Hikes without a car from Toronto - Algonquin Provincial Park - Highland backpacking trail

I can't believe that I have survived this long without a car (and, without knowing how to drive!) in North America. And, that has forced me to find ways to get to where I want to with public / shared transport. It has made me tremendously patient - you'll know what I mean if you've ever used public transport in North America outside of major cities. 

I moved to Canada in 2020 in the middle of Covid, pre-vaccination and when lockdowns were widespread. Almost all of 2021 passed by without much action. In 22, I wanted to get back to some form of normal like everyone else. For me, normalcy meant hunting down hikes within reach of public transport. I stumbled upon one of the best parks in the country, Algonquin Park in Ontario. ParkBus runs a point-to-point service from Tronno (what's in a name anyway!) to Algonquin. They were a godsend for people like me. I can't thank them enough for continuing to operate this summer. (I used a similar service in the US for skiing (Ovrride)). A video blog on this Algonquin trip is below and detailed itinerary follows: 

Detailed Itinerary:

Day 1: Toronto Downtown to Algonquin Park (ParkBus)

Hike to Provoking Lake from Lake of Two Rivers Store (Bus drop-off / pick-up point)

Night 1: Provoking Lake (back country)

Night 2: Harness Lake (back country)

Night 3: Head Lake (back country)

Night 4: Provoking Lake (back country)

Night 5: Lake of Two Rivers Campground (car access available to campground)

Day 6: Bus from Lake of Two Rivers Store to Toronto Downtown (ParkBus)

A detailed blog on my thoughts during this solo trip in bear country is still wrapped up in my mind and when I do manage to get it out, it'll be out here on this blog! 

Time to reset

It has been a very unusual past few months for all of us. We'll never forget 2020 in our lives. 

As I look back at this year, it feels as if the "sorry, I was on mute" on zoom calls applied to our lives as well. It has been a year of learning (to fight a pandemic), yearning (to live more), and appreciation (of what we had before entered this period). It was a year when the underlying cracks in our societies surfaced, dysfunctional political systems emerged and people united for common causes. 

The real question is how do you unmute safely and we all have our own answers based on our risk appetite.  

But, here we are at the end of the tunnel. Time to look forward. Time to reset our lives to the new normal.