Trip Log - Prologue: Grand Lake to Clemow Lake and back (Victoria Day Weekend 2014)

Prologue      go to Day 1       go to Day 2        go to Day 3

Something very exciting happened this spring while planning for our first trip of the year, I discovered the concept of “dehydrating” food.  After various Googling exercises, we were at Canadian Tire looking at a dehydrator.  As we hummed and hawed over it, LT found the exact same appliance at Walmart for $15 less.  Please look the other way as you picture us traipsing over to that place that shall not be named.  I really try to never shop there, but occasionally exceptions are made.

There were several on the shelf, I grabbed one and opened the box.  In order to buy the tray liners (two different types, one is a ‘screen’ for smaller items like blueberries, the other a solid liner for fruit leathers and other liquids, I would have to mail away to the distributor in Montreal.  Okay, I could do that.  We decided to scour the shelves to see if anything else could be substituted for the liners.  Someone had fortunately lost interest in an art supply and dropped it in our vicinity.  It was plastic mesh meant to be used for needlepoint.  Perfect!  At $2.65 even if it failed, oh well.  I brought it home and promptly cut it to fit the circular trays and pre-tested it in the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit (better to melt there over a cookie sheet than in the new dehydrator).  It didn’t melt!

Oh the Googling that ensued!  I purchased a cookbook online.  I bought one at Chapters. I mailed away and received two fruit leather trays and two mesh trays.  I scoured many websites, watched plenty of Youtube videos and jumped into my own dehydrating adventure.  We even sampled some of the recipes at home so we’d know if they were good or not.

I will provide more details on what I learned, what works, and what’s delicious elsewhere.  Needless to say, I was pretty excited to bring my newfound food skills into the field.

While waiting for camping season to open up, we had done a lot of planning and purchased equipment here and there.  We had added the following to our kit:

•         Gravity water filtration system (Platypus)
•         Steripen (for the nasty germs)
•         Eureka! camping mattress for me (narrow)
•         2^nd Whisperlite stove
•         2 new backpacks from MEC
•         Couple of drybags and compression sacks

Reservations were made, this would be our first 2-night trip to the park.  The official ice-out date this year was as late as May 7^th.  To be honest, this is based on the largest lake, Opeongo, the ice was probably gone on Grand Lake and Clemow Lake earlier than that.  But I was still nervous about being on water that is so cold.  I had heard the following rule: 1-10-1.  One minute to control your breathing when you get dumped into the cold water, ten minutes to get to safety, after that your limbs would no longer perform the commands sent from your brain, and one hour until hypothermia sets in.  I have been in ice cold water, it’s very scary.  I was nervous.  Also Grand Lake is bigger than any of the lakes we had been on so far together for any extended period of time.  The wind would be blowing in our faces as we paddled up the 11+ km to the top of the lake.

Rental canoe with new gear

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Bags, Bags, Bags....

Backcountry canoe camping is all about the bags, 'bout the bags, no trouble......sorry, couldn't help myself there.

We each carry a large MEC backpack.  In those packs are dry bags, stuff sacs, compression bags, bags for the stoves, bags for the clothes, bags for the food, bags for the garbage.  Bags inside of bags.

In the early spring of 2014 we both got new backpacks at MEC.  I had previously used my son's, but he headed off to Australia for a year and took his big backpack with him.  The nerve!  I now have the MEC Aurora 75 and I'm very happy with it.

http://www.mec.ca/product/5032-786/mec-aurora-75-backpack-womens/

A couple of the features I really like about my bag is the swivel hip belt and the ability to open it like a duffle bag with a zipper, not just through the top. It holds a lot and distributes the weight well making it easier to carry.  We got LT a new pack too.  It was his birthday present, but it arrived a bit early.

His 'n Hers Packs - Guess which one is mine?

