May Long Weekend Bumped Out 2022 - Day 3

After a relatively sleepless night, we were up and LT retrieved a completely unscarred food barrel. I guess the bear was playing the bongos on someone else's food barrel. LT said it was just probably a raccoon. Yeah, a monster-sized one!

Next up was boiling water for tea and to rehydrate scrambled eggs and ham (plus peppers and onions). We also had bacon to reheat. This year I tried a different method of cooking the eggs by pulverizing the cornmeal before baking the eggs in the oven and then dehydrating them. I use a cookbook I bought online for most of my recipes and I love it. Chef Glenn. Here's a link to his site:

https://www.backpackingchef.com/backpacking-recipes.html

The eggs came out pretty good. Again I poured boiling water over the dehydrated eggs and left them for 45 minutes before cooking them up a bit on the stove. 

I don't have a lot of pictures for this trip as I was using my Canon camera and it just wasn't handy while in the canoe, it was stored in my canoe pack. 

There was no rush to pack up and move just yet. We only had about 2.5 hours of paddling to do before packing up and heading home. 

The weather was excellent for the weekend. The only rain was a few sprinkles around midnight the night before that didn't last long. The night before had been warmer. 

It didn't take much to pack up. One positive thing about the canoe pack is that it has a lot of room, it's not so much of putting a puzzle back together. Especially as it didn't matter so much as I wouldn't have the pack on my back any further than from the site to the canoe. 

On the way back the wind was hitting us at a 45 degree angle from the front right side. No such luck that we would get it from behind for a slight push. We navigated through the narrows of the train bridge without any problem. I had to keep an eye out for rocks on the way down the lake as there are a couple of spots where they are hidden just below the surface.

When we were on the way to our site a couple of days earlier, I refused an offer to stretch my legs as it felt like we'd only been in the canoe about half an hour. On the way back today I suggested a leg stretch at about the same point, one where there would only be about 30 minutes left to paddle. We stopped at a camp site and had a drink and a snack. 

Back in the water and as we neared the access point the wind was picking up. Before the access point is a lovely beach that is for the car camping sites. I suggested to LT that if he wanted we could dock there and just skip the fight to get back to the access point. He teased me by steering straight for it. He's in the back and does all the steering. I struggle with steering when he takes a break from paddling. But it was just a tease as he then tacked out towards the middle of the lake again. It was just a strategy to prevent us from being parallel to the waves. 

When we got to the access point we put in on the opposite side of the dock. There was quite a crowd landed already. Three canoes, six guys, three pickup trucks, all crowding the access point. We managed to load up and head out ahead of all three trucks even though LT had to go get his vehicle. 

We stopped at Cobden at the Chip Pit. It's the first time we have stopped there and I would recommend it. I had a poutine which had cheese curds all the way through it. And a cold Coke. Nothing beats it.

We're looking forward to our next trip. It's in Killarney. I have never been there, but LT has had a solo trip there when I was across the pond in the UK.

I did have a major fail on this trip. Everything in my canoe pack was put into its own bag. I had a bag of miscellaneous stuff like my dishes. I tossed in a bottle of spray sunscreen. Oh, and it didn't have a cap. Yup, everything in that bag got completely sprayed. It was like being sprayed by a skunk, none of the smell seems to wash off, although the scent was more pleasant than a skunk, just slightly though. Lesson learned.

Day 1                                         Day 2

May Long Weekend Bumped Out 2022 - Day 2

There wasn't much happening today. It was a rest day to be spent relaxing and just enjoying being out in nature. 

Even though I'd gone with LT when he initially set up the bear hang of the new barrel, I hadn't gone back when he actually hung it. And I wasn't wandering back into the bush to get it down on my own. So I just stayed in my hammock for as long as I could before having to get up to use the facilities. And speaking of facilities, our campsite had a brand, spanking new thunderbox. A nice bonus. The only issue was that the shiny new chain seemed to be a bit tangled and it was a struggle to get the lid to stay in the fully upright position. But hey, I'm not complaining.

Here are some random pictures as I didn't take out my camera to document any of our meals.

Highlights of the day - FOOD!

