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[at-l] Trip Report: first solo overnighter (Pt.1)

Hi guys;
        well, looks like I made it back in one piece (just!). :))  For
anyone who's interested, here's pretty much how it went:

05/19 (Monday):

I got up in time to leave for 0600, which seemed pretty early after staying
up till almost midnight packing and rechecking my gear!  On my way out to
the highway (where I stopped at Tim Horton's for a coffee & bagel), three
great blue herons flew out beside my car from out of the ditch just as I got
there.   I took that as a good omen! ;)  The drive out to the park was
pretty uneventful, but *long*.  I finally got to Algonquin's south gate
around 1030 and proceeded to clean them out of free pamphlets! :)  Then on
to one of the area's general stores for a knifeand flashlight (couldn't find
my maglite anywhere before leaving home).  Picked up my permit & a map at
the nearby campsite, parked my car at the Highland Trail access point
parking lot, and, after making sure I had everything, headed off up the
trail -- and I mean *up*!  Of course, I didn't think much of how steep the
trail was since I had just started and had plenty of energy left. 

*Sidenote*-- The Highland Trail consists of two loops: the first starts a
little ways up the trail, is only 19km long, and encircles Provoking Lake.
The second loop must be reached by following the first loop up one side of
Provoking Lake and then the second loop branches off from there (on the map
the two loops kind of look like the number 8, except one side is bigger), is
35km long, and, at its far end, touches on both  Head and Harness Lakes (as
well as some other smaller ones).  Anyway, that said, on with the story!  

While hiking up what I suppose was the approach trail for both loops, a
young couple hiked past me towards the parking lot, and I noticed that their
faces looked flushed, but still I didn't think too much of it.  About half
an hour or 45 minutes after starting I got to the Madawaska which is a
*gorgeous* river that has a pretty fast current in it, but it isn't very
wide across.  There was a really nicely made walkway across it, and at the
other side there was an *ideal* place for  filtering some water.  Did I
mention that this trip was also a chance to try out all the new gear I've
accumulated? <g>    Actually, I was quite happy it was there as I had 1)
forgotten to fill up my water bag before leaving, and 2) forgotten my water
bottle in the car since I'd been drinking out of it on the way to the park.
I wasn't worried though, since Provoking Lake was only about an hour up the
trail from the start and I knew I could get some water there.  Anyway, I
filtered away at the river and I LOVE MY PUR HIKER!! :)))  It's an amazing
piece of gear!  It was super easy to pump, and I swear the water tasted like
tap water except without the chemicals!  Mmmmm....  The Osprey Aquasource
(water bag) was also really nice to have -- it fit right inside the lid of
my pack, and the tube w/ bite valve had a clip so you could attach it to the
pack strap closest to your head.  Very convenient, and I drank a lot more
than I think I would have had I just been using a bottle, IMO.  Met a girl
with her boyfriend & 2 dogs at the bridge, and she voiced some concern about
how high my pack was -- I wasn't sure where the best place to stow my tent
would be since I was carrying my sleeping pad strapped to the back of the
pack, so I just stowed it (tightly strapped down) between the pack & lid.
It worked okay, but I didn't feel 100% stable, so I decided to take her
advice and switch the tent & pad around on my way back to see the
difference.  She made me feel better, though, about how long it would take
me to reach Head Lake which was where my site reservation was.  I'd felt
alright about the distance earlier as well, but at the trail entrance there
was a big sign saying that only really experienced hikers should attempt the
second loop and that they should take 3 days to do it. =:-O   

Right after the Madawaska, there are three flights of stairs <!> to go up
which are made of old logs.  The girl I'd met at the river (never did find
out her name) had warned me about them but I thought she had meant "you'll
be going up three flights of stairs right after here" metaphorically! :)
Much to my surprise, there was also a little bit of SNOW! left on a few
parts of the trail.  I also passed some boulders, huge enough to be
classified as cliffs, that were covered in dark green moss with water
running down it, and some of the cliffs still had ice caps left on them!
Wow!  It was *so* beautiful.  I can't count the number of times I stopped
during the hike, just floored by the beauty of the scenery around me.  You
know how it is - you just stand there and think that there is no way that
anything can be that perfect!  If you ask me, Algonquin Park (well, except
for the car-camper sites) is a profoundly spiritual experience!  If the
higher power is anywhere it is, without a doubt, there.

