2016 has been an interesting year of travel for me.
With the birth of my first child, Florence, at the tail end of 2015 we
had to make several changes to our typical travel style to accommodate
having our new bundle of joy in tow. In early
June we had a
fantastic week in a beautiful townhouse in Virginia Beach, along with my wife’s extended family. For our 2
nd vacation with
my family we chose a peaceful cottage setting deep in central Ontario cottage country, just on the cusp of the famed
Algonquin Provincial Park.
I had been to this cottage (40 minutes north-west
of Bancroft), as well as Algonquin Park many times in the past, but
never for anywhere near as long as the full-week vacation we planned
this time around. The extra time allowed me to spread
out many activities over the course of the week throughout the
beautiful backcountry.
Hiking:
The cottage is located only a 5 min drive from the
start of the Algonquin Park ‘High Falls’ hiking trail. The trail snakes
through the forest on relatively flat terrain for about 1km before
becoming quite steep and rocky over the next 500m
or so. It eventually approaches some picturesque river rapids and ends
with a great view of High Falls. The falls are photo-worthy for sure,
but would never be confused with world famous Niagara Falls. We tried to
bring Florence along in her quite rugged stroller
(Bob Revolution SE), but once we got to the rocky portion there was no
hope and she had to be carried the rest of the way, something I can’t
really recommend for obvious reasons. After you get to the falls
opening, there are options to rock-hop along the riverbank
and also some side trails back into the forest to keep you occupied.
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| Carrying Florence along the home stretch of the High Falls trail |
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| The rapids at the bottom of the falls |
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| Finally, the majestic High Falls |
Running:
I set off one morning on a run that I had
planned out ahead of time via Google Maps. From the cottage road I headed due north about 2km to Kingscote Road. This is a 7km long dirt road that
eventually leads into Algonquin Park and an interior canoe
access point on Kingscote Lake. The 7k run across this road provided
some great views of marshlands and was easily the most “backwoods” I
have ever been, but runners beware: this is a logging route and massive
logging trucks can rip around the corner at any
time. I ran in the oncoming lane to avoid getting clipped from behind,
unless there is poor visibility ahead where I moved to the right to
avoid not being seen in time. The run was hilly and fairly grueling, but
ended with a beautiful view of the pristine
lake. In addition, I also ran some of the snowmobiling routes near the
High Falls trail entrance, these were much less challenging and
generally safer than the Kingscote segment.
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| Kingscote Lake, an official Algonquin Park interior launch point |
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| Elephant Lake Road |
Kayaking:
Our cottage was right on the shores of Benior Lake,
so clearly some water sports were in good order. The provided kayak was
great for exploring the lake. In addition to the cottage our family was
staying at, we had two other family members that own cottages on the
same lake, so the kayak became a great method of zipping around to pop
in for lunch or just say hi. On our final full day I took up the
challenge to paddle to the north end of Benior and exit the lake via a
river leading into Algonquin
Park and eventually the High Falls rapids. It was about a 5km one-way
paddle of what can only be described as one of the most tranquil
settings I’ve ever experienced. The gentle winding river traversed
untouched wilderness before ending where the rapids began.
I settled into a small bay where High Falls hikers approach the rapids
and as timing worked out, met up with my parents who were doing the hike
at the time. The paddle back to the cottage was a challenge, however.
When I re-entered the lake it was much choppier
due to increased winds and the afternoon motorboat traffic. My
recreational kayak held up quite well in the added chop though, and my
tired arms were able to eventually power me back.
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| Entering the serenity of Algonquin Park |
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| Clutch photo from my dad, hiking the trail at the same time |
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| The end of my watery road |
General Cottage Thoughts:
Our cottage, while a tad rustic was perfect for our
group. We had as many as 9 people staying in it and it never felt
crowded. Being on a septic system for a full week was a new experience,
but hey, it’s a cottage not the Four Seasons.
As mentioned Benior Lake is great for water sports like kayaking,
canoeing, jet skiing, tubing etc. It is large enough to leave a lot to
explore and to connect to other bodies, but small enough to easily get
to friends and family staying at other parts of
the lake. We had a shallow sandy beach which is perfect for small
children, but the sand turns to mud and seaweed pretty quickly once you
walk in. We did a bit of fishing but without much success. In the autumn
my aunt and uncle have caught massive musky,
but apparently the summer is a quiet time for the fish. Florence was a
bit too young to really partake in activities, but she had a great time
hanging out with everyone and checking out the forest and lake scenery
for the first time. As a cottage staple we
had amazing bonfires each night and thanks to mostly clear skies the
stars were just spectacular.
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| Surreal calmness of Benior Lake in the morning |
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| Just can't beat that dock life |
Bancroft:
After several days of cooking our own (abundantly carnivorous) meals, we decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out in Bancroft. About 40min from the cottage, Bancroft is the biggest town of substance in the area. It has all of the amenities a town should, a large grocery store, beer and liquor stores and a hardware store. It also has a quaint main drag with lots of little artsy shops. Unfortunately for us, the evening we arrived many of them were already closed for the day. For dinner we chose the Bancroft Eatery & Brew Pub which had some great eats and delicious local Ontario craft beef. After dinner we took a short drive up a steep road to the locally famous Bird's Nest lookout for a fantastic view of the town and surrounding forest.
If you are considering a trip to Algonquin Park, check out my
previous post.
Want to know more about the cottage we booked? Check out their website
here.
Mike @ Palms & Pints
