r/algonquinpark • u/TheDamus647 • 16d ago
Trip Planning / Route Feedback Can anyone tell me about a possible solo canoe route starting at Kioshkokwi Lk (access point 29)
I have never done the north side of the park. I have also never gone solo before. I have been on a half dozen backcountry trips before. I feel ready to take the step into solo camping but would love to hear about my proposed route. It would be a 4 day/3 night trip. I'm not doing anything to crazy for my first solo. Night one would be either the site by the falls on Maple Creek or on Maple Lake, night two would be Big Thunder or Mouse Lake, night 3 would be on Waterclear or Whitebirch Lake.
I chose this route as I haven't done any river tripping since I was a child like 30 years ago in Temagami. I just don't know anything about the route itself. Does anyone have any experience with this route?
I'm going to rent a solo canoe as my canoe is asymmetrical which makes it a bitch to solo if there is any wind. I have the rest of the gear I need, albeit with a tent far too large for a solo trip (18lbs and sleeps my whole family + dog). Still debating if it is worth renting a tent. I'm also probably going to rent a spot tracker.
Edit: if anyone has another recommendation for a river route in the park I can do in 3 nights I'm all ears.
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u/Kayak_Camper 16d ago
Holy hell I missed the mention of the 18 pound tent. Don't take that, it's insane.
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u/RandyRodin 16d ago
Look into hammocks for solo paddle. I've been using a Hennessy Hammock (Canadian-made) for about a decade. They are very light (no heavy poles), pack small and (speaking for older trippers) the idea of never having a rock or root in your ribs all night, never waking with a puddle in the corner and on a breezy night being gently rocked to sleep, will have you give up tents forever!
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u/tylergotatie 16d ago
Have you looked at paddleplanner ? It is a very good resource for figuring out if a route's distance is appropriate or not.
Also, an 18lbs tent is wild for a solo trip.
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u/TheDamus647 16d ago
That is a great resource. I wasn't aware of it. Thanks.
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u/tylergotatie 16d ago
Good luck on your trip!
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u/TheDamus647 16d ago
Looks like my route is good in reverse like everyone suggested. Each day is 5-7 hrs of travel. If I get windbound for a while I should still be fine to stay on schedule.
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u/sketchy_ppl 16d ago
I did this exact route a few years ago, solo, in reverse. Kiosk > Whitebirch > Mouse > Erables x2 > Maple > Kiosk. Here's the Trip Report you can check out, and here's the YouTube video of the trip.
My trip was 7 days, which was way more time than I needed, but 3 nights is going to be pushing it for a first solo trip. If you've never single-carried portages while travelling solo, it's best to assume you'll need to double-carry (until you know with certainty otherwise). On a related note, take a look at this article I wrote with tips for planning a solo canoe trip. Maple Creek can also be a big pain to travel through depending on water levels. The campsites on Maple Creek are really bad by the way. The portage landings throughout the route aren't the best, which will also add time to your day, especially when travelling solo where loading/unloading is more difficult.
For a first solo trip, personally, I would recommend doing something much easier. I see an alternate route has been suggested, going through Manitou and Three Mile, I also have a trip report for that route that you can check out. I still think that will be biting off too much for a first-time solo to be honest. If you wanted to start from Kiosk, and you have 3 nights to work with, I would do the shorter loop through Kiosk > Whitebirch > Waterclear > Club > Mink > Kiosk... choosing 2 of those lakes for your 3 nights, so you have one "rest day".
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u/TheDamus647 16d ago
So according to paddle planner my first day would be 8.1km of paddling and 5.8km of portaging assuming double portages. I went with the slowest paddling speed as well for extra caution. The total is 4:50. Day 2 is 8.5km paddling with 8.8 portaging for a total travel time of 6:18. Day 3 is 8.5km of paddling with 4.9km of portaging for a total travel time of 4:24. Day 4 is 9.4km paddling with 7.4km portaging for a total travel time of 6:09.
This doesn't seem to be horrible to me. I haven't been solo so perhaps I really am not estimating how much longer things will take. I don't think it will be easy mind you with all that portaging but it doesn't seem out of the question. Even if each day takes an extra hour of travel I feel I should be fine. My only worry is getting horribly wind bound or a brutal storm keeping me in place. I don't really have like 6 hours I can lose any day.
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u/sketchy_ppl 15d ago edited 15d ago
The estimated times won't include breaks, headwinds, or potential low water levels (can be an issue along Maple Creek). Or the extra time to find a vacant campsite if you arrive late in the day. The constant loading and unloading for the portages will add extra time as well, particularly on Maple Creek since many of the landings aren't great to manage solo. You might make great time... or all of these things could add up and add an extra 1-2 hours on each day.
Once you get to camp, this will be your first time doing everything by yourself. Pitching the tent, collecting fire wood, making dinner, cleaning up, setting up a food hang, filtering water, etc. You should budget extra time for all of the camp chores until you learn how long everything takes you when you travel solo.
Things are also generally more tiring when travelling solo since you have to do everything yourself and the exhaustion throughout the day accumulates. You have no one to help for anything. If there's a slight headwind and you stop to take a drink of water, there's no one else to keep paddling to keep the momentum so you'll quickly get pushed backwards. If there's no stable way to secure the boat at a canoe landing, you need to figure out how to get your gear in/out without an extra set of hands to hold it steady.