Breakfast was eggs with ready cooked bacon. There were supposed to be English muffins, but someone forgot them. However, they remembered to bring the jam I was going to put on such muffins. Speaking of forgotten items, I have a little list: my canoe seat (only requested when no portaging is happening), a head lamp (even though there were 4 to choose from), a Thermos (as we were going to test out a Thermos lunch) and last but not least, a cup to drink out of, predominantly for tea. None of these items were essential. The most used item is the cup, but one Thermos had been packed so it was put into use as the teacup.

Lunch was skipped as we hadn't eaten any of our snack the previous day. So snacks it was for lunch. 

Supper was dehydrated lasagna. I tried something different this year. LT has mentioned that he finds the rehydration of the pasta sauce a bit annoying. I used my Blendtec blender to pulverize the dehydrated pasta sauce into powder. A 500 mL jar dehydrated and pulverized weighed only 95 grams. I had put a third of the jar into the supper, however I will use more next time. As well as the pasta sauce, the meal had (all cooked and dehydrated separately) mini lasagna noodles I get at Bulk Barn, mushrooms, red peppers, onions, and minced beef.

I put the contents in a pot and poured boiling water on it. I set it in a pot cozy with a lid and left it for 45 minutes. After that I cooked it for 10-15 minutes. I had brought parmesan cheese, however LT had also packed some cheese strings, so I added a few of those on top of the pot as it finished cooking and the meal was delicious. I had also made some garlic bread wrapped in foil that we heated up in the frying pan over the stove.

I did not pack any desserts that needed to be constructed from a dehydrated state for this trip. I baked some two-bite brownies. They were a bit dry, but edible. I also packed a couple of large chocolate bars. We split one on the first night. My stomach was upset from the garlic bread, so I was done eating for the day.

On the Friday before we left I made the mistake of watching a camping video on Youtube from a couple of campers that had taken a trip last summer out of Canoe Lake. On their first night they had hung their food barrel high away from their site. At 3 a.m. a bear came into the site, tore it down, and ran off with it. They got out of bed to see if it was still there and no, it wasn't. The bear was back for more at 5 a.m. in total darkness. Huffing and pawing the ground at their campsite. They packed up and left shortly after. On their way out they passed a spot on the shoreline where yellow tape was strung out and a bear trap was set out. When they brought their canoe back to the rental place, the guy said that someone else had had their food barrel taken. He went to look for it the next day and found it with six other barrels. 

As dusk was falling at our site, there was a loud crashing noise coming from behind the campsite. At this site it's not a far distance to get to the train track. I'm sure that track is used as an animal highway. As it was dusk, I assume it was a deer just trying to come down to the lake for a drink of water. I wasn't taking any chances. I was alone in the bug shelter, LT was doing something by his hammock. I grabbed the kettle and a metal mug and clanged them together to make a lot of noise. Whatever animal it was, it turned back and did not come into camp. 

Everything with scent goes into the food barrel to be hung. Everything. Lip balm, toothpaste and my antacid tablets. I had chewed a few to calm my roiling belly, but had not left enough in my pocket. Off they went into the bear hang.

I was struggling to fall asleep. My stomach was giving me grief. I lay in my hammock listening to every single thing I could hear. The woods were noisy tonight. We went to bed earlier tonight than the previous night. I struggled to get comfortable. I had the not-so-brilliant idea of putting my new mattress inside my new bivvy bag to help keep it in place. It was a disaster. I twisted and turned in my hammock, having an even harder time to control where my mattress would end up. Finally I managed to take it out of the bivy bag and in frustration I tossed the bivvy bag out of the hammock. 

At about 11:30 there was a loud noise coming from the area where the barrel was hung. To my ears it sounded like a large animal pounding with two strong paws on an item that was not found in nature. I pictured a bear playing pinata with the barrel. I called out to LT and he heard it too. That was it for me. My nerves kicked into full gear. As a result of the nerves and the horrible indigestion, I had to get out of my hammock and make my way to the thunderbox at midnight. I sang all the way back to it making my presence known to any critters. There was a large spider taking refuge under the top as I opened it. The kinky chain was giving me a hard time, which didn't help. I managed to sleep from 2 to 3 a.m. then again from 4 to 5. I was glad to see the daylight finally dawn.

