or taking down camp. The fact that the sleeping bags stay in the tent means additional cargo room in the truck. I like the fact that it's on a trailer as it means we can leave it in place when taking the Jeep for day trips if we're staying in one spot for several days.

- This was also our second summer using the solar power system I put on the roof. We seemed to always have an iPod or camera being charged up so it came in very handy. Plus with that extra battery, I should be able to boost myself if I run into battery problems.

- Though I didn't take my jerry cans along, the trays I made to bolt onto the roof rack worked well. Cheaper than buying the factory holders and kept the cans from moving around for the one day I did have them on the roof.

- Though we didn't encounter a whole lot of gravel, it did add to the chips on the trailer fenders. The mud flaps on the Jeep are not enough protection. I'll have to come up with something...

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6023/5914245358_6d3427fcfb.jpg


Traveling
=======

- Google map directions are great for highway travel but too detailed for backroad travel. We spent a lot of time sifting through the left/right directions and street names trying to find road numbers. In the future we'll prepare an itinerary that indicates the road numbers to follow instead (follow 506N to 103E, continue to 318S, etc).

- Tourist maps don't include enough details to follow back roads. Either invest in back road maps or prepare zoomed in Google maps of the major turns along the path. Of course a GPS would work...

- The folks you meet in small towns are typically very friendly. Be prepared to indulge in some idle chit chat.

- Don't be afraid to eat at roadside diners. The food is probably fresher than at a chain restaurant. If it takes 10 minutes to get your BLT, it's because they are not using precooked bacon and presliced tomatoes!

- Just because a town is small, it doesn't mean they're backwards. We were surprised to find free wi-fi in some of the diners we went to. Now while we wait for our sandwich, we can check the weather forecast and road conditions.


Food & Supplies
===============

- For 5 days, we used about 10 liters of water for three people. I'd probably double that if we had to use our own water for washing up and doing dishes.

- We planned our menu for the whole trip ahead of time so that meals would be easy to put together, wouldn't attract bears (hopefully), would keep dishes to a minimum, but that would be filling and nutritious. We ended up pre-cooking all our meats (mostly chicken and sausages) and froze them in separate zip-loc bags. Meals that included the frozen meats were first on the menu and the last couple days we planned to use canned food.

- We have your run of the mill plastic cooler. In order to make it for efficient, I drilled a few holes in the lid and filled it with foam insulation. Usually the lids are hollow.

- We made our own ice in two-liter juice/milk bottles. The upside to this is when it melts, it can be used as drinking water. I had read on a site somewhere that if you made a brine solution and froze it, it would last longer than just frozen water. I tried one bottle this way but it didn't work for us. It
was the first one thawed plus we couldn't do anything with salted water (blech!).

- I created different zones in the cooler. I put a couple of frozen water juice bottles in the bottom along with our frozen food. Then I used a piece of cardboard covered in aluminum foil to cover everything. On top I put another frozen bottle and the non frozen foods like milk and fruit. This setup (and probably the insulated lid) worked well and our ice lasted for almost 5 days.

Misc.
=====

- An iPhone is a great overlanding tool. It takes pictures, video, has a GPS chip so you can track where you are, has wi-fi, and plays music & movies for those rainy days. Oh and you can use it as a phone too :D

- If you have an iPod Touch or an iPhone and take video, hold it so that the record button is on the RIGHT side. Otherwise your videos will be upside down when you download them to your PC.:rant:


Well, that's pretty much for my trip report. It was a great trip and we look forward to the next one!

[frankspinz]

Lessons learned...
...
- Though we didn't encounter a whole lot of gravel, it did add to the chips on the trailer fenders. The mud flaps on the Jeep are not enough protection. I'll have to come up with something...
...

Great report, learning from past mistakes/mishaps is very beneficial ! I know because I often don't !

For your fenders, leave them on, when fall comes, go to Toys R us and buy a black "Crazy carpet". Cut it an inch or two wider than your stock mud flaps and screw them in place. I'm surprised by their durability ...

I've had mine in place since this winter and after many 100/1000 miles, much on gravel/forestry roads, they are still intact .

