Arowhan Pines: nature in the raw.

Three days: no Wi-Fi, No TV, no phone access. That’s Algonquin Provincial Park, and in particular, Arowhan Pines Resort. And we haven’t missed them one bit, this place has beauty beyond belief, as well as some of the finest wildlife we have seen anywhere.

It is expensive, and the weather has not been kind to us at all, mostly wet and windy, and today, quite cold, the temperature never rising above 8 degrees, (48F). But we wouldn’t have missed it for anything.

Algonquin Park is in the centre of Ontario, about the size of Wales, with just one highway passing through it. As we approach the park we see a lot of farm buildings made up of log cabins, many over a century old. 

Arowhan Pines is about 5 miles north of the highway, on Little Joe Lake. Started in 1938, it took two

years to build by local woodsmen, with axes and saws, and a team of horses to winch the extraordinary roof and chimney into place.





Much has changed since then with lodges being added and
 renewed, some with twelve bedrooms, others individual and
 all in between. The food is first class, all freshly produced on the premises, with 17 people in the kitchen and a master chef in charge it has to be good

Outside the dining room Humming Birds hover and play, attracted by the sugar water feeders placed there for them. One evening a fox sauntered along the dining room balcony as we ate. Couldn’t get the camera out quickly enough!

But that is only part of it. Geoff, our guide and naturalist, took us out twice on his pontoon boat round the lakes, to show us moose, deer, and beavers in their natural habitat.

 Loons too, a type of duck that spend the summer here, and winter in the Gulf of Mexico. It has a habit of disappearing underwater as we approach; it can swim extremely fast and for long distances, but cannot walk on land. This bird is prehistoric; there are fossils from millions of years ago that show very little change in that time. It is one of very few with solid bones, and because of it’s weight takes a long time to take off from the water. We got up close and personal with a Loon on the nest

A beaver swam past us, just a few feet away. We could see its dam maybe 30 yards away, a pile of bushes and trees holding back the water to contain the beaver lodge, which it enters from under the water. I had wanted to see a beaver ever since I read a book about them as a boy, so it was a dream come true for me.

A moose cow with a calf was on the bank a few yards away from us, there are around four thousand in Algonquin Park, and we have seen four in total, including one on the road in. The males are just starting to grow their antlers ready for the rutting season; in full growth they are quite majestic.

There are canoes and sailing boats available for our use, but because of the weather we were unable to take advantage. I was however able to do one of the walks through the forest, about five Kms on a twisty path, up and down hills, and along the side of lakes. It was lovely, but I kept a stout stick handy in case I came across a black bear in the forest. I was unlucky however, but you never know, we may come across one somewhere on our travels, hopefully while we are in the car!

Tonight we will go to sleep in our snug cabin to the sound of wolf howls outside, another creature which is around us but rarely seen.

Loons on the water: they can swim very fast under water and for long distances.

A male moose with this season's antlers just showing.

The Indian totem pole at the entrance to the park.

Canoes and sailboats were available for our use.

As was the fire in the dining room!

A pair of campers paddle up the lake to the campsite.

Sunset over Little Joe Lake.