"I was almost out of Red Pine Bay when I got a hit that just screamed off line. This fish really put my 8lb line to the test. It took a good 5 minutes to get it to the boat. When it did come in, I noticed it had inhaled my cleo lure. I managed to get my needle nose plyers down into its mouth and unhook the lure and safely release the fish after a short recoup session. I want to point out here that I fish barbless ..."

(Editor's note: Earlier in May of this year, it was Ted who recovered Markus' Rubino's canoe on Harry Lake ... see trip-log below - Barry.)

The first trip was a 5-day loop (May 12th to 16th) from Rock Lake to Pen Lake .. then west to Welcome Lake and Harry Lake .. finally to Lake Louisa and then back to Rock Lake. Check it out on on Murkus' own website .. www.markinthepark.com .

Markus' next trip started the very same day that his previous one ended (May 16th to 22nd) .. from Lake Opeongo, to Dickson Lake and on to White Partridge Lake. This is Markus' account of his journey to eventually meet up with the "Born Party" .. as also recounted below in Express to White Partridge. You can also access it directly on Markus' website .. www.markinthepark.com .

(Editor's note: Markus, Randy, Rob, Ken and Sheila have added a unique chapter to Algonquin Adventures .. sharing their individual experiences, meeting online, co-ordinating their rendezvous-trip and then sharing it all with the online Algonquin community . . . thanks to you all - Barry.)

"Rob said he had a bite and then shortly after more clearly stated ' I’ve got a fish'. Markus reeled in and manned the camera. Randy took the net and dipped it first to improve its netting ability. The fish surfaced and avoided the first netting but was swiftly caught with the second netting attempt. The fish appeared to be about 2 lbs and 19" long .. just about as wide as the smirk on Robs face. It grew in size/weight as the tale was retold around the campfires yet to come."

"Sometimes we took everything in one carry, sometimes we took it in two. Some times it was a "scout-n-carry". Sometimes Nigel scouted in advance, until he could find part of the river that seemed navigable, then he'd declare the portage "over" and start cutting a hole in the undergrowth so we'd have somewhere to put the canoes in."

In his own words ... "I absolutely love Algonquin. Tripping into the interior, "rocks!" as far as I'm concerned. I live & work in Toronto, and when I'm not working, I try to get up to The Park as often as I can. I have a deep respect for places such as Algonquin and it's flora & fauna that dwell there. I'm a firm believer in 'Less is More'. Less Toronto, More Algonquin! Less work, More Paddling! Less material goods, more twig technology.... "   - a true Algonquinite!

April 13th, 2005 . . . . .

James Bonney's Petawawa – Nipissing Loop has just been uploaded. From July 23rd to 26th of last summer, James and his wife Melissa took a canoe-trip from Brent on Cedar Lake .. up the Petawawa River to Catfish and Burntroot Lakes .. then portaged over to the Nipissing River and headed downstream, back to Cedar Lake.

"We hit the water at about 8:00 a.m. to what looked like would be a beautiful day. Last-night's site was really nice. After our fire we'd enjoyed some loons calling which had put us to sleep. Missy was so in love with the site she wanted to forego the rest of our trip and just camp there for a few nights. It took some convincing for her to give up the site."