Trip Log: Algonquin Provincial Park, Lake of Two River,s October 24-26, 2015

Haunted Halloween Weekend!  I had been so excited to get Chris to this event, but getting him to take time off work proved a challenge.  He was only able to take Saturday off, and so we ended up getting up to the campsite at about 9:30pm on Friday night.  Mum and Dad had arrived earlier and gotten the trailer set up, so we had little to do but lay out our sleeping bags and eat a few snacks.

Chris and I had just bought new cold weather sleeping bags.  Price wise, we hadn't wanted to spend a lot of money and good winter bags are costly.  We weren't planning to go winter camping (yet) but wanted to be able to canoe camp earlier in the spring and into the fall without freezing at night.  We ended up purchasing Hot Core -20 bags from Cabela's for $129 each.  I admit I wasn't optimistic about their performance, though they'd gotten decent reviews.  We were in a heated trailer the first night so there wasn't really a chance to test them.  We would be sleeping in the tent the next night though so we'd get a chance to see how they were.

I got up early to let the dog out since he was bugging everyone.  He'd had a big drink before bed and was getting pretty desperate.  Mum came too and after a bit of shuffling we managed to go to the bathroom ourselves, then took the dogs for a walk through the unused part of Two Rivers, scoping out some cool campsites for future trips.  

It was kind of chilly (to be expected) and Mum wasn't keen on just having the planned oatmeal for breakfast.  Instead, once everyone was up, she talked us all into going to the visitor's centre for eggs and bacon.  It was a drab, miserable looking day so we set up a tarp over the trailer before we left (Dad had just bought a nice big one that actually covers the whole thing with room to spare so we don't look quite so ghetto.)

No wildlife was spotted on the drive, but there were still some leaves to look at.  We checked out the bookstore (I might have bought a book…) and had some breakfast.  The kids tried to get my brother to see them on the webcam but there were technical issues and it wasn't loading up for him.  We headed back to camp to start decorating.

I should say by this point, Chris wasn't all that impressed with the Halloween thing.  Not many sites had decorations up, and the ones that did were minimal.  I too was a little disheartened, but we hadn't been around Mew Lake yet and I was confident there would be more to see over there.  Chris set to work carving pumpkins and we got the site decorated and had some lunch (beef barley soup and grilled cheese sandwiches) then it was time to head to Mew for the costume contest.  Mum had purchased a bigfoot costume which Bubbie wore, while Squatch dressed up as Bobo from Finding Bigfoot.  They won a prize!  Now the kids were really excited and they knew from a quick drive around that we had a decent shot at the pumpkin carving contest prize as well.

We headed back to camp to get treat bags, then Chris and I headed back with the kids to trick or treat.  There were some cool sites but maybe for me there wasn't that wow factor because I'd done it before.  Chris seemed to enjoy it, and made sure to check out all the pumpkins.  There were a lot of people, and many of them were letting kids pick out their treat from a bowl.  Poor Bubbie couldn't grab anything because of her bigfoot hands so Squatch had to pick out stuff for her.

On our way back, Chris dropped us off at the start of the loop around Two Rivers and the kids went trick or treating around the few sites there.  Then, all of us chilled, we headed back to camp for dinner, then Chris took the kids back over to Mew Lake ice rink to see the presentation and see if they had won the pumpkin carving contest.  And we had!  (I shouldn't say we, I think Chris did all the carving...)  Unfortunately, I can't find any pictures of them, but the moose pumpkin on the Ontario Parks blog post about Halloween in the parks?  That's his.

Chris and I had set up a little 2 person tent we had bought and only used once.  During that trip, we had a horrible problem with no-see-ums and we haven't yet figured out if the tent's mesh wasn't fine enough to keep them out, or if they got in when the door was opened and we were setting up.  (You can read about that trip here.) We figured that wouldn't be a problem at the end of October.

We did worry a bit about rain though, since it had been drizzly all day.  The tent was only about $35 and so we doubted it's ability to keep us dry.  We had a small tarp so we set that up over it and left only a small tunnel for access, thus keeping us protected a bit from wind as well.

After enjoying the fire for a bit, we all headed to bed.  Being a bit concerned still about staying warm,  we opted to use our polar fleece liners, and boy were we warm.  Other than a little condensation in the tent we stayed dry, and not once was I chilly that night.  It was great.  I can't recall what the temperature was, but it was at least around the 0 mark.  The only disadvantage was that we couldn't zip them together since one was a mummy style.  Also, since they have hoods we weren't even sure we could zip them together if both were rectangular.  Something to look into for later.

The next morning we had breakfast and packed up.  Getting some of the decorations down proved to be a bit of a challenge, but we've learned our lesson...don't get those bags of spider web stuff!  They stick to the trees really well for decorating, but they don't come off without a lot of little strands being left behind.  The parks staff don't like that.

