October Trekking in the Backcountry

The Toronto Star posted a great article today about wilderness treks in October.

Surviving the Backcountry

by Daina Lawrence

Backcountry camping is attracting more and more enthusiasts each year to Algonquin Park but hikers must assess their needs- from the proper footwear October's a great time for wilderness treks, but make sure you're packing the essentials

ALGONQUIN PARK, ONT.–Hiking boots? Check. Freeze-dried food? Check. Economy-size box of Band-Aids? Check. Sanity? To be determined.

Backcountry hiking enthusiasts come out of the woodwork each season as the activity attracts more newcomers annually.

"Every year certainly things are getting busier," says Gordon Baker, assistant general manager at Algonquin Outfitters. Baker has been supplying hikers, backpackers and canoeists for years at this store at the southwest corner of Algonquin Provincial Park, about 250 kilometres north of Toronto. Backcountry hiking and camping is definitely not "everything but the kitchen sink" camping, since all items required for basic well-being must be strapped to the hiker's back. So why would anyone want to spend days in the bush without the comforts of home? "I think it offers a challenge ... The result is that good feeling of having accomplished something," says Algonquin park ranger Kirk McEathron.

The park offers new-to-the-sport hikers several trekking options, with routes ranging from six kilometres, suitable for day hikes, to gruelling 88 kilometre loops.

The park was established in 1893 as a wildlife sanctuary and later frozen in time through artist Tom Thomson's The Jack Pine and other famous paintings.

"There are not a lot of what I would call spectacular jaw-dropping things (in the park), but more of a cross-section of this part of Canada and Ontario – this is really what our bush is like," says McEathron. He recommends October as the best time of year to venture into the interior. The bugs are at a minimum, the water is often still warm enough to swim in, and the changing leaves will distract hikers from their burning muscles.

Experts agree that proper equipment will make or break a backpacking trip....

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