I wanted to get one more large hike in before winter, so I went back to Frontenac Provincial Park. I had been once already this year, back in September. That time I went solo, as my wife was away on a trip. This time, I was able to bring my wife on the hike. We got a day pass from the Ottawa Public Library (check out your local library — they have so much stuff!) and booked our DVP over the phone, as I couldn’t figure out how to book one with the library pass online. We left Ottawa around 8:45am and got to the parking lot in the park just before 11. We parked at the Salmon Lake parking lot. From there, we hiked down the Corridor Trail until it met up with the Dedication Trail, which we went South on. At the end of that trail, we turned right and continued down towards Doe Lake. From there, we went around Doe Lake and met up with the Corridor Trail again, which took us back to the Salmon Lake parking lot. In total, it was 13.25 km in length and took us 3 hours and 36 minutes to comple...
My last backcountry canoe trip of the year was to Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park. This was my first time in the park. I started the trip on October 4–7. The trip comprised 43.51 km total, of which 13.6 km was portaging. I double-carried each portage, which meant I ended up walking each one three times. Day 1. I left Ottawa around 7 a.m. and drove to Madoc, where I charged my car for about 20 minutes. I got to the access point around 10:45 a.m. After unpacking the car and parking, I got on the water around 11 a.m. Long Lake is a very pretty lake and sure lives up to its name. You essentially go straight for a long time until you hit Loucks Lake. It would be impossible for anyone to get lost on Long Lake as it’s super narrow. Loucks Lake has a bunch more cottages than Long Lake did, which made finding the first portage a bit of a challenge. It ended up being right beside someone’s cottage which, as someone used to Algonquin, I found a bit odd. However, before I got to my first ...