The Campfire! My home away from home.

After a little break we finally returned to Canisbay Lake....this is where I got my first taste of canoeing many years ago with a sweet young lady who later became my wife. It has been a favourite destination ever since. Canisbay Lake is actually a car campground located on the highway 60 corridor of Algonquin Provincial Park, http://www.algonquinpark.on.ca/index.html  but for those who are a little more adventurous the lake is also a jumping off point for a canoe route and as such has 14 designated "Interior" campsites located on the lake that are paddle in only. for anyone wanting to try an interior canoe trip for the first time this is the place I would recommend, you get the feel of an interior wilderness trip BUT, a short 1/2 hour to 45 minute paddle will put you back out and at your car, the only caveat here is that the layout of the lake and the surrounding landscape does tend to make this lake fairly windy considering its size and you can find yourself into a chop with very little wind, so I would recommend practising some basic canoe skills first!

   We set out on Friday at 8 am and of course had to make the obligatory stop at the Tim Hortons on highway 400 for a cuppa n timbits! Trip would not be the same without! After an uneventful drive arrived at Canisbay around 11:20 am and made short work of gettin the canoes and gear ready to hit the water. Normally there are just the three of us who make this trip, but this year we added a fourth, Paul got to be the bowman in my boat, something which I am not used to as I normally paddle solo even on group trips, but man, that Holy Cow canoe really rips along with two paddlers...so from this day forth I officially announce Paul as my answer to an Evinrude!  

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After picking out a site we unloaded the gear and before making camp we took care of the important stuff...we cracked a round of beers to congratulate ourselves on being such "Rugged Outdoorsmen" , after the second round of gongratulatory drinks we went about setting up camp. Paul was the first to sound the alarm...in our nonchalance in making camp we had dropped the wine and the beer in a pile of moose scat! Oh The Humanity! First priority, move the beer and wine out of the moose turds and then set up camp! The tent was pitched, the fire stoked up and the evening meal was thrown on the grill.....a pork shoulder and a pot of stewed Navy Beans! Now thats some good camp grub! The wind came up hard and strong and we hauled a canoe up to form a windblock, but still had to rig a tarp to try to protect the fire. After a good square meal we spent a lazy evening hanging around the fire, tellin tall tales and watchin the night sky!

   Early out of the tent in the morning and away we go with breakfast....the forest came alive around us as we sipped our coffee and I headed back into the bush with the camera to try and get some good bird pics. While I hiked around I was amazed by the amount of incredible mushrooms and by the abundance of Indian Pipe! Marc and Burt paddled back out to

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the campground and Paul and I set about setting up a proper rain tarp as we heard the thunder rolling at us from across the lake! We did get the occassional sprinkles of rain but the full blown storm passed us by. After the boys got back to the site the winds really picked up....we decided against paddling out to the portage to Polly Lake.....the risk of T-storms and the high winds were too great so we settled down for another lazy day around camp. I did a little experimenting with some bannock recipes and Marc made his famous Pasta Del Terra! After lunch we all strapped on life jackets and waded into the warm Canisbay water and allowed ourselves to drift with the winds around the little bay we had camped in. The find of the day?, fresh wild  blueberries growing along the shore....ripe and juicy! A nice little gift from mother nature.

   Time goes by way to fast on these get togethers...before ya know it darkness settles over the lake and we stoke up the fire as a georgeous sunset settled onto Canisbay Lake. Temperatures dropped quite a bit the second night and the winds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

stayed up and strong so we spent our time under the rain tarp havein a few bubblies and swappin tales! Morning came far too early. There is always an air of melancholy around camp on the morning of the last day. We took our sweet time striking camp and paddled our way back to the the real world to get ourselves reaquainted with personal hygiene! Great trip!You can check out the photo album here http://www.thecampfireonline.com/apps/photos/album.jsp?albumID=1939985

 

Kirk

 

Schedules, appointments, emails, cell phones, work, family committments....man sometimes it feels like your running on a treadmill and if you try to step off  for just a moment, maybe your whole world will start to unravel itself. Sometimes you just gotta say Frak It and set yourdelf free without any real goals timetables or plan. Last weekend I spent three days camping in Algonquin Provincial Park with guys, when I got back I dumped all the gear in the basement and took my time getting everything cleaned up over the next few days. Went to work for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday....by which time all my gear had been cleaned and repacked, ready for the next trip....but wait just a minute...I finish work on Wednesday afternoon at 1:00 pm...had Thursday off and didn't have to be back to work till 2:00 pm Friday. Time to say it.....FRAK IT!

