Trip Log: Algonquin Park: Tanamakoon, August 24-25, 2015

Sometimes I hate the thought of going camping.  I may have mentioned many times, Chris and I are really horrible at planning a trip.  We sort of decided on the weekend we wanted to go camping, just us and the dog, on his days off (Monday and Tuesday.)  We both worked 12 hour days all weekend long and had no opportunity to pack, figure out food, look for gear that had gone missing, or even pick a destination.

After a quick sort through of our gear, which we piled it in the driveway so we could go over it before it all got stuffed into the backpacks, we loaded up, made a quick stop at McDonalds for packets of maple syrup and at work for a few creamers and sugar packets, then headed north.

About halfway to Algonquin (that being as definitive a destination as we had come up with) we decided not to do any portaging since it would be around 4 when we got there and we were both pretty tired from the weekend.  Tanamakoon seemed like an easy option.  No portages, a short paddle and technically, we weren't staying on an access lake, so it didn't feel quite so lame.

While looking at Jeff's Map, I saw a little permit symbol on Canisbay's office, so since it was closest, we went there to get our permit.  Turned out they only issue permits for backcountry if you are doing a paddle in site on Canisbay Lake.  We turned back West and got our permit at Canoe Lake.  The lady who helped us told us it was a bad year for bears so to be extra vigilant with our campsite cleanliness.  Since I'm terrified of bears, I am always very vigilant.  Now I was just even more scared than usual.

My paranoia was made worse by the fact we'd been in such a rush to get up north, we'd skipped having showers.  As we work in a restaurant, I had this horrible fear we'd smell like a feast of rotisserie chicken and french fries, drawing every bear within five kilometres to our site.

We launched from Cache Lake at just after 4pm after wrangling Biscuit into his spot in the canoe.  Usually he sits behind the yoke near Chris, but this time we put all the gear there and gave him the space behind me.  It worked out pretty well.  He attacked the waves through the whole paddle but at least he wasn't leaping around as much.  With more room, he didn't have to spring jump to move so it was far less tippy than with a more loaded canoe.  Though he did pounce at Chris and almost knocked him out of the back of the boat, and he growled at people we passed.

I really like Cache Lake.  It's a really pretty lake with lots of pine covered islands and some cute old cabins.  We really like paddling around lakes looking at cottages, pointing out features we'd like when we get a cottage of our own.

The wind was in our face but the waves were minimal and of no concern.  We made good time and emerged from the river connecting Cache to Tanamakoon at just after 5pm.  The island site straight out from the river was taken, and the people looked to have beaten us there by mere minutes as they were just wandering around planning where to set up their tents.  We opted to turn right and paddled to the site that looks like another Island on Jeff's Map.  In actuality, it's 3/4 surrounded by water, and the remaining bit is backed by marsh.  Either way, it was good enough for us to let Biscuit run wild without  worry he'd take off.  He's never done so on a trip before, but better safe than sorry.  With a high energy dog like a Blue Heeler, you want to let them run a lot before letting them into a tent…unless you don't care about having your tent ruined.

dark clouds moving in over Tanamakoon

The site itself faced south, and the wind was gusting from that direction which made setting up the tent a frustrating ordeal but we managed (once we got the dog off it) and rigged up a tarp as a windbreak.  It wasn't 100% effective but it helped.  That done, we got started on dinner.  And I noticed the first thing I'd forgotten to bring, the instructions for the meal I'd packaged about a month ago.  Dried vegetables with stuffing and Lipton cup a soup packets mixed together, with instant mashed potatoes and gravy.  I had no idea how much water I needed to make the stuffing/veg/soup part so I had to fudge it.  I boiled a big pot of water, poured out a cups worth to make half a package of potatoes and 1 cup in a second bowl to make gravy.  Then I added the vegetables and soup mixes, and simmered it for a few minutes, then added the stuffing pouches.  That got set aside and I used a little frying pan to make the gravy.  Now I have to mention that doing all this, while adding sticks to a Vital Stove, and keeping the dog out of the mashed potatoes was a challenge but all in all the dinner turned out really well.  Too bad our sporks hadn't been in the bag of utensils like they should have been…we ended up having to use a spatula and a serving spoon to eat.  It turned out the sporks were on the kitchen counter, where they had been sitting since our last canoe trip, on a dish towel so they didn't get mixed up with our regular cutlery. We took our plates out on the rock at the site's landing, with our mugs full of wine (in a tetra pack.)  Biscuit got a bit of left overs.  He also knocked my spatula into the lake and spilled my wine a little.

We were enjoying our wine when we realized how dark it was further to the West, and sure enough a few minutes later it started to sprinkle.  We quickly washed the dishes, hid everything under the flipped over canoe, then retreated to the tent to finish our wine.  Probably not the most bear safe idea but we were careful not to spill.

The rain didn't last long so we were able to pack up our food bag and hang it all then Chris started a fire.  Being a sort of island site, there wasn't a lot of firewood available but the fire pit itself had 5 good sized logs that were blackened but hardly burned.  All we needed was some twigs for tinder and that wasn't so hard to find.  With a wad of toilet paper to start it, we got a really good fire going.  Funny how using the park wood you buy, we have so much trouble getting a fire going, but we've never had a problem using found wood on a canoe trip.  Even though the twigs were wet from recent rain, we had a fire going on the first try.

I have to take a moment and comment about the wine.  We sometimes take a few bottles of beer when car camping, but have never taken alcohol on a canoe trip (granted we haven't done many canoe trips yet, darn it) so this was a first.  Also, I hardly ever drink anything anymore and apparently it doesn't take much to make me tipsy now.  One glass of wine and I was stumbling all over the place.  It was kind of embarrassing.

We enjoyed the fire until just before 9.  The moon on the water and with the drifting clouds was really pretty, but we were both chilled and ready for bed.  The wind had died down, but stupid me hadn't packed socks…or shoes.  In our frantic packing chaos, I didn't realize I was wearing flip flops until we were at Canoe Lake getting our permit.  My feet still aren't warm now that I'm home writing up this report.

You can kinda see our attempt at a wind block...

Snuggled into beds, we began what would become a really uncomfortable night.  It didn't start off too bad.  There was no wind, it wasn't too cold (just a little chilly but not unbearable) and the loons put on a really fabulous concert for us.  There must have been a dozen of then, on Cache Lake as well as Tanamakoon, because some sounded a bit far off.  Biscuit wasn't happy though.  He couldn't find a comfy place to sleep and ended up at my feet.  Then the wind picked up again…then it began to rain.  I kept thinking the small backpack we'd used to hang our food and toiletries would get too heavy when wet and snap the branch and I'd be lying there freaking out because it could also be a bear…  With the wind now gusting under the fly, I was getting cold but I snuggled up to Chris and Biscuit took advantage of the space behind my knees to get onto the sleep pad.  I was nice and cosy for a while…until the tent started to leak and the foot of my sleeping bag got wet.

It rained off and on all night, and while my feet weren't bad if I curled up and kept them away from the wet spot, my legs were not happy with me not stretching them out every so often.  By the time the sky lightened my hips and knees were screaming and I was still cold.  Biscuit wanted out, so finally at about 6 I took him to pee and went to check on the food bag.  It was still in place, though maybe a little lower than before as the added weight made the branch sag a bit more.

I crawled back into the tent and tried to warm up but it was pretty much a lost cause.  Other than my feet it wasn't bad, like shivering, teeth chattering cold, but just uncomfortable enough to not be able to get back to sleep.  Oh who am I kidding, I don't think I actually slept.

A half hour later, we got tired of Biscuit trying to claw our sleeping bags off.  He's really the most annoying wake up call ever.  I have a big bruise on my ribs from him jumping on me and it took forever to clean the dog snot off my glasses from all the times he'd bunt me in the face when I had my eyes closed.  I really hope none of the other campers heard us in the night yelling things like "Oh my spleen!" or "Oh my balls!"

