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.

Trip Log: Frost Centre: Margaret Lake to Three Island Lake, July 4-5, 2017 (aka The First Hellish Portage We Experienced)

I'm going to get blamed for this trip for years to come, I can tell.  We started out planning to put in at Canoe Lake in Algonquin and go into either Teepee Lake or Little Doe Lake for two nights, but then I got to thinking about how the first portage out of Canoe Lake is so busy.  Biscuit with a lot of strangers?  Hmmm maybe not such a good idea.  So I studied the maps and decided that we could put in at Magnetawan Access and portage in for a few nights on Ralph Bice Lake.  It looked nice, it had good number of available sites still, and I'd seen pictures of some of the sites and they looked like they had actual sand beaches.

I waffled back and forth between doing two nights on one lake or the first on Ralph Bice, then a second night on Little Trout Lake, but in the end, decided to just relax for the day.  When I went to book it, on the day before we intended to go, I was greeted with an error message saying the reservation didn't meet the required window?  I was confused, but a little digging into the regulations revealed that Algonquin's interior requires you book by 9pm two days before your intended arrival.  I'd had no idea!

So I had to regroup again.  We had thought we would go to the Frost Centre on the way back and do an easy night on a little lake, so Chris suggested we just flip it.  Do a night at the Frost centre, then head up to Magnetawan Access.  I went back to the maps, now actually kind of excited because doing it this way meant we were already part way up to the Algonquin Access which should give us a head start for getting to a good site.  Since we would book a Frost Centre site, based on a specific site rather than a lake, there was less rush to get out the door (which turned out to be a good thing, since we were still not fully packed, despite having the whole previous day to find and prepare things.)

I had picked out a few sites that were easy to get to.  No big lakes to cross, no long portages. I had originally thought about a couple of the sites right on St. Nora Lake, but Chris vetoed those, saying he wanted to get at least off the access lake.

The kids tent at Three Island Lake, Frost Centre

I showed him pictures and he really liked the little island site on Three Island Lake.  I warned him the portage was a bit longer than what we had done, but he said he'd be fine.  Since we were taking two canoes, he'd be portaging both while the plan was for me to take both the big packs, while the kids took their packs.

We didn't get much of an early start, but the paddle across Margaret Lake was quick and we pulled up to the portage ready to go.

The first issue was the mud.  After a short but easy climb we got to a section of the trail where the mud was thick, deep and swarming with mosquitoes.  We managed to bushwhack around without much trouble but the bugs followed us along the trail.  After another minute or two, we reached a logging road.  It was at this point that Chris set down the one canoe, in a clearing just off the road and went back to get the yellow pack.  (We quickly realized I couldn't even lift the bigger of our two packs...some rethinking on how we distribute items will have to be done.) Also, we met up with two men who were coming out of Three Island, and Chris wanted to make sure we hadn't blocked off the put in for them.

Shortly after we crossed the road, we came to a stand still.  With mosquitoes and black flies (and deer flies probably) like a cloud around us, the kids and I stared at a whole lot of recently downed trees.  So recent, in fact, the leaves hadn't even started to wilt.   The whole area looked like a tornado had gone through in the past, but there were a lot of really recent, really big trees blocking the trail.  We dropped our packs and scouted around for a sign of where others had went.  Finally, we scooted around a wall made by a trees roots, ducked under a fallen tree, and then climbed over a few...and we were home free...except then the trail went through more mud, a lot of raspberry bushes and a nice big patch of ferns, all of which were havens for even more mosquitoes.  As the lake came into view, the underbrush thinned out and we got a bit of breeze to keep them away but that only thinned them out a little.  Chris came back a minute later with the pack, then headed back for the canoe he'd brought part way in.  We ended up launching it with the kids gear and letting them paddle out onto the lake so they were at least out of the bugs while Chris and I went back for the last items (the second canoe and the food bag)

Biscuit contemplating a swim to escape the bugs

Chris was dripping sweat and blood by the time we got everything into the canoes on Three Island.  He was also cursing a bit.  Nobody was happy, knowing we would be enduring that portage again the next day.  Even the sight of the cute little island site we would be camping on, didn't cheered us up.

Chris and Squatch went for a swim.  Bubbie was going to but then we spotted a leech, so she changed her mind.  I got started on supper.  On a previous trip I had taken a box of Beef Taco hamburger helper and instead of adding hamburger, added peppers, beans, lentils and corn.  This time, I didn't even bother adding the seasoning packet since I'd dried a can of Chili spiced diced tomatoes.  I did add a few tablespoons of nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy texture, but don't tell them!  So basically I bought a box of Hamburger Helper...just for the pasta...might have to rethink that one for future trips...anyway the meal was really good...though there wasn't quite enough since I sort of spilled a little bit on the ground.

Early morning on Three Island Lake

When we arrived at the site, Chris was surprised to see a stack of firewood sitting beside the fire pit.  We got a fire going to help drive off the bugs, though they weren't as bad in the middle of the lake.  Since we hadn't gotten a very early start, the sun was getting low, and once it sank behind the trees, the bugs came out more aggressively, so we doused the fire and settled into bed.  None of us were looking forward to the next day.

I woke early.  I'm not sure what time exactly, but Biscuit figured it was time to get up, so I crawled out of the tent with him, taking along the cameras.  The lake was glass and there was a little bit of wispy fog dancing along it's surface.  I love mornings like this, and it kind of bums me out that everyone else sleeps through this beautiful time of day.  I'm pretty much always alone, waiting for everyone else to pop their heads out of the tents.

I watched a few loons circle the island, and a few birds flit around the trees above me.  It was relaxing, and yet  I was anxious too.  I knew once everyone else got up, we'd be heading back to that portage, and it was already getting hot.

This is the third island, where a campsite used to be

We opted not to make breakfast, though the option of granola bars was there for everyone.  Since we were heading to the Magnetawan Access in Algonquin for two nights, I wanted to get an early start and I knew if we waited until I made breakfast and cleaned up, we would be very late getting there.

So we packed up and headed back onto the water.  The trip back was just as miserable as the trip in had been.  Poor Chris had to make three trips, I made two.  After the first trip, I loaded the kids and a few of the packs into the canoe and told them to paddle out a bit like they had on the way in.  This kept them out of the bugs but it also left them sitting in the hot sun.  Chris had thought it would be a good idea to put one of the rain coats on, since the sleeves are elastic, and bugs wouldn't be crawling up his arms.  It worked, but by the time he got back with his third load, he was sweating so much it literally looked like he'd just poured a bottle of water down his shirt.  It was kind of scary and I was a bit worried about him.   We loaded up quickly and headed for the car where there were two bottles of sports drink (which were miraculously cold...)

We all agreed the site was cool but we wouldn't be coming back again until the portage was cleared and the bugs had died off.

The following week, Chris and I were driving back from Dorset and noticed a great deal of fresh blowdown in the area just north of Margaret Lake.  My parents had told us that a few days after this trip, they got a really bad storm, so we weren't sure when these trees feel, in the same storm that knocked trees across the portage, or the storm a few days later.  Either way, the area got hit pretty good with wind lately, so hopefully the people responsible for maintaining the routes will be out clearing the trails soon.