True wilderness requires a little bit of work to get to and from. It also includes a bit of discomfort and annoyance. However, it is worth every bit of it.
This weekend a good friend of mine, Adam Gregg, joined Zeus and I on a trek into Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park while Chris enjoyed a much deserved break from camping with a couple of nights in a soft bed and access to a large bathtub. But initially I had a sense of foreboding when we arrived in Kingston early on Friday morning. It appeared the rain that had been following us across much of Canada had caught up to us once again. Sheets of it were falling throughout much of our drive from Toronto to Kingston, and we were told by the motel clerk when we checked in the past two weeks had seen nearly continuous rain. However, while it remained overcast until the final couple of hours of our time in Algonquin, rain was light and rare, and temperatures remained comfortable.
After a night in a developed campground, Adam and I got ourselves a permit for a backcountry site about 12.5 kilometres from the main road through Algonquin Park. Located on Eu Lake, ours was the only campsite on the lake. The lake itself was surrounded by hills blanketed beneath a sea of vibrant green, and, nourished by the recent rains, everything was pregnant with the promise of remaining that way through the summer. From maple, birch, and poplar to pine and hemlock, the thick woods made it easy to imagine the nearest person was much more likely to be hundreds of kilometres away than camping somewhere along the same trail we had just hiked.
The trail in, however, had also been heavily affected by all the recent moisture. The Oxtongue River passes immediately beneath the bridge next to the parking lot that marks the beginning of the Western Uplands network of trails. Well passed flood stage, it had inundated the trail on the other side of the bridge. It was impossible to roll our pants up high enough to avoid a good soaking. While Zeus relished the opportunity to hike through water, Adam and I weren't sure what a trail that just a couple of hundred metres from the parking lot required us to remove our shoes and roll up our pants might have in store for us. The water never got anywhere near that deep again, but we sank ankle deep into mud both coming and going more times than either of us would care to count.
Then there were the mosquitoes. We finished off what was left of the bug repellent about the time we reached Eu Lake some four hours or so after departing. Between the load we had carried in on our backs and the litre or so of blood it felt like we had each donated to the local insect population, we were both eager for a restful night in one of the most beautiful forest environments either of us had ever experienced. It wasn't long before the fire was going and the local loons were welcoming their most recent visitors to their home. But even with the high water, mud, insects, and the exhaustion we both felt upon returning to the car the next day, it was worth it. In truth, probably our biggest complaint is that we didn't have more time to spend in the area.
But even if the weekend was too short, it was good to reunite with a friend and hiking companion, and to both share in the experience of visiting a place we had never been before. Chris, Zeus, and I will likely be turning back to the west after our stay in Kingston, though our route back and the exact timing of our return, or where exactly we will be returning to, is yet to be determined. For one thing, watching game one of the Stanley Cup Finals (GO CANUCKS!) is a must before we hit the road. And there may be at least one more weekend of camping in the area in store as well. Time in the wilderness allows one to feel completely in the moment, and to forget what is behind the forested hills for a while. It is difficult to contemplate what next week brings, let alone the days and weeks after that, and it feels worthwhile not to be rushed any more than absolutely necessary; especially after some time in Algonquin.
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