Once we were up, we began to discuss what to do.  I had planned to make breakfast of pancakes and hash browns, plus coffee but we were both cold, our clothes were wet and the wind was still gusting straight into the site.  I wanted to just leave, maybe go to Mew Lake for coffee and hot food even if I had to go in wearing my bright pink flannel beaver jammies (my official camping pyjamas)  Chris really wanted coffee right then and there.  With a little toilet paper and a few dry sticks we could find, we got the Vital Stove fired up (pun not intended) and were able to boil water.  I will admit, the coffee helped, but the time we spent making it meant that we ended up leaving just as it was starting to sprinkle again. Luckily we were smart enough to wear our rain jackets so it wasn't an issue.  Actually my rain jacket came in handy for repelling the water Biscuit dribbled all down my arm after each wave he attacked.  Bonus!  The rain didn't last long though, but they did keep the wind from cutting right through our clothes.

Once on the river, we saw a loon pop up.  I was grabbing for my camera when a baby popped up in front of it and the mama loon fed it.  We'd drifted past and so the picture didn't really turn out but it was a nice thing to see.  Biscuit got excited too but didn't bark.  He growls at oncoming canoe traffic but not a peep when he sees wildlife? Not that I'm complaining but this is the same dog that recently attacked a car.

It was a short paddle back to the car, and a quick load up, then we were off to Henriettta's Pine Bakery in Dwight for some sandwiches and treats.

Somehow, I've lost most of the pictures from this trip.  I know I took some because there's two on the computer, and I remember seeing pictures of the meal, but I've gone through all my memory cards and can't find them.  I'll update this with more pictures when I find them.

Wildlife seen on this trip? Lots of loons, a garter snake, and a duck
Things Biscuit destroyed on this trip? He ate the toilet paper, 2 bobbers that we didn't even know were in the pack until we found them chewed up, kept attempting to pull the rocks off the fire pit so we would go to bed…oh and he ruined our sleep.  But he does that at home too.

Things we forgot to pack? Socks and sneakers for me, cutlery, instructions for the food

Best things about the trip? Eating on the rock and enjoying our wine while we watched dark clouds roll in, sitting around the fire, just the two of us, the paddle in and out was really nice, we liked the site even though it wasn't ideal for the weather conditions at the time.

Both Chris and I commented that a trip to Tanamakoon would be an ideal trip to do with the kids where they can paddle their own canoe.  The lakes aren't big, it's not too long of a paddle and there's no portage.  If we came for a multi-night trip, we could explore the surrounding lakes and give them a bit of a feeling of independence without making it into an arduous ordeal by setting them up for frustration and exhaustion.  Plus it's just a pretty area.

Trip Log: Algonquin Park: Lake of Two Rivers, August 1-3, 2011

This was my parents first camping trip in years, probably since I was 6 or 7.  We'd been so excited after our first trip to Algonquin a few weeks previous that my mum, who has always loved camping, decided we should go again. We went online and booked one of the last sites available for the dates we wanted to go. Chris was helping his parents move north of Huntsville, so we planned for him to join us for the second night. 

We arrived at 2 and got our permit, then went straight to the Visitor's centre for lunch.  I guess that was kind of a cheat, but mum loves going to the cafe there.  It's gotten now, so that the ladies that work there will take a break and chat, but that's not part of this trip.

Once we got back to our site we set up and immediately realized we'd forgotten some things.  Mum and the kids biked to the Two River's Store to get a foot pump so we could blow up the air mattresses while dad and I set up the tents and screen tent.  Our site wasn't great, but we weren't expecting it to be.  It was the monday of a holiday weekend and there wasn't much available.  It was at the point where two roads meet up, so it had little privacy.  

Pumping up the mattresses didn't take long, so we biked down to the lake and had a swim, then came back and made dinner.  The kids had chicken drumsticks, while dad and I had foil wrapped chicken with potatoes, carrots, and mum used ground beef instead of chicken.  We also made brussels sprouts with butter in foil and caesar salad.  The little BBQ mum had bought didn't work very well, and burned through a lot of propane making just that meal.

Usually, up until now, Chris had done all the cooking because I didn't know how to hook up the stove, but on this trip, I did most of it.  It was kind of an aha moment for me, knowing I could take the kids camping myself and handle all the stuff that needs to be done.  Of course, looking back, it was the beginning of me doing ALL the cooking when it's just the four of us, and I haven't managed to convince anyone that the cook shouldn't  have to do the dishes.

We biked to the store for ice cream, then mum, dad and the kids played crazy eights.   Once it got dark we had a fire, toasted some marshmallows and went to bed.

It was cold sleeping on the air mattress.  To save space I had brought my backpacking sleeping bag and I wasn't warm at all.  Bubbie and I got up at 7 and went for a walk.  When we got up, the others were starting to stir.  

Breakfast was bacon, eggs and maple baked beans for the adults and chocolate Cheerios for the kids.  After cleaning up, we headed out on our bikes and did about 3km of the Old Rail Trail.  The blueberries in the old air field were plentiful and people were everywhere filling little bowls with them.

After we got back to camp, we had a snack then went for a swim, then had lunch of hot dogs.  Dad had a bit of a headache so we let him sleep and walked down to the Two River's Interpretive Trail.  There were hardly any bugs but after all our biking our legs were pretty sore.  It was also pretty hot so as soon as we got back we went for another swim.

We had spaghetti for dinner.  Chris got there just before nine, having gotten a little lost in the campground trying to find the site in the dark.  Immediately, the kids asked him to make Jiffy Pop.  We got a good fire going, with wood that was actually dry (if you've camped in an Ontario Park you'll know that's practically a miracle.)  Everyone else went to bed shortly after that.  Squatch actually fell asleep on the picnic table and had to be carried to bed.  Chris and I stayed up and talked for a bit.  It was pretty noisy both nights.  Lots of radios, guys playing horseshoes until 11pm, dogs barking.  At one point the first day, someone's dog almost peed on our tent before the guy came and grabbed it.

We woke to light rain so we just headed to the Two River's store for coffee and hot chocolate.  Bubbie ended up puking hers up when we later went to the visitor's centre for lunch.  The kids got to do the children's program for the first time, which was a lecture on bear safety.

Despite a few issues (like making multiple runs to the store for things we forgot - air pump, washing bin, soap etc) the experience was good.  Mum and Dad had a great time, and if you've read any of the newer trip logs on this site, you'll see we go camping with them often.  Mum gets just as giddy as me about booking a trip.

As you can see, I'm trying to write up old trip logs.  Some I have notes for, some I can't remember more than the basics so I might not bother writing anything for them.  I'll have to see.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to find pictures from these older trips.  I'll publish the write up and then add in pictures later when I figure out which computer/cd/thumbdrive they are hiding on.

Trip Log: Balsam Lake Provincial Park - August 20-21, 2013

This was just a quick one night trip with the Boler.  Bubbie wanted to bring her friend camping with us,  so we just picked a spot fairly close to home, and brought the kids bikes.

For a last minute trip, we obviously didn't have a lot of choices as far as sites go and ended up with one of the back sites in the lakeshore area.  It was fairly close to the bathroom and the park store, so we figured it would be fine.  We'd actually put a lot of thought into picking a site.  Since Bubbie and her friend would be in the tent, while the rest of us were in the Boler, she was worried about being too far back in the bushes (not really a huge issue in Balsam) but since her friend is used to back country camping, Bubbie also didn't want to look like a giant wuss being out in the open.

Mostly, the kids just rode their bikes around.  Balsam is great for that.  There are so many roads through the campgrounds you can ride all over, and the kids had fun making their own little routes.

Supper was spaghetti, and maybe salad or garlic bread.  I honestly can't remember.  Only two memorable things stand out about this trip.  First, Squatch had some issues with his bike, and ended up getting left behind.  The girls showed up without him, and had no idea where they'd lost him. Bubbie and her friend had to go look for him, on their bikes while Chris and I went on foot.  I had a minor panic over him disappearing, but it all got resolved with no problem.

Second memorable thing was sometime in the night, I could hear the people across from us talking.  The grandparents had brought their two grandsons, and they had two tents.  One of the tents was a pup-style tent, and I guess the grandfather and one of the kids had slept in it, while the other kid was with the grandmother in the dome style tent.  For whatever reason, they didn't have the pup tent zipped closed all the way, and the grandfather woke up to an animal nosing around his face.  He figured it was a squirrel and swatted at it.  Turned out it was a skunk.  They ended up spending the whole night showering and washing bedding and clothes.

Oddly enough, none of us smelled anything.  Usually if a skunk sprays 10 feet from you, you notice.  I picked up a hint of it in the morning, but not very strong.  We woke up to a bunch of sleeping bags drying over the side of their truck's box.

