Trip Log: Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park: July 8-9, 2015

I'll admit, I was kind of dreading this trip.  The kids and Chris love the site we had before on Fishog Lake but the paddle across Head Lake can be a pain, and the portage is hard on the knees.  We were also terribly disorganized, it being our first canoe trip of the year, and I was already cranky before we left home after having so much trouble finding things.

Head Lake was calm and we made good time.  We didn't even get dive bombed by gulls.  We did, however, have an issue once we got onto the river.  Biscuit was surprisingly calm after the first few minutes, then all of a sudden Chris asks why the dog has a third testicle.  Before I could say what?  he yells that the dog has poop hanging from his butt that he's trying not to release.  Unfortunately, he couldn't quite hold it and ended up pooping a little in the canoe.  I could already tell it was going to be an interesting trip.

Just realized how this could look bad...

We didn't arrive on Fishog until probably 5pm, and saw quickly that the site across the lake from the one we wanted had a tent on it.  I also saw a canoe rounding the point and thought we were going to lose our site.  I was dreading dealing with the others being upset and getting blamed for it because it had taken so long to get ready.   The other canoe had moved on and our site was empty, much to everyone's relief.

As I was unloading the canoe, I heard a big splash and realized Chris had just jumped in the lake.  Squatch quickly followed.

Still kind of grumpy from earlier, I set about getting organized.  We were too late for the lunch I'd planned, we decided to snack and make dinner.   Bubbie and I went out in the canoe to pump water, and paddled to the next point where we saw a father and son setting up.  I  guessed that they were the canoe I saw rounding the point as we first arrived.

 I started cooking while Chris and Squatch set up the tent.  As I was cooking, I couldn't shake my bad mood.  I think it had to do with the fact we had another trip planned for right after we got back and then the kids would be at my parents for a week, while Chris and I stopped on the way home to do another canoe trip.  All I kept thinking about was all the stuff I had to get ready for the second trip, third trip and the kids stay, and Chris mentioning he'd rather work and us skip our night of camping alone.

I mentioned to Bubbie and she agreed us staying 2 nights here was going to mean a huge hassle and as we ate, spaghetti with Italian seasoned bannock, we talked Chris into cutting it to one night.  I felt a bit better after that.

As I was cleaning up, Chris went to hang the rope for the food barrel, and Squatch fished from shore.  He caught a good sized small mouth bass.  I didn't get a picture, unfortunately.  After that he kept snagging on rocks so Bubbie and I would have to go out and rescue his lure.  This happened about every 5 minutes so finally Chris took him and Bubbie and the dog out to fish in the canoe.  They didn't catch anything.

Biscuit doesn't like the water, but he loves the canoe. The kids kept throwing a tennis ball for him, just far enough into the water that he'd have to go to his belly to get it.  He managed it sometimes, but sometimes it went to far and he refused to get it.  But Bubbie took the canoe out once and he ran out to chest depth and jumped in with her.  At some point, Chris tried to toss Biscuit into water a little deeper than his chest and after that, if Chris went near the water, Biscuit hid under the little table where we were cooking.  He also tried to get under the tent fly like he had at Kingscote last year but the fly on the bigger tent wasn't really effective for him to use as cover.

Chris got a fire going, but there wasn't much wood around.  He found a few dead, fallen trees but they were punky and damp from all the rain we'd been getting.  The fire was just enough to roast  a few marshmallows then the bugs came out in swarms so we doused it and headed into the tent.  Squatch and I spent a while playing a game on my phone while we all listened to a loon, some bull frogs and a whipporwhil.

The mosquitoes buzzing around the outside of the tent was overwhelming, and I think we all felt a little trapped knowing if we went out we'd be attacked.  Biscuit wasn't happy at all, and paced most of the night.  After a while the buzzing faded and the night was very quiet.  The frogs, loon and whipporwil only made noise every little while, but there were no other night sounds, no crickets, no small animals rustling in the bushes.  It was a little unnerving.  I occasionally heard voices across the lake, but for the most part it reminded me of a horror movie where there's a terrifying monster and all the natural sounds of the forest stop because nature knows there is a dangerous predator near by.

