If you are short on time and would like to view just the itinerary and the gear list for this Western Uplands backpacking trail in Algonquin Provincial Park in Ontario (Canada), please see this post.
Now that you have to opted to read this detailed blog, I am about to bombard you with all the unnecessary detail, day by day.
Let us start with my route :
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| Trail in yellow, direction of hike in purple, and night stays in red |
Western Uplands Backpacking Trail (88kms, 28th July 2023 to 5th August 2023)
Day 1 - 28th July - Toronto to Algonquin Provincial Park (Walk 3KM on the highway, hike ~11KM on the trail; Camp at Steeprise Lake)
As with other car-less adventures in Canada, I relied on the very reliable Parkbus to take me from Toronno to Algonquin Provincial Park. The bus dropped a diverse bunch of hikers (one Latin American traveler, 2 PhDs from Austria and an Indian guy (of course, that is me)) at West Gate right on time at ~11:15AM. West Gate is also known as KM Zero (KM 0) as this is where Algonquin Park officially begins on highway 60. All distances to camping sites and other attractions on Highway 60 are measured from this reference point.
The other hikers had a long day ahead of them, so, they started the hike immediately. I stayed back to repack my backpack for the trail (travel mode to hiking mode) and set on the grueling 3KM walk on the highway. The last thing you want to do while on a hiking trip is to walk on the shoulder of a highway with cars speeding at ~100Km/hr.
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| The trailhead is at km 3.0 |
I reached the trailhead in ~45 mins and started the hike, not following one of the recommendations which, very specifically, asked NOT to hike alone. To me, there is no better way to experience the wild - so, despite being a very obedient civilian, I choose to accept the risk (with a very detailed, multi-month prep before the hike)
As soon as you start the hike, in a couple of minutes, you come across a fork, where left takes you clockwise and right, anti-clockwise. I took left because my campsites were reserved for a clockwise loop.
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| Left is a clockwise loop |
The trial was wet and slushy all along. My boot (Lowa Renegade) did a very good job of keeping me dry - I'd recommend a shoe that covers up over your ankle.
A couple of hours into the hike, another solo-hiker overtook me (I walk slowly and am generally not in a hurry unless absolutely necessary). A few minutes later, I caught up with him and we started a chat. He was from Windsor, Canada and his friend had a last-minute change of plans and hence, he had to do this alone. While we were discussing our plans for the night, we came across a fork, without signage. This is a very rare occurrence - I've found the trails in North America to be very well marked. Both options on the fork seemed plausible - so, we took one trail each and hoped we'll see each other on the other side. That couldn't happen because my trail ended abruptly a few minutes later. I retraced my path to the fork and took the other option. I was surprised to see the hiker from Windsor heading back to the fork - this was strange because I was sure that my trail wasn't the right one and this one had to be the correct path. I was curious to know his story of the route - he mentioned that a sign board indicated that the trail was going down to the lake and didn't seem like the right way. I told him that the trail I took from the fork initial was surely not our trail, so, this had to be it and I convinced him to explore this further with me. A couple of hundred meters later, we realized that it was indeed the right trail. This was one of the two occasions on this trail where the marking could have been better.
As we neared the campsites, we went our ways and I invited him for dinner since he didn't have a stove (his friend was supposed to carry the stove). I settled in, waited for a while and since he did not return, I assumed that he was able to light a fire.
For me, the first night in multi-night solo adventures is always the most difficult one. I am generally very anxious, transitioning from a city life into one in the wild. And, fresh bear dropping near my site did not help!
Here is the view from Steeprise site #2.
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| Dinner by the lake |
Day 2 - 29th July - Steeprise Lake to Pincher Lake (~16km hike)
There were no incidents the previous night and I woke up to a beautiful morning. I packed up and started my day and in a few minutes, reached the detour for Steeprise Lake site #1 where the Windsor guy was at. I thought about checking in on him but wanted to respect his privacy and decided not to. He seemed experienced enough to light a fire or to get through a night with cold food / energy bars.
