Fri, Aug 31 2007, Sat, Sep 1 2007, Sun, Sep 2 2007, Mon, Sep 3 2007 - Car Camping - Labour Day weekend in Algonquin (View Original Event Details)
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Hey all! Your faithful TOC event reporter Justin here. I will once again give you the inside track and provide a detailed account of the Labour Day weekend camping trip to Algonquin Provincial Park for your reading pleasure.
Friday, August 31, 2007
I always like to get an early start on the day and get to the campsite before sunset, and this time was no exception. I picked up Kate at 11am from Downsview station and we made our way to Algonquin. We stopped for supplies along the way in Huntsville and we arrived at our Pog Lake campsite around 4pm. We found Andrew already there, having the advantage of a shorter drive.
We soon finished setting up the camp and I was eager to get some hiking in on one of the many day trails located throughout the park. Kate cooked up some Cowboy stew, the recipe a family secret. It was quite tasty. Vimal arrived a short time later. Both Kate and Vimal were up for a hike so we set out for the Spruce Bog Boardwalk trail just before sunset. At a mere 1.5km and mostly boardwalk this trail was the perfect choice, as darkness slowly crept upon us. We decided the trail was best not to do in full darkness as one wrong step would land you in some fairly deep, swampy water. We walked though dark woods near the end of the trail and I made use of my Streamlight Strion© and dispelled the darkness with 12,000 candlepower of flashlight fury. I found the trail to be a little too easy so I led the hike on an off-trail rock climbing detour. We climbed up about 3 metres up onto a large copper rock peninsula between Highway 60 and the trail. We walked long the top of the rock face for maybe 50 metres before it gradually became an off ramp and ended. Kate was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more rocks to climb along the roadway. It was an interesting feeling, walking along the side of the highway at near darkness, cars whizzing by on one side and serene wilderness on the other. We finished the trail and headed back to the campsite.
Andrew had setup his tent by this point and the campfire going, but no new arrivals as of yet. Martin and Eva arrived next, then Jo, Anna-Maria, Cordelia, and Simba. Howie, Stanley and Lydia arrived last and we made our introductions in the dark. After all our new arrivals had set up their tents we sat around the campfire and shared experiences and made plans for the next day. I suggested a 6am hike in addition to the Booth’s Rock and Centennial Ridges hikes. It was a little chilly after the sun set, and we huddled around the campfire as much for conversation as for warmth. Vimal luckily brought a few extra blankets so everyone didn’t have to freeze that night. I turned in relatively early at around 1:30am, but the earplugs I brought with me came in handy as the discussion continued for awhile after I left.
Saturday, September 01, 2007
Everyone slowly began waking up on this chilly morning. My 6am hike didn’t pan out this morning, but that’s what happens when you stay up late! When enough of us were up we decided to go on the Booth’s Rock hiking trail, rated a difficult 5.1km. We skipped breakfast, and once everyone interested in going on the hike had woken up and gotten ready we headed out.
We arrived at the trail head and began the hike, the weather held with us, it was mostly sunny and the temperature was getting warmer. We found an excellent lookout over Rock Lake, which we stopped at, pictures were taken, mostly by Stanley, and we enjoyed the view for a while. We moved on, only to find a better lookout, and we repeated the stopping, pictures, and enjoying. Then, moving on a little further we found... another even better lookout point with a higher upper level to it. After this brief break we continued on along the trail. We stopped for a final time at the remains of the Booth cottage. The tennis court was easily recognizable, but beyond foundations there was not much left of the place. We finished off the hike and returned to the campsites to start a late brunch. Everyone was pretty hungry by this time, we had omelettes, lots of bacon, toast, and Andrew’s now legendary pancakes. Everyone pitched in, cooking, toasting, mixing, cutting vegetables, fetching water, or washing up. This would be the standard for the weekend, teamwork requiring little outside direction, everyone having an innate motivation to share the workload and be useful.
The somewhat ambitious plan to tackle the Centennial Ridges’ 10km that afternoon was replaced by a relaxing trip to the beach. [insert beach recollections here] Others chose to take a break from in all and just relax at the campsite.
After returning from the beach we split up into three teams. The first with Martin, Anna-Maria, Eva, Andrew, Lydia, and Vimal, went to rent some canoes. The second with Jo, Cordelia, Simba, and myself headed for a 1.9 km hike at the Lookout trail. The final group, with Howie and Stanley, opted to relax at the campsite.