Oh, I forgot to mention. There was fresh bear scat next to where my hammock was hung. By fresh I mean it was maybe 3 days old when we got there. Here's a picture on probably day 5.

Day 1                                      Day 3

May Long Weekend Bumped Out 2022 - Day 1

We're Back in Algonquin Park!

It's 2022 and it's time to get back on the water. Weather was looking pretty wet for the May Victoria Day weekend, so we deferred the trip by a week. It was a smart decision. On Saturday of the long weekend, the big storm hit Ottawa. It was identified as a derecho, we're hearing more new terms for weather these days. There was a lot of damage in the city and outlying areas. I have no idea how much Algonquin Park was hit, but I was glad I wasn't sitting in the bug shelter for it when it rolled through.

LT bought a new canoe last year and put his first canoe in for repairs. COVID, the eternal excuse for things not happening, has brought more people out in local nature, so canoe purchases and repairs have backed up considerably. The location where he bought his canoe in March 2021, delivered it in late September 2021, so he didn't get to use it at all last year. He's taken it out for a maiden voyage up Barron Canyon on his own earlier in May 2022. The new canoe is a 16 foot Novacraft blue steel Prospector. 

Besides the new canoe, there's lots of new kit this year. First up is a new bug shelter, the No Bug Zone. It's much larger than our original bug shelter and is all in one piece (pictured below). I bought LT an early birthday present. With his birthday in mid-June, there's a great danger that he will buy whatever camping gear idea I can come up with before his birthday happens. This year I bought him a 60L food barrel and harness at MEC. Our first trip of the year would not have any portaging so we would be bringing it even though it was only a two-night trip.

I treated myself to a new pair of camp shoes...they're lightweight and easy to get on my feet when climbing out of the hammock.

New Dollarama faux crocs

LT had gifted me a few new items as well. A bivvy bag, a new mattress that inflates very easily with a dry bag with a special attachment, a special clothes dry bag, a new pair of water shoes, and a new canoe pack

He asked me if I wanted one and I vehemently said no. He switched over to a canoe pack several years ago. Here's the thing, he's got an underseat canoe bag that we've designed and made, a hip bag, a belt that he puts things on like his Leatherman, and multiple pockets. So he never needs to go into his canoe pack during travel. I LOVE my backpack. It has a top separate portion that I keep essentials in (like a rain jacket), small side pockets on the belt for an emergency kit, two side stretchy pockets for 1 litre Nalgene bottles, a dry bag attached to the front I can put dirty shoes in. It suits my needs. The canoe pack is about 4 feet tall so it's difficult for me to reach into it to place items or remove items. Did I mention that LT is a full foot taller than me? 

I had to just suck it up and try it this trip. I realized that it was just my anxiety that was making the canoe pack a bugaboo for me. I'm currently nursing a sore knee. And by currently I mean it's been over a year now. I was worried how I'd manage in the back country. But enough of my whining. 

The planned trip was similar to other season openers: launch at Achray on Grand Lake, paddle to the top, and aim for the uppermost campsite on the lake. 

Access 22 up the lake to the very top campsite

Back to the canoe. LT felt that his new canoe could handle the two canoe packs and the new 60L barrel (the harness can adapt to a 30L barrel as well). However, he got a call on Friday that the repairs to his old canoe were done and it was ready for pickup, so plans changed to pick that up on the way to Algonquin Park on Saturday morning. It pushed out the departure time a bit as the business only opened at 10 a.m. I was glad to be using the old canoe, again anxiety played a bit of a role here. Last year the business loaned LT a canoe from their old stock for each of his trips and the one they were giving him felt very tippy compared to our Old Faithful.

Selfie while waiting to be picked up

It took about half an hour to drive from my place to the canoe pickup. Fortunately LT remembered that he needed to bring the seats and yoke from home with the screws and tools to put them back in, which he did before mounting it on the car to get back on the road. 

