Fall Weather

Back in September, we were told October was supposed to be unseasonably warm...like in the 30's.  I admit, I was already planning some fall camping trips but held off booking because, well, you can't always trust a weather report for the following day, let alone the following month.

Can I just say I'm glad I didn't book any sites?  Wow.  October, at least where I am, has been wet, windy, and cold!  We had snow on Thanksgiving weekend. It melted as soon as it landed, so there were no chances to get awesome pictures of fall colors mixed with a blanket of fresh snow, but yep, it snowed.

It hasn't even been possible to go on day hikes.  I think it's actually rained at least a little, every day of October so far, and with all of us having gotten the requisite beginning-of-school-colds that go around, I wasn't keen on taking the kids out in a cold drizzle to hike. Blech.

Fall is generally a great time to hike.  The colors are the big reason, but as a general rule, the weather is cool enough that you aren't sweating like crazy, but not so cold that you need to bundle up.  Usually.

On the off chance we do get some good weather, I thought I'd share a good resource for finding hiking trails.

The Ontario Trails Council website is a little overwhelming to navigate.  It has trails for multiple uses for the entire province and let me tell you, that's a lot of trails.  To make it easier to find something in your area, there are three drop menus in the top left corner.  Put in your city (or the city you are thinking of travelling to) in the bottom menu.  You can also set the second one to walking and hiking, which will cut out all the ATV trails etc.

I'll be honest with you, it's not going to give you only hikes in the town you specify.  It will give you a long list of ones within a reasonable distance.  For example, I put Lindsay as the town and got some trails as far away as Algonquin Park and Muskoka.  However, there is a column on the list that states the nearest town, so you can scroll quickly through and find ones where you want to go.

Each hike/trail has a page of it's own with info on access, GPS coordinates, length, difficulty etc. as well as links to a website where you can get more information (or a map if you are lucky)

My only issue with the website is that camping and backpacking are lumped into the same activity on the drop down menu.  When I first went to the website I was so excited that there were so many places to backpack camp, until I realized 9 times out of 10, it was a trail inside a park where you can camp, or it's close to a privately owned camp ground. Example, Peck Lake Trail in Algonquin states camping and backcountry camping in it's activities, but I know you can't camp on the trail.  Kind of misleading.  I'd hoped to be able to use that filter to find longer trails where you can backpack, like in the Queen Elizabeth II Provincial Park, or trails through crown land where you can camp for free.

Still, it's a great resource for finding a good day hike or a bike trail.

Hike Haliburton Festival

I meant to post about this event last week, before the actual festival, but there were some computer issues.  Sorry about that.

Hike Haliburton is a weekend full of guided, educational hikes through out all of Haliburton County.  It was tons of fun, even though the weather wasn't great, and we only got to do a few hikes.  There was something for everyone on the schedule, everything from learning about mineral deposits, to ghosts, to sled dogs.

The hikes have a registration system, which was a little complicated when I tried to do the online one, but calling was easy.

We kept the kids out of school so we could get to the Can You Dig It? hike in Tory Hill since it's all about minerals and the kids could find samples to take home.  We got there a few minutes late thanks to construction on main street in Haliburton, and when we got to the meeting place, there was nobody there.  Not sure if they just didn't wait, or if there was no one registered except us so the guide didn't come. (we called that morning, so maybe he didn't get informed there were people coming?) Anyway, that was disappointing for the kids but we made it up to them by going to Jake's BBQ Shack in Gooderham, then hit the Ghost Walk hike in Haliburton.

I grew up in Haliburton and was happy to learn so much about the history of the town.  The tour guides were interesting, good speakers and shared lots of interesting highlights from the town's past.  Not all of it was about ghosts, but still very interesting.  I thought the kids would be bored, but they weren't and when we quizzed them afterwards to see if they'd actually paid attention, it was clear they had.

