Fri, Aug 15 2008, Sat, Aug 16 2008, Sun, Aug 17 2008 - Backpack Bruce Peninsula National Park (View Original Event Details)
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Da Bruce
Helllllllloooo.....Do you need any helllllp???
And so began two days on the Bruce Peninsula......and so continued two days on the Bruce Peninsula. Every time Matt heard or saw any of our group at a distance, he would yell this out to them. It's possible you had to be there, but it was quite funny at the time!
Matt - hereafter referred to as "Clankypants", because he keeps his cooking pots in a small bag labelled flannel pants (discovered early one morning while trying to steal his stove to make coffee) - introduced us to some challenging hikes and some extrordinarily beautiful places.
Zhen and Natalie are really strong swimmers. Natalie could probably go to the Olympics and win the gold (and actually, if "rock-running" were an Olympic sport, she'd get a gold in that too!. The TOC will have to come up with a D7 or D8 hike, just to satisfy Natalie! Dirk went about exploring and took copious amounts of photos when he wasn't sunbathing.
Bernadette and Darrel tested their individual mettle: both carried their own weight in food, to provide us with an exceptional meal on Saturday night. Goulash and 25 pounds of fresh fruit were arduously carried with care. Bernadette - with Darrel's help, MADE FRESH BREAD! It was all quite yummy.
Clankypants took us bouldering the first day and then a hike to The Grotto on Saturday. If you've never seen The Grotto - you absolutely have to. It was crowded in there, but if you imagine all the people gone, it's magical there and the colour of the blue water is actually hard to describe.
From outrageously big full moons and warm, clean water, to the natural, flatrock shelves at the shoreline, that provided us with a natural couch, kitchen, dining and breakfast nook, the place was like a fairytale.
Waking up on Sunday and making coffee and porridge with Bernadette's JetBoil WAS a dream come true though. There was early morning swimming, water frisbee and breakfast and.....lots of coffee. Jen made a mocca latte with instant coffee, hot chocolate and creamer. She didn't say how well she liked it.... We swam and lounged around on the breakfast nook for hours, in the sun, before finally deciding to put our packs on and make our way back to the start. What a lovely weekend. The weather was ideal and it couldn't have gone any better. Thanks, Clankypants!
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.