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: Algonquin Provincial Park: Kingscote Lake August 2-3, 2016

Just a quick one nighter.  With a 3 night trip to Lake of Two River's planned for the 4th, we didn't want to have to pack for 2 trips back to back, because there's no doubt we would have forgot multiple things.  It would have been nice to stay a second night, but maybe next time.

We arrived at the put in around 2pm, having narrowly avoided being creamed by a log truck driving way to fast on the dirt road.  The dust the truck kicked up blinded us for a good couple minutes and honestly I'm surprised they didn't go off the road.  They seemed to be swerving all over the place.

MEC Camper 4 and a $15 Walmart tent

It was hot and sunny, we slapped on sunscreen (except Chris) and headed out.  The kids had their own canoe this time.  We'd bought a little 12 foot canoe off the side of the road a while back, and wanted to see how they liked paddling it.  They said it was okay for the most part, but the seats were kind of high, which made it awkward.  Squatch had the same problem I had in it when Chris and I took it for a little day trip.  Sitting in the front is very squishy.  There's no distinguishable difference between the bow and stern, the seats are spaced evenly, so the person in the bow, doesn't have a lot of space for their knees.

But they did well, and though they were slower than us (even with me only paddling half strokes because the dog was right behind my elbow most of the way) they weren't frustrated or anything.  Tuckered out after the paddle?  Yeah, a bit.  They both had sore arms, and but they said it was worth it because they are now "ripped."

Our goal was the campsite at the very end of the lake, near the portage into Big Rock Lake.  This was where we'd stayed previously and really liked the site.  Unfortunately the site was occupied, so we back tracked and took the last site on the eastern shore.  It was pretty small, but there were some nice rocks for jumping off into deeper water, and since it was only for one night, we figured it was good enough.

Evening on Kingscote Lake

While the boys swam and Bubbie dipped her feet in the water, I got the tents set up.  I'd gotten a new tent for Christmas from Chris, a MEC Camper 4, and have been eager to try it out.  It went up easily, and other than arranging the fly, I was able to do it on my own.  We also brought this $15 kids tent we bought ages ago at Walmart.  When the kids were little we'd set it up in one of their rooms and they'd have campouts together.  It's small and light, so we brought it along.  It ended up being just barely big enough for Bubbie to lay in, but they had a great time sleeping in their own tent (I'm guessing mostly because Biscuit wasn't bunting them in the face all night like he usually does.)

I broke out some snacks after that and we realized the folly of taking chocolate dipped granola bars on a trip when the temperature is hovering near 30.  After snacks was more swimming for the boys while Bubbie and I dangled our feet in the water.  There were dozens of minnows swimming around our feet, and some of them were really big.  Also there were lots of sunfish around.  As we did on our last trip to Kingscote, the kids spent most of the trip letting fish nibble their toes.  This led to us bringing out the goPro and getting some really cool underwater footage.

Dinner that night was a random concoction I put together at the last minute since we didn't have time for me to really prepare and dehydrate something.  We had a box of 3 cheese manicotti Hamburger Helper.  To that we added some red lentils, and some dried mushrooms and peppers.  It was pretty decent, not fabulous by any means and for sure not very healthy.  Thankfully the Chop Chop salad was more nutritious.

After dinner, there was more swimming while I washed up.  I got the air mattresses blown up and by then it was getting dark.  There was a night burning only stipulation, since we'd had so little rain, so we had a very small fire, then went to town with many, many buckets of water to put it out.  I was so paranoid about it, I had Squatch pouring water on the ground all around the outside of the fire pit the whole time it was burning.

We headed to bed, and talked for a while.  The tents were right side by side, since the site was really small and barely had room for one tent.  Once it was fully dark, Chris and I went out and looked at the stars.

We brought Biscuits sleeping bag this time, and it helped a lot with settling him down.  Normally he paces...all night.  This time he spent the whole night sucking on the blanket.  He gets a wad of it in his mouth then snores because his nose is pressed against it.  By morning the entire thing was soaked, but it kept him quiet for the most part.  Until the sun came up at least, then he resumed pestering us to get out.

Morning Coffee on Kingscote Lake

The night was almost strangely quiet.  There were bullfrogs on and off, and of course a lot of loons but no crickets or insect noises.  It was a little unnerving.  In the past, occasionally there will be a few minutes were all the night sounds die off and my mind wanders to tales of supernatural creatures scaring the nocturnal creatures into silence.  The kids were just happy there were no Whippoorwills around.

While we were mostly warm when we went to bed, with our site being on the eastern shore, it wouldn't get sun until around 11am, so we all woke up chilly.  Oatmeal and coffee helped with that, then we set about packing up.

Biscuit fell off the rock ledge into the water trying to get a cracker from Chris.  That was the first time he's gone on past his belly and he looked horrified.  Chris was able to easily pull him in, the water being only an inch below the top of the rock.  I was worried he'd try and hide like he used to...by climbing under the tent fly and stomping down the tent but he didn't.

Morning on Kingscote Lake

It was such a beautiful calm morning, we didn't want to leave.  We took our time on the paddle out.  Biscuit would get antsy when the kids canoe got close because he wanted to switch back and forth, so we had to get ahead of them so he couldn't see them as well.