Inside my backpack I have a huge 35 litre drybag.  If I had the chance to make the decision to buy that big of a drybag again, I probably wouldn't. It is a bit more limiting than several smaller bags.  But I get a lot of comfort knowing most of my stuff is in a drybag in case my pack ever ends up in the lake. Preparing for these things happening is almost a guarantee that they won't. Almost!  

LT saw a bag that goes under the canoe seat that someone had made.  He described it to me and I attempted to recreate a bag that would give him access to a few items while seated in the canoe.  Trying to get an item out of our carefully packed huge backpacks in the canoe is a recipe to end up in the drink!  In his under-the-seat bag he carries his Nalgene water bottle, sunscreen, and bug spray.  When he's portaging and carrying the canoe on his shoulders, he does not remove this bag from the seat it's attached to.

Supplies - I used upholstery fabric

Final Product

His map goes in a totally different bag.  He has an Osprey water resistant clear plastic map case that he Velcros onto the stern thwart (yeah, I had to Google that) and it sits on top of the backpack lying in the bottom of the canoe, a built-in table!

Speaking of homemade "bags", I sewed pot cozies for each of the pots in my T-fal camping pot set.  I found some potholder fabric at Fabricland and made sure I put the fireproof side in to hold the heat as best possible.  This concept allows me to rehydrate food without having to cook it.  I can put the dried food in the pot with the boiled water and just let it sit all cozied up.

Let me just tuck you in....

I could not believe when I bought my sleeping bag how small it is when stuffed into the compression bag it comes with.  I kept walking around Bushtukah with it in my right hand poised to throw it for a touchdown - it's exactly the size of an American football.  

This is one of my favourite bags we carry, just because it's very functional. I'm working up to using it as a shower on one of our warmer trips this summer. I think I need to get it some sort of a black plastic sheath to lay it out in the sun to warm up.

Fill me up with lakewater....

Of course the key is to make sure you NEVER leave a bag behind anywhere! We learned that the hard way on one trip.  

Shhhhhhhh - they're sleeping!

What kind of bags do you carry?

Trip Log - Day 3: Grand Lake to Upper Spectacle Lake; in to Little Carcajou Lake and Return (Victoria Day Weekend 2015)

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I woke up very early and opened the tent to see mist hanging over the lake.  I was tempted to get up and take pictures, but I was tired so I just went back to sleep.  When we finally did get up the lake was like glass.

The beaver wasn’t shy.  He was swimming around his bay early the next morning.  Breakfast today was pancakes with dried blueberries in them.  And this is where I finally realized I had forgotten something – the maple syrup for the pancakes.  We ended up putting extra butter on, sprinkling white sugar on top, with some cinnamon.  They were almost as yummy as they would have been with maple syrup.  And we ate the last of the bacon.

Mr. Beaver's Den

We packed up camp.  We were on the water by 10.  It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to do the portage.  It was 20 minutes less than on the way in, but those 20 minutes were spent by LT cutting back the tree that had been blocking the trail.  When we were paddling through the pond we saw a pair of turtles out sunning on a log in the middle of the pond.  One was shy and slipped into the water but the other turtle didn’t budge.

Dam on the other side of the lake

It was nice to have the hardest portage of the day done first.  The rest of the trip felt leisurely.  There were campers on both sites on Upper Spectacle Lake – and they knew each other.  There were about 10 tents pitched in total for the 2 sites.  Lots of people.  Lower Spectacle had 2 canoes out floating around, both campsites were occupied.  Again, each campsite had a large number of people.

We got to the top of Carcajou Bay, the easy put-in on the smooth rock.  However, there was a crowd of people, adults and children, all spread out sitting on the rock.  And no one was moving to give us much space to land the canoe.  Someone had a dog.  That wasn’t the worst of it.  When we got to the other end there were 4 kayaks and 2 canoes all tied up at the small put-in, making a tricky move even more difficult to accomplish.

It was the same story at the next portage.  Somewhat fewer people, a dog not on a leash, and a canoe completely across the spot we needed to launch from.  We learned a valuable lesson that day.  If we want to avoid seeing people, don’t camp near here.

