Fri, Jul 18 2008, Sat, Jul 19 2008, Sun, Jul 20 2008 - Weekend Canoe from Mitchell Creek, Frontenac (View Original Event Details)
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My first event! It proved to be a great trip. Even the weather was co-operative for the most part. Aside from the Frontenac Outfitters reneging on their deal to deliver our canoes for free and some very hungry mosquito’s… all went well.
Friday we all managed to find the Frontenac Outfitter’s where we spent the first night. After a lovely leisurely breakfast Esteban, Bernadette and myself headed to the Frontenac Office to get our permits where a very sweet park ranger offered up all sorts of info about the park and surrounding area. One tidbit …. Snug Harbour, perhaps a better place to rent canoes from – next time! Meanwhile the rest of the gang was sent to get our paddles, PFD’s and canoes. We met up at Mitchell Creek and set off.
What a lovely little paddle through Mitchell Creek. Full of bulrushes, water lilies and dragonfly’s. Susan was the lucky recipient of a pair of love-struck dragonfly’s attracted to her bright blue hat, Esteban charmed all the gals by picking water lilies for them, Jaromir showed off his solo paddling skills, and Matt and Margaret trolled for fish(all weekend actually but to not avail).
We soon made it to Birch Lake, found our campsite and set up before heading off for the afternoon. Margaret and Matt took off for more canoeing, fishing and swimming, Bernadette settled for a nap on the rock and the rest of us jumped in the lake for a quick swim. We then left Bernadette for a short hike to Arkon Lake and then back in our canoes for some more exploration and a longer hike further up the lake. We settled on a hike to the Tetsmine and Gorge. It was a beautiful hike with streams and meadows and mosquito’s and ferns and mosquito’s and mosquito’s and mosquito’s. We made our way to Lynch Lake hoping for some respite from those nasty mosquito’s only to discover from a couple of campers that it was full of leeches. Yuck. We sat and chatted for a bit and then headed off, very quickly(well Jaromir I believe ran all the way) back to our canoes.
Dinner! Margaret made us an amazing dinner with some help from Matt, and Jaromir cooked up the meat-lovers addition to the meal. Bernadette showed off yet again her ingenuity by pulling out her bed netting. I’m getting one for the next trip! Esteban was sent out to the middle of the lake to get us some water before helping Jaromir hang up our food. Later Matt and Margaret went off for an evening paddle and the rest of us went for a lovely late night swim before bed. (Did Esteban convince Susan that there were sharks in the lake?)
Finally the rain came. But not nearly the downpour and thunderstorm we were told were headed our way. Jaromir and Esteban added more tarps for our breakfast feast where we yet again enjoyed a leisurely breakfast under cover with a canoe table laden with yummy breakfast goodies including - hot chocolate with the Kaluha left over from the night before(thanks Bernadette) and dark chocolate(thanks Bernadette).
It was a short paddle back with the rain holding off for the most part. Bernadette and Esteban sat for a bit at Snug Harbour and ate ice cream while the rest of us paddled a bit more on Desert Lake. Then…finally time to go back to the grind.
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