We had planned to explore more of the southern part of the lake, maybe check out the other campsites in the south east but I forgot to put sunscreen on the kids and it was after 11 when we got on the water.

After a quick stop at the Pine Grove Point campground to get some Gatorade and snacks, we headed home to repack our gear for the next trip.

TRIP LOG - Presqu'ile Provincial Park, May 19-20, 2014

Our usual Victoria Day Weekend plans got cancelled this year.  We normally take the Monday and Tuesday nights to go camping but this year, because of school issues, we couldn't take the second night.

We decided to still do a night, and originally were going to go canoe camping, probably at Kawartha Highlands.  It's not too far to go, and we could get to a campsite after a 20 minute paddle, then I started thinking about Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park...we were all set to go there when the night before I thought I'd see what sites were available at various parks for the night.  As luck would have it, our favourite site at Presqu'ile was available so we threw everything into the boler and headed there instead.

After a late start (having to reorganize everything that was in packs, then having wiring issues with the trailer lights...) we got to the park around 2 in the afternoon.  We were all starving, so we made lunch right away then it started to rain while we ate.  Lunch wasn't anything special, though it's one of the kids favourites.  Macaroni with canned tomatoes.

After lunch, Chris had a nap while the kids and I played various games from our rainy day fun box. Around five, the rain died off so Chris decided we should drive down to the lighthouse.  Then he took off with the dog while i got the kids ready.  We sat in the car waiting, not knowing where he was going or if he'd maybe decided not to bother with driving and ran to the light house instead.  He came back after ten minutes and we headed out in the car.

As soon as we got there, it started to sprinkle a bit.  We figured we could still take some photos so we kept moving towards the lighthouse.  Then the sky opened up and it started to pour like crazy.  We made a dash for the little covered shelter behind the lighthouse and watched the rain on the lake.  The water is such a range of blues here that it's quite pretty.  Then Chris noticed a rainbow, and a few minutes later, it became a double rainbow.  None of the pictures really pick up the second one, because it was really faint, but the main rainbow seemed to light up the water at each end. It really is easy to see why people could think they are made from magic.

Dinner that night was an adaptation of a recipe off the back of a Minute Rice box.  I'd made it all up ahead of time (substituting lentils for the ground beef) and dehydrated it since we'd originally planned to go canoe camping.  It turned out really well, and the whole pot got eaten up with no left overs for the dog.

We had a quick fire that night, and the kids and Chris toasted marshmallows.  Squatch's shoes had gotten soaked from playing down at the water, so we tried to dry those out a bit, but it didn't really work too well.  After the fire was out, the kids and Chris played some cards while I made up the beds then we all read for a bit and went to sleep.

I got up early the next morning and Biscuit and I walked all over the park for two hours.  Did I mention that when we first arrived, the site next to us had a Boler on it?  I talked to the man who owned it for a few minutes that morning.  We often see a Boler or Trillium on a trip, but to have one right next to us, on a mid week, off season trip when the park was pretty much empty was really cool.

Breakfast, once everyone got up, was oatmeal with coconut, Craisons and brown sugar for Chris and I, and cold cereal for the kids.  We also had tea and hot chocolate.

Packing up was depressing, because it ended up being such a beautiful day.  Such a short trip, but a good one.  It was just nice to finally be out camping.

Trip Log - Restoule Provincial Park - August 5-7, 2012

I just realized I reviewed Restoule Provincial Park, but didn't do a proper write up of our trip.

Chris's sister and her boyfriend were joining us for this quick two night camping trip.  We were meeting up at Chris's parents house north of Huntsville the day before for their annual family reunion/party thing.  In the past, a lot of Chris's family would show up and sleep in the back field in tents, there'd be a lot of burgers grilled and various types of alcohol consumed.  It's toned down a lot in recent years.   There's still lots of burgers and booze, but each year the number of people camping out in the back yard has fallen.  This year, there was us, Chris's sister and a cousin from the states who brought their little trailer. (It should be noted that the following year, it was just us...Everyone else would rather crash on whatever section of floor they can find inside...)

So since we were already going to be so far north, and Keri had to go back to Petawawa after the trip, we'd head further north and not make her journey any longer than necessary.  Restoule seemed like a good choice.

Chris's dad was upset we were leaving.  He didn't understand why we were going somewhere else to camp when we could camp in his back yard for free, but we had already made reservations (and nobody at Restoule suddenly remembers household maintenance they need help doing since two strong young men are there...)

I felt kind of bad for Matt, Keri's boyfriend.  He'd been having stomach issues the whole day before but swore he was good to go.  He's military, and has a lot of skills in the camping department, so I think it was kind of a let down doing front country camping, and he didn't even get to use his stove or gear because we had all our big car camping stuff.  He did start the fire and impressed the kids by doing it the way they always see in Youtube videos - with birch bark, twigs and a sparker.