The next day, we went on the Sciensational Snakes hike and wow, so much fun.  Weather was crappy, but the kids are now set on getting pet snakes, and are spending lots of time researching everything they need to know to take care of them.  The guide for this hike had lots of captive bread snakes that the kids got to hold, and I don't think a single child there was afraid to get their hands on them, even the fairly large fox snake.

Next year, I'm hoping to take in more of the hikes.  There were some really interesting ones that we just couldn't get to including one where you ride horseback for part of the way.  How fun would that be?  Or a canoe trip?  There were celebrity hikers, including Kevin Callan, but we didn't see any of them.  Hopefully I'll manage to get the info up early so if anyone is interested in attending next year, they won't miss it.

Random find in the garage...

Chris spent the day cleaning out the garage...actually he's still at it and it's well past dark.  There were a lot of things out there I'd forgotten about, but the one thing he came across completely had me floored.  There was a rusty cast iron frying pan hidden among the junk and I have no memory what so ever of buying one before this spring (which is not rusty)

So, this week I'll try researching ways to de-rust it, and will try to re-season it.  I'll take pics and show you the progress or lack there of as I go.

Sort of jealous...

My parents bought a pop-up trailer last week and are taking it on a maiden-for-them voyage as we speak.  The kids and I really wanted to go too but they went on Sunday night, and won't be back until today so the kids would miss 2 days of school.  While I normally wouldn't have a problem with this, pulling them from classes for camping on the second week?  Probably not a good idea.

This morning, with the temperature having dropped a fair bit, I asked the kids how they thought Papa and Lala were doing.  They were hopeful that there would be less annoying people around since it's after summer.  They also wondered what they'd be doing to occupy themselves without us there.

Camping without the kids can be hard to get used to when you are used to having them there.  There's no one to keep entertained, you can nap when you want, eat whenever you feel like it, and if all you do is hang out around the campsite and read, well that's your choice. Also, you can try recipes for meals the kids are likely to turn their noses up at, or go on hikes that would have them complaining about being tired. Like I said, I'm kind of jealous.  We tried a few times to get out for a romantic trip for just Chris and I, but having a sick dog kind of put a stop to those plans.  Next year for sure though.

First Day of School

Summer is officially over.  Very sad.  While there is a good chance we might get a weekend or two of camping in before it's too cold, it's not guaranteed.

What this does mean, is more hiking trips and after school activities.  I'm not sure if I mentioned the kids want to train to do a few triathlons next summer, so swimming lessons are going to be a priority.  They both do okay, but not good enough to be in a competitive race...okay they can't really do any more than doggie paddle.  Also, they try out for the school's cross country team every year, and usually make it to the big county meet up, so we'll be working on their running a lot in September...I hope.

Warsaw Caves

Looking at all my latest posts, you'd think this blog was all about camping.  I guess we did so much of it this year we didn't have time to do smaller day trips like the one we did today with some friends to Warsaw Caves Conservation Area, just outside Peterborough.

Chris and I took the kids here last summer and they loved it, and they were eager to show it to their friends.

Now, first off, I should warn you, if you are expecting caves that are tall enough for you to walk through, with lights on the walls and a set pathway, you are going to be disappointed...or surprised.  Warsaw Caves are more like a series of crevices you can manoeuvre your way through, created by the glaciers retreating and leaving big slabs of limestone in a jumbled pile. The Indian River, which you can spend some time paddling around on, disappears for a while, flowing underground for several hundred meters, before reemerging near the seventh cave. It's really kind of cool.

There are seven caves in total offering a few hours of exploration.  No helmets, ropes or climbing gear are required, just a flashlight and a willingness to climb, crawl and get a little dirty.  If you aren't fond of tight spaces, even just walking around the area where the caves are is pretty cool.  In certain lights, and especially after a bit of rain, it reminds me of something out of a fantasy movie, like fairies and sprites could emerge from the caves at any moment.