We had spam hash and eggs for breakfast, did some more biking, then headed home.  The kids had fun, Chris got to relax a bit, and I was just happy to be out camping.   We didn't take too many pictures, but the ones we did take...well Bubbie's friend doesn't like having her picture taken I guess and she deleted most of them.

Trip Log: Bon Echo Provincial Park July1-3, 2013

Canada Day camping! 

We arrived at our site around 2:10.  Mum and Dad had already been there for about 45 minutes and had  the tent trailer mostly set up.  We unloaded the canoe and three kayaks and had a quick lunch of burgers then unloaded the rest of our stuff.  Since we were only allowed to have one car on the site, we had to get everything, because the additional car parking was way back at the gate house...not a distance you want to be walking often, nor did we want to have to drive there every time we needed something.

Then we went over to the visitor's centre and the gift shop.  Unfortunately the Visitor's Centre was almost closing, so we didn't get to spend as much time as we wanted there, but planned to go back the next day.  We did a quick check of the Greystones Gift and Book Shop, then headed to the main beach for a minute.  The water was really rough at the beach near our site, and here it was really calm, but the air was chilly, so we decided to put off swimming or kayaking until the next day.  The kids hadn't tried their little kayaks yet, and we weren't sure how tippy they'd be. (They ended up being really stable...Squatch had to really work to tip his so he could practice getting back in while in deep water.  He also was able to use it as a stand up paddle board for a while.)

We headed back to our site and while mum and I started dinner, Chris took Squatch fishing in Bon Echo Creek.  They got a few nibbles, but didn't catch anything.  Dinner was hawaiian ham and pineapple casserole (in the dutch oven), salad and creamed corn.  It started to rain while we were cooking, so we ate in the trailer and didn't bother with a fire.

It was a bit chilly that night.  I had only brought our flannel sleeping bag/liners and we all had long pants and long sleeve shirts, but we were still a bit cold. That day (July1st) had been pretty cool.  Normally, on Canada Day, we spend the day swimming because it's always so hot.  This year, every single one of us wore our sweat shirts all day.

The next morning, we realized neither of us had packed coffee, so we had tea, and I made spicy eggs in the dutch oven, and we had bagels and english muffins with that.

Mum and dad decided to head into Northbrook for some things we needed (like coffee) while Chris and I took the kids for a canoe along Mazinaw Rock to check out the petroglyphs, and do the cliff top hike.  The cliff is amazing.  From the opposite shore, it's impressive, but when you are right at the edge and looking up?  It's dizzying.  We saw some people climbing the rock, then headed to the dock area to check out the hike.

If you have bad knees...be warned, this hike is strenuous.  204 steps (actual stairs, not including the sections where the rock forms natural steps.)  My legs were so numb I could barely climb back into the canoe afterwards. Just when I'd catch up to Chris and the kids, they'd start off again, having hadd a minute to rest while waiting for me...this meant I didn't get a chance to catch my breath.  It was nice though.  The view from the various lookout platforms is amazing, and it's well worth the effort (pain) to get up there.

Mum and dad were sitting at the bench on the point at the narrows when we paddled back.  We stopped for a quick chat then headed back to camp.  They had taken pictures of the rock climbers and the guy had called down asking if dad would email them copies.  Dad couldn't make out the email address, and the guy said he'd be down soon, so mum and dad were going to wait.  Eventually they gave up though.  It was well past lunch and we were all hungry.

Bubbie looking out at Mazinaw Rock from one of the beaches

Lunch was supposed to be grilled veggie sandwiches, but since it was so late, we went with Grillems and hot dogs which mum had picked up on her shopping trip. (They also stopped at a chip truck and got fries and batter fried mushrooms, and went to a Coffee Time.) Chris set up his hammock, and the kids took turns swinging each other in it.  They spent most of their time in camp playing on it.  Squatch kept falling out (no surprise) and Bubbie just enjoyed lying around in it. I don't think Chris got more than 5 minutes in it. Next stop was to take the Ferry ride over so mum and dad could see the petroglyphs.  The young man acting as guide was funny, and we learned a lot about the history of the area.  We'd seen the petroglyphs that were pointed out on our canoe ride, but it was nice to hear the historian's interpretation of what some of them meant.  The guide also had a lot of interesting information about turkey vultures, which I'm guessing was meant to be mostly of interest to the younger passengers (did you know turkey vultures picked their noses and could projectile vomit up to ten feet?)

Another trip to the gift shop, this time for the patch for the trail we'd done earlier
...then we grabbed the kayaks and headed back to main beach.  The kids had a blast.  It was one of their favourite parts of the trip. They picked it up really quick and at one point we had to call Squatch back or he'd have paddled all the way across the lake.  Chris had one of his white water kayaks and had planned to practice his rolls but he was tired so just paddled around with the kids.  I gotta say, these kayaks were the best $23 I've ever spent.  We got them at Costco, and used executive membership cash-back checks to cover most of the price ($99 each.)

Dinner was  dutch oven lasagna, salad and garlic bread.  We all ate until we were stuffed, then went out and sat around the fire for a while.  Mum had bought some of those magic flames packets, and the kids sang their "Go Aqua-fire Go" song, complete with dance moves.  Chris swears he wasn't dancing along, but he totally was. The night was perfect for light painting, and we had fun with that until almost 11 when we realized we were the only people still up making noise (some of the pictures had us laughing a little louder than was probably polite.)

Departure day, as usual, was beautiful.  We finally got some sun! Mum made an apple puff pancake in the dutch oven for breakfast.  It didn't puff up as much as it was supposed to, but it tasted great. Since Chris had to work that afternoon, we started packing up.  Mum took Squatch down to the beach to play with his kayak some more while we got most of the gear packed up.  It didn't take too long to load up and we were on the road.

The most frustrating part of this trip was not being able to park our car at the campsite.  My plan had been to just have the coolers in the back of the Santa Fe so we didn't have to drag them in and out of the back seat of dad's truck each morning and night.  It would have been easier, but dad was reluctant to leave his brand new truck in a parking area far from the site.  From now on, I'll definitely check the number of cars allowed on site when booking a trip.  Most campgrounds have an extra car parking close to each section of sites, but Bon Echo doesn't.

Other than that, this trip was awesome.  Bon Echo is beautiful, with enough trails and activities to keep people of all ages occupied.  There were evening programs both nights but we didn't go to them (dutch oven dinners take time.)  The campsites were nice (some were pretty hilly, so parking a trailer would be difficult) and fairly private.  We have another trip booked here later this summer and I can't wait to get to some of the other hiking trails, and to canoe Joe Perry Lake so we can check out the canoe in sites.

Some things I've learned this camping season

We did a lot more camping this year than we usually manage to do, which was awesome.  A lot of it was in Algonquin Park.  Don't get me wrong, I love Algonquin, but I wish we'd had the chance to do some back country trips, or check out a few parks we'd never been to before.

Every camping trip is a learning experience.  You'll see things you've never seen before, go to a place you've never been, or learn a new skill.  It's one of the reasons I don't feel guilty about pulling the kids from school to do a few days of camping.

So what are some of the things we learned this summer?

1) I learned that I can survive a night camping alone with the kids.  This is a big one because if we'd had more opportunities this summer, I know I could have gone with them again.  I might still go for one last trip with them even though Chris won't be able to go.

2) We pack way too much stuff.  I'm not sure why this hasn't gotten any easier, but we still manage to cram the car so full we can barely fit the kids in there.  Usually people begin to reduce the things they bring based on what they do and don't use...I guess we haven't gotten there yet.  Or maybe we just don't use our space efficiently.

3) We still haven't gotten the knack of organizing ourselves before a trip.  On the morning we leave, we're still running around in a panic trying to think of the things we'll need.  This is something I'll be working on this winter: proper lists, better storage solutions, and menu planning.

4) I added 5 species of bird to my list of ones I've seen.

5) I'm horrible about remembering to bring things for the kids to do.  Then Chris brings them too much...I think designating that job to the kids would be a good idea.  Then again, when I told them to put any books or little games they wanted into their bags, Squatchie brought a roll of yellow electrical tape.  God only knows what he planned to do with it.

