Imagine swimming across Algonquin Park

Starting this Saturday, July 25, two Ontario women, aided by four backcountry support crew, will be the first to swim across Algonquin Park. Kim Valenta and Nora Livingstone will cover over 60 kilometers and 25 lakes of Ontario’s wild backcountry to raise support for Toronto Wildlife Centre. Their route starts at Park Lake, near the West Gate just off Hwy 60, and follows a chain of lakes that includes popular canoe trip lakes like Ragged, Big Porcupine, Louisa, Rock and Galeairy.

Kim and Nora, when not swimming

In 2008, Toronto Wildlife Centre (TWC), a wildlife hospital and rehabilitation centre, reached a milestone: over 50,000 sick, injured and orphaned wild animals had been admitted for medical care since the centre first opened in 1993. Kim and Nora, both employees at TWC, decided to be the first to swim across Algonquin Park – long a symbol of Ontario’s wilderness - in recognition of this. Their goal is to raise support for and awareness of this indispensable organization. It is their hope, with the help of sponsors, to raise $25,000 for sick, injured, and orphaned wildlife.

With logistical support provided by Algonquin Outfitters, Swim for the Wild will begin July 25th at the Westernmost point of Highway 60 in Algonquin Park, and will end over one week later in Whitney, just outside of the eastern boundary of Algonquin Park.

For more information, please contact:
Kim Valenta
Founder, Swim for the Wild
416-631-0662 Extension 3205
admin at torontowildlifecentre dot com

PS to my faithful readers: sorry for my long absence from the Blogosphere. I will try to get a few more entries in for August. The good news is that we are really busy! If you haven't already, take a look at our snazzy new website.

Open water!

This should be my last "ice out" report for 2009. All lakes accessible from Hwy 60 are open, including Opeongo. There is a slim chance that some interior lakes could have black ice floating around but after yesterday's high winds and heavy rain, that is pretty unlikely. The only issue facing early-season canoe trippers now is access. Some park access roads are in rough shape and may only be passable with a four-wheel drive vehicle with good ground clearance. Check the Algonquin Park spring conditions report or call the park information line (705-633-5572) for details before heading to any of the more remote access points.

Anyone planning a canoe trip at this time of year should be prepared for cold weather, high water levels, very cold water and unexpected surprises along the trail, like fallen trees, flooded portage landings and soggy campsites. So why go? There are many reasons: spring wildflowers like trout lilies and wild leeks are popping up, the bugs aren't out yet and if you are really lucky, you might get to place the first set of human footprints of the 2009 season along a portage trail! Then there is the fishing...

Steve B could have gone to Venezuela to catch a wacky fish like this payara...

This week, he traveled all the way from South Florida to fish for beautiful fish
like this Algonquin Park speckled trout.

Algonquin fly-over ice report is up

Contrary to popular rumour, park staff were able to fly yesterday and have posted a detailed report with pictures. It is well worth reading as ice conditions are described as being "most unusual."

The executive summary is that most Hwy 60 lakes should be passable by Saturday (with the likely exception of Opeongo) but that canoeists should expect to find certain interior lakes still frozen over.

Remember that hole we described in our April 2nd blog? Well, it has expanded to the point where there is open water from Bates Island to Sunnyside. The trouble is, you can't get there due to the fact that the southern end of the South Arm is still plugged with ice.

Scroll all the way to the bottom of the report and read the access road report as well.

The view from Hwy 60

Larry the Lawyer emailed the other day after seeing my pictures from April 16:

Geez, will you tell Gordon enough already with the snowy pictures on the blog. I took a photo of those same canoes on the AO Winter Fun Day and there was less snow.

Larry won't be happy with this report but I feel compelled to tell it like it is. Our staff are now in at the Opeongo Store, getting things ready for the opening of the season. They report that Opeongo is still iced over, though there is open water in the bay near the access. Ice thickness is about 12". There was a lot of wind and rain last night so things will be changing quickly in the next few days. Temperatures on Friday and Saturday are expected to be in the 20s!

Lake of Two Rivers on April 20

Costello Lake, just off the Opeongo Road

Moving towards "ice out"

Smoke Lake, as seen from Fisherman's Point on April 16
(OK, so I'm no Ansel Adams. I just thought the image looked better in black and white.)

I don't have a new ice report for Algonquin Park today but I can report that all the lakes around Huntsville are open. Fairy, Vernon and Peninsula Lakes are all ice-free. Lake of Bays is mostly open with ice in some bays. Oxtongue Lake is 70% open. There is wind, rain and warm weather in this week's forecast, which will help get things moving.

My personal prediction is that you will be able to canoe somewhere in Algonquin Park next weekend. Most big lakes will likely still be ice-covered. Check the Algonquin Park news bulletin on Wednesday or Thursday, as they will posting a report after a fly-over on Tuesday.

Craig MacDonald, Algonquin Park's ice-out guru, told me recently that there are certain lakes that are predictably "resistant" to breaking up and hold ice longer than others. Typically, these are headwater lakes with little inflow. Good examples in Algonquin Park are Opeongo, Smoke, LaMuir, Tim, Ralph Bice and Louisa. With the exception of LaMuir, all of those lakes are either at access points or within range of a day's paddle, so just one ice-covered lake on your route could significantly affect route plans.