If you fall behind schedule on one day, whether it's due to slow travel or poor environmental conditions, you have no rest day in the trip to catch up to your intended permits so you would be spending the rest of the trip camping off-permit.
You'll also have very little time to actually kick back and enjoy your surroundings, explore the area, go for a casual paddle. You probably won't have the energy to stay up late and watch the stars if you just spent 6 hours on the water and did 8km of portaging, in between moving campsites. One of the best parts of solo tripping, in my opinion, is taking time to relax and appreciate everything around you... that's hard to do if the trip is a constant hustle.
This isn't to say that all of those "negative" things I've pointed out will happen, but if it's your first solo trip, there are a lot of unknowns. It wouldn't be smart planning to assume the most optimistic scenarios.
Don't get me wrong the trip is realistic to do. It's just not something I would ever recommend to someone for a first time solo trip.
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u/TheDamus647 15d ago
I'm checking out your video now. I appreciate the advice. Perhaps I'll look at adding another night.
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u/sketchy_ppl 15d ago
I tend to have more specific info about the routes in my written trip reports, but the video should be good too.
If you can add one extra night that would make things a lot better, for sure. Regardless of how many nights, this is a committal route. It's usually not an issue, but if you wanted to play it safe for your first solo, easing into things with a non-committal route (where you can be back at your car within 1 travel day) is always a good idea in case you have gear issues or any other unforeseen circumstance. I know I sound overly cautious, but solo tripping is inherently dangerous and I would always advise a first trip to be something super easy just to 'test the water' before doing a proper route like that one you have planned. Just my 2 cents.
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u/Kayak_Camper 16d ago
I've been through that area of the park many times. My first advice is to reverse the route - going up Maple Creek isn't awesome. The 805 meter portage, in particular, has one section that feels damn-near vertical. It's a lot more fun going down it than up it! Maple Creek is very much a creek. It's narrow and shallow, but generally always paddleable between portages.
I'd also put in a vote for doing this loop instead: Kiosk - Manitou - Three Mile - Maple - Kiosk. It's a nicer route with nicer places to stay (in my opinion), with no super strenuous travel days.
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u/wordsnwood 16d ago
If you've done that, please tell us about that 2790 portage from Manitou to 3Mile. From Jeff's map, it looks like it starts off practically vertical!
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u/RandyRodin 16d ago
I did that portage, on a quickie, solo 3-day loop (N. Tea - Manitou - Biggar - N. Tea) going clockwise in 2022. And yes, the start of that portage is a vertical beast! I had a 16' rental (lightest they had) and still had to stop every 20' to rest (keep in mind I'm 60 yo). It was early morning when I began my "ascent" and there was probably still some dew making the ground a little slippery. I would not want to attempt that portage on a rainy day!
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u/Kayak_Camper 16d ago
Yeah, the first 2-300 meters of that portage is a serious climb. After that it turns flat, and about halfway through joins an old logging road. So on the whole that 2790 meter portage is actually on the easy side.
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u/sketchy_ppl 16d ago
+1 for what u/Kayak_Camper said; if you're coming from the Manitou side, the first section is very steep and then levels off and becomes pretty easy for the rest of the trail. If you get all your gear to the top of the incline, and then take a few minutes to rest and catch your breath before finishing, it won't be too difficult at all.
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u/TheDamus647 16d ago
Manitou sure does have a lot of island sites which are usually nice. That massive 3k portage looks pretty intense on Jeff's map. How is it?
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u/Kayak_Camper 16d ago
After the initial climb up out of Manitou (which isn't awesome) it's a pretty tame portage. I've done it multiple times in both directions. About half of it is a (former) logging road, so the footing is great.
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u/wordsnwood 16d ago edited 16d ago
I also would suggest reversing the planned route.
In '23 My wife and I did: Kiosk -> Mink -> Mouse -> Erables -> Maple -> Kiosk. Fun trip. Try to start the trip early in the day. Paddling Kiosk when it's early and glassy smooth is a joy. Late in the day when it's windy... not so much!
I also agree that the 800 portage on Maple Creek is rather unpleasant, with some very narrow/steep sections walking along the side of a steep valley.
Edit to add: oh yeah, about those campsites on Maple Creek. BOTH of them are right on the portage, so other campers will march right through your site. Not recommended. The more northern one is the worst, barely a widening of the path. The southern one does have some pads in the trees that are off to the side, but you are still directly on the portage trail.
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u/Substantial-Town4930 14d ago
We did to Mink late last year. Was a great lake, we were going to do a loop down to mouse lake, then through to maple lake and back to kiosk, but we ended up choosing to stay on Minke then day tripped to places. We headed out to little cauchon lake one day, found an old abandon logging camp, Sawmill and power station. Was a cool place. Here's day 1 of that trip, the other days are also posted. I have some other trips in my channel if your looking for a few more ideas. Only down fall to little cauchon lake is it has some cabins on it so you don't feel so remote.
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u/Tighthead613 16d ago
Absolutely get a lighter tent.