6) If you plan properly, you should have hardly any food left.  Usually on the last day of a trip, we will grill up all the leftover hotdogs or sausages and pig out.  I've gotten better about not having a huge pile of snack type foods left over in the food bin, which means we can consolidate things into one bin and save space in the car.

7) Trying to organize a trip with a large group can be hard.  You have to be prepared for plans to change or that trying to get everyone gathered for an activity will take longer than you might wish for.  If there are little kids involved, it's going to take even longer.  It's probably easier for your sanity to just plan on a trip where everyone sits around and chats or do things close to camp.

8) Cooking with cast iron isn't as scary as I thought it would be, in fact, it can be really fun.  I was leery of getting a dutch oven because I thought I'd end up not doing something right and it would get rusty.  I was also pretty sure I would screw up the cooking method and either burn everything or never get it to cook.  I was wrong.  It's so easy and clean up is actually easier than when you use normal pots.

9) Every camp site has merit.  I spend so much time agonizing over picking a site that will be perfect, but it's nearly impossible to properly judge them based on the pictures on line.  Sites I've thought would be horrible turned out to be nice, and sites that looked amazing online turned out to be less than ideal.  It's kind of like picking out a hotel for a holiday.  You mostly want a place to sleep and cook...and will probably be off doing other things like swimming or hiking the rest of the time, so really, as long as it's not in the middle of a flood plane, it's going to be fine.  I've learned to base my choice on other criteria...is it close to an outhouse so I don't have to walk a long way in the middle of the night?

10) Camping with dogs isn't as frustrating as I used to think.  Usually, we would bring the dogs for the first day, but after tripping over them and listening to them whine because they don't like being tied up, we end up driving them home and asking the neighbor to watch them.  This worked when we camped close to home, but this May when we stayed at Presqui'le, it was too far to bring them home.  Other than the inevitable smells that can quickly fill a small camper or tent, its not so bad.

I'm sure there are other things but at the moment those are the ones that stand out.

Trip Log: Mew Lake, Aug 20-22, 2012

This trip was supposed to happen at the end of July, when my brother was home from California, but we had to reschedule, and unfortunately, he didn't get to go.  He missed out.  We had a really great time, and we ate so much food, I think I probably gained ten pounds, if not more.

Because we weren't very organized, we didn't get to the park until after four.  We had two sites, both on the water and while we weren't expecting them to be great, we were pleasantly surprised.  There wasn't much shade, but they were large enough and we had fun stargazing while we sat around the fire.  We set up our tents, then started on dinner.  Now, I should tell you, this trip was all about the dutch ovens.  Mum and I each took a dinner and a breakfast and had to come up with a meal.

Dinner for night one was spiced pork tenderloins, cheesy au gratin potatoes and orange chocolate dump cake.  The dessert was a complete experiment.  See, I've read tons of variations on the "dump cake" for a dutch oven...and made an apple spice one for my oven's maiden voyage, but I wanted to try one with chocolate cake.  I think all I ever saw were ones made with cherry pie fill, then chocolate cake mix and sprite or butter pads on top.  I don't like cherry pie...hate the stuff.  But I do like orange flavoured chocolate so I started to think....hmmmm....I'll post the recipe and results in a separate entry.

While mum and I cooked, Chris and the kids played baseball and Chris worked on untangling the fishing rods. He also made an attempt at fly fishing from the beach at our site, mostly just to work on his casting technique.

8", 10" and deep 12" ovens, making dinner

Now, I should confess, I was giggling a lot while we made dinner.  We had three dutch ovens going, and had them stacked...it made us look like we really knew what we were doing.  I refused to believe the food would suck. How could it, when the pots looked so cool stacked up like that?  Lucky for us, everything was yummy, even the kids went back for several helpings and pretty much scraped the pot of potatoes clean.  As for the cake?  It sort of became like a pudding cake, you  know, the kind that makes it's own gooey sauce?  It tasted good, and the kids scraped the pot clean of dessert as well.

Chris and I saw a rabbit when we biked the garbage down to the bins.

Dad had gotten a fire going, while we were cooking dinner, so the kids toasted a few marshmallows and went to bed.  It should also be mentioned that we had three dogs with us on this trip.  My parent's dog, Lucky, hates people on bicycles...not sure why, but he goes nuts when he sees them.  Also, he barks every time someone walks by our site.  In this we were lucky because there was hardly anyone in the section of Mew Lake where our sites were, so there wasn't many people out at night.

Our dogs are old, and don't bark at anything.  Dixie has been pretty frail lately, but she loves to camp because she can spend all day with Chris, and sleep beside him at night too.  Kenobi just likes to be in the back of the SUV or in the tent.  We were sort of worried that a camping trip might do Dixie in, but she was fine.  She mostly slept in the tent, but a few times she ventured down to the water to splash around.

At about 2 in the morning, we heard a commotion from the people to the left of our site.  Dad got out of the tent and scanned the area with the flashlight, and saw several raccoons trying to get into the other camper's truck.  He had one of those soft covers on it.  We didn't give it much thought because two of the raccoons had come to sniff around the tent Chris and I were sharing with the dogs (the kids were with mum and dad in the big tent next door) The dogs had spilled a handful of kibble on the ground and the raccoons were cleaning it up.  Lucky was barking like crazy at the sound of animals outside the tent...Dixie and Kenobi didn't stop snoring.

Half an hour later, the park warden pulled up to our neighbours and asked if they'd called in a bear.  The guy said he had, and I lay there listening to them talk for about ten minutes while the second ranger did a walk around to see if the bear was still there.  Now...dad had seen raccoons on the truck...I can't imagine them being there if a bear was there too, but the next morning, I talked to our neighbour and he said the rangers had said it was definitely a bear.

Who was right?  Well, the other camper hadn't seen a bear, and for an animal that had been ripping and tearing at the soft cover of a pick up for half an hour, it didn't do much damage (bears will rip one to shreds pretty quickly) Also, it didn't eat much, just some bread and a few nibbles of dog kibble.  Did the ranger tell the guy it was a bear to scare him into storing his food in the cab of the truck? (please note, a soft cover on your truck isn't considered bear proof, so don't count on it to deter a scavenging animal, even smaller ones...)  Or is my dad's eyesight really bad and he mistook 3 raccoons for one small bear? I know it was racoons outside our site.  Chris and I saw watched them eating for a while. I guess we'll never know. Either way, the guy and his two daughters will have a story to tell their friends about their trip to Algonquin.

Early morning at Mew Lake

The next morning, it was chilly and there was a bit of fog on the lake when I got up at around 6:30.  Since nobody else was up, I took Kenobi for a little walk, then sat on the picnic table and watched a few early risers paddle their canoes around the lake through the fog.  This is something I've always wanted to do, but whenever I get out there, the fog seems to disappear.

Mum and Dad usually don't sleep in, and we had breakfast on the go by 7:30.  The original recipe for my breakfast was called "Girl Scout's Breakfast" and was basically a frittata made in the dutch oven.  It was yummy and very filling.  The kids didn't have any, they don't like eggs, and had Cheerios instead.

Chris took the kids fishing while breakfast was cooking, then after we ate, he cleaned up while I took Mum, Dad and the kids to the water fall where Chris and I had hiked to during our yurt stay in April. The water is much lower now, as expected, and rather than one large water fall, there are two smaller ones with a nice sitting spot in the middle.  Squatchie immediately took off his shoes and started jumping from rock to rock, exploring the other side of the river.  He's like his father that way, nimble and adventurous.  Bubbie is like me...a little more cautious.  Her explorations were less rock hopping, and more like an imitation of Smeagol from the Lord of The Rings movies...so we have now dubbed Smeagolling a new word, defined as the act of crawling your way over rocks in the middle of a river.

When we got back to camp, Chris was standing waist deep in the lake, fishing and not having much luck. Chris and I made lunch, pizzas in the dutch ovens, while Mum, Dad and the kids went to the Two River's Store for treats.  The kids had pepperoni pizza while the adults had chicken fajita pizza.  The kids both picked off the pepperoni because they said the kind I'd gotten was too spicy.  If they'd told me that after I made them pizza with it a few nights ago, I wouldn't' have bothered packing it along.  Along with our pizza, Mum had made a chickpea salad which was very good. I'll have to get the recipe for it before she forgets which book she found it in.