As usual, the kids talked in their sleep and both managed to get themselves turned around in the tent.  At one point, Bubbie was sideways with her head near my butt.  I was just about to wake her up and get her back on her sleep pad when she nudged me then started punching my bum as hard as she could.  Between that and Squatch flopping around and smacking me with his arms, I didn't get much sleep.

Biscuit got me up shortly before sun rise so he could pee.  Then we all went back to sleep.  I finally got up around 9 and the kids and Chris soon followed.  Bubbie and I paddled out to pump some water and decided to go across the lake to see if there really was someone at the site there.  It had looked like the top of a tent was visible as we arrived the previous day but sometimes shadows can play tricks on you.  There was someone there, and from the other side of the point we could clearly see the tent, screen tent, canoe and a man sitting safe from the bugs drinking his morning coffee.

Sunset on Fishog Lake

We had oatmeal and coffee, cleaned up and went for a paddle to see the next lake in.  Biscuit again made a nuisance of himself, but settled down after a few minutes.  We crossed Fishog and went through a bit of marshy area before coming to the 40m portage into Round Lake.  The plan was to go to the campsite there and have a picnic lunch.  The site was dismal.  It was just a small clearing with a fire pit, I don't even know where you'd put a tent.  There were a half dozen or so fishing boats cached there, and a good pile of fish remains.  We sat at the dock, ate, checked out the waterfall, then headed back to pack up.

The kids enjoying the sunset

Chris started getting all the gear in the tent packed up while I made lunch.  I figured the more food we ate the lighter the barrel would be so the kids had Mr. Noodles with beef jerky and vegetables and I rehydrated some hummus to eat with crackers for Chris and I.  Somehow, the barrel ended up being just as full as it had been and just as heavy.

It was about 4:30 by the time we left and a bit of a breeze had picked up.  We pushed off from shore, hoping we wouldn't be dealing with a rough Head Lake.

Cottagers were out on Fishog, tubing and having a good time.  Its a nice area to have a cottage, the kind of area I'd want for a cottage.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot more beautiful lakes but most of them are lined with cottage after cottage and the lakes can get noisy with all the boat traffic.  I'd much rather have a cottage on a quiet lake.

The paddle back across Head Lake was a little rough.  Not nearly as bad as last year's trip, but there were still some good sized waves to contend with.  We made it back in decent time and headed home to reorganize our gear for a car camping trip in Algonquin Park.

Trip Log: Algonquin Park: Rock Lake, May 4-6, 2015

May the Force Be With You!  I guess the Force was with us, because things fell into place for us on this trip.  We thought we were going to be delayed on departure day (May 4th) because Bubbie's school concert band was supposed to have an event all day and she couldn't miss it.  Luckily for us, something got messed up and at the last minute, it got delayed 2 weeks!  Yay!

We'd planned to eat lunch at the campsite but we were all hungry, so when we stopped at Two Rivers Store for drinks, we handed out the sandwiches/pizza buns and ate on the way.  The weather was a bit grim looking, with grey skies and the odd sprinkle of rain but we were hopeful we'd get set up before it got really wet.

We managed to get up to our campsite at around 1pm, and it was just starting to spit rain.  We put the tent trailer up by throwing a tarp over it so we could then stay dry while we raised the roof and pulled out the ends.  At one point after everything was raised, Dad realized he couldn't find the keys so he could get into the little storage area so he could get the two support bars he'd forgotten to get out at the start.  We searched everywhere and eventually started to wonder if they'd been on the roof of the trailer before we cranked it up.  Turned out they were in his back pocket the whole time.

We retreated inside to play Star Wars games to celebrate.  Mum had bought the kids Star War's Day gifts…Bubbie made a comment about not understanding the big deal, because it wasn't like Christmas.  I nearly kicked her out into the rain.

Biscuit was so excited to be there, he was driving us nuts with his need to get out and explore.  We ended up walking him around in the rain (a steady moderately heavy rain now) so we could see how many other sites were in use.  There weren't many, maybe a dozen, if that, at least in the electrical section.  Everyone was spread out, so even though Rock Lake doesn't offer the best privacy, we didn't feel crowded at all.

Mum and I started supper around 4:30.  In honour of this special day we had Bobba Fett-agetti, Endor Salad (caesar salad,) Sarlacc Bread (garlic bread) and Yoda Soda (Mountain Dew.)  For dessert we had Wookie Cookies,  and Exploding Deathstar Cookies.  Mum and Dad offered to do the dishes while Chris and I took the kids out for a paddle.