LT lost his footing on the very last put-in into Grand Lake and got both feet soaking wet right up to the knees.  What I forgot to mention is that today was a gorgeous blue-sky day and warm.  Once we were in the canoe he took his shirt off and I took off my long-sleeved beige shirt to my t-shirt. 

We were in no hurry and took advantage of the time to hug the shore on our right to check out the campsites there.  I predict that we will never use one of these sites – too many people.  The campsites are pretty trampled and worn.  We commented on the portage exit we missed the first time on this lake together as we paddled by it.  We crossed to the final beach point where we were taking out the canoe.  It was nice to be here on a day that was quieter as everyone else is staying one more night. 

Things we learned on this trip?  Take the saw when doing a hike to check out a portage to get rid of the blow downs while not loaded up.  And don’t bother going to the campsites in the Carcajou Falls area if we want some peace, quiet and isolation.  Ain’t gonna happen.  Especially on a long weekend.

We skipped breaking open the bags to make KD for lunch at Achray.  Dealing with the dirty dishes alone isn’t worth it.  Instead we hightailed it for the first chip wagon we could find and I drank not one, but TWO cans of Coke!

The car was making some funny noise when we got home.  I brought it to my mechanic and had to replace a broken link in the back end (well, the parts come in a pair, I think – he replaced both).  $214 later.....that dirt road is hard on the car.

Little Carcajou Lake

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Trip Log - Day 2: Grand Lake to Upper Spectacle Lake; in to Little Carcajou Lake and Return (Victoria Day Weekend 2015)

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I woke up early.  The birds in Algonquin don’t realize we’re not keeping office hours!  I unzipped the tent and the fly to see if the sun was shining.  It wasn’t, but it wasn’t bad, just slightly overcast, not threatening.

Breakfast was fresh eggs and pre-cooked bacon reheated and tea.  The eggs we put on English muffins with some shredded cheese string.  Today’s snack was granola with raisins, pineapples and walnuts tossed in.  LT’s version had dehydrated bananas in it as well.

Our neighbours were up and out earlier than us.  They passed us, 2 canoes, 3 men.

We packed up and were on the water by about 10.  It took us 2 hours to do the portage.  LT spent 20 minutes cutting the blow-down tree at the beginning.  I walked ahead, dropped my bag and walked back.  I had my trekking poles.  These are imperative for me to have a successful long portage.  I should have had them on my hike the previous day, but you know, we were just having a peek at the next campsite. 

We stopped several times to catch our breath.  We were very happy to launch the canoe into the beaver pond, it was actually a pretty pond.  I don’t have any pictures from this section of travel. I had my large DSLR camera.  The day before, I had dangled it off my large backpack.  Today it was packed deep into my bag.

We pulled the canoe out of the pond, had a break then eagerly started the last 10 minutes that seemed to take more like 20 minutes when we were fully loaded.  We got the canoe into Little Carcajou Lake and started to look for the sole campsite on the lake.  We found a pile of rocks that looked like a fire pit, but no campsite sign.  We continued to the end of the lake where the portage is for the next lake (Wenda).  That sign was sitting on a post sticking out of the water.  There had been a ranger cabin here at one point.  We couldn’t tell where it had been.  We doubled back to our single option. 

There had been a campsite sign here at one point

Once we landed and looked around we realized that we were in the right place.  There were 4 orange corners still nailed on the tree – just no sign.  And our 4 friends from the previous day had left a long length of bright yellow nylon rope tangled in a tree.  Probably their unsuccessful attempt at a bear bag tie up.  LT spent a few minutes getting it out of the tree.  The fire pit was still smoldering from the fire the previous tenants hadn’t full extinguished.

There was no thunderbox to be found anywhere here.  We both looked for it.  The campsite was very hilly.  It was tough to make a final decision as to where the tent would be pitched.  LT picked one, set up the tent and I set up the hammock between two trees on top of a grassy hill leading to the water.  If I fell out I would roll down right into the lake. 