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Mum and I biked the garbage out and went around to the far end of the radio free/pet free section of Mew Lake to take a picture of our sites from across the lake.  We told the kids to watch for us and wave.  The canoeist nearby thought the kids were waving at them, so kept waving back.  Then Squatchie started dancing and wiggling his butt.  I'm not entirely sure the canoeists knew what to make of that.

The plan was for Chris and I to hike the main loop of the Track and Tower interpretive trail but after eating so much food, my stomach was a little upset and it was raining off and on, so Chris ended up having a nap.  The rest of us went to check out the Opeongo Outfitters and get ice cream (I know...but my stomach felt better by the time we decided to leave...) I got the kids Algonquin Park buffs, and they had fun figuring out all the ways people wear them on Survivor. When we got back to the site, Chris was awake and was attempting to carve a gnome from a piece of wood.  The current result looks slightly demonic, not at all the result he was going for.

For Mum's turn at dinner, she made Chicken and Rice casserole. It was a really simple meal to put together, and though it doesn't look stunning in the pot, it's very yummy.  The kids took one look at it and asked if there was anything else, but we made them try at least a little, and if they didn't like it they could have a hotdog. They ended up fighting over the last half of chicken breast, and again, scraped the bottom of the pot to get the last of the rice. Chris and I did bike to the water falls while mum's dinner cooked.

Mum also made a pie for dessert.  It was a simple- canned pie fill and frozen pie crust but she fancied it up with a little decorative cutting to the top crust.

Mum's apple pie. Yum!

The stars were really amazing the second night.  The skies had cleared and we saw several shooting stars.  We also saw a really bright light move really quickly across the sky, about 10 times faster than a plane, then it would get dim and disappear before reappearing and heading back the opposite way.

There were no bears or raccoons the second night, of course we were all pretty tired from being awake listening to them the night before, so maybe there were and we just didn't hear them. We did hear coyotes across the lake though. I woke up to the sound of a fire going in Mum and Dad's site at around 7:30, so I went to investigate and get some coffee going.

Very foggy on the lake the second morning

The fog was a lot thicker than the previous morning, even though I'd gotten up an hour later. It was also pretty chilly.  The kids fished from the shore (right behind where the little blue and white tent is, there's a small beach) but didn't get any nibbles.  In fact, they didn't have much luck at all the entire trip.

By this time, we'd all pretty much glutted ourselves on food for two days and weren't all that excited about breakfast.  The kids had Cheerios and rather than the recipe Mum had planned to make, we inverted the lid for her dutch oven on the grate of the fire and cooked up the sausages, then some canned, sliced potatoes.  We used the pot part of the dutch oven to cook scrambled eggs with some onion and green pepper, then made breakfast burritos with a little salsa.  Despite us all being so stuffed, there was only a little bit of leftovers to share with the dogs.

The kids were really excited to rock hop with their dad since he hadn't been with us the last time, so we biked back after breakfast.  Squatchie fell in...then had fun sitting on the ledges in the waterfall.  He ended up wearing his buff like a tube top, like the women on survivor do, and Bubbie was doing the same thing...Chris kept joking about how pretty our two daughters were.

It didn't take us long to pack up.  We stopped at the Portage Store on Canoe Lake to get ice cream and check out their store.  The restaurant there is very cool, and we will definitely head there for a lunch on our next trip.  Also, it was really neat seeing just how many canoes were on the lake.  I'd read that it was the busiest canoe launch spot in the park, but I hadn't really imagined it being like that, and that was on a Wednesday!  I'd love to be there around noon on a Friday to see all the canoes heading out for the start of a back country trip.

Trip Log - Pog Lake - Algonquin Provincial Park, July 13-15 2012

Several years ago, friends of ours invited us to share a campsite with them while they were attending Bolerama, a gathering of people camping in fiberglass campers.  On average there are about 110 of the light weight campers at the annual gathering, most of which were ranged around the group camping sections of Emily Provnicial Park outside of Peterborough, Ontario.

We were hooked and within the year, we'd bought our own little fibreglass egg.  For the next few years, we attended Bolerama, until the event was no longer being held at Emily Park, but rather in the Waterloo area, which was too far for us to travel.  Instead, on the weekend Bolerama is held, we get together with our friends and head to Algonquin.  This year, we invited a few other friends from high school along and had a wonderful weekend at Pog Lake.

We started planning this trip back in January, heck maybe even before them.  We already knew we wanted to go back to Pog Lake, but we really wanted sites closer to the beach, on the water so the kids can fish whenever they wanted, and of course sites that were next to each other because the kids basically treat it like one large campsite. We spent a long time deciding on which sites would be perfect and then when the day came where we could reserve them, they were already taken.  After a bit of a scramble to pick the next best of the available sites, we settled on 119, and 180 in Campground A.  Our other friends booked site 181, which was kitty-corner to our site.

We arrived just before two, and had to wait for the previous campers to finish packing up. While we hung out at our friend's site waiting, we spotted a species of bird I'd never seen before.  I looked it up on my iPhone and quickly identified it as a Brown Creeper.  These birds are really small, and move up and down tree trunks in the same manner as nuthatches.

It didn't take us long to set up (haul out the camp chairs, and take the coolers and food bins out of the camper....that's about the extent of setting up for us) and made a quick lunch of grilled cheddar sausages, then took the kids swimming.  I could sum up this whole camping trip by saying we swam...a lot.  It was hot and sunny the whole time we were there, perfect camping weather, especially when there is a beach close at hand.

Okay, we did other stuff too.  After the beach, I pulled out my brand spanking new 10" dutch oven and  made an apple spice dump cake.  It smelled amazing and tasted amazing too.  Unfortunately, after dinner, everyone wanted to go for a swim again, so it was dark before we got to eat dessert, and the cake wasn't warm anymore, and I couldn't take any pictures of it.  Also, I'd lined the dutch oven with tin foil so clean up would be easier, and it must have bubbled over the top of the foil.  There was a perfect circle of tin foil glued to the bottom of the pot.  It took Chris ages to scrape it clean with the little Lodge scraper tool I bought (which he told me I didn't need...he changed his mind.)  To make it worse, the mosquitos were out by then and were attracted to the flashlights as we tried to clean up so we got bit a million times.

The next morning I tried out something new...originally I'd intended to call them ultimate blueberry pancakes, but ended up changing the name to Smurf Cakes.  What I did was take just-add-water pancake mix, add a few scoops of blueberry baby food as well as thawed, frozen blueberries along with the juices that formed as they thawed.  Add enough water to make the batter to the consistency you like.  The inside of the pancakes were a perfect Smurfy blue.  For the syrup, I poured table syrup into a small pot and added about a cup of fresh blueberries and let it boil down a bit.  It was super yummy.

After breakfast, I let everyone else go to the beach while I cleaned up.  Now, I should mention that each family does their own food, so I wasn't cleaning up after 16 people, just our family.  By the time I got finished and headed to the beach myself, it was almost lunch time. (Not because there was a ton of dirty dishes, but because we'd slept in.)  We had quick grilled cheeses made in my pie iron, then all the families got together and did the Spruce Bog Board Walk Trail.  I've only done this trail in the winter, and didn't realize the boardwalk extended almost the entire trail.  It was very neat, and very easy for the littlest members of our group since there were no roots or rocks to trip them up.  Usually, Chris will climb any large rock or rock cut we come across on a hike, but this time he was carrying one of the toddlers, so our son took over the tradition.  Once up there, he proceeded to pretend he was a super model...he gets that from his dad, I swear.

In the picture, you can see the button on his shirt.  The older kids gathered up bags of recycling and took them to the Pog Lake gatehouse and got these buttons.  They could also get them for joining in organized beach clean ups and other things, with a total of six buttons available to earn.  If you get all six, I think their name goes into a draw for a free camping trip for the whole family.

After that, it was back to the campground for a quick swim, then we started getting ready for the pot luck dinner.  I made a lasagna in the dutch oven and it turned out really well.  There were lots of salads, chips, veggies and dip and I grilled texas-toast garlic bread on the little BBQ as well. We were all stuffed and there was enough food left over we could have invited a few other sites over for the meal.  The guys took the older kids fishing (they caught a few small rock bass)

Breakfast the next day was basic eggs and bacon,  Then at lunch we ate up some of the left over sausages, cookies, and made individual pineapple upside down cakes on the BBQ.

