Académique Documents
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by Paul McCormick
The copyright of this work belongs to Paul McCormick (owner of Wilderness Adventures), who is solely responsible for the content. Please direct content feedback or permissions to wildernessadventures1@gmail.com.
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Contents
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The lakes where you plan to camp each night. Some people may decide to camp at a site
for a couple of days and use it as a base for day tripping.
An Algonquin Park canoe route map, showing you the various access points and portage
routes, can be purchased directly from the Algonquin Park website.
Your planning should take into consideration the time of year you intend to visit the park. In
Canada, the spring and autumn water can be extremely cold and canoe trips are only recommended for experienced trippers. Hypothermia is a significant concern and can set in very
quickly if anyone from your group is in the water for more than a couple of minutes.
You should also develop a Float Plan and leave one with someone you trust, and another
with the staff at Algonquin Park or the outfitter with whom you are renting your canoe(s),
should your group fail to return on-time as planned.
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Your Float Plan should include information to help rescuers track your group in case an accident happens. It should include:
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
f)
Float Plan
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Personal Floatation Device (PFD) approved for use in Canada and of a suitable size for
each person on board
A manual propulsion device (paddle)
A sound signaling device, such as a whistle
A bailer or manual water pump for removing water. (Dont forget to tie the bailer to the
canoe)
A buoyant heaving line at least 15 meters long (floating throwline or throwbag)
A waterproof white light (preferably headlight), for use in low light or low visibility conditions or at night
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For canoe selection, the Prospector model is a good overall canoe to utilize on a canoe trip to
Algonquin Park. A Prospector canoe goes in a straight line fairly easily, turns well, does well
in high waves, and is able to carry a good load. Make sure to reserve at least a 16 foot canoe
if you are two people. Reserving a canoe made from Kevlar is strongly recommended because it is light weight and much easier to portage.
You should also consider purchasing a good formed yoke pad in order to make portaging
more comfortable. Most outfitters will sell yoke pads, but will not rent them because they are
easy to lose. The yoke pad provides padding for you shoulders when you portage the canoe.
Yoke Pad
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Landing
Pivots
Sideward displacement
Forward straight line
Inside and outside turns
Inside and outside circles
Stopping
Inside and outside landings
Reverse straight line
Lifts and carries
Transporting canoe on vehicle
Canoe tour
Outdoor precautions
Environmental awareness
Windy weather precautions
Canoeing history
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The best way to learn how to paddle and manoeuver a canoe is to get at least 35 to 40 kilometers of paddling experience over the course of 2-3 consecutive days. This muscle
memory based training approach gives you an opportunity to truly internalize how a canoe
operates and is designed to operate. As with all things, there is no right or wrong way to perform a canoe stroke but there definitively is a better way!
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Black bears
Black bears are intelligent animals that live within Algonquin Park. To reduce your chances of
attracting a black bear, it is important to keep a clean camp site by burning any food scraps of
fat drippings in a hot fire. To eliminate food odours, dishes should be washed immediately
after each meal, but not in the lake or river. Instead use a wash basin or large cooking pot
and scatted the dirty water over vegetation preferably far away from your camp site. All other
bear attractants that may reside in your tent(s) or backpack(s) (such as soap, toothpaste, deodorant, sun screen lotion, candy bar wrappers, chewing gum and other fragrant products)
should be placed with your food, in a pack or stuff sack, hung high up above the ground and
away from the tree trunk(s).
If a bear does get food from you or other Algonquin Park canoe campers, it will start to associate camp sites and people as a food source. This means that the bear will quickly lose its
natural fear of humans and become a problem to people in Algonquin Park. The result not only endangers everyone in Algonquin Park, but also endangers the bears life as the Algonquin
Park rangers may be forced to hunt and kill it. This would result in a very sad state of affairs
for such a magnificent wild animal in its natural habitat.
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Quickly unload your gear from your canoe and put it tightly together on one side of the
portage keep all your gear together to be sure you do not forget or lose anything.
Take your canoe out of the water and place it out of the way on the side of the portage
trail
Once the portaging access is clear for others, you can start walking the portage with
packs and paddles first. This practice allows everybody to enjoy some scenery along the
canoe trip portage trail and check for deadfalls and other obstructions that you may not
see with a canoe over your head.
Continue going back and forth until all of the gear is at the other end of the portage.
Come back for the canoe(s) and portage the canoe(s) to the other side. Use a yoke pad
to make the portaging experience more pleasant on your neck and shoulders.
Do a final check to make sure that all of your gear is on the other side of the portage
Put the canoes directly into the water, load your gear keeping in mind the weight and balance and continue your trip route.
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Spots that will not be affected by flooding or pooling if you happen to get a lot of rain. Preferably, chose to put your tent on a very slight slope, with your head up the slope, so the
water travels under the tent in the case it rains.
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Spots that are free of overhanging things that could become a problem in a wind storm
(such as dead branches)
Spots that are well aware from the fire pit since an ember will burn through high-tech tent
fabric quickly.
Keep in mind that if you put your tent under resinous trees (such as pines, fir, etc.), the
drops of sap that may fall from the tree will make your gear sticky.
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You are interested in learning proper paddling techniques and safety skills
You dont have enough time or interest in planning the logistics associated with such a trip
(gear, canoe, food, etc.)
You want to be with someone who is trained and certified in wilderness first aid knowledge
and skills
You want to go with someone who can show you hidden gems inside of Algonquin Park
that are not easily found by others or readily located on a map or the internet.
When selecting a guided tour company, make sure to enquire about their guides certification
and experience. Are their guides certified in Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder? Are their guides certified in teaching paddling skills? If so, who is the certifying organization/body and what level of certification did the guide(s) achieve?
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Wilderness Adventures takes pride from the fact that all of our guides are certified ORCKA
Canoe Tripping Leader Level 3 (multi-day canoe trip) and are certified ORCKA Canoe Instructors who effectively teach canoe safety and paddling skills as well as being Advanced
Wilderness First Aid or Wilderness First Responder specialists, and thus certified to lead wilderness trips anywhere in Canada including the high Arctic. At the end of one our multi-day
canoe trip, guests may achieve and obtain ORCKA certifications. Guests benefit from a
muscle memory training approach that ensures that proper paddling techniques are internalized over the course of several days and canoe mileage.
Wilderness Adventures utilizes only high quality gear tents, canoes, cooking gear, safety
equipment. All of our gear has been tested and selected to optimize the comfort and enjoyment of guests on our multi-day trips. We also provide round trip transportation out of Toronto and the highway 400 and 11 corridor to make it easier for guests to access Algonquin Park.
Finally, Wilderness Adventures prides itself on delivering really tasty food on all trips, not rehydrated powder meals. Nothing is more rewarding on a canoe trip than a delicious meal after a rewarding day of paddling and portaging.
"Hi PaulJust wanted to send a thank you, our trip this weekend was awesome! Our guide
was amazing, very personable and did a great job keeping us busy and active. We were
taught many amazing wilderness skills and cant wait to try some ourselves! The tour was
both challenging and fun and the meals were plentiful and delicious!
Mike and Monica
Toronto, Ontario
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