Threw some grub into the food barrel, turned to my daughter and asked her if she wanted to go camping. Her smile lit up the entire room and she was off and running to get her backpack and fill it. A half hour later, the car was packed and we were off. Albion Hills campground here we come!45 minutes later we pulled the car into our campsite and started to unload. Alyssa was beaming as she went about setting up the tent! Her energy and enthusiasm was contagious and before I knew it we were singing campfire songs as we got the fire going to have an early dinner before the rains struck.

 

 

With dinner done and the campsite battened down the first drops of rain struck the roof of our raintarp...nothing else to do but break out the battleship game and settle into our first match of the trip....Alyssa won 3 games to two for whoever needs to keep track of such minor details...

the rain stopped about 7 pm and  the sun immediately poked thru, with enough time to dry up the campsite before dark....and enough time to break out the dollar store model planes I had brought along. We spent a little while chasing our creations around the meadow, then returned to camp to settle down around the fire. Had ourselves a nice lazy evening watching the flames, naming constellations, and telling silly stories. Crashed out at 11 pm to rest up for a big day to come.

 

Morning broke bright and sunny. As we ate breakfast we discussed our plans for the day...a little hiking, some swimming, a little fishing...more battleship! Cleared off breakfast and headed out on a trail for nice hike. It took us about an hour and a half to hike the half hour hike sown to the pond, we stopped and explored every little thing we found..."Oh dad...look at that mushroom...daddy the dragonfly.....sshhhh daddy theres a squirrel!" 

We spent the early morning fishing till the sun had warmed the day up and we headed to the beach for a little swimming. My kid is a fish! No doubt about it! She ran into that pond like her life depended on it. But the inevitable happened and some other girls her age made their way to the beach and she quickly made freinds. So I found myself a quiet shady spot and sat back, letting her run and play with her new pals!

 

   Finally....she got hungry enough to come out of the water and we headed back to camp for lunch.....hotdogs and KD of course! And yet another round of battleship! While we played we were entertained by a wandering minstral. This kid was just walking around the area, soaking up the sun and playin his guitar...and he could play! We noodled around camp relaxing and playing games for the next few hours till she decided we should go fishing again. So grab the gear and this time we walked down to the creek. No sooner had we settled in than a family passed on the bridge beside us. In broken english the dad asked what we were fishing for. The folks were from Germany, vacationing in Ontario for a month and their friends had set them up for a few nights camping. Well that was all Alyssa needed to know and in short order she had brought the mans two little girls down to the creek and set about teaching them how to fish. Fortunately the sunfish and creek chub were hungry and accomodating and the girls both caught their first fish.

Again....new friends to hang with so I spent the next hour or so untangling lines, rebaiting hooks and showing them how to hold a pumpkinseed so their dad could take pictures. Darkness was falling fast. Alyssa said goodbye to her new friends and we walked back to make dinner.

Stoked up the fire once again and put together the fixins to make campfire pizza pockets....just yummy!

While we were eating, the German family walked back to our site bringing gifts...an ice cold beer for me and an ice cream for Alyssa! With very little english...they thanked us for the afternoon and then let us settle in to enjoy the treats. With the camp readied for the night we once again settled in front of the fire to play...you guessed it...Battleship! Alyssa was beat from her adventures of the day and hit the sleeping bag just after the stars came out. So I sat back for a little reading under the stars. About 10:30 we got our first visit from the locals...a couple of raccoons...they lost interest shortly when they souldn't find any scraps and wandered off towards the next campfire.

