Winter Outdoor Gathering
January 15, to 17, Valens Conservation Area
What a difference a week makes! Last week we were up against snow and temps that dipped down to -25c with wind chill. This weekend sure was different!
I left Woodbridge about 2:30 pm and struck out across hiway 401 for a winter adventure with a group from www.waterwalker.ca and www.outdooradventurecanada.com . After a lazy 45 minute drive I pulled into the winter campsites at Valens and found a few of the guys already set up and Kim hard at work tryin to whittle down the "deposit" the "Wood Fairy" had left for us that afternoon.
Quickly started setting up camp and before the tent was even up got myself in trouble, the park superintendant drove by and chastised me for having my axe stuck in the picnic table on my site. Oooops! I apologized for my newbie-ness and finished setting up camp. Headed back to the main group and spent a relaxing afternoon shootin the breeze, catching up with a couple of old friends, and getting aquainted with a couple of new ones. As darkness fell we got a short chorus of howls and yips from the coyotes out in the feild beside us. Quite a nice night to relax with a warm fire and temps hovering around -4c. Got a little hungry so dropped a nice peppered ribeye onto the grill, and dropped it into the coals tryin to flip it. Good for a chuckle as I tried to save my dinner. What the heck, its camping, fished it out of the coals and slapped the steak on a bun! Hit the sack around 10 pm and settled under the sleepin bags for a surprisingly cozy nights sleep.
The next morning remained overcast and a little cool, but no where near the temps of last week. We all took our time, several gallons of hot coffee were whipped up and we relaxed around the fire, telling more tall tales enjoying our breakfasts. Around 10 am the group broke up a little to do some individual stuff. Mike headed off for a hike, and since we didn't have enough snow for snowshoes, I headed out for a solo hike myself. This area was littered with animal tracks, coyote, racoon, beaver, rabbit, squirrel and a few others I couldn't positively identify, I think they may have been porcupine.
I bumped into Paul, Tracy and Obi hiking the same trail from the opposite direction so we stopped for a short powwow and a smoke. Got headed back down the trail and just soaked up the fresh sweet air and the crunch of snow under foot. There is nothing that can compare to being alone in the bush, even if its just a short hike along trail in a popular conservation area. Its invigorating and relaxing all at the same time. Got back to camp to find we had a few more visitors who had dropped in for an hour and a couple that dropped by to stay the night.
Spent the rest of Saturday hanging around the fire, eating, and chewing the fat with the group! Temps dropped down a little more this night, the thermometer in my car read -8 around 10 pm. Just cool enough for me to finally put on my overcoat. Stayed up as long as I could and left Tracy sittin alone by the fire at midnight. Snuggled down for a good nap that was interrupted about 5 am by a bad case of EBS...Explosive Bladder Syndrome.....crawled out of the tent to take care of business and holy cow, the temps had gone up over the past few hours to near the freezing mark, by 8 am when I finally crawled out of the tent again, it actually felt like a spring thaw! Took my sweet time this morning, havin a coffee with the guys before breaking camp. We hung in till about 11 am then headed our separate ways, till the next gathering that is. I really hope to make it to the spring event, but in the meantime I have to look for a chance to steal another winter weekend in the bush...alone this time!
For more pics visit the photo gallery.... http://www.thecampfireonline.com/apps/photos/album?albumid=7946497
Kirk