My hammock

Lunch was rice with salsa and vegetables.  All dehydrated food.

Nap time was scheduled.  I had set up some of the yellow nylon rope as a puller for the hammock from a third tree.  Sweet!

Settling in at Little Carcajou Lake

Dinner was a bit more complicated I made raised pizza dough using yeast.  I don’t even make this kind of dough at home.  Last year I was using an envelope mix that I’d been looking for but had not yet found this year in any grocery store.  LT made a fire, we used a rock on the side to set the pot and get the dough rising.  It easily more than doubled in size.  I punched it down and manipulated into a buttered fry pan.  I had been rehydrating the pizza sauce in one baggie and the veggies in another one.  Cut-up turkey pepperettes were the protein, along with bacon, and more shredded cheese strings.  I put the lid on the fry pan and put it on a rack over the fire embers.  I have an “oven” which is really just a special fabric dome.  I put that over the fry pan and we left it on the fire for about 20-25 minutes.

The pizza turned out pretty good.  It was slightly burnt on the bottom – but not much.  Dessert was my first attempt at a pineapple upside down cake.  It is made from dehydrated: pineapples and angel food cake.  I made milk with powder and cold water, which I then mixed instant vanilla pudding into.  It turned out pretty delicious and will go into regular rotation as a dessert option for future trips.

As we settled into the tent for the night, the spring peepers were again in full song.  Although later on, around 11, there seemed to be only one lone peeper still singing.  I guess all his buddies found themselves a girlfriend for the night.  Shortly afterwards another one joined him, but he seemed off-key, like he’d came back for seconds.

I have a 2 litre Platypus water filtration system with both a filter and a carbon filter and it has 2 bags, one for dirty water, one for clean.  I have a second filter in case the first filter doesn’t work.  LT also has a Steripen, which we use on the filtered water to kill any germs specifically the one that causes “beaver fever”.  On this lake we had 2 beaver dens that we could see – one was in the bay right by our campsite.  He came out to inspect our campsite when we were in the tent that night.  At least we surmised it was him.  As we were lying there in the dark the whole frame of the dome tent moved like something had landed on it falling from the tree, or something tripped over the frame on the edge outside.  We lay there frozen for a while.  Shortly after that the paddles were rattled.  They were stored under the overturned canoe.  I teased LT that the beaver would take his paddle as it’s much nicer than my cheap lacquered $24 one.  His is oiled and would be much tastier.  Luckily the next morning both paddles were there waiting for us with no teeth marks.

I did get up to look around the campsite in the dark to see if there was anything disturbed and there wasn’t.

go to Day 1                go to Day 3

Trip Log - Day 1: Grand Lake to Upper Spectacle Lake; in to Little Carcajou Lake and Return (Victoria Day Weekend 2015)

Day 1                go to Day 2              go to Day 3

This trip was the first one for 2015 and the first one in the new canoe.  We were both excited to be going back to the park. 

The melt was fairly late this year and the park didn’t take any backcountry reservations until May 1^st, the official ice-out date.  The Victoria Day weekend came early as well.  We had gone last year on this same weekend, it was cold then, I packed some warmer clothes this time.

I was at LT’s house 10 minutes before the agreed-upon rendezvous time of 6:30 a.m.  We were going to save time by not having to stop and rent a canoe, but we still had to load it at this end.  We carefully checked that we had all the bags.  There’s always something forgotten each trip.  I made sure not to rush LT, I let him walk around the ground floor, glancing around to see that everything he wanted to bring was loaded up.  We angled the canoe out of his fenced back yard, along a path to my car parked in the designated Visitor’s Parking spot.

We were on the road shortly after 7 a.m.  LT made some egg/bacon/cheese breakfast wraps that we ate in the car with tea, no drive-thru required!  The traffic was good – we were at the Sand Lake Gate in good time.  A couple of guys in shorts were coming out with their permit as we went in.