Pog Lake doesn't have the same level of privacy as Canisbay does, but it certainly has more character.  The campsites are set in a grove of tall pines and it just has a more rustic, northern feel to it. Where Canisbay's woodland is made up of mostly deciduous trees, Pogs were mostly coniferous  I will say, at Pog, the vault toilets are few and far between, and the comfort stations always seem to be full of women doing their make up, or blowdrying their hair.

Tips for camping with younger kids

A few weeks ago, we went camping with some of our friends from high school, and their kids.  While my kids are at an age where they don't need me constantly watching them, our friend's kids were all much younger and it made me remember just how challenging it can be to go on camping trips with toddlers.

The first time we took our daughter camping, she was about 15 months old, and at that stage where she didn't want to be held, and didn't want to hold my hand.  She could walk perfectly fine, thank you very much, provided there were no obstacles in the way.  Our camp site was littered with roots, big rocks and was on the edge of the lake, not exactly a safe place for a toddler to be left wandering on her own.  The flies were insane that trip as well.  To sum up, the trip was a huge stress-out for me, but that was because I wasn't prepared.

Here are some basic tips on having a successful camping trip with your little ones.

1. Pick a time when the bugs aren't bad if possible.   Since most insect repellants aren't safe for babies, you'll spend a good deal of your time sweeping mosquitoes off your child, which pretty much means you have no time to enjoy the trip yourself.  It's bad enough being stuck inside a tent when it's just adults, but being confined with a cranky baby?  Not fun. Planning a trip for later in the summer usually means insect free days, and a far more pleasant trip for everyone.

2. Take lots of toys, preferably quiet ones.  We made the mistake of not taking more than a few stuffed animals on that first trip, and to be honest, we don't take a lot of things for our kids even now.  Our friends though, bring a huge bin of beach type toys, water guns and lawn type games.  That bin saved our sanity more than once during the weekend.  My own kids are perfectly happy with a camera, a few guide books and their bikes, but they had lots of fun joining in on a big water fight with the little ones.  If you can avoid taking toys that make noise, your neighbours will thanks you.  Travel size board games are perfect for older kids on rainy days.

3. Pack snacks that don't require preparation.  Having things you can set out at a moment's notice is a great way to distract kids if they are being whiney. On our trip, all the kids would often hang out at one site, with one or two of the adults to watch them while the other parents went for ice or fire wood.  When a three year old starts throwing a fit, often, a yummy snack will derail a complete tantrum long enough for their parent to take over. Healthy snacks are best, especially if you are camping with a group and don't want to hop your friends kids up on sugar just to get them to stop screaming. Also, for early mornings, if your kids are up but the rest of the group isn't, and you don't want to make breakfast until they all wake, having things like fruit cups, small boxes of cereal or yogurt can keep little ones happy and quiet.

4. Don't be too ambitious.  Lets face it, when our kids are little, they are going to dictate a lot of what we do, and that doesn't change on a camping trip.  You probably won't be doing that 10K hike with a three year old.  You want your kids to grow up loving camping (at least I assume you do) and forcing them to do something they don't want to or aren't ready for, isn't the way to go about it.  When it comes to hikes, swimming or canoe rides, be sure what you have planned isn't going to exhaust them, or bore them.  For example, at Algonquin, two great options for hiking with little kids are the Spruce Bog Trail which is mostly flat and short enough that they won't lose interest, and the Logging Museum Trail, which has things for kids to explore and climb on, and is also short and easy.  Some of the other short trails, like Peck Lake, should be avoided if you  have a child at that age where they want to walk on their own, but aren't quite steady on their feet.  Skinned knees, bruises and bumps on the head are no fun for anyone.  We have been dying to do the Track and Tower Trail for years now, but we also know that attempting it with our kids when they aren't ready for it would just mean everyone would be miserable.  Better to wait, or plan a getaway for adults only.

5. Start small.  This is a pretty obvious one.  For your first trip out, plan for a one or two night stay, and try to pick a park or campground close to home so if it gets to be too much, you can cut the trip short.  It would suck to have driven five hours, for a week long trip, and on the second day, have to cut the trip short because of a sick child, or because your child panics about sleeping in the tent or on the ground.   On our first trip, our daughter got up at six am and was only happy if she was banging on the mess kit with a spoon. She'd also gotten a fly bite in the corner of her eye and the whole side of her face was swollen up. Needless to say, our neighbours wouldn't have been happy about the noise, and we were worried about the swelling so we packed up and left.  We'd only booked one night, so no money went to waste.

If anyone else has advise on camping with kids, or would like to share stories please leave a comment.  Teaching our kids to love the outdoors, and creating those memories with them is a wonderful gift, it would be a shame to lose it because of a bad first experience.

Almost Solo Camping

Last night, I took the kids camping on my own.  We didn't go far, and Balsam Provincial Park isn't exactly where you'd expect to have many run ins with wildlife, so I wasn't too concerned.  We've camped here many times, so I was able to pick a site fairly close to a comfort station so that my one worry wouldn't be an issue (that being having to make a bathroom run in the night and leaving the kids alone in the tent.)

We got there after the park office closed, so we were told to just head into the park and pick a site, then pay for a permit in the morning.  I'd already picked out a site I thought would be a good one, based on location and the pictures on the Ontario Parks website.  We pulled into the site, set up our brand new 6 person tent (way more than we needed for just us three, but I'll post later on why we got one.)  The tent was easy to set up with the kids help, then we headed to the beach for a swim.

The beach at Balsam is pretty awesome, and was completely deserted.  After our swim we had dinner, then I realized my first mistake...I'd brought the little car and it was packed with stuff, but I hadn't brought any games for the kids.  I'd meant to take Viking Chess (I'll rave about this game in another post) but there wasn't room.  And since the park office was closed, and I didn't have cash, I couldn't buy wood to have a fire.

I had brought books for everyone, and the kids were happy to lounge around in the tent reading so it wasn't the crisis it could have been.  As it grew dark, the kids fell asleep while I kept reading.  There was only one other site in use in our section, but they stayed up very late talking (loudly.) But despite that, I could hear the loons clearly.  There must have been a lot of them, and I've never heard so many loons calling all at once.  It was pretty amazing.  It was like listening to the Dan Gibson's Solitudes CD's I used to have.

Then I heard wolves, or maybe coyotes, a pack of them, howling in the distance.  Also cool, but a little creepy.  We often hear them at my parents house, but inside where it's safe, you don't really think about it.  Inside a tent?  Yeah, I admit, I was a little freaked out.  Then I heard more, this time from in the other direction. Still, they were pretty distant, so I kept reading.

Then I heard something sniffing the wall of the tent about 3 inches from my face.  Probably raccoons, and since I'd been careful to make sure everything was locked in the car, I wasn't worried.  Three seconds later, when I heard what sounded like two dogs snarling and ripping each other's throats out in the vicinity of our picnic table?  I admit it, I almost screamed. We see fox in Balsam frequently, so I wondered if that's what might be out there. Swear to God, I thought I would get out of the tent in the morning and find a dead animal five feet from the door. I spent ten minutes shining a flashlight through the door window mesh but didn't see anything so I went back to reading.

Eventually, the other campers packed it in for the night, and shortly after that, I swear I heard a woman walk past our site talking to herself.  Lots of people had walked by earlier and I always heard footsteps crunching on the gravel, but this time, nothing.  Now I'm lying there freaked out about wolves, coyotes, raccoons, foxes, and ghost campers, plus the usual bear phobia I've been plagued with since I was a kid.   After that, every noise made me jump, from someone coughing at the other campsite to my own stomach gurgling.  I've never heard so much non-camper related noise while camping.  I even heard owls and ducks in the middle of the night.

I know, pathetic right?  Logically, I know that if an animal was going to attack our tent and rip us to shreds, having Chris there isn't going to stop them.  That's not really the point though, I guess.  It's like having a security blanket, knowing that there's someone to help fight off a potential Discovery Channel moment.  Plus there's the fear of knowing my kids safety is totally in my hands, and worrying I might not be strong enough.

While lying there with my heart pounding, I thought of a few things I could have done to make myself feel a bit more secure.