The trail goes through the east of Maggie lake, a very popular site for folks doing one of the shorter loops. It's distance from the highway (~11km - ~15km depending on the campsite) makes it an ideal first night or the last night for hikes from Highway 60.
The trail has frequent uphill and downhill sections with a few steep corridors thrown in. I had a good flavor of the terrain from my Highlands trek last year. As I approached Clara Lake, I thought of the South American guy who was supposed to camp here for the previous night - it must have been a very long day for him after the bus ride.
As I reached my campsite, I saw a chipmunk waiting for me. This one, it seems, was fed by the hikers and was accustomed to seeing people and was used to being around with people. I don't feed animals while in the backcountry and, despite the disappointment it caused to the chipmunk, I continued my practice of not interfering with wild life. Earlier in the day, one of the hikers who I met was complaining about chipmunks and squirrels at his site - I was now able to relate to his story. This was night 2 of my trip and If I had lost my food on this night, it'd have been an excruciatingly long hike back to the highway (and that too without food).
Anyways, I settled in, took a dip in the lake, had dinner and hung my food in a "bear-safe" way and hoped that it'd be as is when I wake up the next day.
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| Bear footprint |
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| Pincher Lake Site #3 - Beautiful view of the lake from the site |
Day 3 - 30th July - Pincher Lake to Ishkuday Lake (~13km hike)
I woke up to a beautiful sunrise and my food was intact too. I couldn't have asked for more.
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| Sunrise from Picher Lake Site #3 |
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| The chipmunk (not the one on the left) |
Once you cross Pincher Lake, and head North, the trail becomes more isolated when compared to the South. Fewer folks attempt this trail from the Rain Lake access point to the Northwest - Highway 60, where I started, is more popular. Ishkuday was the farthest point on this loop and if I had lost my food to bears (or other wildlife), I'd have had to exit the park via the Rain Lake access point in the North. I was now getting familiar with the terrain and was getting more comfortable in the wild after a couple of anxious nights. I reached Ishkuday in the afternoon. At first sight, it seemed to be a lovely site - however, as I tried to fetch water, I realized that there is no easy access to the lake. If you are prepared to wade through bogs, and submerged branches, you'd be able to get to sediment free water. I decided not to pursue and managed the night on energy bars. Over time, one gets to know what the body needs during extended backcountry trips. With years of hiking behind me, I knew my body well. So, I was not worried about skipping an important meal this night. I conserved whatever water I had and decided to get a refill at Brown Lake the next day.
Day 4 - 31st July - Ishkuday Lake to West Otterpaw Lake (~10km hike)
Per my plan, I was supposed to stop at Brown Lake for a water refill. However, I decided to make the push to my site at West Otterpaw. This was a short day and I was comfortable reaching my site fairly early in the afternoon and ruminating over my thoughts. Some more bear footprints and droppings but no signs of any wildlife, even on the more remote northern part of the loop.
I managed to get a fire going for a while with some dead wood from near the site. Couldn't keep it going for long as the wood was wet from recent rain. Nevertheless, it was fun...
I settled into my site, had a hot dinner and "checked in" like every other night.
I used Zoleo satellite communicator to send "check in" messages to my wife - The last time I carried a satellite device with me was for the Auyuittuq hike in the Canadian artic. This communicator has 2-way messaging capability as well but I've never used that feature and do not intend to unless it is an emergency. When you press the "check in" button on the device, it sends an SMS message with your GPS coordinates to phone numbers configured before the trip. When the receiver clicks on the SMS message it opens up the location in Google or Apple maps. I found this to be a very useful companion on this "no mobile network" route.
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| The device needs to be pointed to the sky |
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| Flooded Lupus creek |
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| Guskewau Lake |
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| Managed to get a small fire going on the last morning |
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| See you soon Algonquin!! |
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