Trip Log - Grand Lake: May 20 to 22, 2017 - Day 2

I tossed. I turned. I got up and went to the bathroom. Twice. Which leads to a big effort to get back into the double-bag sleeping system, on top of the narrow air mattress, without letting too many bugs in with you. I heard everything. Every twig snap, every loon call, every peeper peep. That first night it's tough to settle in and just relax. It was probably after 2:30 before I really fell deeply asleep. I could actually feel it warming up slightly around 2 a.m. I wasn't jumping out of bed too early this morning. 

In fact, L.T. got up before me. I waited until I could hear him wander off to get the food bag that was hung north of our site. Our hammocks were on the south part of the site. Then I dragged my butt out of bed.

The forecast was for rain today and a lot of it. Up to 10mm of rain was coming. I had forgotten my hiking poles in the car when we were unpacking at the launch. And if we wanted to do a decent hike, we'd have to go out into the canoe to somewhere else, there were no trails accessible from where we were camped.

Various photos of deadfall around the campsite

It was a slow morning. We were sharing the teabags as I had only brought 6 and L.T. had forgotten his. This was the only thing he'd forgotten, which is pretty good. Breakfast was fresh eggs and bacon. He had brought a half dozen so we ate three eggs each. He cooked three at a time and did not break a single yolk! We had brought along his pot set this trip.

I chopped up the potatoes and carrots from the night before and fried those up as hash browns. L.T. reheated the bacon he cooked ahead of time. We both like our bacon differently, so he cooks half the way I like it (less cooked and chewy) and half the way he likes it (crisp). And he buys the thick bacon at Loblaws, which makes any other bacon seem like lace.

It was probably about 10:30 by the time we finished breakfast. I did the dishes and we just relaxed for a while. The rain hadn't started yet. I didn't broach the subject of a hike. I wasn't feeling up to doing anything really strenuous after not sleeping well last night. And I know it would be harder for me to walk over uneven ground without my hiking poles. 

Potty sign that wasn't near the potty

The potty, wasn't a great one but functional

Around 12:30 L.T. suggested we take a walk to the north of our campsite where he'd hung the bear bag the night before. It was on the edge of a field. We were camped on a site that had been a depot farm in the days when they were logging and using the lakes to transport the logs. Off we went, it wasn't far. We started wandering around the field. One of the first things we noticed were the abundance of raspberry canes. With this big open space, they had a lot of room to grow. Interesting. You know, I think bears like raspberries, right? And then we came upon a big pile of poop. Then another one. And another one. We saw about a dozen at least and some of it was more recent than others. Nothing steaming, thank God, but I'm pretty sure it was bear poop. I think I even saw some fur in a couple of piles. 

We didn't really wander around much after encountering all that excrement. I asked L.T. if it was tempting fate to hang the bear bag that close to the field. His theory was that if the bear wanted the food that he could have it and he wouldn't have to go through us to get it. Point well taken. And if a bear did get the food, we'd just pack up and paddle back down the lake anyways. 

Marshy area past the potty where the peepers were hanging out

We wandered back to our campsite and I started another fire. We kept it burning for a while. While we were sitting in the bug shelter I noticed some movement in the forest. A mammal of some sort hopped over a log then came to a stop when he spotted us. He quickly turned tail and ran. We didn't get a good look at him but after googling pictures of various animals that are in the area, I really think it was a fisher. L.T. thinks it was a skunk. He had a bushy tail and cat-like movements, and was about the size of a medium dog.

We also heard a nearby grouse trying to drum up interest. I'm not sure how far away he was, the low vibrations of his breast-beating were distinctly audible. We never spied him, but we heard his presence all weekend.

The rain started up and I decided to take a nap. I slept on and off for 4 hours. L.T. puttered around the campsite for a while then decided to nap as well. 

I got up at 5 and started preparations for dinner. Tonight it was lasagna with savory cheese buns and pineapple upside down cake for dessert. First I boiled water and set the dried pineapple rehydrating in my Thermos. I put 3 cups of boiling water in a pot and added the dehydrated lasagna mixture I had put together at home. When we were ready to eat, I'd just heat it up again quickly. I made vanilla instant pudding in my metal coffee mug first with cold water and milk powder, then the pudding powder and put it aside to let it set.

The cheese buns were a recipe I made of buttermilk pancake mix, a dried egg mixture, some dried parsley, garlic powder and onion powder. I had vacuum sealed some cheddar cheese that I diced up into tiny pieces with my new Leatherman knife I had gotten for my birthday. I mixed it all together with some warm water and melted butter. I sealed the bag it was in to let the ingredients blend and possibly rise a bit. 

L.T. got up and after we both relaxed for a bit, I started dinner. He had to make a trip out onto the lake to get more water. We fill a large bag with about 12 litres of water which we then put through a Platypus filtration system 4 litres at a time. We either boil water we cook with or use a Steripen to kill any bacteria in the water we drink. I notice he left without his life jacket, but he wasn't going far off shore. It can be tricky pulling up a fully loaded 12-litre bag of water from the lake into the canoe, it weighs quite a bit. 12 kilograms actually.