Old Faithful all ready to go

Sand Lake Gate

A couple of hours later we were taking the canoe off the car and getting ready to get out on the water. We launched shortly after 1 p.m. on a relatively calm Grand Lake. The launch point was busy, 4 other canoes were setting off, although only one went ahead of us in the direction we were going.

Paddling up the lake we noticed the water was a bit higher than usual. There's a small swift 2/3rds of the way up the lake where the old train track crosses the lake and the opening underneath it is fairly narrow. It took two tries, but we managed to get up it without too much trouble, just a lot of heavy duty digging with the paddles.

It was breezy at times, we were heading into the wind. But nothing major. We made it all the way up to the top in about 2 1/2 hours of paddling. The site is tucked around several small points and you can't see it until you're on top of it. We never saw the one canoe that paddled up the lake ahead of us. I'm not sure if they went into Clemow, portaged into Rowan, or had some other more ambitious plan. But our chosen site was unoccupied and we claimed it. We had the lake to ourselves, it seemed. At least that end of it. We did not see a single occupied campsite all the way up the lake.

Top of the lake

Sandy landing

Home for two nights

It's May, it's bug season. First order of business, set up the bug tent. Then hammocks. LT got busy chopping up the wood he bought at the entrance gate. We needed the wood to cook the fresh dinner he packed of steak and veggies (potatoes/carrots).

New bug shelter

View from inside

Hammock set up

Before supper there was lunch, a much later lunch than originally scheduled. Cheese, grapes, cold meat, yum. Then supper.

Fire pit

Two delicious steaks, two veggie packs

I'm usually an early-to-bed camper. Tonight I hung out with LT in the bug shelter until after 11. I dragged him down to the shoreline to ogle the stars. It's a pretty dark zone and there were no clouds so lots were visible. We think we saw a satellite cross the sky as well. 

It was a cool night. I think it might have gone down to 10 degrees Celsius, that's the magic number when the flying insects go to sleep. The new mattress was tricky to keep on top of. It has a predisposition to curl slightly, so it was escaping from under me in the hammock. It felt very narrow and in the hammock I sleep on my side. I immediately would know that I had a body part not on the mattress as I would feel the cold. I slept okay and LT was snoring up a storm.

Day 2                                       Day 3

July 2021 - Canada Day Weekend at Cedar Lake

It's been a while since I've been out in Algonquin Park. This trip was just an easy-peasy foray into Cedar Lake. The initial plan was to revisit the campsite we'd been on a few years earlier on Canada Day. It is a lovely beach site near Acanthus Station. However, as you can see by the black lines outlining our paddle on Friday, we did not get the campsite we were aiming for as someone else beat us to it.

Back to the beginning. LT's canoe is in for repairs at a business near to Ottawa. It's not far off the highway heading out of town in the direction of Algonquin Park. They were kind enough to loan him a canoe for all of the trips he made this summer. LT made a special trip out to their location to pick up the loaner before our departure day. We were given a white canoe that had definitely been on many trips. It's a different shape than the canoe we're both used to. Well, especially me. I had some difficulty adapting to it. Also Cedar wasn't awful on Friday, but it was flexing its muscles a bit and the wind was making its presence known. I named the craft Tippi Hedrin, hoping deep in my heart that she wouldn't.

We paddled as close as we could to the Acanthus site, noticing on the way that the one campsite we'd passed near it was already occupied. As far as we could determine from where we paddled to, our desired site was also occupied. No surprise, it's Canada Day weekend and we were a day late getting out into the park.

We aimed towards the island campsites to check them out. Also occupied. We knew at that point there was going to have to be a lot more paddling to check out other sites so we decided to go back to the very first campsite we'd noticed on our way in very close to the access point that was empty. We were in luck, it was still empty!

The campsite is really nice, it's very elevated and amongst lots of pine trees. However the elevation was a bit tricky getting up to. And the thunderbox was on the opposite of the hillock we were on, so again about a 20 foot climb down to it. The hill going up to the campsite was so steep I had to get help to bring my bag up the hill. 

It was a very uneventful, relaxing weekend. No big hikes or portages. As I am writing this almost a year later I can't even remember what we had for meals. I would assume they were mostly fresh food. I did take a few pictures.

