Announcing the Summer Photo Contest "Landscapes of Algonquin Park" , co-hosted by Algonquin Outfitters and Algonquin Adventures.

"Everyone should enjoy the theme this time around as you get to enter all those great landscape pictures you have captured in Algonquin Park. So start digging through your photos for great pictures of great Algonquin Park landscapes. As always photos will be judged on quality first and theme second. Bonus points will be awarded if you include people or wildlife as a secondary subject in the photo."

Fred Tranquilli has sent in a trip-log of his Solo Tour of May 24-31/09, Happy Isle to Proulx Lake.

"I arrived at Big Crow late in the day after the 3750m widow maker out of Hogan. I don't think I will do that portage again. While the portage is covered in moose tracks and droppings, it was extremely muddy. The steep climb out of Hogan certainly caught my attention and my glutes felt like I had just taken a good spanking! That evening it rained! The morning was a little more to my liking as it was nearly clear and the sun was out. I decided to take a walk over to the Big Crow Cabin as I was at the site immediately adjacent to it and would get water at the spring and climb up to the lookout."

Aaron Robichaud has sent in a trip-log of his May 15 - 18, 2009 solo canoe trip to Lauder Lake .. Algonquin Park Spring 2009 - My First Solo Trip .

"The portage starts out in a forested area of nice pines and birch trees, then after 200 m or so it opens right up into an area of lots of deadfall – clearly evidence of a tornado. It’s nice and sunny and quite warm, perfect for a little hike with a barrel strapped to me! While in this clearing I came across 3 separate groupings of bear scat – which looked quite fresh (only a few hrs old). Bear patrol on high alert! ."

Andrei Bershadski has posted a trip-log of his May 28 -June 1, 2009 Jubilee Lake, Algonquin Park Trip ... Jubilee Lake, Algonquin Park Trip Report . Andrei has shared his well-illustrated experience as a new backcountry Algonquinite. Despite being subjected to some snowy weather, his enthusiasm to return to Algonquin is obvious!

"That day I realized the true power of northern weather. It went from sun early in the morning to a snow blizzard in a matter of hours. It made me respect the weather and what it could do."

This spring, Darren Dare took a solo 7-day trip ... Spring 2009 Trip Log. His trip looped him through Tim Lake, Indian Pipe lake, Big Bob lake, the Nipissing River, Loontail Creek, Latour Creek, Rosebary Lake, the Tim River and back to Tim Lake. Darren has described his encounters with wildlife in great detail.

"I could see the waters of Floating Heart through the thinning trees and was soon on the shores of the lake. I snapped a few shots of the lake, relaxed for a bit and then headed back to retrieve my pack. On the return trip I could hear the call of a Pileated Woodpecker up in the trees. I searched for him for some time to no avail, but on the return trip I was lucky enough to get a descent shot of him."

Young Sam Barkwell has submitted ... Camp Wendigo's 7 Day Trip. Many of us have seen the canoes, kids and counselors from park camps paddling by on their backcountry trips. This is a firsthand account of one of them.

"We got up, had a breakfast of eggs and bacon and were on the road again by 10:00 am. The put in for a 790m portage was a large sandy beach that had room for much more than our 3 canoes. The portage was flat and slightly rocky, with the take out into Little Otterslide Lake being small but smooth; you must load 1 canoe at a time. The paddle through the creek into Otterslide Lake was leisurely and simple, but it does get a bit shallow at points ..."

Last summer, Jim FitzSimmons and his pal "Chaz" took a week-long trip in Jim's Folbot Greenland II folding touring kayak from Canoe Lake to Big Trout Lake and back ... Algonquin Journal - 2008

"The first three portages (250 m, 390 m, and 265 m) are relatively flat (albeit rocky) portages separated by short stretches of Otterslide Creek. In between these three and the next two is a seemingly interminable, meandering, but beautiful stretch of Otterslide Creek as it wanders back and forth across a marsh. Quite often we would paddle 500 meters to achieve 10 meters of progress!"

Between April 30th and May 4th of this year, Al LeBlanc rented the Tattler Lake Ranger Cabin. Al has submitted his account of the stay that he and his friend Dan enjoyed there .. Tattler Lake Cabin Trip - Spring 2009

"In the evening the beavers gave us a show we have never seen before. One of the beavers was swimming towards the cabin from the direction of their dam. It gave a huge slap on the water and went down but came up immediately. An excited gesture. There was another beaver not far behind. And not long after that another beaver. It looked like they chased the 1st beaver out of the bay but it came back and they chased it again ..."

Back in 2007, between Sept. 3rd and 9th, there was a special gathering of some Algonquin Adventures "regulars". Camping at a number of sites on Booth Lake, they socialized daily at one particular campsite.