The beach at Restoule kinda, well it kinda sucked.  Water levels might have been low and there were fire bans in a lot of nearby areas, so maybe it would be better with higher water levels.  The water stays shallow for quite a ways then drops down to sticks and mush.  Luckily for us it was a little chilly for swimming anyway so we didn't feel like we were missing out.

Dinner was foil roasted potatoes, little pork chops and vegetables.  We had banana boats for dessert.

Keri and Matt only stayed one night.  Matt wasn't sure he'd be able to stay the full time, so we kind of expected it.  They stayed long enough to do a hike with us (The Fire Tower Trail which was awesome but definitely bring good shoes...flip flops are not appropriate as I found out)  and left after lunch.

It was kind of sad for the kids I think.  They really like having other people camp with us. I don't really remember what we did or ate for meals after they left.  Probably spaghetti for supper and cold cereal for breakfast.

I'm not sure where the pictures from this trip are.  I'll try to dig them up but I don't think there were many.  Next time we go camping with Matt and Keri, we are going to canoe camp...we just have to get them a canoe for their upcoming wedding!

Trip Log: Presquile Provincial Park - May 21-23, 2012

I was adding more links to the Trip Log's page this morning when I realized I hadn't actually posted a trip log for our trip to Presquile last year.  I wrote a review of the park, but no trip log.  As this is the trip we still hold up as the standard to which all other trips get compared to (well, up until we went to Achray, now its our unanimous favourite), I should probably write up what I can remember.

From what I recall, it didn't start well.  The drive wasn't long, maybe an hour and a half, but the kids complained most of the way.  That might have had something to do with the fact the dogs were in the back of the car, huffing bad breath and drooling over their shoulders.  I can't really blame them for not enjoying the trip to the park.

The beach at our campsite

We got our permit and went to our site.  Before we did anything else, we headed to the water and the kids went nuts about the smooth stones.  While Chris and I set up the trailer and got the dog's ropes tied up, they explored along the shore.  We had a quick lunch of sandwiches and lemonade, then went to check out the Visitor's Centre.  Since we'd arrived on the monday of the Victoria Day weekend, we were hoping it would still be open.  It wasn't, so we spent some time exploring the lighthouse and the little paths in the area, then headed back to camp.

I can't remember what we had for dinner that night, just that I made bumbleberry crisp on the BBQ.   I remember the kids spent most of their time looking for fossils in the rocks on shore and when dinner was ready, I kept calling them but they couldn't hear over the sound of the waves and wind coming off Lake Ontario.  They found quite a few, and this became the main source of fun for the whole trip.  Chris got them into their swimsuits at one point and they waded into the water.  Dixie went along for the little walk.  She didn't like Chris being out of her sight, and whined when he's not around.  We went for a short walk along the bike bath then had a quick campfire so the kids could roast some marshmallows.

Our site at Presqui'le

The next morning the kids went right back to searching for fossils and wading in the water.  I don't remember what Chris and I had for breakfast, probably eggs and bacon, but the kids had cold cereal (as usual)  Pretty much the whole trip was spent on the shore of our site.  At one point Chris tried out his new "footie" shoes and ran to the lighthouse and back.  We also did the boardwalk before dinner our second day.  It started to rumble while on the hike, but I don't think we got more than a sprinkle of rain.  While the kids and Chris were playing in the water, I went for a walk and saw a family of swans in a little pond.  We also had to make a run in to Trenton to the Walmart for more propane.

Dinner our second night was awesome.  It was only spaghetti, but we dragged the picnic table out onto the rocks on shore.  The sky was crazy dark, and it looked like it was going to storm.  It sprinkled a bit in the night, and we ended up putting a tarp up over the picnic table so we could eat breakfast.  I think we had pancakes (kids had cold cereal again) then headed out.

Looking back I don't know why this held top spot on our list of favourite camping trips.  We didn't do anything super memorable, but I guess it's not about that (otherwise we'd go to Wonderland several times a summer.)  What made this trip so good was the good weather, the lack of bugs, and the fact the kids never had an "I'm bored" moment.  

Approaching storm over lake ontario

One thing we always talk about from this trip is the lasso golf game we got.  Chris and I had spent ages trying to get one on sale.  Every time we went to get one, they'd be sold out, then finally we got one at TSC.  The kids were so excited.  Chris set it up the first night, probably while I made dinner, and on the third throw, one of the plastic connectors broke and the ladder fell apart.  Chris fixed it up, and two minutes later another one broke.  It got to the point where after every throw, the whole ladder would fall apart.  We were so disappointed!  After so long trying to get one, it ended up being a piece of garbage that lasted about 10 minutes before it was completely unusable. (we're still on the lookout for a set made of sturdier material...like wood)

Trip Log: Mew Lake March 28-30, 2013

First camping trip of the year!  And a fabulous birthday present for me.  I'm thinking I should make this a new tradition, to go camping for my birthday.

We'd been planning this trip for quite a while, since before Christmas at least.  Last year for Easter weekend, we spent a night in a yurt at Mew Lake, but this year, all the yurts were booked, so we thought we'd take a chance and see how well camping in mum and dad's tent trailer with the electric heater would be.  I couldn't see it being much different than hot tenting, except we wouldn't have to be up most of the night stoking the fire.