Alex and I went camping in Algonquin Park in May 2026
Woke up at 530 and had breakfast. Finished loading our van and work Alex up. After we had eaten, Oatmeal, we were ready and on our way by 630am. We stopped in Renfrew for a little bit of work on my part and got gas. Then on to Pembroke for 2 more quick stops for work and then we were on our way to outward bound to pick up the paddles/life jackets and pay the deposit for the rental canoe waiting for us in Achray. After dealing for the canoe, we stopped at the park office and registered. Alex and I used the washrooms and then another short drive to our launch point. We quickly found our canoe, unloaded the van and after parking the van began our trip.
We left Achray behind and made a quick paddle towards the south shore of the lake where we planned to snag one of the 5 spots located on the peninsula (the leads to the portage into Stratton lake). We grabbed the exact site we had from last July. We encountered people camping at either end of the 5 sites. It was pretty quiet and didn't see of hear from either of our neighbours. We set up the tent, then the bug shelter. It probably took about 45 minutes.
After lunch (canned stew -Puritan which I had transferred to Tupperware for this trip). We took a quick paddle to the beach at the Tom Thompson painting spot of Jack Pine. The wind had picked up quite a bit and so we stayed there for a few minutes waiting to see if it would subside.It didn't so we just grabbed some dry drift wood and paddled back to our campsite.Dinner was Shepard's Pie. The ground beef was still frozen. It used instant mash, a packet of gravy and some frozen vegetables. It turned out perfect.After cleaning up, Alex snacked on chips and I started a campfire. This was around 630pm.
Sun set was 830pm. We enjoyed the fire until sunset then retired into the bug shelter and played a game of A Few Acres of Snow. He won a few games at first then i rallied and beat him a few times. At 9:15 pm Alex went out to sit and watch the stars. We listened to most of Black Bear today (Trina Moyles).