We even managed a swim. While we were floating in the water a couple paddle by in a canoe with two small children. By now it was pretty late to be starting a trip out on the lake, probably well after 2 p.m. The woman inquired as to whether we were on a campsite and we said yes. Then she said that she thought we were on her campsite as she'd reserved this one. Well, that's a good try, but at this point there are no reservations of a particular backcountry site in Algonquin Park. I was worried about them going off in the direction we'd gone so late in the day with small children as we knew there wasn't much open. I don't imagine things went well for them that day.

Our paddle out the next day wasn't very far. Getting back into Tippi made me a bit nervous, so I was glad the destination was close. This was a good trip to get our feet wet. 

Trip Log - Kiosk Loop: August 23 to 27, 2018 - Day 5

Day 5: AKA Algonquin Rush Hour!

We only saw 2 humans in the last 46 hours. Today would make up for that in a big way! It's Day 5, Monday. And we have a busy portaging day ahead.

Today's route (Jeff's maps)

Portages:
P1 170m Erables into Maple Lake
P2 130m Maple Lake into Maple Creek
P3 805m Maple Creek into Maple Creek
P4 630m Maple Creek into Maple Creek
P5 130m Maple Creek into Maple Creek
P6 190m Maple Creek into Maple Creek
P7 915m Maple Creek into Kiosk Lake
Total: 2,970m

I got up at 6:45 a.m. I didn't rush, but started to prepare to pack and leave at a decent time. I had done a lot of organizing the day before, which helped. The wind had shifted again, but this time it would be at our back.

Breakfast was dehydrated eggs with ham and veggies. I had a package of hash browns too, but I had used all the butter on the cinnamon buns, so they didn't taste as delicious as usual. It was all washed down with hot tea. Today's lunch was KD again. This time I pre-heated the Thermoses. We had pepperettes to eat with it. I didn't cut them up and put them into the Thermoses. We could just eat them on the side.

We were packed up and launched by 9:25 a.m. L.T. decided to put the canoe in at a different spot than where we had landed and it worked much better.

We passed the cormorant tree again.

The first portage was one we had come in through on Day 3. It's short and easy. We paddled up Maple Lake noticing how it's a really nice lake. Most of the campsites here are on islands. We got to the 2nd portage by 10:30. It's another short one, we were through it in a few minutes. Now we had a longer portion of creek to paddle down.

Note: we are going with the flow of the creek into Kiosk. Each of these portages goes around super rocky sections, parts of the creek covered with alders, and waterfalls. That means that we are mostly going downhill all day. Mostly.

We arrived at the beginning of the 3rd portage. It was a really pretty spot and we surprised a family of merganser ducks. A momma duck with 4 fairly big ducklings. They were so cute as they swam in a figure 8 trying to figure out how to get away.

This portage was going to be a bit longer. We stopped, had a snack, and changed into hiking shoes. For the short portages we were leaving our Keen sandals on, but for this longer one, we both preferred the support of the hiking shoes. 

One of the realities of this kind of travel is your feet are going to be wet all day. In the sandals it's bearable as your feet might dry out between portages. Today was the last day, so I was willing to get my hiking shoes wet. It's a good thing I learned to do that from last summer's trip to Radiant. It's just way easier. I had thick wool socks on in my hiking shoes for comfort. So we sat down and put on the shoes. 

It had started to rain while we were at this spot. Great big plopping drops of rain. At least on the portage, L.T. has his built in canoe umbrella. But it's a pretty heavy umbrella.

Also, with all the ins and outs of the canoe and the rain, the camera didn't come out very often on this leg of the journey. Which is too bad because there were some great things to see.

We knocked off P3 of 805m in 18 minutes. Back in the creek we went.

It didn't take long to get to P4. We stopped for a snack and looked at the very poor campsite at the end of this portage. Actually there wasn't a portage sign here. But as we got out of the boat we could see where it had been tacked onto the tree.

This 630m portage didn't take much time either. Little did we know this was the end of our solitude.