 

The new canoe - completely without scratches!

LT had scheduled us into Upper Spectacle Lake for the first night.  It has 2 campsites, both on the same shoreline.  He wanted to get there first to have his pick of the 2 sites.  As we were driving the car onto the small road leading to the dock, we could see the shorts guys paddling off in the direction we were going to be heading as well.

The lake was fairly flat.  The canoe was taken off the car, the bags unloaded from the car, the canoe loaded up, the car parked and the pictures were taken – we were off!  It was 10:10 a.m.  Our route wasn’t going to be very arduous today.  It was an area we hadn’t camped in before, although we’d been deep into Carcajou Bay of Grand Lake in error on the very first trip we had done together two years earlier.

It was a day before the long weekend, so the traffic was minimal.  I like this strategy – going out a day before the busy time.  As we got to the middle of the lake LT remembered what he forgot to bring – his nightcaps!  I depend on Camino hot chocolate for my nightcap and I knew that was packed.  We didn’t turn around to drive into Petawawa to go to the liquor store, but he certainly considered it for a minute.

Loons were escorting us into Carcajou Bay and I tried to get a few shots of them.  I’m going to have to get a telephoto lens for these moments.  I’m not sure I would want to take it out and use it on a lake just yet, but I’ll get there someday.

Our escort on Grand Lake

Our first portage was only 20 meters.  It wasn’t marked, but it was obvious.  It was straight over a large rock that was beside the narrow flow of water that dropped maybe just over a meter.  It was tricky getting the canoe and bags out, but it was the only way to go.  

Our route, map is from Jeff's map of Algonquin Park

We were now in a pool that had several waterfalls landing in it.  We paddled close to each of the cascades to get some great pictures.  To our left was a high rock with a couple of tents on it.  I think that spot is very specifically reserved, it’s a gorgeous location, although I’m not sure what shape the site is in.  It must have a steady stream of residents all through the camping season.

Carcajou Falls

The portage was again to the right and it was another tricky landing spot.  We got out of the canoe and had to go straight up a rocky, treed hill.  This is another very short portage – only 90 meters.

The put-in was nice though, a big smooth rock to ease our way into the water.  After a very short paddle, the next 220 meter portage came up.  As we went through here we noticed 4 guys sitting in an area that didn’t look like a campsite, however, I was betting they were going to camp there.

We came out, loaded up the canoe and headed straight away from the portage site.  We paddled a narrow channel through a marshy area for a good 15 minutes before LT decided to check the map.  We were going the wrong way, but it didn’t take long to get back to the portage and head towards Lower Spectacle Lake.  As we turned in that direction we were directly above the roaring waterfalls.  They look very innocuous from above – just a line on the horizon, nothing at all really.  The roar reminds you that all is not what it appears to be.  It also makes me instantly scared to death.

The narrows into Lower Spectacle Lake is gorgeous, rocky walls rising above, not nearly as high as the Barron Canyon, but evocative of the canyon.  Lower Spectacle is a nice lake.  There are two campsites on the lake – they are on opposite sides.  We saw one site, but not the other.

The put-in at our last portage of the day was interesting.  It took a bit to figure out where to go through the marshy grasses, those beavers keep making paths!  But once we had the right one, there was a floating dock!  Such luxury!  When I peeked through the entrance to the portage, there was a tree that fell over and the base of the tree sticking up looked just like a black bear’s profile from the neck up.  I took a picture. 

Portage at Lower Spectacle Lake going into Upper Spectacle Lake

See the bear?

This portage is fairly short and easy to do.  We put into Upper Spectacle Lake, most of the work done for the day.  We paddled to the first campsite.  It was okay, but we went to check out the second site and picked it over the first.  We’d be that much closer to the portage for the next morning.  We’d put the canoe in the water shortly after 10:00 and it was now 12:30.

