I have just returned from my second week long trip to Algonquin this summer. I did not see a single moose. The last trip was the middle of july and I only seen two. I know the water is up and on the first trip the skeeters were real bad. Lots of moose poop on the trails, seen some otters but no moose!
Moose
I’m not really very familiar with Algonquin having only tripped there once. We were in the Interior for the first time during the end of July/early August of this year. As we portaged into Misty Lake a guy we met on the trail told us where he’d seen a bull moose every day during the late afternoon for the past several days. Following his lead we too were able to paddle within a reasonable observation distance of that moose. Apparently it was its habit to feed in the shallows of the northeast bay of that lake every day. In the course of 8 days in the interior we counted 36 different species of animals – moose, otter, mink – the list goes on. From what we saw Algonquin is rich in wildlife – a wonderful place. We were however bummed that we didn’t hear any wolves as we have in nearby Crown Land over the past few years…
Perhaps the good people at CCR could address your question better than the folks at this site (more trippers there).
thanks
Hey thank you, I did see a family of otters and on other trips I have always seen Moose but this year they seemed to be absent. What access point did you use, we went in at Shall Lk.
Delayed response
Sorry for the delayed response, I don’t check this site very often these days…
To answer your question: Entry Point #3.
We went in at Magnetawon Lake, then over to Hambone, through Acme Pond to Daisy. From there we paddled down the Petawawa River to Little Misty and then to Misty. After a couple of days we back-tracked to Little Misty and then up over the 2435 meter portage to Queer. That was a heck of a long portage, but the trail was very nicely maintained and easy going. From Queer we carried over to Little Trout and then out through Ralph Bice Lake. We ran into fierce winds on Bice Lake and were wind-blown for a few hours on a point not far from the east end. If I were to do a similar route again, knowing what I know now, I’d reverse our direction of travel around that loop and use the winds on Ralph Bice rather than fight them. Live and learn. ;^)
We own several canoes so we don’t usually use an outfitter, but for that trip we used the services of Canoe Algonquin for rental canoes and a shuttle. Access Point #3 has a bad reputation for car break-ins. Sadly many remote entry points around Algonquin have big problems in that regard – bummer! I only have words of praise for Canoe Algonquin - nice folks, prompt, courteous and friendly. The shuttle service was money well spent. They rent Scott Kevlar canoes which are nothing to brag on for hull design… but are well built and fairly light on the trails. We rented a 16’ “Elite” tandem and a 14’7” “Sunset” solo. Both are just “recreation” canoes, not trippers by any stretch, but they worked out just fine. CA also has a large fleet of Kevlar Prospectors which I might consider another time if we ever go that way again.
So… what was your route?