This page is dedicated to useful tips that we have picked up along the way.  Some of them may be useful to you, some of them may not.  Not all will be practical for your particular situation.

Packing I Canoeing I Portaging I Campsite I Navigational

Packing Tips

• Pack lightly and utilize your space - keep in mind that you have to carry on your back all that you bring.  Since you'll be traveling with a group, consider items that may be shared such as tarps or rope.  Look for unused space to store smaller items.  For example, things like salt & pepper shakers, Kool-Aid packets, or cutlery will fit nicely inside the mess kit.
• Be sure to properly store fragile items as your pack may certainly bear a lot of abuse. (After about the 10th portage of the day, you're pretty much throwing your pack off your back!)
• Wrapping your frozen foods in tinfoil and newspaper will prolong the thawing process.  The tinfoil then may be used to place items on the grill and the newspaper could be utilized to start fires.
• Clothes could be protected from the elements by placing them in a garbage bag.  The same could apply for a sleeping bag or anything else that would really suck if you got it wet.  Ziplock bags work well for smaller items such as cameras and maps.
• Consider accessibility of items you will use often.

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Canoeing Tips

• Make sure your cargo is balanced in the canoe before you hop in.
• If you choose to ignore the above tip, then make sure you secure your pack to the yolk of the canoe.  This way when the canoe capsizes your means of survival won't succumb to a watery grave.
• For comfort and variety, we rotate positions in the canoe with every new lake.  We all feel that being stuck in the bow kinda sucks.

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Portaging Tips

Much like the canoeing, we also rotate the portaging positions. Tie your lifejackets to the seats of your canoe for extra padding when it's resting on your shoulders.  It may not seem like much, but you'll appreciate this more on those 2000 metre portages. Along the portage trails you may notice a horizontal log attached between two trees.  This is not for your climbing pleasure but rather a place to rest the canoe when taking a break or switching positions. Be sure to alert animals of your presence in their immediate territory.  Chances are they will be frightened off if they hear youtalking, walking roughly, or the likes.  This eliminates the possibility of startling an animal, perhaps making it feel threatened. Be sure to concentrate on your footing as some trails, especially the ungroomed ones, tend to be rugged or may divert suddenly.

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Campsite Tips

• If you're camping in cooler weather, place the entrance of your tent facing east so it will heat up faster with the first appearance of the morning sunrise.
• To chill your beverages first place them in a water tight container inside a mesh bag.  With one end of a long rope tied to the bag and the other to a tree, toss the mesh bag as far as you can into the lake.  The deeper the beverages sink, the cooler they will be.  You don't want to throw farther than the rope will allow or you may lose your drinks into the drink.  Want another helpful tip?  If you pull the rope back into shore and the mesh bag with your beverages are gone...you'll want to secure it better next time!
• Some items that work well to start fires are dried grass, cattail fluff, dead dry bark or pine needles, or abandoned birds nests found on the ground.
• Wood that is cracked and loses it's bark fairly easily signifies that it is dead and good for burning.  Living trees or plants are not allowed to be cut or harmed and wouldn't burn well anyways.
• Hot rocks around the fire pit can also be used to cook or boil water.
• Always, always hang your food.  Leaving it near or in your tent is simply asking for trouble.  Similarly, if a bear wants to get at it bad enough, packs "sheltered" underneth a canoe could possibly lead to a decrease in the total number of canoes available, but an increase in kindling for starting fires.

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Navigational Tips

Keep in mind that if you do get lost in Algonquin, no one will know until at least the day after you are due back, and even then, someone outside of the Park will have to report you missing.

• Place your map inside a ziplock bag and keep it easily accessed at all times.
• Compasses can be thrown off if interfered with by iron or steel found in watches, fire pit grills, or even eyeglasses.
• If you are really lost without a compass try this technique to regain your bearings. Take your watch and lie it flat on a surface with the hour hand pointing in the general direction of the sun. Now look at the point midway between the hour hand and the number 6 on your watch. If it is in the morning, the midway point will be SOUTH; if it is afternoon then it will be NORTH. This won't work so well at noon and if you were silly enough not to bring a map of the Park it's not going to do much for you either. If you can't figure out if it's morning or afternoon, we really don't think you should be in Algonquin anyway. 

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Do you have any helpful tips or ideas to add here?  If so, then just e-mail us with your suggestion!