But soon enough I heard a sniffing sound behind me....turned around to see a skunk had stolen his way to within a few feet behind me. A shout and he slowly waddled back into the night, but not for long...a little while later I saw him tryin to poke his nose under the rainfly of the tent and gave another shout. Then he came back for the third trip, thats when I grabbed the camera and caught this little clip! http://www.youtube.com/user/canuckcamper

By midnight I was nearly asleep so I put the fire out and settled in for a good nap!

Another morning broke clear and sunny. We took our sweet time over breakfast knowing that we had to pack up and go home. On the road by 10 am and home before 11. Damn it was hard dragging myself into work that day!

The FOG08.

This is one of the big events that I have come to look forward to each year. Getting to meet up with and spend some time chatting to a bunch of folks who share my passion for the great outdoors. The event is sponsored by www.outdooradventurecanada.com and I have to send a special thanks to Laurie of OAC for the planning and the great forum that can make such an event possible.

Friday, Oct 3rd.

I kept Alyssa out of school so that we could head up early and enjoy the trip to Algonquin Provincial Park. We left home at 9 AM and took our time driving up over highway 400. We stopped several times on the way, a little sight seeing to view the beautiful fall colors, time to grab a lunch and to shop around for a few last minute items. A few scattered showers on the trip up soon faded away to the waning warmth of the autumn sunshine. We made it to site 17 on Whitefish Lake around 1:30 in the afternoon to find a few of our fellow foggers already on site setting up. A hug or two and a few handshakes later and we were quickly and warmly welcomed back into the fold of commaraderie. Alyssa grabbed the tent bag with a resounding "I want to put the tent up Dad!", and lost interest in all camp chores as soon as Toby wandered over, so it was off to play and explore leaving me the job of setting up shop! As the afternoon wore on more foggers scattered in and joined the fun, by 6PM we had the campfire stoked and were settling in for an evening of tall tales, bad jokes and good times around a roaring fire. Shared a chuckle with Laurie as Mr.Campfire himself spent 20 unsuccessful minutes trying to turn our damp wood into a fire, finally resorting to a few caps of white gas just to save myself the embarrassment. Time now to make a few new friends, Steve and Arrielle, Troy and Barbara, Dave and Vickie, Madison, Chris,Woodsy, Ken, and to touch base with friends from past gatherings...Laurie, Brian, Toby, Bill, Kim, Eddie, John (Talltimber), Dale, Lucas, Mike and Samantha and the kids, Shelley, Claude and Joanne.....called it an early night and settled down around 11 for a wonderful sleep in that fresh Algonquin air.

Morning broke cold and clear! The temps had dropped down to -1c overnight and I found a thick layer of frost on my car...spent the next half hour with Alyssa, Madison and Lucas tryin to be quiet around the fire while we waited for others to rise. As people woke and breakfasts were being made, the sun finally poked thru the trees and warmed us . Everyone spent the morning doing their own thing, some headin out for a paddle or fishing, puttin up the Tiki bar, some hiking and Alyssa and I headed out for a hike around Whitefish Lake. A few people packed up and headed out as a few more drifted in to stay for the second night. Around 3 pm we had all gathered back at site 17 and preparations were soon on the way for the traditional Potluck dinner.....a campfire feast! It didn't take long for the sun to set and for everyone to huddle around the fire for another night of friendship. The temps were a little warmer Saturday....only dropping to 2c....great weather for sleeping!!!

Up again at 6ish am with the kids and resigned myself to the fact that I would have to strike camp and head home early as I had to work that night. This is the worst part of the trip. Packing up to go home. I always find it amazing that all that gear was so neatly packed in the car for the trip up, but it is soo hard to repack it for the trip back. Pulled out of the site at 11 am and was home by 2pm.

I am so looking forward to the Winter Gathering at the Wolf Den Bunkhouse  http://www.thecampfireonline.com/apps/videos/view/991686-an-autumn-drive-through-algonquin-provincial-park  in January...with any luck I can convince Rosemarie to join Alyssa and I for this one. Till we meet again my foggin friends, keep your paddle wet and your sleeping bag dry!

Kirk

Video..Algonquin Autumn Color  http://www.thecampfireonline.com/apps/videos/view/991686-an-autumn-drive-through-algonquin-provincial-park