No, not Algonquin

While certain assumptions are often made when you say you're going camping in an Ontario Provincial Park near Huntsville, Algonquin is not the only option.

And there'd be a solid fight to determine which is more beautiful

While I grant you that Algonquin is a gem - our oldest and largest park, since 1893 - its younger, smaller brother is absolutely lovely, and it was to Arrowhead Provincial Park that we headed last week.

Our site in the East River campground - the only one open at this time of year - was massive and secluded, surrounded by forest

As a paperless park, our online reservation and pre-check in were all we needed to head to our site on Monday afternoon. We arrived too late to get firewood as the park store had closed at 4pm, so we did the 15min jaunt into Huntsville to pick up wood from the Canadian Tire, getting back just before dark. It had been a sunny but cool day, and turned into a chilly night.

Which we combated with warm clothes and hot apple cider by the fire

It was frustrating to find out that the water taps were all shut off for the season (they were in the process of blowing out the lines while we were there), and that the comfort station nearest the tent sites - whose proximity had been a driver of my site selection - was also shut down for winter.

The flush privies were all closed, too - this meant the closest washroom facility to us was about a kilometer from our site

The information about this had been buried in the endless park policies in our reservation email, which - entirely my fault - I had neglected to read in full. To the park's credit, after I complained about not being informed (before I found the fine print), they did send out an email to all permit holders to advise of the current state of affairs. Also to the park's credit, what they term a "mini comfort station" is an awesome facility for cold-weather camping! Instead of the usual men's & women's sides, there are 5 unisex 1-person washrooms, each of which has its own heater.

That's it on the left side, occupying the whole lower wall; if I'm not mistaken, it's a water radiator supplied by a tankless water heater up on the wall above the toilet, which also provides almost-instant hot water to the faucet for hand washing.
They even hang the toilet paper over the radiator, so it's nice and warm on your tush!

The other thing this building offers - almost unique among Ontario Parks, but a huge asset to tent campers like ourselves - is a dish washing station. Now, I've seen outdoor ones at Sépaq Parcs in Québec, but this was a dedicated indoor scullery, also with its own tankless water heater and radiator.

There's an outlet for charging things right by the door, too, and someone had even left a bottle of Dawn dish soap in there

The same building has 3 shower stalls as well, but I have no experience with them; I'm comfortable with being a little grubby while camping. 

It's not like I was sweating, especially when the rain started Monday evening...at 5c/41f

We weren't happy that we'd have to drive to the washroom (even I - dedicated as I am to human-powered transport - balk at the idea of walking 10-15mins each way for a bathroom), but there was nothing we could do about it. We rose just after 8 to a wet morning, with our tent soaked inside and out: the cold night had led to a lot of condensation on the interior despite our best efforts to vent it in the rain. 

No use birching about it

Tanker made a pot of coffee, which we poured off into insulated travel mugs to go for a bit of a stroll. I'd seen on the park map that our site was close to Stubbs Falls, and I wanted to go check them out.

So we walked the half kilometer from our site, coffees in hand

On approach, we saw stairs and a bridge, thinking this would be somewhat like Chutes Provincial park.

..which was encouraging, because we both love that place

From the bridge I was awestruck - not just by the falls, which are not quite as impressive as Chutes but have a similar character, but by the incredible size of the glacial erratics on the river's banks.

I'm a sucker for big heckin' rocks

I had brought along a little loaf of chocolate chip banana bread that I'd cut into chunks as a snack with our coffee, so we munched on that as the river thundered below us.

I'd definitely be ok with starting every day like this

We had immediately seen that it was possible to meander around nearer the falls, so once we finished our snack we departed from the bridge to explore a bit more.

There's a trail that does a loop around a ~1km stretch of river, with bridges - including the one we'd just crossed - at either end, that we'd need to walk later on.

Tank was braver than I was on the wet rock beside the foaming cataract midway down the falls.

I'm a bit timid when slipping might mean plunging into fast moving, icy water

I did eventually pick my way out far enough to get some decent photos, though.

You can click on this panoramic to see it bigger.
Go ahead - I'll be here when you get back

We spent almost an hour just listening to the rushing water and enjoying our coffee.

Good travel mugs should be considered a necessity for any cold camping trip - keep that coffee nice and hot!

When we started to make our way back to our site, we did so via the ring of giant boulders.

Tanker for scale

Returning to camp, I cooked up a mass of bacon while Tanker toasted bread over the other burner.

I usually pan-toast bread products while camping, but forgot before I got the bacon going

It wasn't a precise science, but definitely good enough for a pair of huge bacon sandwiches to fuel us up.

