In October 2018 I joined the Pine Ridge Hiking Club in attempting the Frontenac Challenge –  all 11 of the park trails, about 120 km, during the fall.

FRONTENAC CHALLENGE IN FIVE DAYS

Monday 15th Park in Arab Lake lot
Cedar Lake Loop (Clockwise)             11kms
Arkon Lake Loop (Anticlockwise)     14 kms
Move car to main Park Office lot
Doe Lake Loop (Anticlockwise)           3.kms
Arab Lake Gorge Loop (Anticlockwise)                  1.5 kms

TOTAL: 30 kms, 9 hours

Tuesday 16th Park at Big Salmon lot
Slide Lake Loop 8.5hrs  Clockwise)              25km

TOTAL  25km 8.5hrs

Wednesday 17th Park at the free Kingsford Dam lot at north of park. Head south over a small hill starting the Tetsmine  LAake Loop trail. At a triple trail junction between Tetsmine and Hemlock Lakes,take the  Hemlock Trail until it meets Gibson Lake Loop at the triple junction. Do the Gibson Lake loop, then complete the Tetsmine Lake Loop.

Hemlock Lake Loop  Clockwise)         5 km
Gibson Lake Loop  Clockwise)            9 km
Tetsmine Loop  (Clockwise)               10 km

TOTAL 24 km, 8 hrs

Thursday 18th Park at Big Salmon lot

Little Salmon Lake Loop  (Clockwise)       10 km
Little Clear Lake Loop  (Clockwise)          7 km

TOTAL 17 kms, 6 hrs

Friday 19th Park at Big Salmon lot
Big Salmon Lake loop  (Clockwise)                17 km

TOTAL  17kms, 5 1/2 hrs
Time is based on 5-minute break every hour before lunch, 20 min for lunch and 10 mins break every hour after lunch, average hiking speed about 3.5km/hr.
To prove you have completed all the trails, you need to register at the park office and get a sign-up sheet. You will also need a parking pass for days 1, 2, 4 and 5. Each trail has a sign you have to find, and note what is written on it. In 2018 each one marked had the name a native bird on it. It is not a treasure hunt: The signs are large, at eye level, and immediately beside the trail. If you are not always looking at your feet, you will find them easily. Its worth remembering that the trail signs will only be on trail sections which are not shared between trails. Most of them are roughly half way around the unique part of the trail.

I met up with the other hikers in Cobourg on Sunday afternoon and we car-pooled to Snug Harbour Resort, just outside the park, where we had booked a housekeeping cottage.

We got the woodburning stove working, ate my Birthday cake, drank a beer and made our plans.

The first day we were going to do four trails even though it was raining all day, then the next day we would do the monster Slide Lake Trail. The next three days would be easier, and on Friday we would pack up and head home after the day’s hiking.

The first day was cool and grey, with a gentle drizzle. The hiking was on moderately level ground, but with an uneven surface. From time to time there were descents to stream beds, which were crossed on good wooden bridges, then ascents on the other side. It was mostly through woods, with not much in the way of views. To be honest, it was a long day of trudging with few rewards except seeing our first four markers to prove we had completed the trails, It was a relief to move the car, leave our packs off, and do the last two trails unencumbered. The boardwalk in the gorge trail made a pleasant change of conditions.

We headed back to the cabin for our evening rituals. The cook of the day put out some nibbles, we opened some beers, and we took turns having a shower and freshening up for dinner. I was so tired I could not drink my beer until after I had had a nap and a shower. Most nights that dinner was a pre-cooked hearty stew, followed by a pie of some sort. Fortunately, we had a big fridge freezer and we were so organized we never needed to go shopping. The only mistake was that some people brought salads, which did not look great 3 or 4 days later. After dinner we got out the maps and went over the route for the next day, in this case the long and challenging 25-km Slide Lake Loop, and checked the weather. A few more drinks by the wood-burning stove and off to bed.

We were blessed with much better weather for the rest of the week, dry and bright every day, but with frosts in the morning. I had twisted my ankle a bit on the first hike, but not so badly that I could not hike all the rest of the first day. Thirty minutes into the second day it was hurting and my leg was stiff. I was not sure I could do the whole loop, but once you start there is no short-cut loop back, you have to go back the way you came or all the way round the lake. Another hiker had some of that blue kinesiology tape you sometimes see athletes working. I strapped up my ankle with it and decided to press on for a while.

