Day 4: 13 May 2017, Saturday
This morning, we had a relaxed breakfast in our apartment before checking out at around 10am. I had enjoyed staying at the lovely Airbnb apartment for the past two nights but it was time to move on to our next destination – Algonquin Provincial Park. Located some 267km away from Toronto, the drive would take around 3 hours.
What was especially exciting was that KP would be meeting us there and spending two nights with us. He would be driving all the way from Montreal to Algonquin and it would be a 6-hour drive for him, so I really appreciated that he was making the long journey to meet us.
The drive to Algonquin was very pleasant. The GPS on my Google Maps worked fine and the road conditions were very good. There weren’t many cars headed to Algonquin so it was a stress-free drive and I was able to enjoy the scenery along the way. At about 11:20am, we stopped at a gas station for a toilet break and an early lunch.
It was about 12:45pm when we arrived at our destination, Wolf Den Hostel & Nature Retreat. It is actually located at the fringe of Algonquin Provincial Park and not within the park boundaries. It is located at the Algonquin Highlands, in the community of Oxtongue Lake, just 9km outside the West Gate of the park, so it’s still very near. Our timing was perfect as KP’s car pulled up beside ours literally one minute after we parked. We had targeted to reach by 1pm and we had both arrived early.
Wolf Den Hostel & Nature Retreat
Address: 4568 Highway 60, Oxtongue Lake, Ontario, P0A 1 H0
Tel: (705) 635-9336
Website: http://wolfdenbunkhouse.com/
Booked: Black-Capped Chickadee Cabin
Price: CAD$418.10 (S$432.73) for 2 nights, 4 persons, inclusive of 13% HST
I had booked a nice wooden cabin called Black-Capped Chickadee and I was very much looking forward to the stay here. When the owner, Jacques, showed us the cabin, we all fell in love with it immediately. It was a standalone cabin with one bedroom and a sofa bed in the living room but it was big enough to accommodate the four of us. It was very clean and nicely furnished, and very cosy. As it was a log cabin, practically everything was made of wood, except for the bathroom, which was tiled.
One thing to note is that there is no Wi-Fi here. The idea is to disconnect from technology and enjoy the natural surroundings and each other’s company during your stay. According to Wolf Den’s website, the owners Jen and Jacques were inspired by a researcher called Richard Louv. He coined the term “nature deficit”, which describes humankind’s growing disconnection from the natural world. This disconnect produces a negative impact on the well-being of both the earth and humans as individuals and societies. Hence, with Wolf Den, Jen and Jacques’ mission is to provide affordable accommodation that promotes both community and a connection with nature.
I would say that the price of the cabin is very affordable indeed – only S$433 for two nights, which works out to around S$54 per person per night. Compared to the other accommodation options in and around Algonquin Provincial Park, Wolf Den was the cheapest I could find. Price aside, the cabin was really lovely and very good value for money! I could really envision living here and leading a quiet and peaceful life. I would go for morning and evening walks every day, to reconnect with nature and make up for the nature deficit.
After settling down our stuff, we headed out at about 1:50pm for some canoeing. We drove to a place called Algonquin Outfitters, less than 2km away and just 2 minutes by car. It is an outdoor adventure store selling gear as well as providing rental of canoes, stand up paddles, skis, bicycles and more.
We rented a 3-seat canoe for CAD$39.53 (S$40.91, inclusive of taxes), which included safety vests and paddles. The canoe could fit the four of us but there were only three seats so we had to improvise by getting dad to sit on a stack of life vests to prop him up. It was a day rental so we could canoe for as long as we wanted, until closing time. Had we gone earlier, we could have canoed for a much longer period of time.
It was mum and dad’s first time canoeing and mum was a little worried initially because she can’t swim. However, she gamely went ahead, after she saw how calm the lake was. The canoe was also very big and sturdy so it was very safe. Anyway, it was meant to be a leisurely activity so we just took it slow.
As we canoed around Oxtongue Lake, we were surrounded by beautiful trees on both sides. The water was very still and it cast a mirror-like reflection of the clouds and sky above. It was very calm and relaxing. The scenery was beautiful and the canoeing experience itself was magical. We canoed only for about 1 hour 15 minutes because we saw that dark clouds had gathered overhead. Here are the pictures of Oxtongue Lake I took while canoeing. Pardon the deluge because all of them are so pretty I simply cannot leave them out!
We returned our canoe at 3:30pm, and not a moment too soon, because right after we stepped back into the store, it began to pour heavily. The rain was unusually loud. Upon closer inspection, we saw that it was raining hailstones! They weren’t large, just like tiny specks of white sand, but visible on the ground when we looked out of the shop window. As such, we sought refuge from the shop for a while until the rain got lighter.
We then went back to our cabin for a rest before heading out again at 5:10pm for a short hike. It was still drizzling but we put on our jackets and headed out anyway. From Wolf Den, we walked for 1km to the starting point of the trail to Ragged Falls. Due to the heavy rain earlier, the path had become very muddy but that did not deter us.
After hiking for less than 10 minutes, we heard the growing roar of Oxtongue River and soon enough, we spotted Ragged Falls. From our vantage point, we could see that the falls were very fast flowing and powerful. We continued hiking upstream until we had a nice view of the rapids. After taking some photos, we made a U-turn back to our cabin. Today’s short hike was just a precursor to the longer hike tomorrow, just to get a taste of the conditions and the scenery here at Algonquin.
The other thing about Wolf Den is that there is no food provided onsite, so you will have to prepare your own meals. KP had brought along his rice cooker and some ingredients from Montreal, but we needed more food, so we drove out to the nearest grocery store to buy some chicken and eggs.
As KP was the most experienced cook among us, he took on the role of master chef while mum and I helped out. The resulting meal of porridge (we didn’t have rice because KP’s rice cooker was spoilt and could only cook porridge), broccoli, chicken and egg was simple but so satisfying! Cooking our own meal added to the fun of staying in a cabin and made the experience much more memorable. Thanks KP for cooking for us. That was the best dinner during the trip!
At 9pm, the sky started to turn dark for real. Once the sun went down, it was pitch dark outside, as we were in a forest and there was minimal light pollution around, save for the lights from the other cabins, which were located quite far away from us. The temperature dropped to around 8 degrees Celsius so we just stayed indoors and enjoyed a cosy night tucked under the thick blankets. End of Day 4, and what a beautiful day it had been!