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Greetings!
Welcome to spring in Algonquin Park. Many people forget, or perhaps don't even know, about the "shoulder seasons" in Algonquin Park. The best kept secret season is spring. In Algonquin, this means late April through early June. As we mentioned in the last newsletter, on average, lakes are ice-free by late April. This season has been an exception and there were many people canoeing in Algonquin park over the Easter Weekend. I hope those people read my recent blog post about being prepared for a cold water emergency.
The record-shattering early ice-out on Lake Opeongo on March 29, was predicted accurately by Steve Elms, Tony Fardella, Tony DeGroot in our Facebook contest. With the snow gone and the lakes open, spring is advancing quickly this year and water levels are now similar to what you might normally find in mid-May. Bottom line? We need some rain! The woods are very dry and extreme fire danger warnings are popping up all over the region.
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Planning a spring canoe trip? Let's do it?
Gord Baker - Oxtongue Lake
 There are many good reasons to go on a spring canoe trip, as well as a few special considerations to keep in mind. The two or three weeks after ice-out are a wonderful time to go on a canoe trip. Water levels are high (but the water is very cold!), the park is relatively uncrowded, the weather is generally good, spring is in the air, trout fishing is at its peak and, best of all, the black flies are not out yet. Those pesky little critters do not usually emerge until the third week of May and, when they do, look out!O the black fly... If you don't mind the bugs, late May and early June canoe trips offer warm days, cool nights, excellent moose spotting opportunities, good water levels and the chance to have Algonquin Park pretty much to yourself. Visitors from the U.S. should note that the third weekend in May is a holiday weekend in Canada. We'll talk about dealing with bugs in a future newsletter.Speaking of bugs, we are taking the sting out of things a little bit by offering a "Bug Season Discount" on our Superlight and Super Deluxe Complete Outfitting packages. Book a trip starting and ending between May 7 and June 17 2012, and we will give you a 10% discount on regular rates. ( AO Promo Code: 1274980 or tell us you want the "Bug Deal") Please check our website for details on the packages and how to book:For complete outfitting and rental rates just visit us at www.algonquinoutfitters.com
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Gull River Paddling School
 Spring is here and with it comes the opening of our AO Boatwerks Minden location! Located on highway 35 in the sleepy little village of Minden, our store backs on to the beautiful Gull River and is just a stone's throw from the world class section of whitewater known as the Minden Wild Water Preserve.
This store began 14 years ago as a pro-shop for whitewater paddlers and over the years has evolved its retail offering into flatwater kayaks, wakeboards, waterskis, inflatables and surf clothing. Our Minden store also offers a complete selection of rentals of both flatwater and whitewater canoes and kayaks.
A few years back we also expanded into offering paddling instruction. The demand became so great that we opened our very own Paddling School located in the campground adjacent to the Gull River rapids. AO Boatwerks Paddling School offers complete instruction in whitewater and flatwater kayaking. We have a range of clinics for everyone from a complete beginner to an advanced paddler. For those who want a whitewater experience but have little interest in a skills based clinic, we also offer guided whitewater trips down the rapids in our two-persons Sport-Yaks (inflatable sit-on-top kayaks). Sport-Yaks allow for an exciting and safe trip down the river and are a great way to get wet on a hot day!
The Minden store opens April 28th and our Paddling School starts offering instruction in May. www.boatwerks.net / 1-866-KAYAKS-0
Watch WagJag for a deal in the couple of weeks
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Leave No Trace Membership
Algonquin Outfitters has officially became a Leave No Trace partner. This Education program's goal is to promote responsible use of natural areas during recreational outdoor activities. The program also offers simple techniques and principles which help minimize the negative impact produced by an increasing number of users of outdoor recreation areas. As our first action to support Leave No Trace, last month we provided the Algonquin Park Backcountry Recreationalists with a cheque for $500 to support their program. www.abrweb.ca | | $500 Donation to ABR |
Principles of Leave No Trace
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AO Reward Membership
 After 50 years of sharing your adventure we want you to now share some of the rewards too. It's easier than planning for a canoe trip! Just sign up online or at one of our stores. There's nothing to keep track of, no card, no receipts, no funny looking money. It's so easy to just watch those AO Adventure Rewards add up each time you visit one of our stores.