Now, this is our first time really paddling so early after the ice is out.  The lake was mostly calm, and the wind was minimal, but I still had horrible thoughts of us tipping, and kept trying to get Chris to take us closer to shore.  Chris kept us going straight down the middle of the lake.  And here's where Chris and I have our only canoe difference.  We work really well together in the canoe.  He prefers to paddle on the left, I prefer the right.  We share the load pretty evenly on portages.  We just canoe well together, but he is very much about getting to the end destination and therefore it's straight down the middle of the lake, every time.  Where as I like to go fairly close to the shore.  Not only can we maybe see wildlife, but you actually feel like you're moving, where as out in the middle of the lake it can often feel like you're expending a lot of effort for very little reward.  When we were coming back from High Falls, trying to get back to our site at Achray, paddling into the wind, it might have felt less like we were standing still if we were twenty feet closer to shore.  Just saying.    I know there are times when you are trying to make your distances, or there's a limited amount of time, but when there isn't (like this time) why can't we just explore?  Ugh!

Anyway, when we turned around, we realized the wind had picked up a bit and was now in our faces.  Not bad, but the waves were just at the point where the tops collapse, not quite white caps though.  We made it home without incident and then decided to drive West on Highway 60 and look for moose.  It was about 7:30.  We saw 2 before we even got off Rock Lake Road, and a total of 8 more that night (for a total of 10 that day.  We saw 2 just before we got to the West gate on our way into the park)  After a quick stop at Fisherman's Point for pictures, we headed back to camp.

Since the campground office closed at 4:30 we didn't get any wood, but everyone was pretty tired anyway so we just went to bed.  Our only fairly close neighbours stayed up late talking but it was pretty quiet.  Lots of spring peepers could be heard as well as the odd loon call.  Just a relaxing night in Algonquin Park.

Day 2

Breakfast time at Rock Lake

I was up pretty early, but I didn't check my phone to see the actual time.  I'd been up to go to the bathroom at around 4 and the moon was brilliant, shining on the water.  By the time it got light out, there was lots of fog on the lake.  Biscuit and I walked…a lot.  All around the camp ground, to the boat launch (a quick detour to the garbages to dispose of his morning business) then down to the non-electrical sites.  There were hardly any people there, maybe 3 sites in use?  We got back and still nobody was up, so we walked some more.  I don't think the others got up until 9:30.

Coffee was the first priority, then breakfast.  One-Eyed Buffalos, bacon, potato and pepper hash and maple baked beans (we forgot to cook the beans…again.  That can has been in my mum's camp food bin for like 3 years now.)  After cleaning up, we headed to the East gate looking for moose.  We only saw one.  Chris and I had planned to hike the portage trail into Pinetree Lake but he also wanted to do the Booth's Rock Trail again, and we wanted to go canoeing.  We opted to wait on the portage trail.  Actually we were all originally supposed to hike to Pinetree, but mum had hurt her ankle and was having enough trouble walking around the campground.

Chris and Biscuit on top of Booth's Rock

While the kids went with my parents looking for more moose, Chris and I headed back to Rock Lake to hike Booth's Rock.  There was a tour bus at the office and we thought we should get on the trail quick before a load of people headed out on it too.  Biscuit is a little unpredictable in his desire to protect us, and having to stay ahead of a bunch of people when there's that much tough up hill would have killed me.  As it was, I thought I was going to have a stroke trying to keep up with Chris.  I finally let him carry my camera bag (which he later claimed to barely notice he was carrying…it weighs like 30lbs!  Jerk.)

Time for a rest - Booth's Rock Trail

As it turned out, we only saw 2 other people on the trail, two men at the very top.  We explored the remains of the estate, and ventured a little further along the shore to check out the back country canoe campsite near the ruins.  It doesn't look like a bad site, a big fairly level spot near the fire pit, but the landing looked quite rocky.  That being said, it would probably be a good site for those very late season trips where you might wake up to an iced over lake and have to hike out.

Very glad we were going down these

Biscuit was pretty good about not dragging Chris along, until we got within sight of the car then he nearly decapitated himself pulling so hard on the leash.  He loves the car, if you couldn't guess.

