Hiking at the Wolf Den (weekend trip) (3/1/2013)

The agenda will go:

• Friday evening: carpool to and arrive at the Wolf Den. Dinner on route or upon arrival (driver's discretion)
• Saturday morning: Breakfast, then head out for our hike to a close by trail.
• Saturday afternoon: relax at the Den, have a sauna, or take a short hike out to the falls (gorgeous in the winter!)
• Saturday evening: pot luck dinner. Clean up. Relax in the loft with a book or a board game.
• Sunday AM: Breakfast, clean up, pack up, and out by noon.

The trail is close by, although challenging enough that we will drive there and park at the trail head. It's a 5 km trail, but then to return to the cars, it's another 1 km on roads. There are some ups and downs, so in the winter it's going to take a bit longer than the same distance would in the summer. On the plus side, there are no mosquitoes! :) We may even search for a geocache near the end of the hike!

Pot Luck Dinner

Since there will only around 10 of us, I will want to find out what you're planning to bring before we go up, so that I can coordinate and make sure we don't sit down to a dinner of cookies, brownies, and s'mores! (OK, that wouldn't be that bad!)
Of course, I also want to make sure that allergies are accounted for, so please mention these in the notes when you sign up.

Wolf Den:

The Wolf Den is a hostel only 10 km from the West Gate of Algonquin Provincial Park. It's a very friendly, warm and inviting place, as anyone who's been there can attest to. We have 5 rooms booked in the main lodge. Rooms have either single or double beds, and that means you'll most likely be sharing a room. (Please note that we won't be the only guests at the Wolf Den for this trip). We have two rooms with double beds, so if you are coming as a couple, please let me know so that I can put one of those aside for you. If there are no couples coming, and you want your own room, you could pay a little extra and have a double room for yourself.

Amenities:

The Wolf Den provides:

• Fridge to store perishables (no freezer)
• Towels
• Linens pillows, beds (no need to bring sleeping bag)
• Full kitchen (stove / oven / microwave / all dishes, pots, pans)
• Bathrooms and showers (hostel-style on the main floor)
• Sauna
• Loft with comfy couches, fireplace to read, chat, play board games

Other Things To Do

There are certainly other things to do up there if you're inclined to make the most of the weekend. There are x-country ski rentals or snowshoe rentals at the Algonquin Outfitters very close by, or of course, bring your own. IF you do go out, though, you must go in a group of at least three people (for safety reasons). Here are some things you could do if there are enough people also interested:

• X-country skiing at the trails behind Algonquin outfitters.
• Snowshoeing (or just hiking) at various day hiking trails in Algonquin park.
• Skating at Mew Lake skating rink. (no rentals, so you'd need to bring your own)
• Bird watching at the Wolf Den (lots of blackcap chickadees and pine grosbeaks)
• Animal tracking. Especially fun in the winter if there's a relatively fresh snow fall!)

photo credit: Stacy