I had bought him an alcohol stove as a Christmas gift. He was interested in having one and thought that it would burn nice and slow, perfect for cooking baked goods in the wild. He took it out and set it up. Filling it was a messy affair, fuel spilled all over the place. It basically is the diameter of a Coke can, is just over half an inch high, with a trio of pronged legs that fold out. The center of the stove is a large dimple with a single hole in the bottom. The top diameter has various holes all around it. You just pour the fuel into the dimple and it slowly drains into the stove. 

There are no controls with this stove. You light it and that's it. It runs at the one speed until all the fuel is burned. It takes 15 minutes if filled and it doesn't burn low. We're going to rethink another solution for baking, maybe even using tealights.

We used it to cook the buns and they got a bit burned on the bottom. I flipped them over and put them onto my own stove after I had finished using it for heating the lasagna.

Distinct rain line

The secret to cooking a lot of the dehydrated meals I create is to have a lot of time to let them sit and rehydrate. The longer they sit, the more they become just like they were before they were dehydrated. Some things take longer, like peas and celery, to rehydrate and can be quite chewy or hard. You'd never recognize the pineapple I rehydrate, that it had ever been dried. Starting that before even making dinner is the best timing for it.

The lasagna has in it: ground beef, cooked mini lasagna noodles, spaghetti sauce, mushrooms, corn, peas, carrots, red peppers, and onions. I usually add cheese when serving it, but this time I used the cheese in the buns.

The dessert was put together like this, we each got a serving of the pineapple with some juice, topped with the pudding, then dried angel food cake gets added to the bowl with a topping of shredded coconut. Yum!

The previous night's dessert was banana nut bread pudding. I rehydrate the bananas, then add dried Italian bread crumbs (and small chunks) with chopped walnuts.

This stump has been here a long time

It was raining pretty heavily now. The fire had gone out when we were napping and the pit (and wood) was too wet to start another one. I was tired, despite having the nap, and felt chilled. It was below 10 degrees again tonight. I just wanted to cocoon myself into my hammock so I went to bed around 9 p.m. L.T. followed me. We chatted back and forth a bit, but I soon fell asleep.

Day one                   Day three

Trip log - Cedar Lake to Mink Lake: June 11 to 14, 2016 - Day 3

Monday - a rest day

Last night was very quiet and calm, peaceful and almost silent. However the birds started up very, very early. A crow decided to zig-zag through the woods behind us and caw very loudly for a while. 

We had been able to set up the hammocks first try yesterday. 

My hammock, I could see the trees when lying in it

LT's hammock - he's still sleeping

The very necessary bug shelter

Once LT got up and fetched the food bags for me (sometimes I'm too short, also, I avoided being involved in the hang on this site, so I didn't even know where it was) we had breakfast. Today it was blueberry pancakes with bacon. I have a tube from Nalgene that I put the butter in and the first job of the morning, after making tea, is to soften the butter enough to get it out of the tube. 

My mouth waters just looking at this deliciousness!

The following are some shots of the lake from our campsite:

Nice shoreline

Today's schedule? Nada. We decided to paddle over to the island to check out the site in case we might use it in the future. Here are the island pictures:

Bathroom with a view

 

It's a nice site, lots of room to put tents, not as much for hammocks. The trees were mostly hanging off the top of the cliff into the water. A bit dicey in the dark getting in and out of the hammock tied on those trees.

We paddled back to our site and I had a nap. After that I started on dinner. We had lasagna with savoury biscuits. 

Dessert was a new recipe, Banana Cream Puffs. It was made with rehydrated bananas, banana pudding and dried angel food cake, YUM!

Tonight bedtime was 10 p.m.

Moon picture taken from inside my hammock

             Day 1                           Day 2                    Day 4

Trip log - Grand Lake: May 20 to 22, 2016 - Day 2

Day 2, AKA "Hike Day". The hike that was 2 years in the planning. After failing to complete the hike in 2014, I was determined to come back and do the whole thing. To be honest, I was nervous. Nervous enough to feel slightly queasy even.

But before I get to the hike, let's start with breakfast. After a great sleep in my new hammock, the day dawned calm and sunny. Breakfast was fresh eggs, pre-cooked bacon, and something I brought here all the way from the Target in Phoenix, Arizona.....hash browns!

Yumminess in a bag!

LT did an excellent job of cooking the eggs. We ended up eating the eggs and bacon while the potatoes cooked. They were pretty much a dehydrated shredded potato with some onion powder. I think I can make these myself. I've failed with dehydrating potatoes so far. But this might be my first success story with the spuds. After all, it's a long way to the Target in Phoenix to restock!

Once the potatoes had soaked up all the water added to them, a big dollop of butter was put in the frypan and the potatoes added. After letting them sit for a while, we attempted to flip them over using my teeny tiny spatula. It didn't work the best, but the taste of the potatoes made up for it.

We digested breakfast, washed dishes, rehung the bear bag so no critters would be lured into our site while we were away. We had experience in walking from this site to the portage starting point. We would do the same today.

Looking at the picture below, we were staying at the campsite I've outlined with a black triangle. We walked from the site back to the abandoned train track, shown with the black line, to the start of the portage.

