Solo Trip in Algonquin Park | Off the Beaten Path Seeking Solitude

Added: 2026-05-28

[00:00:13]Alabama not the way I do love.

[00:00:23]>> Hey, how's she going guys? I am pretty pumped. Um, after all the planning for months now, I finally uh just complete the 5-hour drive to my access point in Algangquin Park. Uh, doing my first solo trip and uh, yeah, pretty damn excited.

[00:00:39]There's a reason why people come from all over the world to access this park.

[00:00:43]There's something special about it. From the brook trout fishing, the pristine lakes, the no motors, it's just Yeah, there's something special about it and I'm pretty excited to get started.

[00:00:55]All right, let's get to her.

[00:01:19]Tip of the day, accidents happen and this is why you bring a second paddle.

[00:02:09]Coming up to our first portage. Looks pretty steep, but uh I think it's only 300 m. So, we get to her in a minute.

[00:02:17]Right there.

[00:02:27]See if I can get off right up here without getting wet.

[00:02:32]Oh, that' be perfect.

[00:02:44]To tie my uh paddles and rods and stuff down to the canoe. I have three different options that I use.

[00:02:50]This is just a bungee cord in a stop that I ordered a pack of them on Amazon, made my own. They work good, but they don't uh tighten up as much. They loosen up a bit. This is just Canadian Tire one. These are awesome. But the best are these. They're called bungee bobs.

[00:03:07]They're kind of hard to find. They're $3 a piece, but they work amazing. They don't let go. They're just they're super sturdy. This is how they go on.

[00:03:19]They have this stop here.

[00:03:31]Yeah. All right. Now the fun begins.

[00:03:34]Portage number one. My goal is to single carry. Um I get this Cavalar Source River canoe. It's 42 lbs. That's my goal anyway. Let's see how that goes. All right, let's get to her.

[00:04:02]I would walk 5,000 miles. I would walk 5,000.

[00:04:10]Well, you can't win them all.

[00:04:14]Wipe out number one.

[00:04:18]Oh, it's very real out here, that's for sure.

[00:04:23]All right, just for clarity, that sucked.

[00:04:28]Fresh moose tracks right off the one portage trail. Must have went down this morning for a drink. You can tell they're fresh.

[00:04:36]Just a small little pond here I'm crossing.

[00:04:40]Not going to fish this. Going to try and make up some time. Get to my campsite.

[00:04:45]Beautiful little lake though. I don't think there's even any uh what's that? Oh, some loons.

[00:04:54]I don't think there's any campsites on this lake.

[00:05:00]It's the portage that never end. I'm soaked.

[00:05:06]Oh yeah.

[00:05:08]Mud bath on the feet.

[00:05:10]Oh, lost my shoe.

[00:05:15]Get back here, you little bastard.

[00:05:20]Without putting this down, let me try this.

[00:05:26]Get off some of the muck.

[00:05:32]Oh, yeah.

[00:05:37]Wow, that's a nasty put in.

[00:05:41]As you can see, I brought a kayak paddle as well. It's actually I think it's 260 cm. It's meant for canoe for double blading, as you recall. It's a bit frowned upon, I guess, with canoes, but I'm also uh a little bit newer. My J-stroke's decent, right? Gets me to where I have to go. But if it did get crazy windy with doing some research, it seems like the double blade uh will help me out with that. Plus, uh when your arms get tired for longer, uh paddles apparently is pretty useful. So, yeah. So, try it all.

[00:06:22]It's funny how I was just talking about the Jstroke and it's not perfect, but every time you get out here, you just learn more and more every time and it just blows my mind. It's such a learning experience and so beautiful out here at the same time. Yeah, just get out here and do it.

[00:07:06]Got some venison back strap here. Going to cook it up with the old MSR stove.

[00:07:13]It's getting a bit warm.

[00:07:16]So, I want to cook it up and instead of messing with the fire right now, that's when this stove really comes in handy.

[00:07:22]Thing got some instant potatoes. Hell yeah.

[00:07:32]Oh, these smell delicious.

[00:07:34]Oh, man. Food just hits different after all that portage.

[00:07:40]To attach my tarp to the ridge line, I do a constricting knot. It's called a prok knot.

[00:07:47]Super easy to do. Go one, two, three. Make sure that they're not overlapping each other. Pulled in and it constricts on itself and it won't let go. But you can still slide it along the line. As soon as you put tension on it, it locks.

[00:08:09]Then you grab your ridge line, run it through, and put a toggle, which is just a stick.

[00:08:18]And then you run this entire thing tight.

[00:08:24]And then you do the same thing on the other side.

[00:08:39]Put your toggle in.

[00:08:44]Pull it tight.

[00:08:48]GoPro. Stop recording.

[00:09:19]There is my sleeping setup.

[00:09:22]I got the double XL climate. It's insulated. Um, it's a little extra weight, but um, I think it's going to be a lot more comfortable. I had the single before. Then I've got a a zero rated.

[00:09:34]This is I think tenon sports, but with layers on it goes down to much more. And then just a little blowup pillow. This is a threeman tent.

[00:09:45]McKinley Escape 3.

[00:11:05]Breakfast of champions here. Oatmeal coffee.

[00:11:28]We got the whitener in there.

[00:11:38]There's about 35 to 40k winds right now.

[00:11:43]And this tarp, these cusp knots, not haven't even budged. The ground anchors are actually starting to lift out of the ground. I had to put a rock on it. This one. Yeah. Again, you put that toggle in there, they will not move.

[00:12:09]Oh yeah, pizza.

[00:12:15]Perfect.

[00:12:16]GoPro turn off.

[00:12:32]So, I'm just getting some coffee and breakfast here going. Man, it is beautiful. I'm going to fish today and work my way back and then um I'm heading out a day early. Tomorrow's got really, really strong winds and yeah, just not smart to try and paddle solo and that.

[00:12:50]So, going to spend the day here and just head out later.

[00:12:53]All right, till next time, guys.