Happy Canada Day with Mr. Canoehead

Kevin Callan and Bailey with the maple leaf canoe.

Well known guidebook author and stand-up comedian, Kevin Callan, dropped by our Oxtongue Lake store for a visit yesterday while en route to another Ontario park on his summer tour. We were really impressed with his new maple leaf motif canoe, specially commissioned to celebrate National Canoe Day. After some pictures of Kevin, his dog Bailey, the canoe and me, we retreated inside and forced him to sign some books.

Your humble blogger, Bailey and the canoe

The "Centre Ice Toonie" laminated inside the canoe

Nice day for a Canpaddle!

For the last few years, Algonquin Outfitters has been outfitting groups from the UK for whitewater training trips on Algonquin Park's Petawawa River. There is an surprisingly high level of canoeing culture and activity in the British Isles but they just don't have the extended wilderness river trips that we do. The "Canpaddle" crew below is a group of top-level BCU instructors and instructors-in-training getting set to do a day trip on our local Oxtongue River before heading out tomorrow for the Petawawa. Martin, second from the left, is on his second trip with us, check out his blog and great pictures from last year's expedition.

Expedition Canpaddle is ready for the river
Sorry about the blur - it must be a cloud of mosquitoes!

A little blast of winter

Rick, Steve and Bernie are in good spirits despite the new snow!

Rick is the Canadian distributor for the famous EGB brand of trout lures. They decided to warm up at our Oxtongue Lake store before heading back into Algonquin Park for more product testing. The weather is expected to improve tomorrow. As you can see, early season canoe trippers should be ready for anything!

Opeongo ice report

This just in.

As the park's report from Friday has indicated, most small to medium sized lakes in Algonquin Park are open. As of 3 pm today (Sunday, April 27), you could get as far as the East Arm Narrows. Currently the North Arm and East Arm are inaccessible by boat. After wind and rain yesterday, plus more wind today. Conditions are changing hourly.

If you are going to Opeongo Lake this week, the best way to get an up-to-the-minute report is to call our Opeongo Store directly: 1-888-280-8886.

Ice from the air

Current conditions, based on info from park staff:

• Streams and rivers are open. Water levels are very high and still rising.
• In general, all interior lakes are frozen solid up to the shore.
• Several access roads are impassable due to washouts and/or snow.
• Check the Algonquin Park spring ice update for more details and safety messages.
• Check the NOAA satellite images for big lake conditions

The good news?

• Conditions are changing VERY quickly and the warm weather is continuing. Many smaller lakes will open in the next few days. Mew and Brewer Lakes, for example, are almost ice-free and we expect Costello to open today. There is open water in front of the Opeongo Store.
• Park staff are planning another flight on Friday morning and will report on conditions by early afternoon that day.

Here are some images from yesterday's helicopter fight over Algonquin Park:

The East Arm of Opeongo Lake, looking west

The north end of Lake Lavielle

Happy Isle Lake, looking towards Merchant
(the dark area is cloud shadow, not black ice)

Pathfinder Island, on Source Lake

Crooked Chute, on the Petawawa River (yikes!)

The Natch. Nice place, if you could get there.