We got back to camp, had a quick lunch of crackers, cheese, meat, apples, a fruit tray and leftover cookies. Mum offered to take the kids out for a little paddle, to check out the river.  While Chris was helping push them off, Biscuit, who hates water, ran right in trying to get into the canoe!  I guess he likes canoeing more than he hates being wet.

I walked the garbage down, taking Biscuit with me, and we detoured to the boat launch.  I figured we could wait for mum and the kids then drop off the bag.  When they pulled up to the little dock, Biscuit again tried to get in the boat, and when I kept him back, he retaliated by peeing on the garbage bag.  I almost got caught with it too but I managed to jump up quickly.

When we got back to camp, we relaxed while waiting for mum to return.  They'd headed out with Squatch in the middle, mum in stern and Bubbie in the bow.  I kind a figured the kids would tire easily and mum would be left paddling alone, but when they came into view we realized Bubbie was in the stern, Squatch was in the bow and Mum was in the middle getting a free ride!

Mum getting a free ride

After that we didn't leave camp until it was time to go home.  The kids pretty much just paddled on their own.  Mum had showed them how to j-stroke and do some other things.  They stayed close to shore but they were out there almost all night except for a break for dinner  and to let Chris take biscuit for a little paddle.

Dinner tonight was in honour of Cinqo de Mayo.  Tacos, quesadillas, southwest salad, and two types of tex-mex rice.  We were all stuffed afterward…okay, the kids still had room in their dessert stomach (kids have a second stomach like cows do…but kids use theirs for desserts)  We had a fire going so they toasted marshmallows, and tried toasting strawberries dipped in marshmallow fluff.  It worked out okay, not as pretty as the pictures online, but they tasted good.

As we made dinner, we kept seeing this odd group of canoes.  Two people would paddle from the non-electrical section, to the river and then return a few minutes later with 2 canoes each pulling another canoe, so four in total.  This happened 3 or 4 times.  We finally realized that when Chris and I came back from our hike earlier and saw lots and lots of tents in the non-electrical section, it was probably a school group and they would likely be departing from there for a canoe trip, hence bringing the canoes to the campground rather than hauling all the group with their gear (and no cars) to the boat launch.  They were a bit rowdy, but not bad.  We heard a few excited shouts as we sat around the fire that night but if it was a school group, I'm actually glad to know they were so excited to be there.  And I admit, I was really jealous.  Why didn't our high school have an outers club or wilderness skills class when I was a teen?  My mum did in high school, and the school our kids will be going to has things like that.  Ugh!

Mum had brought the game Ultimate Werewolf: One Night.  The kids love this game, and were really excited to play, so after the fire was put out, everyone else played while I lay down with Biscuit.  He was pretty wiped out from all the hiking and walking around the camp ground he'd done.  Squatch had also run around the campground roads with him quite a bit, and while we'd gone looking for moose, he ran from side to side in the back seat, popping his head out the window on each side for a minute. (As I'm typing this, he's passed out on the couch.)

While mum and the kids were waiting for us to go in to play Werewolf, mum gave the kids each a scratch ticket.  We always play a "how many moose do you think we'll see" game when we go to Algonquin, and Bubbie won the first day's game. The ticket was her prize.  She won $75!  While Chris and I had been hiking, they'd stopped at Tea Lake Dam for snacks, and a bird had pooped on her hand…you know how people say that's supposed to be good luck?  Apparently it's true.  Squatch was not impressed.

We all slept better the second night, and yet again I got up before everyone else.  Biscuit and I walked some more, but this time, he put is paw down after an hour or so and just sat in the middle of the road, so we headed back to camp and sat for a while.  He desperately wanted back in the trailer to sleep but I didn't want to wake everyone up.  Mum got up shortly after that so I let Biscuit have his way, and mum and I took the canoe out for a paddle.  We checked out some of the cottages on Rock Lake, went up the river but detoured off to where the river passed right by the campground near the outhouses.  We tried to go further but there was a beaver dam and neither of us felt like getting our feet wet when the water was so cold, so we headed back.

Dad had the coffee on by then, and Chris, Biscuit and the kids had walked down to the boat launch hoping to see us but we hadn't gone that far.  We kept breakfast simple, just bagels and coffee/hot chocolate.