There is also a nice beach, some interesting hiking trails where you can spot some large kettle formations, a good canoeing day trip, and a campground at Warsaw Caves, so there's lots to do to justify the small park admission fee.  Bring a picnic and spend the day exploring.

Oh! I should mention the poison ivy!  There is some scattered around the cave areas, mostly around the last few caves, but by the parking lot, near the outhouses, and along the path leading down to the river there is a fair bit.  Stick to the path and keep your eyes open.

Some things I've learned this camping season

We did a lot more camping this year than we usually manage to do, which was awesome.  A lot of it was in Algonquin Park.  Don't get me wrong, I love Algonquin, but I wish we'd had the chance to do some back country trips, or check out a few parks we'd never been to before.

Every camping trip is a learning experience.  You'll see things you've never seen before, go to a place you've never been, or learn a new skill.  It's one of the reasons I don't feel guilty about pulling the kids from school to do a few days of camping.

So what are some of the things we learned this summer?

1) I learned that I can survive a night camping alone with the kids.  This is a big one because if we'd had more opportunities this summer, I know I could have gone with them again.  I might still go for one last trip with them even though Chris won't be able to go.

2) We pack way too much stuff.  I'm not sure why this hasn't gotten any easier, but we still manage to cram the car so full we can barely fit the kids in there.  Usually people begin to reduce the things they bring based on what they do and don't use...I guess we haven't gotten there yet.  Or maybe we just don't use our space efficiently.

3) We still haven't gotten the knack of organizing ourselves before a trip.  On the morning we leave, we're still running around in a panic trying to think of the things we'll need.  This is something I'll be working on this winter: proper lists, better storage solutions, and menu planning.

4) I added 5 species of bird to my list of ones I've seen.

5) I'm horrible about remembering to bring things for the kids to do.  Then Chris brings them too much...I think designating that job to the kids would be a good idea.  Then again, when I told them to put any books or little games they wanted into their bags, Squatchie brought a roll of yellow electrical tape.  God only knows what he planned to do with it.

6) If you plan properly, you should have hardly any food left.  Usually on the last day of a trip, we will grill up all the leftover hotdogs or sausages and pig out.  I've gotten better about not having a huge pile of snack type foods left over in the food bin, which means we can consolidate things into one bin and save space in the car.

7) Trying to organize a trip with a large group can be hard.  You have to be prepared for plans to change or that trying to get everyone gathered for an activity will take longer than you might wish for.  If there are little kids involved, it's going to take even longer.  It's probably easier for your sanity to just plan on a trip where everyone sits around and chats or do things close to camp.

8) Cooking with cast iron isn't as scary as I thought it would be, in fact, it can be really fun.  I was leery of getting a dutch oven because I thought I'd end up not doing something right and it would get rusty.  I was also pretty sure I would screw up the cooking method and either burn everything or never get it to cook.  I was wrong.  It's so easy and clean up is actually easier than when you use normal pots.

9) Every camp site has merit.  I spend so much time agonizing over picking a site that will be perfect, but it's nearly impossible to properly judge them based on the pictures on line.  Sites I've thought would be horrible turned out to be nice, and sites that looked amazing online turned out to be less than ideal.  It's kind of like picking out a hotel for a holiday.  You mostly want a place to sleep and cook...and will probably be off doing other things like swimming or hiking the rest of the time, so really, as long as it's not in the middle of a flood plane, it's going to be fine.  I've learned to base my choice on other criteria...is it close to an outhouse so I don't have to walk a long way in the middle of the night?

10) Camping with dogs isn't as frustrating as I used to think.  Usually, we would bring the dogs for the first day, but after tripping over them and listening to them whine because they don't like being tied up, we end up driving them home and asking the neighbor to watch them.  This worked when we camped close to home, but this May when we stayed at Presqui'le, it was too far to bring them home.  Other than the inevitable smells that can quickly fill a small camper or tent, its not so bad.

I'm sure there are other things but at the moment those are the ones that stand out.