Last year, we camped at Pog Lake. It was an interesting experience, introducing Algonquin, and camping in general, to my cousin and his kids. This year, with his boys being a bit older, things were a bit easier. Last year the youngest was 4, and hated pretty much every minute of the trip. This year, he told us he didn't want to leave. Progress!
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| Along Bat Lake Trail |
We'd planned to arrive early, but didn't even leave the house until after 2pm. We always think it's easier to take the Boler, because it's so much easier to pack and get organized but for some reason we just couldn't get it together as quickly as we'd hoped. Still, it was a beautiful day, and we arrived at around 4:30pm. We weren't sure we were going to make it at all, to be honest. We arrived in Minden and planned to top up the gas tank so we wouldn't have to worry the whole weekend about running into Whitney. But the gas gauge started acting up. It would bounce from full to below empty, to half and back to full within 10 minutes. So when we stopped in Minden, Chris topped it up and even though the gauge read at 1/4 of a tank, he only managed to put $10 into it before the pump clicked off. For filling from 1/4 of a tank in that car, he should have been able to get $40 into it.
So the drive was a little nerve wracking, a little humorous, and filled with dog slobber and singing. All in all, not that different than normal. Our longer trips towing the Boler have always been fraught with car issues. Last year on this family trip our transmission lines were spraying fluid as we drove. A trip to Grundy Lake ended with us in Gravenhurst, waiting for my parents to come take the Boler because the trailer hitch had ripped off one side of the car frame. Then on their way home, one of the tires on the Boler blew and they were stranded on the road until we got there. It was the most expensive camping trip we never got to take.
But back to this trip. Since we'd planned to get there early, I'd brought Veggie burgers for lunch, but we ended up eating them as dinner. They were surprisingly good. Then it was off to the beach for a swim so the kids could wash the dog slobber off. I took Biscuit to the Dog beach and he hated it. There were lots of little rocks in the first few feet of water, which was as far as I could go, and he kept dragging me over them so I couldn't pick the best/less painful spots to step.
We had a relaxing evening around the fire and went to bed early, still tired from our trip to Kingscote where none of us really slept well.
The next morning, we had bagels and decided to go for a hike. I wanted to do Bat Lake since it was close by and we'd never done it before. It was supposed to be hot, and the kids really didn't want to go. I was starting to question the idea myself because by the time we got cleaned up, it was 11am and getting quite hot, and storms were expected to start mid afternoon. Chris thought we should give it a go, even if we only made it part way through and came back.
The hike ended up being one of our favourites. There are so many beautiful rocky creeks and cliffs, a nice lookout and we even saw a bear! We were at post #10, and the kids were on the dock that goes out onto Bat Lake and I kept hearing something large breaking branches nearby. Hoping it was a moose, I kept watching, and told Chris. He went back up the trail a little hoping he could see it, and as he did, I saw a bear disappear behind a snapped off tree trunk. A little unnerved but very excited, we moved on. A family reached post 11 as we did and we warned them. The mother was very excited and claimed they had food and would try and feed it. I was too shocked to comment, because I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to actually try and feed a bear...half way through a 5.8km hike where help would be pretty damn far off. As we never heard any stories of a family getting attacked, I guess she was either kidding or they never saw the bear.After the hike, we went to the Visitor's centre for ice cream treats. We could have just gone to the Two Rivers store but it had been packed at the ice cream counter every time I'd been there, and I figured we could get the kids their patches for the Bat Lake Trail while we were out.
When we got back to camp, we went for a swim. The sky was looking a bit dark, and we were thankful we'd put up a tarp before we left for the hike. The hike took about 2 hours, and though we stopped at the look out for snacks (I discovered a new love of fig bars, especially the apricot peach ones they sold at the Two Rivers Store) we were all very hungry. It poured rain for about 30 seconds, while the kids were swimming. Then Chris came back to the car to stay with Biscuit while I went for a quick dunk to rinse the sweat off. Once back at camp I made up some spaghetti while Chris and Squatch played catch, then we relaxed until everyone else arrived.
Since the rest of our group all had to work friday, we weren't sure if they'd arrive before dark, but everyone managed to get out early, and they got to their site at around 6. They had planned to stop at the Halls Lake chip truck for dinner on the way up, but it had been closed, so after they got the tent trailer set up, and we set up Ian's tent, Mum and Stacey went over to get food from the cafe, while I took the kids to get ice cream.
We had a nice fire that night, and while Ian's kids were a little riled up we had a nice time catching up. Much beer was drank, much more than usual, for some people.
