Clarification (October 15th): Should anyone send multiple entries in the same 'geographic category', the entry with the earlier email date will be considered to be their entry in that category.

Full contact information must accompany each entry, including name, mailing address, phone number, email address. Only the names and regional locations will be disclosed to the public.

Cut-off date for entries will be December 1st and winners will be announced by March 1st, 2016. Entries should be submitted to canoe@algonquinadventures.com . Entries will be acknowledged as they are received, by category and name, at the bottom of this page.

The five (5) geographic categories are comprised of trips originating at a number of specific Access Points and associated 'sub-points'. Each of these "Zones" will have a First Prize of a $100 Algonquin Outfitters Gift Card .. courtesy of Algonquin Outfitters .. and a Second Prize of a $50 Algonquin Outfitters Gift Card .. courtesy of AlgonquinAdventures.com.

Text Component Requirements

A mock-up example can be downloaded .. TextLayout.pdf .. showing the required text layout.

Actual submissions should be made in .doc, .docx, rtf, or .odt format with text in size 12 Arial font and emboldened titles and “Day #'s”, etc.

Submissions should be between 1000 and 2000 words in length, and contain between 10 and 20 photos. Any reference to extra components, such as links to videos or photo-galleries, may be included toward a possible later inclusion in the website's Trip-log Inventory. However, such extra items will not be involved in the contest's judging process.

Clarification (September 11th): Individual photo file names and their accompanying captions should be included at their specific locations within the text file, as per the illustration below.

Trip-log photo files should be in JPG format, with their longest dimension at 1280 pixels, with sufficient compression to result in individual file sizes of under 400 KB, and with the same file names as referenced in the text file.

An example of the photo-preparation software that can be used is PhotoShop Elements. In it's resizing function,, one can specify “Bicubic Sharper – best for reductions”, 1280x960 pixels, and then resave the files at a mid-range qualitiy, in standard JPG format.

By using this type of process, one can reduce a 3.72 MB original camera JPG file (4320x3240 pixels) down to around 360 KB (1280x960 pixels) .. by resaving it at quality “8/12””.

Likewise, the same process can reduce an 8.94 MB original camera JPG file (4592x3448 pixels) down to around 380 KB (1280x960 pixels) .. by resaving it at quality “7/12”.

Note: A single map image of the trip's route is optional and not considered to be a photo.

Clarification (September 11th): Photo files should not be modified into graphic files. This means that enhancements such as borders, shading, watermarks or captions are not acceptable, as per the illustration below.

Clarification (October 16th): Another program suitable for the down-sizing of photographic JPG files is "Fotosizer", which can be downloaded free at www.fotosizer.com .

The text component will be judged on its literary merits .. the quality of the narration and the quality of its 'presentation' (its readability and grammar) .. towards a possible total of 50 points.

The photo component's images will be judged just as they are submitted .. also towards a possible total of 50 points.

In addition, up to an extra 20 points may be assigned in acknowledgement of exceptional exploratory initiatives, or of backcountry skills and/or ethics documented in the trip-log.

Lastly, the promotion, description or photography of unethical or illegal practices documented in the trip-log will be judged negatively .. towards a possible total of minus 20 points.

Individual details or point-scoring of the submissions' judging will be recorded, but will not be publicly disclosed.

Text and photos will be judged side-be-side on a monitor, as illustrated here ....

Once the first place winner for a category zone is determined, any other submissions by that winner will be eliminated from judging in the other category zones. A similar elimination process will then be applied to the second place winners. Doing this will ensure that 10 different participants win prizes.

A participant who has an otherwise first or second place submission eliminated in this manner, will be given an Honorary Mention for that eliminated submission. This elimination process will proceed sequentially through the category zones from 1 to 5 and from 1 to 5 again.

After the winning entries are finally selected, they'll be put through automated HTML coding, with black text on white backgrounds. Individual photos' will be HTML-embedded, in standardized pixel dimensions and without any enhancements. These winning “standardized renditions” will then be featured on the Algonquin Adventures website as part of the winners' announcement.