We would follow the red line from the start of the portage, sometimes under the hydro lines (shown on the map as a grey line with dots - see grey arrow). The apex of the trail is at the blue arrow. The red star marks our destination at Green Leaf Lake.

Hike Stats:
Distance one way: 5.5 kilometers not includig walk to portage start
Starting level: 221 meters above sea level
Peak: 401 meters above sea level
Green Leaf Lake: 257 meters above sea level

We were starting out pretty low, climbing 180 meters, dropping back down 160 meters, then turning around and doing it in reverse. It was becoming a very warm day. We were thankful for the shade provided in the forested areas of the trail. Although the forest brought blackflies!

Hydro lines aren't very fussy about terrain. Steep hills? No problem. Rocky? No problem. I was very glad to have my hiking poles with me. They were essential for the downhill portions.

It was apparent that the rangers had been on this trail two days earlier. But they weren't on foot like us, there were tracks from the ATV they had used to climb this steep mountain. At times I was pretty envious of their motorized transport.

LT was great with me, he insisted on taking regular breaks. He reminded me to drink water and eat snacks. I had made a rice, chicken, veggies lunch in our thermoses at breakfast. We waited to eat them until after we finished all the climbing.

On our last attempt on this trail, we had made it just past the apex, which is slightly more than halfway. The trail was familiar to us until this point. After that, we were amazed at how the trail just was one big long straight line that went down without any flat spots.

LT had packed our snack bags for the trip. Each bag contained cashews, almonds, dried bananas, dried pineapple, sugared peanuts, BBQ peanuts, and to top it off, a big sour gummy! He had brought 2 liters of water. I stubbornly only brought one. He was using his new fanny pack to carry his lunch, snack and water bottles. I am not that comfortable with a pack cinched only at my waist. I had emptied out my big backpack and put in only what I needed for the hike. The weight was distributed nicely on my back.

We finally made it to the bottom of the hill where we crossed under the hydro lines and started the 440 meter portage into Green Leaf Lake. This short section of the trail mostly comprises huge boulders excellently placed to break a leg if you don't pay attention. It was nice to be doing this trail without our gear.

We got to the lake, found a rock to sit on and took our snacks out again. I realized that I was going to run out of water. Oops. As both of us finished our first bottle of water, LT kindly poured half of his second bottle into mine. 

GoPro photo of Green Leaf Lake

After a nice long break sitting by this pretty lake, we turned around and started back. We were prepared for the long climb back and LT was good at distracting me as we kept going up. Shortly after the apex we found a suitable place on the trail to stop and eat our lunch. Making our lunches at breakfast and putting it into a Thermos is a great thing we figured out last year. (Thanks, Chef Glen)

The trip down was almost harder than the trip up. I was putting a lot of weight on my hiking poles. I was glad I had better footwear this time around. I had bought a pair of light Keen hikers and I was wearing them now. At least the slight breeze was at our face as we were descending down under the hydro lines.

When we got back to our campsite, I lay down for a few minutes in my hammock to get my batteries recharged. That was one heck of a hike! I don't know how anyone gets a canoe up this trail!

The total distance we walked was probably 12 kilometers. I was wearing my Fitbit and it told me that we had climbed the equivalent of 66 flights of stairs!

LT went out in the canoe again to get some more water from the middle of the lake for filtering. The rest of the afternoon was for relaxing. Well, what was left of it as we had been gone 5 hours.

Our view of the lake (circa 2014)

While we were relaxing in the bug shelter, a strange wind blew up over the lake coming towards us with quite the strength. Behind the wind, we could see the sunshine along the horizon. I kept saying that I didn't think it was going to last, but we had to prepare if it did. LT walked around the campsite to find a place we could set up tarps and hunker down behind them. Then we rehung my hammock. I had been perpendicular to the lake, with my head towards the water. My fly would not protect me in this configuration. We hung it parallel to the shoreline and much lower. When I would get out of the hammock now, I'd be on my hands and knees on the ground. LT figured that it was a cold front that was blowing through.

Dinner tonight was a new recipe for me, lasagna. I had found some long noodles that are about half an inch wide with lasagna curly edges. At home I had boiled up the whole bag, dried them in my dehydrator, then broke them into shorter pieces once dried.

Everything was thrown in the same pot: noodles, dried ground beef, tomato sauce leather, dried veggies (mushrooms, celery, red peppers). I added boiling water and let it sit for a while. Then we fired up the stove and cooked it over low heat for about 10-15 minutes. I had 4 mozzarella cheese string packets and some parmesan cheese to add at the end. Verdict? This is definitely going to be a regular dinner choice!

Dessert again was a new recipe. Banana-mango pudding. I had cooked frozen mango chunks, blended them with bananas and dried that mix into a leather. I rehydrated this leather in the Thermos, then once it was ready, added homemade granola topping. It was also YUMMY! Another dessert choice in the expanding menu for camping!

Dishes were done, the food/dishes/toiletries bags were hung, and we munched some chocolate in the impending darkness. The strange wind didn't make a reappearance so we were okay for the night. After the big hike we were both ready for bed early.

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