Sat, Sep 1 2007, Sun, Sep 2 2007, Mon, Sep 3 2007 - Visit Georgian Bay Islands National Park (View Original Event Details)
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Lillian here returning to you again. Matt started off by telling us about Ewan McGregor's Trips That Money Can't Buy, a show where he goes around doing fantastic things that ordinary people or even very rich ones can't pay to do. Matt likened our camping trip to that. We were traveling North to the Georgian Bay Islands in a 1983 and two-tone brown Lincoln TownCar towing a 12 ft wooden Peterborough. I can honestly say that when I moved to Canada two years ago, never in my wildest dreams did I picture myself in this situation.
We stopped at Barrie to see if we could get coffee or alcohol for me (no). Then we spent 40 minutes trying to get back onto the 400 N. Matt ended up taking a really long detour south; we drove through Barrie again. Finally we arrived at Honey Harbour (after another detour when trying to find the correct visitor's center). Since there were four of us and the boat is pretty small, it was necessary to make two trips. Matt had asked us to pack lightly and discovered that when it came to women, packing lightly still meant way more bags than he had anticipated.
To be fair to Margaret and Sara, it was mostly me that overpacked, but I had a good reason. I was put in charge of food because I wanted to show off my Coleman stainless steel cooler that I bought from REI. It is quite frankly the most wonderful piece of camping paraphernalia that I own. It keeps ice for three days in 40C weather. It's sturdy. And did I mention that it keeps ice for 3 days in 40C weather!!!!
The waterways around Honey Harbour, and Georgian Bay in general, were busy to say the least. The boat traffic, especially on Saturday, was non-stop. Boats of all shapes and sizes just pouring through. Trying to drive safely through the mess was like dealing with traffic jams on the 401, rude drivers and all. Thankfully, there were no strong winds or heavy seas. The most difficult water to navigate was actually in the closed channels where there was a lot of rebounding wake. Margaret and Matt went first to secure a camp site, which was first come first serve. Then Sara and I and the rest of our belongings went in the boat.
It is on this camping trip that I got to witness some wonderful Canadian culture and tradition -- Ontarians who love nature soooo much that they spend the long weekend driving many kilometers to escape the city in order to spend all weekend sitting on their boats drinking beer and listening to overly loud music all day. Beausoleil Island, at least along the exterior, is quite crowded. Everywhere you looked you could see motor yachts, as many as 5 boats wide, anchored in the bays. As far as we could tell they did nothing but lounge out in the sun, drink beer, and crank up the stereo. So while along the exterior beaches and campsites, there were crowds, boats, and parties, the island interior and hiking trails were deserted. I doubt if those people even went as far as 20 ft beyond the shore.
After dinner, we hiked to the other side to get away from the crowd. While we did succeed in getting way from people, we could still hear music and conversations coming from the other side of the lake. Noise really does travel over water. We sat underneath the dark sky and looked at the constellations. Margaret saw a falling star.
The next day, we hiked to a more secluded bay to go swimming. Sara found the water too cold, but the rest of us went in for a refreshing dip. After lying around for a bit, we decided to hike to the light tower and have lunch. Margaret wanted to go explore on her own, so Sara, Matt, and I continued on our hike to go see a cemetery. That hike ended up being longer than we had expected, so we came back to camp pretty late and ate dinner in the dark.
Matt and I took the boat out after dinner. I got to drive the boat (which went better than the time I drove his MINI). It was a bit of a challenge as I had to avoid running into the anchored boats. He would tell me to look out for the boats and I would blithefully ask, "What boat?"
"Oh, you mean that boat!" I exclaimed when I realized that I was bearing down on one in a couple minutes. I don't see too well in the dark. He then likened my driving to a new driver's as I was weaving back and forth like a drunken sailor. I managed to navigate us safely to open waters, and we sat and looked at the stars. It's amazing how much more you can see when you get away from city lights.
Monday morning, we decided to go for one last swim before leaving. I was allowed to drive again and we went to a different beach. Sara sunbathed, Margaret sat underneath the shade to read her book, and Matt and I swam. Thereafter we drove back to Toronto, tired, but refreshed and happy after a long weekend of camping in the Georgian Bay Islands.
Some notes: This was Sara's first trip with the TOC. I always find it amazingly brave when someone's first trip is a camping trip with strangers. This was Margaret's second trip with the TOC, her first one being a canoeing day trip a week earlier. When I dropped her off, she told me how much she enjoyed the experience and thought the TOC was very well-organized and had great people (go us!). I have to admit, all three, Sara, Margaret, and Matt, demonstrated much patience with me as I pretty much spent the entire weekend screaming whenever I was startled, which was often.
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.