When we got to the end of the paddle in the creek and came upon the 5th portage, there were 4 guys there sorting through their stuff, taking up most of the room. L.T. managed to get the canoe over to the other side of this 130m portage very quickly as I trailed behind him with my bag, my trekking poles, the paddles and my life jacket in hand. He had left his bag at the entry point. He went back to get that and we tried to figure out how to put in at this point. It was completely muddy as soon as I stepped off the shore to hold the canoe. I was in about a foot of mud. Ick. All I could think about was leeches. Super ick!

The 4 dudes were double carrying their stuff, and slower than us, so we were able to get into the creek and leave then behind. However, it wasn't very far to the 6th portage and as we came around the bend of the creek to face the portage, we saw 8 people, 4 canoes, attempting to load up and launch towards us. There was no way we'd have room to squeeze in here. We had to sit in our canoe in the reeds waiting for them to clear the landing area. And it wasn't looking good. One kid was a foot offshore and he was up over his waist in water. He was holding the canoe as another kid was wrestling a bag into the canoe. 

There were a guy and girl that looked to be in their early 20's with this motley crew of boys that mostly looked like they'd never been out in nature before. I really felt for them. It wasn't a nice day weather-wise, they were going UP the creek, so climbing all their portages today, and generally looked completely discouraged.

By the time they all got launched, the 4 dudes had caught up with us. We slid into the launch first, to the far left, and we both almost fell out of the canoe as we tried to get out one at a time. 

This wasn't a very long portage either. We did a single carry, put into the water at the other end and managed to get ahead of the dudes. We had a long paddle before our last portage, the longest one of the day at 915m. It was a tricky one, a downhill portion that was steep. I do better with climbing, at least my knees are happier climbing than going down with probably about 40 pounds on my back a this point. Having the food all eaten had to have made a difference of about 10 pounds.

We passed another large group going up the creek on the water (thank god they had already cleared the portage). They looked in their 20's and there were about 4-5 canoes.

So happy it's the last portage of the day!

Strike a pose!

As I walked this portage I said a silent prayer to the Kiosk Lake god. Please, please, please, let it not be windy or wavy!

We stopped for a rest at the end of the portage. We expected to have to paddle for over an hour to get back to the access point. I started to eat my KD. It was warmer and I had poured more boiling water over it to help keep it moist. But your appetite suffers when you exert yourself. L.T. just had a Cliff bar. There was no sign of the dudes. Those double carries do slow you down a lot. You walk the portage 3 times instead of once.

Kiosk was looking pretty good from the reedy bay we were in. However out on the middle of the lake it was a bit windier. Fingers crossed, I prayed. As we got out into the center it wasn't too bad. We had to tack a bit, going straight into the waves away from our destination to get out of the larger bay we were in. It turned out to be that the wind was at our back. We cruised along at a fast clip with the extra help from mother nature. We checked out campsites as we sailed past them. There was a large group of what looked like teens at the first campsite. I had noticed in the first big group of kids they all had orange Nalgene bottles. It looked like they had been outfitted. My first thought was how would they know whose bottle was whose? At this first campsite, I could see a bunch of those same orange Nalgene bottles. 

We were able to check out a few cottages on this lake. One looked very luxurious. Motorboats are allowed on this lake, so a cottager could very well supply their cottage with anything they really needed. However they would have to generate their own electricity.

We made amazing time and before we knew it, we were ashore at the access point. The first thing L.T. did was go into the office to see if someone had left his GoPro. They had. 

While L.T. had been parking the car on Day 1, another car showed up with 2 canoes on top. The lady got out and we eventually had a polite conversation inquiring as to where the other planned to go. Her and her husband were expecting their son to join them. That lovely lady spotted the GoPro on the beach and immediately brought it into the office. Not only that, but the staff was able to discern it was L.T.'s, so it was left with his full name on it. Phew!

All that was left after loading up the car was the long drive back to Ottawa. I'm glad it wasn't me doing the driving. And the chip wagon in Deep River was open for our dinner at 5. I was home by 8 p.m. and pretty tired. It felt good to get into the bathtub to wash off 5 days of camp grime.

