Sarah, Matt, and I did our first trip into Algonquin park August 2008. Despite having done a lot of car camping, we had no idea what we were doing, and it showed. We borrowed a canoe from our friend Timon and rented a kayak from one of the outfitters. We didn’t plan any portages, which was our saving grace. We stayed at the border between the north and south arms of Opeongo. Opeongo was rough that day, as it often is. Just as we were closing in on our desired campsite, we saw a literal wall of water charging towards us out of the north. The rain was so heavy we couldn’t see the opposing shore. Before it hit us, we saw a nice looking sheltered site and decided to make it home. We just got the tents up before the rain hit.

Opeongo settled down to a perfect mirror several days later and we used that as our opportunity to head closer to the access point. We spent the last night across from the access point and Matt and I even paddled over at dusk to buy a bag of chips!