The canoeing didn’t go quite as expected when the first group found out that the canoes had to be back for 7:30pm, and the time was nearing 7pm. They headed over to the Lookout trail as well for a view of the sunset from the lookout point. Meanwhile, the second group with myself in it, had headed back to the campsite and began getting the dinner ready. For dinner we enjoyed some barbequed beef and chicken burgers with all the trimmings.
Jo led the group for some stargazing on the beach, plans to go for a starlight swim were kiboshed due to it being slightly chilly out. The view was pretty good without urban light pollution.
Jo brought some left over citronella candles to use up, although I found them to burn so well on the fire, a few were actually used for their intended purpose. While the late night campfire discussions carried on later into the night, I turned in early in preparation for a 6am hike.
Sunday, September 02, 2007
I woke up around 5:45am, and finding no takers for a 6am hike, I headed out to Bat Lake trail for a 5.6 km warm-up hike. Along the way I encountered steam rising off of the lakes and took a few pictures. It was good to get out and enjoy nature and watch the day arrive.
Upon my return, several other TOCers had awoken and the fire was lit. Breakfast was started at a more normal time and we were able to leave from the campsite around 11am. Howie, Vimal, and Stanley went directly for some canoeing while the rest of the group headed to the Track and Tower trail. The first interesting artifact we saw was a long abandoned railway bridge which crossed Cache Lake. We took some pictures near the dam on the river rocks, and several of us, including Simba raced up or down a flight of wooden stairs leading to the former location of the fire lookout tower. The tower had been taken down several decades earlier and all that remained was a small clearing on a rocky surface where it had been. We did find the views from the cliff nearby to be great, with views of Cache Lake and surrounding woodlands. Martin attempted to surprise certain TOC coordinators by standing on a ledge which was not visible from several metres away, and holding onto the top of the higher ledge. This ruse did not work on me for three reasons, the calm look on his face, the calmness of another non-TOC group of two, along with the TOCers already there acting pretty calm as well. Ruses usually require teamwork to be effective, and getting strangers into the act would have certainly sold it. We passed by the remains of a trestle bridge, now only remnants of concrete pilings. One piling was reused for the hiking bridge over the Madawaska River, which was a nice touch.
Eva, Cordelia, Simba and myself opted to add an additional 11km (a 5.5km side trail, one way) onto the 7.7km of the main loop to bring the total hike to just under 20km. So we split from the rest of the group who went to do some canoeing. The side trail took us over an abandoned rail line and had some great views of marshland and the Madawaska River. [Insert canoeing recollections here] We started the second dinner, Stanley and Howie barbequed the last of the chicken and beef burgers and started the President’s Choice sausages Jo had brought. The sausages were simply amazing. Desert was served thanks to Vimal and Eva. Another excursion to the beach was made, it was considerably warmer on this night than the last two.
After a little further citronella candle burning by myself, (insert “Ring of Fire” as sung by Johnny Cash here), a new TOC campfire tradition of “marshrooms” was born. Mushrooms and marshmallows were grilled and roasted over the fire. Martin told me that the grilled mushrooms were excellent, and I’ll have to take his word on it as I turned in early again as the grilling was started. Yes, another early hike planned for the next morning...
Monday, September 03, 2007
Kate joined me for a 7am hike of the Hemlock Bluffs trail (a mere 3.5km). Being the first along the trail we ran into a number of spider webs, head on. The trail featured a good lookout over Jack Lake, although it lacked a bench like the Bat Lake trail had.
We returned and started breakfast, since we had finished off all the bacon the day before, we grilled up the remaining smoked cheddar sausages. Andrew made his trademark pancakes again, although his real maple syrup was running low, and I used the last few drops on the final pancakes. I made omelettes made to order, customized with ingredients selected by the end user.
We started tearing down, and once again the teamwork was noticeable. Everyone found something to do, and we had everything taken down, packed and stowed in short order. I played the six minute rendition of “Who Are You” by the Who over my car’s stereo for some packing theme music. Once we were all loaded a final trip to the beach was in high order.
Simba returned wet and dirty from a swim, after going a little wild on the beach, bounding and leaping everywhere like a squirrel on caffeine. I drenched the campfire before we, along with everyone at Pog Lake departed before it closed for the fall and winter.
We all said our goodbyes and went our separate ways. Who knew three days would fly by so fast...
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