Start collecting AO Reward Dollars today by signing up online or just asking one of our sales associates to sign you up when you visit our store next time. You'll start collecting 5% (cash or debit) to 2% (credit card transactions) every time you purchase or rent anything from any of the Algonquin Outfitters*, AO Swifty's Surf & Snow or AO Boatwerks locations. (* - Excluding Brent)
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Algonquin Photo Contest
Our 13th photo contest opened up back on April 1st. The theme for this contest is "New Arrivals". We're looking for photos that include everything from young wildlife, spring flowers and buds or even kids enjoying Algonquin Park. You can enter photos from any season not just spring, but they should follow the theme as stated above. Submit your best photos (up to 3 photos in one entry) of "New Arrivals" to Algonquin Park.We've got some special prizes available this time around. In addition to the ever popular AO Gift Cards, one of the winners from our previous photo contest who also happens to be one of the owners of AM Photography are providing a Nature Photography workshop in Algonquin Park as a part of our first place prize option. Tilley Endurables also approached us with a request to provide each of our winners with one of their new Tilley Outback Hats to keep the sun and rain off the heads of our photographers.Enter today on our website or Facebook page before the contest closes on June 1st 2012.
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Spin the Lakes Road Ride
The 7th Annual Spin the Lakes Cycle Tour will take place this year on May 27th, 2012. We have partnered up with the Share the Road Coalition and the annual Greg Stobbart Memorial Ride.  The event does go rain or shine. Although the event is supported and vehicles will have pumps, tubes, & some water. We advise that you bring rain gear, pump, tube, patchkit & water bottles. The water stations will not have bottled water but the ability to refill your existing water bottles.
Route Maps: 20K * 50K * 110K * 170K |
Mobile App of the Month
 Last year paddling.net launched a cool new map on their website that they called Launch Sites.
This map allowed people to input their own best places to go paddling anywhere in the world. We were quick to suggest many Algonquin Park locations (we actually entered all the access points for the park and then some).
 Now this great web based tool get's legs with a mobile version that is loaded with over 17,000 entry points for kayaking, canoeing, and stand up paddling.
Browse maps nearby to find the closest places to paddle. Each launch point includes information on paddling opportunities, facilities, safety, fees, as well as photos from other paddlers.
Best of all Launch Sites is completely free.
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A look at Algonquin's Weather (Current Weather)
What is one of the single biggest fears of any outdoor enthusiast? Bad weather. This brings into question what is bad weather? Is bad weather having it so cold that the freshly brewed coffee is skimming over with ice? Maybe bad weather is rain pouring down so hard it penetrates your very soul. I like to think that bad weather is a variable that cannot be changed only viewed as an opportunity to field test your latest gear.How often do you find that for days before your next outdoor pursuit you are constantly refreshing the web page of the local weather forecast? You are hoping for a miraculous change in direction of a low pressure system that is headed towards your adventurous destination. This nuisance capital L in the middle of the weather map is threatening to make your epic trip into a gusty, waterlogged series of optimistic delusions. You start making claims like "The fishing is better in a hard downpour" or "A good strong headwind makes portaging easier". An old Scottish Proverb puts a good spin on weather:"There is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing"
No matter what the weather is like, good or bad, you are doing what you love and that will overcome any adverse conditions.
"Check out the Gore-tex deal below to help you stay dry"
Jeremy Bessey - @Jeremygearhead
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 | | View our event calendar |
April & May 2012 Events
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$25 off any Gore-tex Jacket + $25 off any WP Pant
Buy any in stock Gore-tex Jacket, by great brands like:
Marmot * The North Face * Arcteryx and save $25 off the current price. Plus if you also buy any waterproof pant to go along with your new Gortex Jacket, we'll save you an additional $25 $25 + $25 = $50 off AO SKU 1274979 * Present this coupon * Offer Expires: Tues May 15th 2012
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50th Anniversary "Live Your Adventure" Contest
Our $10,000+, Live Your Adventure contest is coming to a close soon. We'll be drawing our winners on Sun May 20th 2012. So as loyal followers we'd like to offer you one more special chance to enter just for reading our Newsletter. Just visit our website by clicking the link below and enter the following code
"APR50NL"
| Offer Valid: until May 19 '12 * Register to win at www.algonquinoutfitters.com/lyacontest
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