While me and mum and dad were packing up, The kids took Biscuit for a little paddle, then brought him back and went out alone again.  Chris took the GoPro and filmed them, when they explored the river section mum and I had gone to earlier.

Nobody wanted to leave.  Other than a bit of rain the first day, we'd had a great trip, but as always it was far too short.

Day Trip: Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands - September 9, 2014

Head River, QEII Wildlands Provincial Park

Since it was such a nice day, Chris and I decided to head out for a paddle and take a picnic lunch.  Our destination was Head Lake, near Norland, where we'd launched for our trip to Fishog about a month ago.  This time, we headed to the northern shore and headed up the Head River towards Smudge Lake.

The paddle on the lake is shorter and as it was a bit windy, we didn't want to make that crossing in rough water again.    We planned to paddle to the first campsite and eat, then get home in time to get the kids off the bus.

odd little campsite on Head River

The paddle to the site took about an hour (wind at our backs on the lake and going with the current)  The Head River goes through a lot of wet lands and the banks are lined with alders and small hard wood trees.

This guy stayed ahead of us all day

The campsite was very small, and we had a hard time figuring out where someone would pitch their tent.  A very large pine had fallen recently (probably in the storm on friday) so maybe it was blocking a good tent pad...not sure.  Also, I couldn't find a trail leading to a thunder box, so I'm not sure if there was one.

It was a nice little paddle.  The wind was pretty strong at times, and you really had to be careful of rock shelves under water!  Once, crossing the lake (a little north of the treed island) and twice on the river, there were shelves of rock about a foot or so below the surface.  With the wind ruffling the water, it was hard to see them, and we could easily have damaged our paddles.  With it being so windy, it was especially an issue on the lake where we were almost blindly digging deep with each stroke.

Our snack was just some apples, dehydrated red pepper hummus and crackers.  Nothing fancy.

Trip Log: Algonquin Park - Canisbay Campground, October 10-13, 2014

Thanksgiving Dinner in the Dutch Oven

Thanksgiving in Algonquin!  This was our second time so in my mind that means a precedent has been set, and from now on that's how we celebrate Thanksgiving.

We had been undecided on if we'd be going or not, but after our trip two weeks ago, Mum and I and the kids had pretty much decided yes, we'd be going.  Dad wasn't so sure, but the promise of turkey lured him in.  So since we didn't decide until late, there were no sites available.  I kept my eye out a few times a day for cancellations and we lucked out and got a decent one at Canisbay.  On the map, it looked like it backed onto the area with the comfort station.  In reality, we had to follow a trail through the back of the site then go down the road a bit, but it was still pretty close incase of a late night trip.

We arrived fairly early, at least Dad and I did.  Mum and the kids arrived a little later in her car since they had to pick up a few last minute groceries.  We got our permit and were mostly done setting the trailer up before the others arrived (Chris wouldn't be arriving until Saturday.)

It was a bit chilly and we were a little worried we wouldn't be warm at night but we had lots of blankets.  Supper was spaghetti with ceaser salad.  We'd made the sauce at home and just had to heat it up.  The dogs, especially my parent's dog, Lucky, love spaghetti and they mooched like crazy while we ate.  There was only enough left over for Lucky which was fine.  He always gets a bit when mum and dad make it at home, and Biscuit doesn't really so he wasn't going to be too upset.

After dinner, I was on the way back from the comfort station when I saw a guy walk into the site beside us.  I didn't recognize him as one of the people there, but he said hi as if he knew them so I didn't think much of it.  He walked to the back of the trailer went behind it and then cut through to our site and walked right through it too.  It was really weird.  At first  I thought maybe he was lost or drunk or something, trying to find his own site in the dark, but I also wondered if maybe he was just one of those people that don't get that you don't walk through someone else's site as a short cut.  This has happened a lot, but never had we seen someone cut through multiple sites like that.

A few minutes later I went to the comfort station laundry room to fill up the wash basin (not doing dishes there, just getting hot water.) and there was someone standing halfway down the little trail into our site.  I asked if I could help him and he politely asked to borrow a lighter.  I gave him mine, not at all convinced I'd get it back but we had lots and it was just a dollar store one anyway.

