I made vacation plans for three weeks from now. The plan is to hike three days and camp two nights. Weather is a wildcard here. So I'm just going to take it as it comes. I'm hoping for pleasant, cool spring weather. I probably need a little new gear, like a sleeping bag liner. I have a new down coat I'll take as a mid layer. Summits might still be chilly. I think I'm going to start putting stickers on my bear canister, thus marking it as mine forever.
Adirondack Park in New York is my favorite place right now. I'll get into Albany late morning, so if all goes well I'll go straight from the airport to a campsite. There are a couple designated sites 2-3 miles from a major trailhead, and I think I can be at a site by 5:30. Then I'll hike the next two days from my campsite, packing up and heading out the second day. After a hotel night, I'll hike a third day and then head to a hotel in Albany before my morning flight home. I think it's a solid plan! I'm peak bagging out there, and this could net me five new summits, including two more difficult ones. Plans don't always pan out, and I've gotten more comfortable with changing plans depending on conditions. It's a beautiful area.
Wow just looked it up that place looks awesome and close to Ottawa hmmm. I'm hoping to do a weekend trip to canoe Barron Canyon in Algonquin Park so I can at least get some outdoors time in. I'll be sending out good vibes in hopes you get nice hiking weather. As long as you're prepared though it's not so bad. Once I was hiking a mountain in the summer and I got hailed on which I was not even remotely prepared for. We just decided to go on a whim so we didn't prepare well and ended up having to hide under a tree... Hail hurts :(
I've been very lucky with weather on my trips. Probably my worst luck is overcast skies at two views said to be among the best in the park. That just gives me a reason to go back. :) Cold and light rain I can manage, but heavy rain or hail would likely see me changing plans. I'm still sort of new to hiking and remote camping. You do it a lot? Have you spent a lot of time in Algonquin? Last summer I learned taking my overnight bag over summits was very taxing. This trip, my full bag will stay much lower down. If you ever want to talk about the Adirondack high peaks, I could talk about them, hikes I've done and others I've read about, all day.
I was living in Alberta for a bit and was able to hike some pretty awesome trails there. Unfortunately I had issues at that time so I stayed away from a lot of really amazing hikes since they were longer. I'm back in Ottawa now and I've done some hiking but not Algonquin yet. My dad is super into hiking and backcountry camping so I follow his advice most of the time which is to do some easier places first. We have some places closer like Gatineau and Frotenac ( plus everything else in that area really ). I've done a decent amount of hiking but not really the camping part. This last summer would have been my only opportunity really but I was trying to work as much as possible. This summer I think I've booked as much time off as reasonably possible and next summer I'll be in school so I'll have to go winter camping if I want too get any in. Have you ever gone winter camping ? I'll definitely look in to it some more and keep that in mind. Always good to get some first hand information on parks.
I have not winter camped, but it's inching its way up on my to-do list. In some ways it feels insane, but in others it doesn't seem so bad. It just takes some careful planning and the right gear.