Trip Stats:(all distances calculated using Jeff's maps)

Day 1:
Total distance covered: 9.7 km
Total portaging distance: 1930m
Fitbit stats - 24,247 steps with 61 floors climbed

Day 2:
Total distance covered: 12.8 km
Total portaging distance: 2905m
Fitbit stats - 19,726 steps with 34 floors climbed


Day 3:
Total distance covered: 11.25 km
Total portaging distance: 3260m
Fitbit stats - 24,074 steps with 35 floors climbed

Day 4:
Fitbit stats - 17,746 steps with 21 floors climbed

Day 5:
Total distance covered: 16.25 km
Total portaging distance: 2970
Fitbit stats - 16,784 steps with 17 floors climbed

Overall Trip:
Total distance covered: 50 km
Total portaging distance: 11.065 km


Day 1                      Day 2                     Day 3                Day 4

Trip Log - Kiosk Loop: August 23 to 27, 2018 - Day 4

At 6:30 a.m. the sky just opened and it poured rain. There was no rush to get up this morning so I could wait out the rain. It did eventually stop. I was still starving from the night before and knew that even though all the food was hung high in the trees behind our site, L.T. had a Cliff bar in his fanny pack under the tarp. I crawled out of the hammock and consumed that post haste.

Attempt to dry things

The wind had shifted overnight so an adjustment to the tarps was needed.

Today was a rest day. Everything could be done in a leisurely fashion. That included breakfast. Blueberry pancakes with butter and real maple syrup. We had the last serving of bacon as well.

The sun played peekaboo and there was enough wind to help dry out some of the items that got wet yesterday and overnight. We set up a couple of clotheslines and I got my sleeping bag and mattress out of my hammock. 

We hadn't seen any humans in the last 24 hours. Around 9:30 this morning a canoe went up the lake towards Maple Lake with 2 passengers. The rainy weather had broken up a bit by then.

We didn't wander anywhere today, mostly just around the front of the campsite. I still managed somehow to get 17,746 steps on my Fitbit and 21 flights of stairs.

A scan of the lake showed a tall dead tree to the right of our site with what looked like a majestic eagle perched in it. He was perched there again the next day when we paddled away.

Panoramic view of Erables Lake

At 1 p.m. we had lunch. A Knorr envelope of teriyaki noodles and veggies that I added rehydrated ground beef to.

At 2:30 p.m. I mixed up some cinnamon buns that L.T. fried up in the pan.

Not so round, but oh so delicious!

I had found pizza dough envelopes at the grocery store which I used to make these, as well as the savoury buns from Day 2. It has the yeast pre-mixed into it, much easier than trying to raise yeast in the backcountry.

Dinner was individual pizzas using the 2 leftover soft taco shells. We didn't have the mozzarella cheese strings but we did have a wedge of triple cream brie. I rehydrated the pizza sauce with veggie toppings (mushrooms, zucchini, red peppers). I also had picked up a sliced pepperoni product that was preserved, so it didn't need any refrigeration. It didn't take long to heat up the pizza in the fry pan over the stove. 

Shortly after being handed my pizza, I dropped it, completely face down in the dirt (are you noticing a theme here?). L.T. was cooking his pizza and he kindly offered to share his. We had eaten a lot of food so far today, it was a relief to only eat half a pizza after all.

Dessert was pineapple shortcake. It comprises vanilla pudding, rehydrated pineapple, dried angle food cake and coconut topping.

Later on, to make up for the half pizza serving, we had a few crackers with Welsh cheese. Loblaws is selling a line of Welsh cheese, brand name is Snowdonia. See here for the kind we were eating. Ginger spice, OMG delicious, especially with apple.

Today's task was to eat ALL the food so I didn't have to carry it tomorrow, my ulterior motive. Here's a picture of the food bag as it went into my backpack the next day:

This bag was completely full on Day 1

The sun finally decided to come out for a gorgeous sunset.

At the opposite side of the lake an almost full moon started to rise. It was the most amazing colour, a tangerine-pinkish shade. The sky was a steely dark blue.

Bedtime was around 10 p.m. Tomorrow was a travelling day with 7 portages. 

Day 1                      Day 2                          Day 3                      Day 5