Evening on Canisbay Lake

Dad and I did up the dishes then decided to go down to the beach and see if we could get any decent night shots.  The moon behind the clouds gave us some interesting shots, but it was pretty cold, and when a bit of a breeze kicked up, it got too chilly to be messing around with metal tripods, so we headed back to camp.

Sleep was surprisingly comfortable.  We had the trailer's furnace set fairly low, and left a small electric space heater going all night.  The furnace only cut in occasionally, and the electric heater kept the temperature from dropping too rapidly. The kids and I each had our regular summer sleeping bags with polar fleece liners, then they had a comforter and I had Chris's sleeping bag open like a blanket. Before we went to the beach, I had sent a text to Chris to bring more blankets when he came up, but we didn't really need them.  At one point I was too hot and had to kick off the extra sleeping bag.  Biscuit helped keep us warm too.

The young man who had borrowed my lighter gave it back that morning.  Then I heard him asking people if they had jumper cables because his battery had died.  We are pretty sure they slept in their car that night because it was cold.  They got their boost and headed out pretty quickly, and not long after, another group of young people showed up.  Two guys got out and set up the tents while the girls (their girl friends?) sat in the car.

And here's where I have to have a mini-rant.  What's up with people carrying make up bags to camp that are bigger and heavier than a day pack?  Every time we went to the bathroom there'd be five or six young women touching up their make up, washing their faces (and doing some weird cheek slapping thing for a minute at a time)  One girl loaded on a bunch of creams and berry scented perfume at about 10pm and we kept thinking a bear would smell them and come running.  Trying to brush our teeth at night was a lengthy and sort of embarrassing procedure.  Lengthy because we had to wait forever for a sink to become available (cause God forbid your mascara not be perfect for hanging out with your boyfriend in the pitch dark) and embarrassing because there we were with Ziploc freezer bags holding nothing but a toothbrush and toothpaste.  Anyway, I don't get it, but I'm not in my twenties trying to impress a guy, so what do I know.  I sort of figured it would be more impressive to a guy to be unafraid of getting dirty and back to nature, but then I didn't grow up in a city either.

Rant over!

Dad had forgotten to bring his pills, so he and Mum did a quick run home.  The kids and I had a quick breakfast and then spent the morning walking around with the dog.  Biscuit is pretty high energy (make that super high energy) and a lot of walking means he's not a spaz in the trailer.

When mum and dad got back, we had some wraps and tortellini soup (forgot to add the beans) for lunch, then mum stayed with the dogs while the rest of us went out to see if we could find some good photo ops.  In all honesty, there wasn't much.  The sky was a dull grey, the trails were really busy, and it was colder than the day before with a bit of a breeze as well.  We drove to Opeongo, then went out to Whitney to buy some dry(ish) wood.  On the way back we stopped at Two River's Store for ice cream.  It was packed!  Considering the store closes as of Thanksgiving Monday, we were worried there wouldn't be much ice cream flavours to choose from, but there was lots.

Since Chris was supposed to be arriving today, but we had no idea what time, we held off on making dinner.  I figured he'd get there around 9pm, but it ended up being closer to ten.  We ended up eating at around 7.  Dinner that night was tex mex tortilla lasagna.  I forgot to add the baby chard and kale to the beans and peppers when I was making the sauce, but it was yummy.  We had Chipotle BBQ Chop Chop salad with it then pumpkin pie for dessert.

Despite the cold, we sat around the fire a bit that night.  We hadn't bothered with a fire the night before, since Dad and I had gone to take pictures and when we got back squatch was asleep.  He hadn't brushed his teeth and it was all we could do to get him to move out of my mum's bed to his own sleeping bag.  This night, he couldn't find his toothbrush.  (I later found it at the bottom of my sleeping bag.)

Sunday morning was a bit warmer (my nostrils didn't freeze together) when I got up and took Biscuit for a walk.  When I got back, we started breakfast.  The plan for the day was to have a big breakfast so we could skip lunch because it was Turkey Dinner Day!  We had potato and pepper hash, pea meal bacon and french toast.  Mum and dad got to try out the griddle we got them for their Coleman BBQ and it worked really well, especially for the french toast.  It doesn't have much of a lip around the edge so it was a little touch and go when trying to stir up the hash, but all in all, it worked great.

