We did it! We convinced our friends with 2 kids and another mutual friend to come canoe tripping with us this year! Our 3 day Algonquin Park Canoe Trip with Kids was a huge success and we can’t wait to go back next year! Ok, maybe we’re already planning a fall trip!
Last year, Mike and I headed into Algonquin Park with our pup Rogue in tow. This year we convinced our friends, with a 5-year old and a 2-month old and a mutual friend that it would be a good idea to go with us!
Our friend rented the canoes, paddles, lifejackets and 1 food barrel pack for us. I grabbed the camping food at MEC and online for us and then sent everyone a packing list I made in Trello. We met one week before to talk equipment and ensure everyone had everything and boom we were off!
Baby A rocked this canoe trip. Eat, sleep, get carried around, repeat! And the 5-year-old held his own. He was so good portaging, paddling, entertaining us at the campsite and just generally rocking (even with a few temper tantrums thrown in).
Algonquin Park Route
We rented equipment from Opeongo Outfitters and grabbed their water taxi to the portage to RedRock Lake off of Opeongo Lake. We paddled to the 2nd campsite on the left (just below the 1). On Saturday morning we portaged to Happy Isle Lake and then to Merchant Lake for the night. Then on Sunday, a quick portage back to Happy Isle Lake and the long one all the way back to Opeongo Lake for a pick up by the water taxi.
So if you look at the map and you have any sense of distance on the map you’ll realize we did a crazy amount of portaging. We kept joking that we portaged more than we canoed which may or may not be true.
We rented 3 canoes as our friend, Darren thought he’d enjoy basically soloing the canoe with the 5-year old. He ended up wanting to try sitting in everyone’s boats at one point so Darren ended up soloing the entire trip.
Darren carried his canoe, Mike carried ours and Jenna (for the first time ever in her life, portaged the other canoe and rocked it).
We each carried our own packs. Even the 5-year old carried some of his gear and basically all of his snacks (key packing ingredient for success camping with kids). I carried a small pack with our tent, and a few other items and the food barrel on my front. Mike carried the rest of our stuff and our canoe at portages.
What Did We Eat
Friday Dinner – Alpine Aire Foods Mesquite BBQ Chicken with Beans and Rice and S’Mores! I brought a small ziplock bag of brown rice pasta for myself and chowed down on Freeze Dried Beef & Green Beans by Alpine Aire mixed in with the pasta.
Saturday Breakfast – Free From Cooked Bacon Bits & Scrambled Eggs (we put them in a water bottle)
Saturday Lunch – Wraps (we grabbed gluten free deli meats from Loblaws, lettuce, cheese, vegan cheese and gluten free wraps from Natural Food Pantry)
Saturday Dinner – Good To Go Herbed Mushroom Risotto with Freeze Dried Chicken and Alpine Aire Foods Cinnamon Apple Crisp
Sunday Breakfast – Good To-Go Oatmeal (Single Serving)
Sunday Lunch – Wrap Left Overs
How to Entertain a 5-Year-Old
It takes a village to keep the 5-year old entertained. His mom did an amazing job of packing things he’d need from paper and markers to endless snacks to making up a scavenger hunt to keep him occupied.
Mike played the quiet game with him before we’d had our coffee
Darren had heart to hearts with him.
Jenna took him hunting for rainbows
I tried to teach him my amazing marshmallow roasting skills. Ps. he only likes his marshmallows raw lol.
and Mike and Darren gave him paddling lessons depending on which canoe he was in.
The hardest part was probably the portaging and the last day paddling. We had some pretty strong headwinds and it started to rain mid paddle on the last lake but the amazing thing is everyone was still smiling, happy and in great spirits. I got my baby fix on as much as possible and Asher melted my heart even more than it already is.
We left with trip rope bracelets, a must for canoe trips, but even more so I’m so grateful to have these people as friends. I could get really really mushy about it all. My heart is just so happy. I’m so freaking blessed to have these experiences, these people in my life and am just so grateful I got to spend time in my happy place (in Algonquin, with no cell service).
and if you read all the way to the end…
Here’s a man in a hammock with a baby.
And my man, cooing at a baby, be still my uterus.
You’re welcome, ladies.
Sounds like everyone had a great time, I enjoyed reading about your adventures. My three son’s and I were fishing all the time and now i get to fish with them and my grandson’s. Enjoying the great outdoors is truly a great gift.