Canoe camping in Algonquin park

I spent the weekend canoe camping up in Algonquin provincial park with some friends (Drew, Ange, McKennedy and Magic). After driving up there on Friday night, we camped in the park (near a nice beach) for a night before renting some gear and putting in. On the first day, while we paddled to the campsite, I was in a canoe with McKennedy while Drew shared a canoe with Ange and Magic kayaked. The was only a single 240m portage along the way.

It was hard to decide upon a campsite because there were two that both looked very compelling. The first one, which McKennedy and I found, seemed to have been furnished by people with a chainsaw; it had a grille and a bench with a backrest cut out of a log, as well as a good supply of dry wood for burning. But we ended up choosing the other one because it promised to have fewer bugs come dusk.

After unpacking our gear, the others decided to go swimming. I considered it but decided not to after I saw how cold Magic was.

After dinner the others took naps in the sun while I explored the area surrounding our campsite. In doing so I discovered a few neat rock formations and a lot of visually interesting foliage. I turned back when I noticed the sun beginning to set amidst the trees.

Once I returned, we played cards for a while until the sun had set before starting a fire.

I slept well, although I woke up very early. That turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however, when it began raining a couple of hours later and I was able to rescue my backpack before it got soaked. I shared a canoe with Drew on the return trip so it was very relaxed.

Well... until we got caught in a thunderstorm that drenched and delayed us. But the sun came out in full force immediately afterward so we dried pretty fast.