[xkid]

Looks like a good trip anyway.

[scanny]

Just a little note about GPS. I have regular old Garmin 265 GPS and I think it's a very handy tool for overlanding. Of course it will try to route you over higways, but if you plan in advance you can create a waypoints as favourites and make sure that GPS takes you the route you want. I usually too lazy for that tough. But anyway I keep my GPS on - it shows road in adavnce, so I know road name and that it is a legal road although it looks like an old track. And I have peace of mind because when I completely lost, GPS always will get me home. Oh and I'm surprised how many roads my Garmin knows, for example all Nipissing trail roads are in there.
Last Monday I had to travel 500 km to Deep River and back and Garmin took me there in 5 hrs instead of 7 hours Google Maps showed and what's amazing is that Garmin took me through some gravel roads and even roads not municipally maintained which I used on my own risk:) Pretty nice shortcut. Iphone & google maps are fine, but I would recommend to get a good GPS anyway - even one with roads maps is very good tool for overlanding in my opinion.

[qcdavid]

Great report, learning from past mistakes/mishaps is very beneficial ! I know because I often don't !

For your fenders, leave them on, when fall comes, go to Toys R us and buy a black "Crazy carpet". Cut it an inch or two wider than your stock mud flaps and screw them in place. I'm surprised by their durability ...

I've had mine in place since this winter and after many 100/1000 miles, much on gravel/forestry roads, they are still intact .

Actually there isn't really any stock mud flaps on the Liberty to speak of. I installed some BIG ones in anticipation to doing the North Road this summer. This is what they look like:
http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6124/5917190294_daff5065db.jpg

I don't know if I want to go any lower to the ground. The wife already thinks it looks like a Skoda:) I think it's just that the distance between the back wheels and the trailer fenders is just right for the rocks that do make it past the mud flaps to be able to shoot up. I'm thinking about sticking something on the fenders. Or maybe some undercoating.

[qcdavid]

Hey Scanny, I was thinking about getting a GPS, but after I had a chance to play around with my wife's iPhone, it's actually pretty good. She downloaded NavCan (I think) which is free and it finds quite a lot of roads as well. But I also noticed that some of the major GPS companies also sell an iPhone app version of their software (I remember seeing TomTom and I don't remember which other one). I may look into doing that.

I haven't had a chance to navigate using way points yet (we're still knew to the iPhone) but plan on giving that a try to see how that works.

[frankspinz]

Ok, I get it ! Cut the crazy carpet to size a (gigure out a way to) clip it to the trailer fender ... replace as needed !

Cdn Tire undercoating/bedliner paint is fine also. A lot of people use it on steel bumpers, rims, rock sliders and are satisfied. Touch up or re-apply as needed ... (only comes in black - but may be painted over) ...

[scanny]

Hey Scanny, I was thinking about getting a GPS, but after I had a chance to play around with my wife's iPhone, it's actually pretty good. She downloaded NavCan (I think) which is free and it finds quite a lot of roads as well.

iPhone is good as long as it can navigate without cell phone data connection. Otherwise it's useless as soon as you are out of range. But still good as GPS tracker though. North America maps usually take around 2Gb on the phone.

[qcdavid]

Ok, I get it ! Cut the crazy carpet to size a (gigure out a way to) clip it to the trailer fender ... replace as needed !

Cdn Tire undercoating/bedliner paint is fine also. A lot of people use it on steel bumpers, rims, rock sliders and are satisfied. Touch up or re-apply as needed ... (only comes in black - but may be painted over) ...

Yeah I was thinking of clipping something to the fenders. It may just be easier to keep a can of red Tremclad around and touch up after each trip:D

[qcdavid]

iPhone is good as long as it can navigate without cell phone data connection. Otherwise it's useless as soon as you are out of range. But still good as GPS tracker though. North America maps usually take around 2Gb on the phone.

Hmmm good point. I did research it and it does have a GPS chip but I can't say for sure we've ever used the GPS when we had no cell service. Something to check out next time we're in the middle of nowhere...