We had a fresh lunch that LT had made.  Three small subs with cold meat and cheese.  He’d made a homemade version of sub sauce, which he’d packed in a Ziploc bag that he cut the corner on after shaking it up to apply on the subs.  It made a difference for sure, my first exposure to sub sauce.  He’d cut up 2 apples and had some green grapes for dessert.  And he’d cut a large wedge of Gouda cheese with caraway seeds in it, very yummy.  A couple paddled past our campsite, the first people we’d seen along our specific route.

After lunch, we set up camp.  We erected both the tent and the bug shelter.  The bugs weren’t horrible, but they were gathering.  I pulled out my hammock and set that up.  I got the hammock at Costco late last summer.  It’s not designed specifically for camping.  But it’s a double-sized one and I splurged and got the mosquito netting for it.  I retired to the hammock for a nap and LT claimed the tent.  I made sure I had my pillow and sleeping bag.  I don’t really remember falling asleep, but someone claims I was lightly snoring.  Hmmmmm.

One thing I did to add to the ambience of the campsite was to load up an empty plastic bag with carbon from the fire (there were no ashes) and dump it into the thunderbox. When I was doing my initial scan of the site I noticed that the box was quite full (and pungent).  This is something I’m going to do more often, it significantly improved usage of that item especially on the following day.

Once naptime was done, we got up and were a bit antsy.  LT suggested we take a walk over to the first campsite.  The shoreline looked like there had been a fire at one time, a lot of the undergrowth was gone and many trees were charred, although most were standing.  We walked over not going too close too fast in case our neighbours had arrived.  LT knew that there was another party reserved on the lake for that night.  They hadn’t arrived yet.  We walked back to our campsite.  He suggested that we walk in the other direction to see how far we could get.  We were able to walk all the way to the portage that we would be taking the next morning.  There was a bit of bushwhacking required, but not heavy woods.

Well, we were here, why not walk the portage to see what it was like?  Right?  Early on the path there was very old scat that was really just the fur remains of the digestive deposit.  A little further on there was more of the same.  We came upon a blow-down.  It had been a big tree but the parts across the path were the various smaller branches.  LT snapped off all the smallest ones.  He decided that tomorrow he would take his saw out at this point and clear the remaining branches.  He would benefit for both the trip in and the trip out.  He was doing a single carry every time with the canoe.  This was our first trip where he did that.  This new canoe was working our really well for us.

A bit further along the path had some mush, wet spots.  There were several boardwalks, but we could have used a few more.  The map stated that we would come upon a pond that we’d be able to put the canoe in to paddle for 300m if we were so inclined.  We were keeping an eye out for that landmark.  We came upon two floating logs in a small creek.  Neither of us were going to attempt to walk across that.  I went upstream, he went down.  He was right.  Turns out, you don’t need to cross these two logs anyways.  The path veers to the left around a hill and bam, there was the pond.  We were on foot so we attempted to find the portage on land.  It was tricky.  We had to climb a small ridge that was topped with trees.  LT would have to weave the canoe through these tightly knit trees, just like threading a needle.  We decided the pond would be the way to go the next day.

I was so, so, so thirsty.  This was going to be a small stroll, we were now 2/3^rds of the way through a 2km+ hike.  I probably mentioned it once or twice or more.  The rest of the portage didn’t seem that far from the pond end, maybe a 10 minute walk, but it was a rough one.  Up and down, rocky, not a smooth path, one more blow-down, a full spruce tree that needed to be detoured for.  The arrival point on Little Carcajou Lake was a bit tricky.  We eyed the lake, then turned around and walked back.

We were about 7/8 of the way back when we came upon four young men carrying two very heavy Canadian Tire type canoes.  The ones that seem to be one big moulded plastic boat.  LT noticed that the canoes didn’t even have yokes they were carrying them by the ends, two guys to a boat.  However, I did notice (I always walk with my head down through the bush – I don’t want to sprain an ankle) they had a Go-Pro attached to the bow of one of the canoes. They asked us if it was much further.  I was more optimistic I said they were maybe 1/3 of the way.  LT said more like ¼.  But afterwards we realized they were probably not even that far.  By now it was after 6 p.m.  It might be dark by the time they set up camp.