Today was supposed to be the "nice" (i.e.: least rainy) day, and there was lots we wanted to see

First on the list didn't even count as a hike, because there's a parking lot a scant 10 metres away from the destination - the Big Bend Lookout. 

The rain had begun again

The Big East River's sandy banks are constantly shifting with the variable current, forming huge bends that meander like a bit of dropped string - some eventually become oxbow lakes (C-shaped lakes formed from cut-off former bends), but this particular curve has stood the test of quite a bit of time.

Does what it says on the tin

We read the informational plaques at the lookout while liquid sunshine sprinkled down on us.

Fogging the trees in the middle of the bend

Next up, we drove clear to the other end of the park to walk a couple of the park's trails: first the Homesteader Trail, which was bright with fall foliage.

..some of which hid ankle-threatening roots, rocks, and washouts among the rolling hills

We paused for a cookie once we'd completed the circuit, then - as the rain tailed off and the skies lightened a bit - we struck out on the Mayflower Lake Trail.

More roots buried in fallen leaves

The boardwalk could use some work

There were more hills, and a little more technical terrain in the middle third of the trail.

Though after this there was a long section of open field with gently descending singletrack through the small shrubs

Soon we found ourselves back at the trailhead, on the shore of Mayflower Lake.

We came this close to seeing actual sun

Mayflower Lake is stocked with trout, and Tanker had brought his rod, eager to do some fishing. As we headed back toward camp, we stopped at the main beach so he could scout some potential fishing on Arrowhead Lake.

He'd been interested in the point on the left

Upon examination, it turned out this whole part of the lake was all sandy, gently sloping beach bottom - not at all idea for fishing unless you have waders, which Tank does not. So, he tried looking at another likely spot nearby.

This bridge - part of the main park road - spans the point where Arrowhead Lake drains into the East River

With a swift current and a steeply sloped bank below the water, Tank thought this would be a perfect little tranquil spot for him to cast, so we made plans to come back the next day. Back to camp, I heated up a big pot of butternut squash soup for us to share, then started the fire and set our hiking boots by it to dry out.

We'd picked up some firewood from the park store earlier, but it was very wet - we were lucky we still had the excellent wood from Huntsville to help it burn

Another cold night - and even damper than the one before - had me snuggled into my giant insulated poncho by the fire to stay warm, but at least we finally caught a glimpse of the moon through the trees!

We didn't see a single star the entire trip

We retired pretty early - the rain falling heavily again overnight, and condensation once again dripping from the inside of the fly down into the tent body. I awoke at 8am and checked the forecast.

Which was less than awesome

While it would certainly be warmer, the wet would continue...basically forever. We had reserved our site to stay through to Friday afternoon, but after some discussion we decided that Wednesday would be our last night in the park. The tail end of Hurricane Norma was sweeping through Thursday afternoon and expected to make things even wetter, so we resolved to see and do the rest of what we wanted, then just head home before we ended up swimming.

Which meant a big breakfast, as we had a big day planned!

After cinnamon raisin french toast and sausage, Tank brewed up a second pot of coffee and we headed out on foot to walk the Stubbs Falls trail, going counter-clockwise so we'd approach the falls from the other side of the bridge this time.

Looking up the East River - the trail follows its course through the campground bearing its name

Across the big main bridge at the end of Arrowhead Lake, then the trail dives into the forest.

It's a little less flat and buffed out on this side, but still an easy walk

Soon the roar of water could be heard in the distance, and we came to the stairs on the far side of the bridge from the campground.

The noise was noticeably louder after heavy rain overnight

Out on the rock - even wetter than Tuesday morning

Back to our site again, I'd had enough digestion time (and it had warmed up enough) that it was time to send Tank off fishing. Me?

You'll never guess what I did

From the main bridge at Arrowhead Lake, I set off on the trail bearing the same name, counter-clockwise once again.

It's a cycling trail, and very well maintained - I've seen park roads narrower and more technical than this!

The fall colours were delightful, but I'd hoped for something a little more...trail-like. So, I did something I'm not proud of, and selectively ignored some signage I found at the far side of the lake.

You mean the area around the white sign? I'll be sure to avoid it

In my defense, as I passed the barrier the sun came out, so I felt like the universe was encouraging me to go explore the Beaver Meadow Trail.

Which is gorgeous

I quickly found out why the trail was closed, though: if I'd thought the Mayflower Lake Trail's boardwalks were in need of repair..

If there was ever a thing that would have me walk gingerly instead of running, this is it

There was also some pretty significant deadfall on the trail in a few places.

The topmost of the lower branches was above my waist, so I had to creep under the trunk off to the right

The blue skies and sunshine really highlighted what a gorgeous trail this is - I'd say it's the jewel of the park.

