Sat, Oct 1 2011, Sun, Oct 2 2011 - Gary's Early Fall Overnight Hike - McCrae Lake Loop (View Original Event Details)
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Well, we lucked out with the weather again! We had a crisp 10C fall day with summy blue skies.
We headed out at a brisk pace and made it to the McCrae Crows Nest where we had a short break and took a few photos of the changing colours of the leaves.
We continued our brisk pace and made it to the McCrae Narrows in just over 2 hours. Most of us crossed the creek at the top without getting wet. Ed used the shortest distance between two points philosophy.
We decided to have our lunch break on the rocks and get a sun tan while a steady cool breeze dried off our sweaty stuff.
We headed north for the next 2 hours and made camp at Wasa Lake. This is the same lake Gary's Survival #2 was helded at. Most of the group where using tarp shelters.
Ed and I went on a quest to find a canoe I used the previous year. Well it was no longer there. However, we found another canoe. The only issue it had a cracked hull. We contemplated duct taping it back together. But decided it was not worth it, since we also need to make a paddle. We returned to camp to start supper.
We collected fire wood and where quickly cooking and trading stories. I really enjoyed this part of the trip. Lots of good laughs. By 7pm the stars where starting to appear and most of us were finishing supper. I think I turned in around 8pm.
Mitch decided to do survival series 7.5, no sleeping bag or pad. He previous was on the Gary's Survival Series #7. I guess he wanted to prefect his shelter/fire pit design. He setup his shelter with the fire pit across the front of it. It looked good and it he seem to survive the night fairly well.
The next morning I got up at 7 am ish and Larry already had the group fire going. It was about 4C. Probably around 2C at night. After breakfast coffee and oatmeal I was heating up and ready go. We exited camp at 9:15am.
We headed east and noticed fresh boot tracks in the mud puddles. ManTracker stuff! A few minutes later we came apon a group of 13 young adventurers hiking in the same direction. We traded some small talk and decided to push on to the highway. We made good time. The skies were starting to cloud over a bit and we turned south on the snowmobile trail. About 2/3 down we felt a few rain drops and picked up the pace. We all maded it back to the cars and the skies openned up about 15 minutes later while driving down the highway.
See you all soon.
Gary
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