Trip Log: Algonquin Provincial Park: Lake of Two Rivers, August 4-7, 2016

Our second annual trip with my parents and my cousin's family.

Last  year, we camped at Pog Lake. It was an interesting experience, introducing Algonquin, and camping in general, to my cousin and his kids.  This year, with his boys being a bit older, things were a bit easier.  Last year the youngest was 4, and hated pretty much every minute of the trip.  This year, he told us he didn't want to leave.  Progress!

Along Bat Lake Trail

Chris and I arrived with our kids on the Thursday.  Everyone else would be arriving on Friday.  We'd just gotten back from a night at Kingscote, and it was Chris's vacation, so we wanted to get as much camping time in as possible.  Plus this gave us a chance to do some things the others might not want to do, like a longer hike.

We'd planned to arrive early, but didn't even leave the house until after 2pm.  We always think it's easier to take the Boler, because it's so much easier to pack and get organized but for some reason we just couldn't get it together as quickly as we'd hoped.  Still, it was a beautiful day, and we arrived at around 4:30pm.  We weren't sure we were going to make it at all, to be honest.  We arrived in Minden and planned to top up the gas tank so we wouldn't have to worry the whole weekend about running into Whitney.  But the gas gauge started acting up.  It would bounce from full to below empty, to half and back to full within 10 minutes.  So when we stopped in Minden, Chris topped it up and even though the gauge read at 1/4 of a tank, he only managed to put $10 into it before the pump clicked off.  For filling from 1/4 of a tank in that car, he should have been able to get $40 into it.

So the drive was a little nerve wracking, a little humorous, and filled with dog slobber and singing.  All in all, not that different than normal.  Our longer trips towing the Boler have always been fraught with car issues.  Last year on this family trip our transmission lines were spraying fluid as we drove.  A trip to Grundy Lake ended with us in Gravenhurst, waiting for my parents to come take the Boler because the trailer hitch had ripped off one side of the car frame.  Then on their way home, one of the tires on the Boler blew and they were stranded on the road until we got there.  It was the most expensive camping trip we never got to take.

But back to this trip.  Since we'd planned to get there early, I'd brought Veggie burgers for lunch, but we ended up eating them as dinner.   They were surprisingly good.  Then it was off to the beach for a swim so the kids could wash the dog slobber off.  I took Biscuit to the Dog beach and he hated it.  There were lots of little rocks in the first few feet of water, which was as far as I could go, and he kept dragging me over them so I couldn't pick the best/less painful spots to step.

We had a relaxing evening around the fire and went to bed early, still tired from our trip to Kingscote where none of us really slept well.

The next morning, we had bagels and decided to go for a hike.  I wanted to do Bat Lake since it was close by and we'd never done it before.  It was supposed to be hot, and the kids really didn't want to go.  I was starting to question the idea myself because by the time we got cleaned up, it was 11am and getting quite hot, and storms were expected to start mid afternoon.  Chris thought we should give it a go, even if we only made it part way through and came back.

The hike ended up being one of our favourites.  There are so many beautiful rocky creeks and cliffs, a nice lookout and we even saw a bear!  We were at post #10, and the kids were on the dock that goes out onto Bat Lake and I kept hearing something large breaking branches nearby.  Hoping it was a moose, I kept watching, and told Chris.  He went back up the trail a little hoping he could see it, and as he did, I saw a bear disappear behind a snapped off tree trunk.  A little unnerved but very excited, we moved on.  A family reached post 11 as we did and we warned them.  The mother was very excited and claimed they had food and would try and feed it.  I was too shocked to comment, because I didn't think anyone would be stupid enough to actually try and feed a bear...half way through a 5.8km hike where help would be pretty damn far off.  As we never heard any stories of a family getting attacked, I guess she was either kidding or they never saw the bear.

After the hike, we went to the Visitor's centre for ice cream treats.  We could have just gone to the Two Rivers store but it had been packed at the ice cream counter every time I'd been there, and I figured we could get the kids their patches for the Bat Lake Trail while we were out.

When we got back to camp, we went for a swim.  The sky was looking a bit dark, and we were thankful we'd put up a tarp before we left for the hike.  The hike took about 2 hours, and though we stopped at the look out for snacks (I discovered a new love of fig bars, especially the apricot peach ones they sold at the Two Rivers Store) we were all very hungry.  It poured rain for about 30 seconds, while the kids were swimming.  Then Chris came back to the car to stay with Biscuit while I went for a quick dunk to rinse the sweat off.  Once back at camp I made up some spaghetti while Chris and Squatch played catch, then we relaxed until everyone else arrived.

Since the rest of our group all had to work friday, we weren't sure if they'd arrive before dark, but everyone managed to get out early, and they got to their site at around 6.  They had planned to stop at the Halls Lake chip truck for dinner on the way up, but it had been closed, so after they got the tent trailer set up, and we set up Ian's tent, Mum and Stacey went over to get food from the cafe, while I took the kids to get ice cream.