With more big heckin' rocks!

I even found something unlikely this late in the season:

Arrowhead plants!

There were also more sketchy boardwalks - with planks nailed or simply laid down in the direction of travel, to help avoid the missing and broken boards that run widthwise.

I fully agree this should be closed to the general public until the infrastructure is repaired, particularly as cell service is meagre at best in the campground area, and nonexistent out here

I - as a feral trail creature with lots of experience in sketchy spots - was doing ok by walking a lot to avoid hurting myself on the roots and rocks submerged in the drifts of fallen leaves, but even I wondered if I'd need to turn back when I came upon this.

This fallen conifer blocked access to yet another boardwalk

As I approached, I could see that the waist-high trunk was thickly covered in out-jutting branches that would brook no direct passage. The right side was totally blocked by the same branches and impenetrable underbrush, so I headed to the left to see if I could get 'round the top of the tree. I found more tangles of underbrush.

Not promising, but my only real option

I picked my way through carefully, as roots and fallen branches snaked along the ground - I tested my weight each step, not knowing if they might give way under me, either plunging me into the marshy ground that warranted a boardwalk (as I'd had to come alongside it to get past the fallen pine), or possibly tearing skin or breaking bone as I fell through. Fortunately no such ill fate befell me, and I was able to scramble up onto the boardwalk.

Which was probably in the best shape out of all of them

I soon came to the rocky bluff I'd seen in the trail description, towering above me with more bright maples at its peak.

The scale is impossible to convey in a photo

Another mile, and I was relieved to rejoin the Arrowhead Lake Trail, with noone about to scold me for me trespass.

So I'll just tell on myself here

Soon I had caught sight of the lake once again, as I headed toward and then through the edge of the Roe campground.

The mix of hardwood and pine forest is just lovely

Just about exactly 8km from when I set off, the trail spat me out near the point we'd gone to scout as a fishing spot the day before, with the bridge in view beyond.

Almost back to my honey

In the hour and a half I'd been gone, Tank hadn't had so much as a nibble on his hook, but was a happy lad nonetheless.

As he always is when he gets a few casts in

We'd seen some people in the water the day before, and the afternoon had got quite warm, so I decided I'd try a bit of a wade. I grabbed dry shoes, socks, and a towel from the car, then headed down to the soft sand beach.

Holy HECK that was cold!

Then we headed back to camp so I could change out of my wet running kit, and into a nice cozy wool dress and hot bowl of soup.

It was only 4:15pm but already starting to cool off again

Of course, since we were leaving the following day and there was one more trail we hadn't seen, we headed out again for a little late-afternoon hike.

One last summer trail, that is - there are many more ski trails that open for winter in the park, along with its famous ice skating trail

The Lookout Trail took us over two ridges divided by a ravine, and of course had a dramatic viewpoint.

This park is definitely good at accurate nomenclature

We finished up just before sunset, then drove into Huntsville to pick up more dry wood for a cozy fire on a much milder night.

I only needed a vest over my dress to keep me toasty

Things had dried out a bunch with the sunshine and warm weather Wednesday, and we'd hoped to pack up camp without further rain, but a deluge overnight and more condensation left everything thoroughly soggy come Thursday morning even after the rain had stopped.

Moisture from the inside of the fly on the mesh tent body - we'd need to set everything up to dry out when we got home

We struck camp after a solid breakfast of sausage, eggs, and bagels, but Tank had brewed a second pot of coffee for our travel mugs so we could take them along for one last visit.

We really enjoyed Stubbs Falls

I took the little trail down to the bottom to have a look as a gentle rain began to fall once more.

The torrent of water was the strongest yet

We only stayed a few minutes this time, but Tank ventured out to the cataract's edge once again

Such a beautiful place

I was a bit more conservative, but did come out onto the water-smoothed gneiss once again.

Despite the cold, wet weather I had 100% compliance with the "no pants before coffee" rule

Our final stop before leaving the park was the beach area near Tank's fishing hole, just for one last look at Arrowhead Lake

Its fall colour backdrop now muted by the ever-increasing rain

It seemed we'd escaped just in time: as we hit Highway 11 and headed south, the rain increased and a fog rolled in, making it difficult to see in some places.

If we'd stayed for the scenery, we might have been disappointed

We made it home safely to our warm, dry bed, having really enjoyed our time in the park - no small thanks to the staff, who were absolutely wonderful during our stay. Next time we go, we'll have to try it in the snow with our skis and snowshoes!

And maybe even get to see these frozen

I swear I will get 'round to the 2 race reports I have pending, but tomorrow it's Beav time!