 About three hours after starting, I got to Faya Lake, which is small but
pretty and had 2 loons on it, and decided to stop for lunch as I was
absolutely starving.  So, after finding a nice little campsite, I started
taking out my stove and getting ready to filter some water, when a girl
about my age & her father walked onto the site.  I said hello and asked if
they'd reserved the site.  They said yes, but since it was so early they
didn't want to stop hiking for the day just yet, so they would push on a
little further.  Her name was Janine, but I never got her father's name.  I
got out my water filter and she asked what it was.  I explained to her and
she went down to the water with me to see how it worked.  Turns out she'd
seen filters in the store before, but thought that even with a filter it
couldn't be so easy - surely you must have to do more than just pump the
water throught it!  I guess she & her father have just been boiling their
water, and half the time her father doesn't even do that!  Giardia isn't
really common in Algonquin, but I'd rather be safe than sorry.  Janine's
hooked on the Pur Hiker now, though, so she'll be getting one fairly soon I
think.  Another convert! <<g>>  It was kind of windy, so I guess my stove
wasn't preheating as well as it usually does, and when I tried to turn the
gas back on all I got was huge yellow flames all over the place!  Of course
there's Janine and her dad watching me (her dad seems to be from the old
school), and it took me 4 tries to get my Whisperlite lit!  Jeez....how
embarassing.....  Oh well, at least my Liptons noodles were good (pesto
penne...mmm...).  I probably could have had something else that didn't need
cooking, but I was soooo hungry and a whole potful of pasta to myself seemed
like just the thing! :)

If any of you all ever get up here to Ontario and you want to see moose, go
to Algonquin Park!  Admittedly you'll probably stand a better chance of
seeing them in the ditches & marshes along the highway 60 that runs through
the main park corridor (they like the saltiness of the water in those
spots), but the entire time I was on the Highland Trail there were moose
tracks and pellets *all over* the trail.  I also saw wolf tracks and scat,
as well as what I believe was bear scat.  Algonquin definitely seems is
nature's playground!

Funny - the forecast for the 2 days I was out there was for rain, but by
1600 it still hadn't rained a single drop!  The clouds were pretty dark
though.   I pressed on for an hour and a half before getting to the Lookout
which was at the top of a 300ft in 1km hill.  What a view!!  Mind you, the
view that I saw was the rain coming across the park toward me, but it was a
mindblowing view all the same. :)  All I could see were forested hills
rolling for miles & miles.  Amazing!  I didn't stay for long since it looked
like it would rain soon, and according to Janine Head Lake was only about an
hour and a half from where I was.  Time to go!  Besides, by this time my
knees were extremely sore.  The PFS hardly bothered me at all on this trip,
but tendonitis was another matter entirely! Too bad the trailname "Screaming
Knees" is already taken... ;))  I'll take this opportunity now to say that
DOWNHILL SUCKS!!  Thanks...I'm sure you understand... <g>  As I said before,
I've never seen anywhere *ever* that went up and down as often and to such
heights as this trail.  It was just unbelievable.  If an Army officer wanted
a trail for a ruckmarch that would reduce the troops to tears, this would be
it!  I was truly glad that I didn't have to bring my rifle, helmet,
ill-fitting rucksack, or non-supportive boots with me! :))  Anyway, it was
about 2000 when I hit the first "reserved for backpackers only" campsite.
Really, really nice!  Nice flat, evergreen needle-covered ground.  And it
was situated right on the rapids going from Head Lake to Head Creek.
Excellent place but I wasn't sure, even exhausted as I was, that I'd be able
to sleep with the rapids roaring right outside my tent door... so I decided
to check out the other sites and see what they were like as well.  Wasn't
too crazy about the next one, but the one after that was okay and so I took
it since I was too beat to go past the two "canoers only" sites between me &
the next backpacker site.  After setting up the tent and taking out my
sleeping pad, bag, and ranger blanket, I set up the stove to cook supper and
filtered some water.  Ended up having two packets of instant porridge & a
Powerbar since I was too tired to wait for anything else to cook.  I don't
usually like Powerbars too much, but saw a new kind - Oatmeal & Raisin, at
the gear store and decided to try it out.  Yum!!  It's really good -- tastes
almost like oatmeal & raisin cookies.  After eating & getting changed into
clean dry stuff, I wrote a little bit in a notepad about how the hike was
going and then promptly passed out in my sleeping bag! :)

WOW I was TIRED!!  

More in the next post...

Take care,
Cindi

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