Waterfall on the Madawaska River

After dishes were done, we thought we'd go do the Whiskey Rapids trail.  It was apparently open, and we'd been dying to find out how much the trail had changed after last spring's high water.  Unfortunately, the trail was really packed and with Biscuit being a bit unpredictable around people lately, we decided not to risk it.  Instead, we drove to Mew Lake and walked to the water fall.  No people on the trail and only a few at the falls themselves made for a much less stressful hike.  We took some pictures, saw lots and lots of wolf scat, and then headed to the Two River's Store for ice cream.

Mum and dad had gone for a drive to the Visitor's Centre so mum could email work.  We ended up getting back to the campground at the exact same time.  Now it was time to start cooking dinner.  It was about 1pm and we had a turkey to roast.

The turkey was still a little frozen inside, and unfortunately wouldn't fit perfectly even in our biggest (14") dutch oven so we covered it in foil then squished the lid on as best as we could.  Once the bird was cooking, we got started on the sides.  Foil wrapped carrots, foil wrapped parsnip, foil wrapped brussels sprouts (yum!) as well as potatoes and turnip.

After an hour we started to think maybe the briquets would take too long.  Dad had a fire going and for once it was a decent fire (yay for good wood) so we piled all the briquets on top of the lid then put the dutch oven onto the fire.

Now there was nothing left to do but wait.  The kids buried Chris in leaves, Biscuit caught his tail on fire (well, it singed the tip of the hair...it wasn't on fire I guess) and we got to sit and enjoy the decent weather.

Eventually, the turkey was done.  The top got burned where it had been smooshed against the lid, but then again, we'd put about 30 briquets on the top so it's not surprising.  But the insides were nice and juicy.  We got ready to take everything inside and then realized Chris hadn't brought the two boxes of Stove Top Stuffing from the counter.  To save space in the car, we left all the thanksgiving dinner stuff at home for him to bring up, and I'd left him a list...it only had like 5 things on it but I guess in his rush to get going, he forgot.  We made fun of him all night for ruining thanksgiving.  We also had coleslaw and cranberry sauce and gravy.  Awesome dinner and there was even dessert...apple spice dump cake.

While we ate, we talked about how we sort of felt guilty for skipping out on the big dinners we'd been invited to, but all agreed that it was worth it to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in a place we all loved so much.

After dinner, we cleaned up.  There wasn't much in the way of dishes since a lot had been cooked in foil and we'd used paper plates.  We sat around the fire for a while then went to bed.

For our last morning, we had one eyed buffalos as well as fried potatoes made from the left over potatoes from dinner.  We didn't hang around long mostly because the camp ground closed  at 2 and we'd been told it would be appreciated by the staff if all the campers left by then.  Mum took the kids home with her, while dad, Chris and I took the trailer down.  Dad drove home with his dog, while Chris and I had Biscuit with us.

Such a great weekend.  A lot of people left on Sunday probably so as to be home for family dinners, so it was really quiet for our last night.  We ended up with a lot of left over turkey.  Last year, we simply took a breast and 2 drumsticks and it was enough for all of us, but I had 3 frozen turkeys in my freezer that I wanted out of there.

It was also interesting to note the number of people who simply weren't prepared for the weather.  The young man who borrowed the lighter, the group of four who set up on the same site next, and at least 2 other groups of people in their early twenties all seemed to have trouble.  Most of them seemed to have their cars running all night, possibly they all slept in their cars.  I felt really bad for them all.  On one hand it was a learning experience, and maybe next time they'll have more of an idea of what to expect when fall camping, on the other hand, the experience might have soured them toward camping all together.

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.

New Trip Logs Coming Soon!

There should be lots of trip logs coming in the next few weeks.  We finally got a new computer with lots of memory so I can upload pictures and finally get some older trip logs posted!  Stay tuned!

Trip Log: Balsam Lake Provincial Park: June 29-30, 2015

Before I start I want to apologize.  I didn't even take the camera out of the car for this trip.  We were only there for a night, and I spent most of my time cooking, doing dishes, or tidying up.  I never really left the campsite except to walk the dog or go to the comfort station…except for once to walk to the Park Store to get burger buns.