1) I could have parked the car closer to the tent, with the seat forward for quick access to the backseat.  If we had to make a run for it to the safety of the car, the kids could get in easily, then I could push the seat back and jump in as well.  Not really a realistic strategy, but it's the knowledge that safety is close by that makes you feel a bit more secure.

2) I could have found a sturdy stick to keep in the tent. I know, chances are I'd never actually need it, and if I did find myself facing a ravaging wolf pack or a bear, a stick wouldn't do me much good.  Not really the point.  I'm pretty sure I can delude myself into thinking I really could fend off a hungry bear, looking like a mighty amazon warrior while doing so.

3) Keep something in the tent that would make noise.  I only now realized I had my phone with me.  I could have turned up the volume and put on a bit of music or used one of the alarm tones to scare off whatever was rooting around the tent.

4) Call someone.  I knew Chris would still be at work, so I called just so he could tell me I was being silly and that we'd be fine.  I don't recommend this one if the person is going to be fast asleep...they probably won't be all that willing to coddle you.

It was a good experience though, and I'm glad I did it.  Would I do it again?  Of course.  We had fun, and when I woke up in the morning and we were all in once piece, I felt more than a little proud of myself.  I think it'll be a while before I try a completely solo trip in the back country though.  And why would I want to?  The best part of camping for me is sharing it with the kids and Chris.  When I got home I did a bit of research on the internet and decided it was two foxes fighting outside the tent.  Check out HERE to listen to a fox and a raccoon fighting.  The squealing sound is the raccoon.  The dog-like snarling is the fox.

Anyone else have any camping scares they'd like to share?

Provincial Park Review: Presquile

I'm guessing almost any camp ground is going to be better when you're one of the only people camping there - no crowds, no noise, no disgusting bathrooms.... but our first trip to Presquile was definitely one of our best trips to date.

View down the shore from our site

Chris and I came to this park when the kids were babies, in the off season just to drive through and have a picnic.  We were able to drive through one of the campgrounds, High Bluffs, and at the time we thought the sites were really spectacular...right on Lake Ontario?  What could be better?  Well, to be honest, those water front sites wouldn't be our first choice, not now anyway.  They are very open, at least the ones closest to the water, and offer no privacy. The back loops of this section are more private though.  This section was also the most populated during our trip (arriving the monday of Victoria Day Weekend and leaving on the Wednesday.)  Our campsite was in the Lakeside Campground, and our site was right on the water as well, but it was treed in and would be fairly private even when there were a lot of people around.

I only got to do a walk through some of the other sections but for the most part the sites were of good size and with medium privacy.  I wasn't impressed with the Pines Campground sites, and didn't get into the Elmvale and Trails End ones at all but the Maples and Craig's sites were pretty nice.  *Note - in the spring, the Craig's sites sit amid a bit of stagnant water which increased the number of mosquitoes in that area, but this will have dried up by summer.

You can see the boardwalk wiggling off into the distance

Presquile has a park store, with the usual selection of candy, basic camp meal options like Kraft Dinner, camp gear, ice cream and apparently, in the summer, a small cafe.  There is also several other things to check out, including a nature centre (not open when we were there) the Lighthouse Interpretive Center and Gift Shop (also not open) and a nice selection of trails.  We were only able to get to one, the Marsh Boardwalk Trail, (the kids didn't want to stop throwing rocks in the lake long enough to eat let alone go for a hike) and we took the dogs for a walk along the bike trail.  I definitely recommend the Marsh Boardwalk Trail.  There is 800m of boardwalk, excellent for spotting birds.  We saw a family of swans feeding.  Swans were introduced to the area and have thrived here.  Experts are unsure of the impact their presence will have on the eco-system yet, but they sure were cool to see.

Mom, Dad and three babies

We aren't big bird enthusiasts, mostly because its not an activity one can do with young kids who don't understand the concept of quiet, but I did manage to spot 4 species I hadn't seen before: Double-crested Cormorant, Common Flicker, Eastern Kingbird and Northern Waterthrush. We also saw lots of Red Winged Blackbirds, and there were some brave crows and bluejays who kept stealing kibble out of the dogs dishes.

Considering the time of year, we were lucky to not have swarms of black flies and mosquitoes.  Some of the parts along the bike trail had swarms of little flies that I'm not entirely sure the name of, and in some spots it was so bad it was like walking through a beaded curtain.  They don't bite though, it was just annoying to suddenly get a mouth full of little flies.

I did a quick check to see how booked up Presqu'ile is in the summer, choosing 2 nights, mid week in mid July and other than Trails End Campground and High Bluffs, most areas are about 50% booked.  Whether this indicates the park is semi-quiet all summer is debatable but when you look at how quickly parks like Algonquin fill up, it does seem possible. When I did the same thing on a random July weekend (non-holiday weekend) the only campground with available sites was Craig's, which is radio free.  We never take a radio, but I guess a lot of people must if only 11 out of 35 sites there were booked when the rest of the park is entirely full.  I put the question out to you, how important is it to you to have music playing when you are camping?

I got the feeling a lot of locals use the park on a regular basis for biking and hiking.  When we were in line to get our camping permit, there were a lot of people there getting day-use season passes.  Yes the pass lets you use any Ontario Park (excluding overnight use) but considering a lot of these people biked in to buy their pass, I figured it must be popular with those in and around Brighton. This is understandable because the bike path runs right along the shore of Lake Ontario (for the most part) and there are three really nice beaches and a lot of picnic areas, including a brand new screened in picnic shelter.

In general, I give Presqu'ile a good rating.  The site are the usual mix of good and bad, like with any park, but the good out number the bad.  There is plenty of things to occupy your time, lots of trails, as well as a store and educational opportunities.  Brighton is only a few minutes away and has at least two grocery stores where you can get supplies, and there is a Walmart about 15 minutes away in Trenton. (We had to make a trip there to get a few more little propane canisters.

If anyone else has been to Presqu'ile and would like to share their impressions, stories or favourite sites, leave a comment.  I'd be interested in hearing what others thought of this park.

Why I love Spring!

There are so many things to do in spring to get ready for camping. Every time I get to do one, I get all excited, because it's one step closer to actually going out there and camping.

Today we pulled our camper out of it's winter storage place, tucked between the garage and the fence. Not only did I get to pull out all my camp dishes but the kids found toys they hadn't seen since last fall.

Also, in the last few weeks, Chris and I have gone to a closed Provincial Park, and just walked around, checking out the beaches, the sites and picked out exactly where we want to stay when we go there. There is something very peaceful about a provincial park before it's full of people. That's why I like going early in the year, so you can have the comforts of an organized campground, but with the privacy you'd get in the back country...almost.

We've also gone to various camping stores and bought some new toys. The kids got to go to Bass Pro Shops for the first time and both of them fell in love. They have decided they want cots now for when we tent camp...all I can say is, I won't be the one carrying them over portages. Alright, I probably will, but only after I've made them carry them for a while first.

So, this week, I'll be washing all my camping dishes, getting some bins that will fit in the under-seat storage areas for our gear, and redoing our packing master lists. I might try out some new recipes as well, and post them here if they turn out.

Camp Fun: Dice

Over Easter weekend, I learned a new game while visiting my grandparents and its a perfect camp game. All you need are five dice, a bowl and objects to use as markers. We used pennies, but if you need to you could probably use pine cones, pebbles, or jelly beans.

The game is called Dice...that's it, nice and simple. It's easy for kids to pick up, has no set number of players, the tools won't take up much space in your backpack, and its fun.

To start off, everyone gets 3 of whatever marker you are using. The first person rolls all five dice. For every 1 rolled, that person passes a marker forward to the next person in the circle. For every 2 rolled, you pass a marker to the person behind you. For every three rolled, you put that many markers in the bowl (the kitty) You have to remember to do these in order, 1s first, then 2s, then 3s. 4, 5 and 6 are safe numbers, meaning they don't make you do anything.

So...if you have 3 markers and you roll the following, 1, 1, 3, 5, 5 you would pass 2 markers to the next person and put one in the kitty. This leaves you with no markers left but it doesn't put you out of the game. The next person, on their roll may roll a 2 thus giving you a marker, and when it gets around to the person behind you, they may roll a 1, giving you a marker too.

If you had rolled 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 when you had three markers, you pass one forward, two back and obviously can't do the threes. You always keep to the numerical order of the tasks.