The sunshine improved everyone’s mood. The hike was more to my liking, with some rocky outcrops with distant views. I pressed on, my leg felt less stiff and my ankle got better. I made it back to the parking lot, having, conquered the infamous Slide Lake.

The third day we did something a bit different, heading to the Kingsford Dam parking lot and doing three interlinked trails in north of the park. The planning was a little complicated as we started on the Hemlock Trail, did a detour around the Gibson Lake trail, returning to a triple trail junction and heading back to the parking lot to pick up the Tetsmine trail. This took us past the fen, and back to out tripe point, where we finally regained and completed the Hemlock Trail.

The next day we returned to the Salmon Lake parking lot. It was cold and bright, with a little ice on the lakes, as we knocked off Little Cedar and Little Salmon trails The return route took us past an abandoned gear wheel, and later past “Thor” and abandoned truck.

The last day was one fairly simple trail around Big Salmon. We filled out all our paperwork and proudly handed in our completed Challenge form to park headquarters before taking a group photo and heading home.

Sadly, one of the trip leaders developed a painful knee and had to head home halfway through the week. All three of the challenge contenders, plus one of the trip leaders, successfully completed the challenge. One hiker just did some of the shorter and intermediate trails, and one joined the challenge group after the first two long days and will be trying the whole challenge next year.

SUPPLEMENT: 2019

We returned to the same site with a group of nine. Five completed the challenge. I took four people on shorter hikes.

Day1: Arkon Lake with Bufflehead Trail shortcut in great sunny weather

Day 2: Little Salmon Lake (in the rain)

Day 3: The short Doe and Gorge trails, Cedar Lake with Dedication shortcut

Day 4: The Hemlock and Tetsmine Lake trails.

Day 5: Big Salmon with a CLittle Cedar Lake detour (as one of hte Frontenac challengers had decided not to do that loop on the rainy day).

Another great week of hiking for a total cost of about $300!

SUPPLEMENT 2023

This year, I returned to Frontenac to do the Challenge, but in six days rather than in five.

SIX DAY FRONTENAC CHALLENGE 2023

Date	Travel	Hikes	Distances
Mon 16th	Drive 18okm, 2 hr Stay at Snug Harbour Check-in at Park use their parking lot for the first two hikes. Move to arab Lake Parking for Arkon.	Arab Lake1.5 Doe Lake 3 Arkon Loop 11	15.5
Tue 17th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salomon Lake Lot	Slide Lake (if weather good)	24.7
Wed 18th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salomon Lake Lot	Little Salmon and Little Clear	16.4
Thu 19th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park Kingsford Dam	Gibson, Tetsmine & Hemlock	23.4
Fri 20th	Stay at Snug Harbour Park at Salmon Lake Lot	Big Salmon	17.6
Sat 21st	Park at Arab Lake lot Drive 18okm, 2 hr	Cedar Lake	14.6
TOTAL			112.2

NOTE: Trail distances include walk-in from the nearest parking lot

Logic: Do the two shortest hikes on travel days. Alternate long and medium days.

Get Slide Lake done on first chance if weather good

Do the Gibson, Tetsmine & Hemlock in roughly the middle of trip as they are a bit different.

Notes:

Slide Lake

All Trails lists shows two parking lots at the end of Salmon Lake Road. This is incorrect. The location nearest the water is a boat launch area only.

The turn south from Big Salmon Lake is easy to miss, as a false trail continues along the lake shore.

Do the loop clockwise as the section near Slide Lake is hard and slow with some scrambling. We started hiking at 8:15 and did not get tot he viewpoint over the two small islands in Slide Lake until 1:30. We only just completed the loop in daylight, taking 10 hours. Note that several of us are in our 60s and that 5 years ago we did it in 8.5 hours.

Little Salmon/LittleClear Lake

We did this as a figure of eight, beginning clockwise around Little Salmon then anticlockwise around Little Clear.

We stopped for lunch at campsite 9a, which was vacant. We appreciated the picnic table and washroom!

Going west along the 0.4 km section at the top of Little Clear the signposts are unclear and it is easy to miss the path south back down to Little Salmon.

Total tine six hours.