Through the course of the year (leading up to the final judging), a short-list of the leading submissions will be maintained. Those submissions not in the short list for final judging may be published in the website's Trip-log Inventory prior to the final judging.

Before submissions are eventually added to the AA website's Trip-log Inventory, they will have any literary and ethical editing done, photo enhancements performed and be provided with accent and background images.

The ten winning trip-logs (in edited and enhanced form) will also eventually be included in the Algonquin Adventures website's Trip-log Inventory. They may also be included in the Algonquin Outfitters' website.

Beyond the winning trip-logs website announcements, their inclusion in the Algonquin Adventures Trip-log Inventory, and their Algonquin Outfitters website use .. the trip-log entries remain the copyrighted property of their original author/photographers.

The owner of the Algonquin Adventures website (Barry Bridgeford), its forum moderators and their family members .. plus advertisers on Algonquin Adventures, their employees and their family members .. are prohibited from participating in the contest.

Category 1 – WEST ZONE - 1 Kawawaymog Lake, 2 Tim River, 3 Magnetawan Lake, 4 Rain Lake, 29 Kioshkokwi Lake (Kiosk)

By Shawn O'Reilly, out of Tim River, May 2015, (rec'd: July 14th, 2015).

By Wanda Spruyt, out of Tim River, September 2015, (rec'd: Sept. 23rd, 2015).

By Cathy Quigg, out of Kioshkokwi Lake (Kiosk), September 2015, (rec'd: November 25th, 2015).

By Dan Minkin, out of Kioshkokwi Lake (Kiosk), May 2015, (rec'd: December 1st, 2015).

Category 2 – NORTH ZONE - 23 Lake Lake Travers, 24 Bissett Creek Road, 25 Wendigo Lake, 26 North River, 27 Cedar Lake (Brent), 28 Brain Lake

By Cathy Quigg, out of Cedar Lake (Brent), June 2015, (rec'd: November 24th, 2015).

By Brandon Peek, out of Cedar Lake (Brent), July 2015, (rec'd: November 30th, 2015).

Category 3 – EAST ZONE - 17 Shall Lake, 18 Aylen Lake, 19 Basin Lake, 20 Mallard Lake (Sec), 21 McManus Lake, 22 Grand Lake (Achray)

By Craig White, out of Sec Lake, August 2015, (rec'd: October 29th, 2015).

By Cathy Quigg, out of Grand Lake (Achray), May 2015, (rec'd: November 24th, 2015).

By Brandon Peek, out of Grand Lake (Achray), May 2015, (rec'd: November 30th, 2015).

Category 4 – SOUTH ZONE - 13 Galeairy Lake (Whitney), 14 Hollow River – Dividing Lake, 15 Kingscote Lake, 16 Haye Lake

By Marko Mrkobrada, out of Dividing Lake, September 2015, (rec'd: November 23rd, 2015).

By Brian Clarke, out of Galeairy Lake (Whitney), Summer 2015, (rec'd: November 30th, 2015).

Category 5 – MIDDLE ZONE - 5 Canoe Lake, 6 Smoke Lake, 7 Source Lake, 8 Cache Lake, 9 Rock Lake, 10 Sunday Creek (+ Sunday L.), 11 Opeongo Lake, 12 Pinetree Lake

By Cobi Erin Sharpe, out of Opeongo Lake, June 2015, (rec'd July 14th, 2015).

By Cam Penman, out of Opeongo Lake - August 2015, (rec'd August 20th, 2015).

By Gordon Gair and Aislynn Shanahan, out of Rock Lake - July 2015, (rec'd November 23rd, 2015).

By Ralph Neelands, out of Canoe Lake - June 2015, (rec'd November 29th, 2015).

By Dan Minkin, out of Smoke Lake - August 2015, (rec'd December 1st, 2015).