So, before we left, I'd checked online and there were a lot of sites available so I didn't bother to book one.  I made a short list of potential sites and figured we'd be fine.  When we arrived, the girl who first started to help me get my permit asked what equipment we had, I answered a 13 foot trailer.  Then she showed me 3 sites that were all that were available.  I started to panic, but took the map out to the car to ask Chris and the kids what they wanted to do.  We chose site 18, in the Lakeshore North section.  It wasn't a bad site.  Not much for privacy but a decent size and it was a corner lot so we figured if there were lots of people there, at least we could park the Boler and car so that we'd block the view of the two sites next to us.

I'm not sure if the girl was mistaken about the availability or what, but in the entire section of 28 sites, less than half of them were in use, and almost all the empty ones could have accommodated a big trailer, let alone our little 13" one.

Not that it mattered.  Our site was fine and we only had 2 other sites anywhere near us so it was quiet except for people walking by to the path heading to the beach.  And for some reason when we got our permit they gave us a free little can of baked beans…not sure what that was about.

When we arrived, we quickly got set up and then made some burgers.  Bubbie and I had to walk to the Park Store to get buns and grabbed some chips and a Mr. Noodles cup for her.  We'd brought an organic, brown rice and millet ramen packet but she was worried she wouldn't like it.  The weather was great, not sickeningly hot and with a bit of a breeze.  Chris tried to take Biscuit to the lake to cool him off because he gets so worked up in the car, he was panting like crazy.  He got within a foot of the shore then dragged Chris back to camp.

After lunch, Chris took the kids swimming and I took Biscuit into the trailer so he wouldn't bark when Chris walked away.  I read for a bit, then came out when it got too hot to be inside. A few minutes after that, Chris and the kids came back.

Dinner was spaghetti with italian seasoned bannock.  I cooked while everyone else goofed off with the ukulele's or rode around on their bikes.  We ate inside, then while I cleaned up, Chris and the kids played Viking Chess.  After a few minutes, a father and daughter biked up and the man said his daughter had begged him to come check out this cool game and to ask about it.  This was the first time on the short trip people asked us about Viking Chess.  One of our camp neighbours came over and asked, and even played a few rounds with Chris, then a little while later, some people walking by asked about it.  We've played it many times while camping and never had anyone say a word.

After dinner, the kids biked to the Park Store to get some treats.  They had these peanut butter cups with toppings, like chocolate chip cookie, oreo and M&m's.  They were a bit expensive, $3.59 for a pack of three, but the kids thought they were cool.

Once all the dishes were clean and put away, I took Biscuit for a walk.  He'd had some left over spaghetti and seemed a little desperate to walk around.  When we got back, Squatch was using Chris's new hatchet to make kindling from the bag of firewood.  I nearly had a heart attack.

A miracle happened.  The wood was actually dry!  I almost had another heart attack!  We got a good fire going and then Chris and Squatch played catch until it got too dark to see properly.

It was a comfortable night for sleeping.  Not too hot, and just a bit of cool breeze blowing in so we weren't in and out of the sleeping bag all night.  Biscuit made it uncomfortable though.  Every time one of us moved, he'd climb up our backs and bunt us with his nose or lick a bit of exposed skin. Nothing like getting a wet kiss on the back or on the bottom of your foot to wake you up.

I was up early, thanks to Biscuit.  He was still regretting eating the spaghetti I think because he ran through several doggy-do sacks on our little walk around.  I managed to get him back to bed for a while but a while later he was bugging to go back out.  Figuring it was late enough to get up I started the coffee and not long after, Chris and Squatch got up.  Bubbie slept in the latest this time.  Usually it's Chris.  Breakfast was fried potatoes, pancakes and some oatmeal for Squatch.

By the time we finished and had another game of Viking Chess, it was starting to cloud up and get dark.  We knew it was supposed to storm so Chris took the kids back to the beach while I cleaned up and started packing.  When they got back it only took a few minutes to finish up and we were on the road.  It started sprinkling five minutes after we left, but never stormed.

All in all, it was a short but fun trip.  I don't know that I'll rely on sites being available again.  While our site was pretty good, it was on the opposite corner of the section from the comfort stations.  There were vault toilets nearby but they were tucked into the bushes and I was leery of going there in the middle of the night by myself.