Our supper back at the campsite was fresh beef stew that I’d made on Wednesday night.  It was yummy.  I had brought some bannock mix, but we were full of bread from the wraps and subs.  Besides we had a lot of stew.  Dessert was banana nut bread pudding.  I had chocolate that I shared.  We didn’t have a fire.  We were pretty tired and went to bed fairly soon after dark.  We were going to play cards in the tent, but I seemed to have misplaced my reading glasses.  Oops.

The spring peepers were in full force as the sun was setting.  We also heard a bird that was singing a “whip-oh-will” song.  He started singing in the twilight and seemed to go on for ages.  

go to Day 2              go to Day 3

Jeff's Maps

I love Jeff's Maps so much I was his first client to purchase the mega-large version of his Algonquin Park map.  It's MASSIVE, at 6 feet by 10 feet, it covers a full wall in LT's basement.  It was his Christmas present this year.  We still need to get some sort of markers to show all the campsites we've stayed at.

Jeff's maps are printed out on a plastic paper that floats and can handle getting wet.  I've spent hours looking at various maps, mostly his Eastern and Central maps for Algonquin.  They are extremely helpful when planning your trips.  

The notations he has are very helpful in preparing you for what you may be facing.  You can tell how long the portages are, the high spot on the portage, and he'll warn you if there's something special about the portage you should know.  Forewarned is forearmed, right?

When we were planning our first foray into the Northern area of the park, we were tackling some black portage routes, also a first.  One of the notations haunted me for days beforehand.  "Swamp with No Bridge" it said.  I had nightmares.  When we finally came face-to-face with it we were past tired and not our best.  It was late in a very, very long day.  I had my trekking poles to stick in the mud to figure out where the rocks might be as we clamoured over loose, slippery logs laying on the surface - not secured.  I teetered left, I teetered right.  I can regain my balance easily when not carrying a 50+ pound pack on my back.  I did not regain my balance and I fell on my left side into the black muck.  I just started howling and LT came back to me and hauled me out.  Twice.  I fell again onto the right this time to ensure I completely dirtied whatever portion of my clothes that were still clean.  My greatest fear was ultimately conquered!

Jeff has added estimated travel times to his maps.  This helps you to figure out how long it will take you to travel the portion you are looking at.  He explains how to add or subtract time to that calculation depending on your experience/skill level.  

He has added all kinds of interesting tidbits to his map, the origin of names, the location of relics, etc.  They make for great reading!  Now if I could just read in the car.

If you are travelling with any sort of GPS tracking device and you see something that is not on his map (or he has it in the wrong place), note it and send him an email.  He is always updating his maps and is glad to have feedback.

I have downloaded his Algonquin map to my Android phone.  I love being able to pick up my phone and look at his map when having a discussion about a route or lake in the park.  So handy!

And most importantly - BRING TWO COPIES of the map you are using with you when going out on a trip.  I picked up an Ospry map holder for LT.  He straps it around the canoe yoke so that it sits on top of my pack and he can refer to it handily.  I keep my copy tucked into the top portion of my backpack.  How to pack your pack - that should be a post on its own!

Here's the link to Jeff's website:  http://www.algonquinmap.com/

Here is a screenshot from his map that shows where we travelled on our trip to Little Carcajou Lake from the campground at Achray, Grand Lake:

How we get clean drinking water in the backcountry

I'm a "glass half full" kinda girl.  LT is more of a "glass half empty" guy.  So we've settled on a two pronged approach to making lake water potable.  On our first camping trip LT carried 6 litres of fresh water for our overnight requirements.  Water is very heavy.  We needed to come up with a different solution.  We pondered different methods and researched online to see what others used, what worked, what didn't.

