Trip Log: Big East Lake - July 11-12, 2018

Our first trip of the summer was a one night trip to a favourite site in the Haliburton Water Trails.  The site is rarely available, so even getting one night was a score.

As it was our first trip of the year for canoe camping, we had to find all of our gear.  Some of it needed a last minute washing, and I hadn't had a chance to dehydrate any meals yet, but we were able to leave home by noon and get to the parking area by 1:30 or so.  The road from Carnarvon to the put in was under construction, and it was a super hot day, but thankfully there weren't too many bugs as we unloaded and hauled our gear down the 250 meter portage.

Chris and Squatch took the dog in our 14 foot Scott Canoe, while Bubbie and I took most of the gear in the Swift Kipawa.  We realized part way there we hadn't made sure the weight was evenly distributed so we kept pulling to the left, but it wasn't too big of a deal.  We were distracted by two loons popping up ten feet in front of us.  They were a little startled by our presence and dove again almost immediately.

A man in a kayak passed us on his way out and asked if we had no boys with us.  I replied we did, but they were ahead in another canoe, to which he commented that we should work harder to catch up.  A little miffed, I told him we had to keep distance between us or the dog would get antsy wanting to jump between the two canoes.

One of the baby loons with mom or dad

As we approached the island where we would be camping, we spotted two more loons, this time with two babies.  The babies were making little sounds.  It was so adorable.

It wasn't long after we arrived at our campsite.  The boys were already there, eager to get their swim suits out of the packs in our canoe, so they could start jumping off the rocks.

While they swam, Bubbie and I set the tents up then went and watched them for a while.  They made a friend in the water, a frog sitting in a shallow water filled crevice where he had a tiny cave he could hide in.  They called him Mr. Slippy.

Haliburton County (and many surrounding areas as well) had issued a fire ban so after swimming, there was no need for Chris to hunt for wood so he blew up the sleep pads.  Last year we purchased this device for blowing them up.  It's a big dry bag basically, with a spot to poke the air mattresses valve through.  You fill the bag with air, roll it closed and then push the air into the sleeping pad.  It works well, but the first few times you fill the bag, it doesn't seem like it's putting any air into the pads at all.  Chris was getting frustrated and swore the thing was useless, but then all of a sudden it's obvious it's working.

While watching him struggle with that, I started rehydrating dinner, which was a Enchilada Bean and Corn Chili.  It's vegan, filling, and very yummy.  I make it with a bottle of taco sauce rather than enchilada sauce just because the first time I made it I couldn't find enchilada sauce and since the kids liked it...well I didn't want to mess with a good thing.  I also add dehydrated brown rice into it.

Bubbie broke out the trail mix and began picking through it, trying things she claimed she'd never had before.  I told her to stop "Hi-grading the gorp" and she thought I said "hydrating the gorf" which resulted in a four hour debate on what "gorf" stands for with me constantly saying "gorp!  It's a p not an f!" Every time a chipmunk or squirrel came around hoping for a hand out, the kids called them gorf-rats.  Isn't it amazing how a bag of mixed nuts and fruits can entertain four people for a few hours?

We ate our dinner and spent some time discussing which 80's songs were good and which weren't.  Chris was of the opinion they all sucked, but the kids are currently obsessed with all things 80's so it was a fun debate.

I had gotten Chris to set up the Eureka VCS 16 bug shelter thinking the mosquitoes might get bad around twilight and in the morning while we were making breakfast.  Since there was a fire ban, we wouldn't be able to keep them at bay that way.  We didn't end up using it at all, so I felt kind of bad because we had a bit of trouble setting it up.  We've only used it once, and it's got a bit of a learning curve.

As it was getting dark, we headed to our tents.  The kids spent a long time talking and Chris and I spent a long time getting the dog to settle down.  He wants on our sleep pads, which leaves us partially on the ground.

Once it got darker he settled down.  I heard owls in the distance, and lots of bull frogs, and of course loons.  At one point they must have been right at the shore where we had landed our canoes because it was so loud for a second, in my sleep fogged brain, it sounded like they were right outside the tent.

I got up to take Biscuit out, then went back to bed to sleep for a bit. Surprisingly he let me, though from that point on, if one of us rolled over, or moved, he'd jump up and bunt our face to convince us it was time to get up and enjoy the day.

Before long, we all got up, probably about 8:30, and spent some time watching the loon family we had seen on the way in.  They were right off the point of our site, with one of the parents flying in to join them before they rounded the island and made their way out of site.

We started the morning with hot chocolates for the kids, and coffee for Chris and I, then breakfast of instant oatmeal for the others and a Lara Bar for myself.  I'm seriously not a fan of instant oats.  The texture makes me gag.  I had intended to make pancakes, but somehow our food bag was too full to fit anything else.  I don't know how that happened.  It's a pretty large bag, but I guess it was one of those things where someone would say, "we can put that in the food bag" and before you know it, there's no room left in it for all the food!

It was going to be a super hot day, so we started packing up and hit the water.  The paddle out was nice, there was a bit of a breeze but nothing that made paddling unpleasant.  Just enough to cool us down.

Once we made it to the put in, we started the process of hauling everything back up the hill to the car.  I managed to carry the big yellow canoe pack up, though this left my knees sore for a few days.  The trail is mostly up hill, and goes over some pretty steep, bare Canadian Shield.  The step ups were not easy.  At one point, I stopped on the side of the trail to let a man go down with his canoe.  The weight of the pack almost toppled me over into the bushes.

With everything back in the car, we headed out, all of us thirsty, and cursing the road construction that kept us from nice cold drinks in Carnarvon.

This was a fun, short trip.  Seeing the baby loons was pretty awesome.