The next morning, after a bit of a late start, we piled into our vehicles and headed to Mew Lake to go to the water fall. Chris and I planned to paddle there later in the day while everyone else swam and paddle boarded...is that the right term? Anyway, we got to the parking area and there was a sign saying the trail was closed due to bear activity. Disappointed, we decided to do the Logging Museum Trail. As I'm writing this, I haven't posted the log for last years trip, but one of the problems we had last year was that Ian's youngest didn't like anything we did. Other than throwing pine cones in the fire. He hated the hike we did last year and complained most of the time. I was a little concerned we would have a repeat of that, but he LOVED it. He ran ahead, excited over every display. They were climbing on the alligator, upset about the graffiti written inside. We were trying to tell them that people were just stupid when the oldest one comes out and says "It says suck big c*^& in there!" Why people feel the need to graffiti things in what is basically a museum display, is beyond me.
After the hike, Chris and I went into Whitney to top up on gas (just in case) then met up with Mum and Dad at the Visitor's centre. Lunch was going to be nachos, but Dad can't eat them so Mum grabbed him a burger to take back to camp.
After lunch we headed to the beach. Mum had her kayak, the kids had paddle boards, and Chris and I had our canoe. Our efforts to find the entrance to the Madawaska were a little awkward. At one point we paddled into both the little openings on each side of it but couldn't find the right one. Then we back tracked and played around in the creek that goes along side the campground but it was narrow and Biscuit kept jumping out of the canoe.
Finally we found the right entrance, and headed upstream to the waterfall where the backpacking trail crosses the river. It seemed to take forever, and I was sure everyone was going to be worried but in actuality, we'd only been gone 2 hours. We didn't see any bear, just bikers crossing the bridge on the Rail Trail.
Our return to the beach resulted in us putting on a bit of a comedy act for some bathers. Because the water is only a few inches deep for several feet out, we stopped a few meters from shore and Chris hopped out, planning to take Biscuit to the car while I carried the gear and he came back for the canoe. Even though there was literally an inch and a half of water, Biscuit wouldn't get out! He kept scrambling from spot to spot, looking for a better place to jump to shore, tangling the leash around my legs (one of which was still in the canoe) and nearly sending me face first into the water. Finally, Chris had to drag the canoe right up to shore (with me still hopping along with one foot in the canoe) so Biscuit didn't have to get his feet wet. And here we had been commenting on the canoeing skills of the people nearby, nearly tipping their boats and zigzagging all over the place. I'm sure we looked ridiculous.
Needless to say, nobody was worried about us. We got back and Ian had taken his eldest and Squatch to hike the Two River's Trail. Mum and I drove over to the parking lot to give them a ride back, figuring we'd have ten minutes or so to wait and that the kids at least would be tired. We barely had the truck turned off when they emerged out of the trail! How's that for timing?
While we had been paddling, the kids had a good time swimming and playing on their paddle boards, though they had some issues with people in canoes running into them. While Ian's oldest was trying it out, a couple in a canoe yelled at him to get out of their way. Squatch was close by to help him out if necessary, and he yelled at the people that he was only a kid. With so many people trying out canoeing in these areas, it's very easy to find yourself in a conflict. Chris and I just went slow, let other people go a head rather than expect them to be able to steer. While I love that so many people are out trying it out, it does make for a rather awkward time.
Back at camp, the youngest of the group was back to "helping with the fire" which translates to poking the sand in the fire pit with a stick and essentially putting the fire out. He was told several times to stop, and I guess my dad teased him about it, and the little guy picked up his chair, threw it, then kicked it and went into the tent. He was back a few minutes later poking at the fire.
Dinner that night was hotdogs and burgers for the rest of the group while Chris and I threw together a quick foil dinner of canned potatoes, black beans, corn, salsa and taco seasoning...it turned out really well but was a heck of a lot more food than we needed.
We spent another night sitting around, relaxing around the fire. It began to rain at around 9, so we moved under the awning of Mum and Dad's trailer. By this time all the kids had gone to bed
Packing up in the morning was pretty quick, even though we were in no rush. Mum and Dad had to work though, and with the problem the car was giving us, we figured it would be best to leave with them so if we had any issues, help wouldn't be too far away. Plus the kids could ride with them where there was far less dog slobber.
What makes me sad is I didn't realize until the last morning that I'd hardly taken any pictures. Each day was pretty much spent cooking, then trying to clean up so we could go do an activity...then repeat. I didn't even take a picture on our little paddle.
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