I decided to buy the Platypus Gravityworks system.  I picked the 2.0L version.  I added a carbon filter.  And I purchased a second filter as a backup.  You don't want this system to fail when you're out in the woods.  I got the whole package at MEC.  The filters are reportedly sensitive, meaning DON'T DROP THEM!  I dropped the second filter carrying it out of the store.  D'oh!  Well it was in a cardboard box.  The Platypus is "Prong One".

The above items currently sell at MEC for $105, $50.50 for the extra filter and $18.50 for the carbon filter (which is supposed to improve the taste of the water you filter).

"Prong Two" is a Steripen.  LT bought the Steripen. I think it is the Steripen Ultra Water Purifier, currently $105 at MEC.  It's easy to use and also very sensitive.  I'm a bit nervous using it, only because the cap is so darn tough to pull off and I'm afraid of dropping the whole thing into my water bottle when stirring it.

On our first trip last year we needed a method to draw more than 2 litres of water out of the middle of the lake.  I had one of those plastic collapsible cubes from Canadian Tire from my car camping days.  It has a spigot with a red cap on one corner and holds probably 5 litres.  The collapsible part was good, LT could stuff it in a side pocket of his backpack so that it was handy while we were in the canoe.  However, it was hard to fill with an opening of less than 2 inches in diameter, while hanging over the side of the canoe.  I sit in the front, so I never really see what goes on back there, LOL.

It was obvious the cube had to be replaced.  I bought a very large "dirty water" bag.  It's like a big dry bag with a spigot and a handle to hang it.  It has a mouth the width of the bag and is much quicker to fill.  It's still pretty heavy when LT is hauling it into the canoe.

We (well, he) hang this bag as high as possible and then fill the "dirty" bag of the Platypus system at the campsite.  I think the big bag holds about 8 litres of water.  Plenty to cook, wash dishes and fill Nalgene bottles for the next day's trek.

If I'm boiling the water to cook with, we filter it but don't sterilize it with the Steripen.  If we are washing dishes, that water only gets the filtration, not the sterilization either.  However, we do sterilize our drinking water right in the Nalgene bottles.  We each carry one bottle, both bottles are 1L ones.  The Steripen defaults to 1L when you turn it on.  You dip the Steripen in the water in the Nalgene bottle and stir for 80 seconds to sterilize that one litre.  That's it.

On one of our trips the Steripen got fogotten (we missed it terribly).  I was boiling water for drinking.  Lesson learned: do NOT put hot water in a Nalgene bottle then hold it by the lid alone.  The hot water changes the size of the lid link and the bottle enough that the bottle slid out, banged on the ground and sprayed boiling water through the air onto my face.  Fortunately it travelled through enough air to cool down a bit and I did not get any serious burns.  Silly mistake I won't make again. 

Issue with the gravity fed system:  it can get slow, really slow.  The filter catches the particles from the lakewater and they build up.  It's easy enough to backwash it.  It just takes time.  The way we set up camp, one of the first things we do is start the filtration system going and it filters while we're setting up the tent, the hammock, the bug shelter, etc.  We differ on philosphies on how to best make the system work.  I swear it runs better if the plastic tubing is fully stretched, so I often lay the clean water bag on the ground.  LT likes to ensure there are no bubbles in the tubes when he sets it up.

We are both happy with the water filtration we are using.  When we get home I take the Platypus system and run clean water through it hanging the dirty bag on the shower head in the bathroom.  I backwash the filter(s) and rinse out both bags with clean water with a teeny bit of bleach in it.  I have a plastic bottle (I think it had some sort of drink powder in it originally) with a lid that I store the spare filter in when tripping.  It gets wedged in pretty tight in my backpack, the bottle protects it from being squeezed or punctured.

To help with the flavour of the water I have a product, True Lemon, that comes in little single serve envelopes, like fake sweetener, and I add it to my Nalgene bottle for drinking.  LT uses some type of Powerade drops that are blue and have a bit of flavour to them.  

The system at work below: