I Wake up, bleary-eyed and still sleepy..yet excited. Today is the first day of 4 I’ll be spending alone in the backcountry. It’s 4:30am and while I’m eagerly anticipating the camp, I’m dreading the drive. Even during these early hours, morning traffic in the GTA can still be unpredictable and slow. However, before I can deal with that I need to feed the cats, make a coffee and load what’s left of the gear. Temperatures are getting to near zero degrees celsius overnight in northern Ontario this week, so I’ve packed a little heavier than I wanted to, with 4 bags total. (Better safe than sorry!) I stretch a good stretch, and get out of bed.
The northward drive is uneventful, and the further north I get, the more beautiful the scenery becomes and I begin to feel relaxed. The colours in the trees are more autumnal here than they are at home, the air is more clear and the traffic has thinned out. I’ve been driving for roughly 5 hours and Im thoroughly enjoying the drive at this point as I finally reach the final stretch; a very rough, poorly maintained stretch of winding gravel road that will take me to the access point.
A big concern for me at this time of year is the water levels, and once I find myself standing next to the narrow canoe put-in (after an incredibly bumpy drive down that gravel road) I’m relieved because the water level in the river looks good! It appears just like it did on my first trip to this lake a few years ago..but looks can be deceiving. Once I’ve loaded the all the bags into the canoe I decide at the last minute to put on a pair of tall rubber boots before hopping into the canoe..just in case. And wouldn’t you know it! before I could get even 5 feet down river I was stuck, caught on large rocks already. To get past this dilemma I hug the shoreline, grabbing hold of the dense alder brush I pulled the canoe along the shore, skirting the rocks that blocked my path. The rest of the river would prove to be a new experience for me as well.
The low water levels meant I was bottoming out every ten to twenty feet, (sometimes more sometimes less) but the rubber boots were the right call. I was quite nervous about this challenge, being an anxious person in a situation I had never been in before can be daunting. But I knew this was a possibility and I had prepared so I remained calm and did what needed to be done.
After slogging through that river for nearly an hour and a half, pulling the canoe more than a dozen times through 5inch deep water and lifting the canoe over two beaver dams, I was at the mouth of the river. It had been a beautiful calm day when I set out, but just as I reached the lake the wind picked up. Small whitecaps formed in the lake and the wind was blowing head on. Tired from the river slogging, I decide not to fight the winds and the waves to get to my planed campsite, rather I let the wind decide on a camp for me. The winds blew me East, right to a well loved camp and that was it! Home for the next few days.
When setting up camp my first things to do are to find a bear hang, and find a flat spot to sleep. I am lucky because on this site both tasks were easy to do. I manage to get two bear hangs up in only four tosses of the rope! A new personal record. I find a nice flat spot for my tent relatively easily as well, and after a small battle with the wind the tent is up, mattresses are filled with air and I’m all set!
Tired from the drive, paddle and camp setup I was happy to settle down and boil water for some dinner and tea. The wind was still quite strong and the air quite cool, so I sought shelter from it behind my tent where I was content to sit and read as the light slowly faded into darkness, which was my cue to get cozy in the tent. To stay warm in the cold night air I don my base layers, hoodie, toque and sweat pants and tuck myself into my two sleeping bags atop my two sleeping pads and as soon as my head hits the pillow, I’m out like a light. The end of day one.
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