If its your turn, and you have no markers, you don't roll. Eventually more and more markers will find their way into kitty. The game ends when only one person has markers. It takes about 5-10 minutes, depending on how many people are playing. See, very simple.

When we were camping we had planned to play this with foil wrapped easter candy but the kids ended up falling asleep right after dinner. You could play this for reward...say you played with candy. Everyone has to bring their own ante, and whoever wins the round gets to keep all the candy in the kitty. If you are playing with pinecones, you could make the fire the kitty. Kids love to throw things into the fire, so rolling a 3 would let them burn things. Of course, this would mean you would run out of markers, unless your camp site happens to have an abundance of them lying around.

Trip Log: Mew Lake, Algonquin Park - April 9-10 2012

For the last few years, my mum and I have talked about spending Christmas in a yurt in Algonquin Park, but to be honest, as much as I want to do it, I was worried about just how warm it would be in a yurt at that time of year. So we decided to try an Easter trip, sort of a test run. With the warm weather in March, I half expected summer temperatures for the trip, but instead we were blessed with cold wind, rain, snow and hail.

We arrived at the yurt at about 1:30, a little early for check in but decided to see if it was empty yet and it was. Immediately the kids were poking around, picking a bunk, ready to explore and find moose. We'd seen one on the way to Mew Lake, and with bets having been placed on how many we'd see for the whole trip, we were hoping to see a lot.



We unloaded and set up the beds, cooked up some hamburgers and then headed to the visitors centre (although we've been through it dozens of times, we still go to check out the bookstore and see if we can see any wildlife from the viewing platform. We then drove to the East Gate, and took a detour down to the Opeongo Store. It wasn't open, obviously, but we hadn't been down there before and wanted to check it out.

When we arrived back at the campground, dad and Chris took a nap while mum and I took the kids on a bike ride to scope out all the other sites. It was drizzly and cold, and in retrospect, probably not a great idea considering the kids and I were getting over colds. All three of us are back to the worst stage of the cold now.

I have to say I was actually impressed with Mew Lake. The sites are, for the most part, large, and much more private than other campgrounds we've stayed at in Algonquin. The ones along the waterfront in the electrical section especially are nice. The only issue you might have is with the highway noise. There are a lot of big trucks roaring their way down highway 60, and you can definitely hear them.



We got dinner started (Pork roast cooked in mum's dutch oven) and while that was cooking, Chris and I took a little hike to see if we could find the waterfall someone told him about. From the garbage area at Mew Lake, there is a trail that leads either to the Track and Tower Trail, or to the Old Railway Bike Trail and the Old Airfield. To get to the water fall, you want to take the track and tower trail until you come to a 4 way crossroads where the trail passes the Highland Backpacking Trail. Turn left. It's only a short distance and you'll hear the water before you see it. There's a bridge, and a 50m portage for those travelling the Madawaska River. There were a lot of wolf tracks on the trail, as well as wolf scat. The signs in the bathrooms indicate there has been a wolf hanging around, who has lost it's fear of humans. We didn't see him though, which was disappointing on one hand and a huge relief on the other.




It was almost dark by the time we got back, and with muddy trail and drizzly rain we were wet, cold and hungry. Dinner was ready by the time we got back, Pork roast, carrots cooked in foil, salad, minute rice and biscuits. After dinner, the kids pretty much fell straight asleep so we all ended up going to bed early.

During the night all the adults swore they heard a train go by, complete with train whistle. No trains still run through the park, so either it had to be a large truck with a very odd horn, our imagination, or a ghost train...it was very strange. All of us heard growls outside the yurt in the early morning as well. I thought I heard a dog whimpering. The good thing about the yurt was that with the heater, when it cut in, you couldn't hear the highway noise for a few minutes at a time. On the other hand, it left me with a fear that I'd step out of the yurt in the middle of the night to go to the outhouse, and walk straight into a pack of wolves or a few bears...silly, I know but if you can't hear, you have no idea what might be out there.

It was cold, rainy and windy the next morning and it took forever to cook breakfast. It was almost lunch time when we sat down to eat our eggs, bacon, and maple beans. After packing up we headed out to see if we could spot any more moose, and saw only one, near where we'd seen one the day before. We drove home in a mix of snow, rain and hail, eager for some Tim Horton's coffee.

Having fun without blowing your budget

Every spring, I make a vow to get the kids out doing lots of fun things during their summer break. Lots of swimming, hiking, geocaching, and camping, with some visits to places like the zoo or the science center. My plans usually fall apart when reality hits and I realize, after our first trip, just how much gas it takes to haul our camper any distance, or how expensive it can be to stop at the grocery store to grab a few things for a last minute picnic lunch.

Compared to a lot of other trips, camping is fairly inexpensive. If you look at the cost of spending a day in an amusement park with a family of four, and how much it costs to spend a day hiking, with a picnic, the difference is significant but it can still get pricy.

Two nights of camping in a provincial park costs about $100 for the site. On a trip to Algonquin last summer, where we didn't do much extra driving, we put about $160 worth of gas in our SUV (keep in mind we were towing a 13' fiberglass camper) and food wise, we probably spent another $150 (including a lunch at the Visitor Center cafeteria.) Compared to 2 nights in a hotel, dining at restaurants three meals a day, it's still cheaper, but it was still a good chunk of money for us at the time.

With the price of food and gas rising, a summer full of even day trips to places that don't charge admission can tax your budget. Then there are the times unexpected expenses crop up that leave little for fun trips. I know it's advised to have an emergency fund to cover those costs, but lets face it, not all of us do. If you plan ahead you can enjoy lots of outings without dipping into your normal grocery budget, or taxing your normal gas budget.

1) Start a summer-fun-fund
By putting money aside every month, all winter long you can cover the cost of gas, at least some it, for those times when money is tight.

2)Book campsites early when possible.
By booking early (Provincial Parks let you book up to 5 months in advance of your arrival date) you aren't paying for reservations while also covering the other costs of your trip. Not only that, but you get a better range of sites to choose from. Those beautiful sites on the water, with lots of privacy? They go fast, so plan ahead. If you want to arrive on July 13, you can book that site as of 7am on February 13th. It doesn't always mean you'll get the site. Since you can book a trip for more than one night, (up to 23 nights I believe) it's possible someone has already booked it as part of a longer trip.

3) Create a camping stock pile
When pancake mix comes on sale, grab an extra box. Make a list of foods you usually take with you camping, or items you usually pack into a picnic. A lot of them have long shelf lives, so when they come on sale if you grab a few and set them aside, you'll be reducing the amount of money you'll have to spend last minute. We tend to be really bad for this. We stop at the grocery store on the way to the campground to buy our supplies. Not only are we paying full price for things, we tend to add impulse items that we don't really need. Also, keep in mind the things you tend to pick up at the campground's store (if they have one) the prices tend to be a bit higher there, so if you know you'll probably end up buying candy or chocolate bars, it makes sense to have bought some before hand for a lower price. If you can get them on sale, and add some coupons, you'll be saving a lot of money. The only issue now is not to eat them before hand. Try keeping these items in a storage box, or hidden somewhere. If you can't see them all the time, you'll be less likely to dip into them.

Keep in mind expiry dates, and don't go overboard. This isn't Extreme Couponing, you don't need 150 boxes of granola bars, or 800 bottles of sports drink. Don't buy things you won't use.

4) If you do a lot of back country camping, consider dehydrating your own meals. There are a lot of good videos on youtube with recipes and how-to-advice. There is a bit of a learning curve, but it can save you a lot of money compared to buying the dehydrated meals sold in stores. Think drying your own food will limit you to basic, boring fare? Think again. There are some fabulous books full of recipes that are anything but boring. Think Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup, Shrimp and Herb Pasta, Blueberry Pancakes and so much more. You can also make your own fruit roll-ups and know that your kids aren't getting a bunch of added sugar and preservatives. I'll be writing more on this topic in the future.

5) Find local trails and destinations. I bet there are more options close to home than you might think. Check out Ontario Trails for your region and see what you can find. Also, there are still some places where it's possible to backpack or canoe camp on crown land, so there is no permit required and no fee.

By planning ahead, it's possible to enjoy a summer full of exploring and adventure, without hurting your budget.