We had a nice fire that night, and while Ian's kids were a little riled up we had a nice time catching up.  Much beer was drank, much more than usual, for some people.

The next morning, after a bit of a late start, we piled into our vehicles and headed to Mew Lake to go to the water fall.  Chris and I planned to paddle there later in the day while everyone else swam and paddle boarded...is that the right term?  Anyway, we got to the parking area and there was a sign saying the trail was closed due to bear activity.  Disappointed, we decided to do the Logging Museum Trail.  As I'm writing this, I haven't posted the log for last years trip, but one of the problems we had last year was that Ian's youngest didn't like anything we did.  Other than throwing pine cones in the fire.  He hated the hike we did last year and complained most of the time.  I was a little concerned we would have a repeat of that, but he LOVED it.  He ran ahead, excited over every display.  They were climbing on the alligator, upset about the graffiti written inside.  We were trying to tell them that people were just stupid when the oldest one comes out and says "It says suck big c*^& in there!" Why people feel the need to graffiti things in what is basically a museum display, is beyond me.

After the hike, Chris and I went into Whitney to top up on gas (just in case) then met up with Mum and Dad at the Visitor's centre.  Lunch was going to be nachos, but Dad can't eat them so Mum grabbed him a burger to take back to camp.

After lunch we headed to the beach.  Mum had her kayak, the kids had paddle boards, and Chris and I had our canoe.  Our efforts to find the entrance to the Madawaska were a little awkward.  At one point we paddled into both the little openings on each side of it but couldn't find the right one.  Then we back tracked and played around in the creek that goes along side the campground but it was narrow and Biscuit kept jumping out of the canoe.

Finally we found the right entrance, and headed upstream to the waterfall where the backpacking trail crosses the river.  It seemed to take forever, and I was sure everyone was going to be worried but in actuality, we'd only been gone 2 hours.  We didn't see any bear, just bikers crossing the bridge on the Rail Trail.

Our return to the beach resulted in us putting on a bit of a comedy act for some bathers.  Because the water is only a few inches deep for several feet out, we stopped a few meters from shore and Chris hopped out, planning to take Biscuit to the car while I carried the gear and he came back for the canoe.  Even though there was literally an inch and a half of water, Biscuit wouldn't get out!  He kept scrambling from spot to spot, looking for a better place to jump to shore, tangling the leash around my legs (one of which was still in the canoe) and nearly sending me face first into the water.  Finally, Chris had to drag the canoe right up to shore (with me still hopping along with one foot in the canoe) so Biscuit didn't have to get his feet wet.  And here we had been commenting on the canoeing skills of the people nearby, nearly tipping their boats and zigzagging all over the place.  I'm sure we looked ridiculous.

Needless to say, nobody was worried about us.  We got back and Ian had taken his eldest and Squatch to hike the Two River's Trail.  Mum and I drove over to the parking lot to give them a ride back, figuring we'd have ten minutes or so to wait and that the kids at least would be tired.  We barely had the truck turned off when they emerged out of the trail!  How's that for timing?

While we had been paddling, the kids had a good time swimming and playing on their paddle boards, though they had some issues with people in canoes running into them.  While Ian's oldest was trying it out, a couple in a canoe yelled at him to get out of their way.  Squatch was close by to help him out if necessary, and he yelled at the people that he was only a kid.  With so many people trying out canoeing in these areas, it's very easy to find yourself in a conflict.  Chris and I just went slow, let other people go a head rather than expect them to be able to steer.  While I love that so many people are out trying it out, it does make for a rather awkward time.

Back at camp, the youngest of the group was back to "helping with the fire" which translates to poking the sand in the fire pit with a stick and essentially putting the fire out.  He was told several times to stop, and I guess my dad teased him about it, and the little guy picked up his chair, threw it, then kicked it and went into the tent.  He was back a few minutes later poking at the fire.

Dinner that night was hotdogs and burgers for the rest of the group while Chris and I threw together a quick foil dinner of canned potatoes, black beans, corn, salsa and taco seasoning...it turned out really well but was a heck of a lot more food than we needed.

We spent another night sitting around, relaxing around the fire.  It began to rain at around 9, so we moved under the awning of Mum and Dad's trailer.   By this time all the kids had gone to bed

Packing up in the morning was pretty quick, even though we were in no rush.  Mum and Dad had to work though, and with the problem the car was giving us, we figured it would be best to leave with them so if we had any issues, help wouldn't be too far away.  Plus the kids could ride with them where there was far less dog slobber.

What makes me sad is I didn't realize until the last morning that I'd hardly taken any pictures.  Each day was pretty much spent cooking, then trying to clean up so we could go do an activity...then repeat.  I didn't even take a picture on our little paddle.

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.