Restoule Provincial Park -Restoule Ontario

We were only home for a few days before packing up and heading to Restoule Provincial park to camp with our friends, Miranda, Chris, Justin, Andrea and their baby Milo. It was nice to finally have Miranda and Chris back with us, who have been traveling for several years.

We felt very organized this time around. I had packed everything, so Shay could work until the very last minute. We were ahead of schedule as we pulled off the 407 onto the 400, when an alarming rumbling noise caught Shay's attention, as did the people passing and pointing at us. We pulled over, only to notice the muffler had disconnected at the front and was dragging along the ground.

Wonderful.

Poor Melvin

I called CAA and they promised to be there within 30 minutes. So much for being ahead of schedule. We were trying to figure out what to do, so while we waited, Shay googled whether or not you can drive without a muffler. Apparently you can! Then we searched for a muffler shop. It was Saturday of the long weekend, so we weren't sure who would be opened. There was a shop 7km from us, so we headed back on the highway which was steadily slowing down with the weekend rush up north. I called to cancel CAA. How did we ever live without Smart Phones?

Ps. I can't weld the muffler on, because your gas tank is leaking, so I'll use clips.

Melvin was fixed in a jiffy at the Muffler shop. They tacked the muffler back on, and informed me of a slow gas leak. That's what you get for not driving your car for 6 weeks I guess! Nothing to worry about though he ensured.

We continued enroute to Restoule, keeping up to date with the two other vehicles we were traveling with. Miranda and Chris had forgot something, and had to turn back, and Andrea and Justin had driven the wrong way on the 401, so we were all behind at least.

Leviathan anyone?

 The drive was slow up until the highway split at the 11. Shay used WAZE, a new app that allows you to mark road closures, slow downs and police sightings. Very informative.

It started to rain as we approached the campsite. We picked up wood. It turned to a drizzle, so we set up our tent quickly. Miranda and Chris pulled in shortly after, and we helped get there tent organized.
Andrea and Justin made it shortly after, and we could eventually all relax!

Car camping...many coolers, lots of beer.

Milo's first camping trip

Daisy's first camping trip!

Justin, rocking a Baby Bjorn

 We put up a canopy and a tarp just in case the rain continued, but the skies opened up and it was nice and sunny for the rest of the weekend.

It did get cold in the evening and we were all in toques and sweaters by nightfall. The stars are glorious here. The sky was speckled with sparkling lights.

The next day we planned to hike a little. There was supposed to be an old fire tower with good lookouts.

The trails were pretty well marked, we only made one wrong turn, but it ended up working out, as it gave Andrea, Justin and Milo a chance to head back to the site and take a break.

The Barkers!

View from the top!

Private beach trail

It was beach time when we got back, after a meal of course. Our site had private beach access which was very cool. Especially, at night when you wanted to stargaze.

It wasn't as cold the second night.

Day 3, was beach day, but we went over to the larger beach. They had a small shallow roped area, but it was a little sludgy. We prefer to swim without touching the bottom. We walked a littler further down and you could wade in and then it got deeper faster. Much better.

Another night of campfire and stargazing before calling it a night. This time we had campfire dust that turns the fire green. The first pack worked really well and lasted a long time. The walmart packs were not so good. Canadian Tire all the way!

We left Tuesday morning, hoping to avoid traffic. It wasn't as bad as the way up, that's for sure. Shay and I couldn't help but stop at Webers on the way back and check out their famous charcoal burgers. They are popular enough that they built a bridge in order to serve the southbound traffic as well!

Webers from the pedestrian bridge

Menu...slightly overpriced

The burgers were tasty, the poutine was weak...too small. It's decent food, but a little over priced for burgers and fries if you ask me!

Great weekend, with great friends!

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario

Let the camping begin!

I made plans to take Shay to the Algonquin Couple's Resort for his birthday, but seeing as Algonquin is 4 hours away, we decided to make a weekend out of it and go up early to camp for the night. We kept a close eye on the weather, because it can make or break your camping experience in Algonquin. The last time we came here was with a group of ten or so people. It rained the entire time. By the end of the weekend, there were only four of us left, and to top it all off we saw no moose!

Shay and I were hoping for better, and the ride into the park did not disappoint! I saw my first moose! There are about 3000 moose in the park, and around this time of year they are easy to see around HWY 60 as they sip up the salty ditch water to ease their sodium deficiency. This guy let me follow him around a little, much to Shay's dismay.

Doe de doe doe doe

He was a little guy, a teenager maybe. Made some great slurping noises as he soaked up some ditch water for a growing highway audience.

I'm handsome

Me and My Moose!

We were stoked!

I wanted to find a campground that wasn't too hard to get to, as we were only staying the night and needed to get out to the East Gate for Sunday. Many of the sites are either closed because they are too wet, or they are first come first serve, which is risky to wait for on a long weekend in Ontario. I ended up booking a site at Rock Lake, Campground B. I had the choice of campground A, B or Coon Lake. I didn't realize it at the time but Rock Lake had flush toilets, and was very popular (few sites left to book online). I naively thought that popular meant a good campground. I booked site 86. Well when we arrived, site 86, which on the map appears to have a lot of space on each side, was tiny, lodged in between two other sites, with a road on either side of it. It was terrible. There were some other sites right on the water here, but the privacy was terrible, and there were lots of families. We headed back to the Gate with some other potential sites. The ranger was really understanding and showed me which sites were available of the ones we chose. She said that those campgrounds are very busy, and maybe we should check out Coon Lake as it is usually a little quieter. 

We drove over to check it out, and noticed it was mostly empty. The difference, outhouses instead of flushies. Not a problem for us! We chose a quiet site adjacent to the lake and set up camp. There were some bugs that interfered just a little.

We got the tent set up, and then had to sit in the car, the bugs were so bad! BLACK FLIES! I have never experienced black flies before, they are intense! They are little, and they swarm, and they do not fly away when you swat or shake. They bite! They take a little chunk out of your skin and you bleed. Ouch!

Waiting out the bugs!

Our neighbours showed up as we took a breather at the lake. I hadn't noticed at the time, but they had brought a baby with them. They set up a tent and had put out a playpen, then had to sit in the car as they became overwhelmed with bugs. They left the tent and playpen and took off. We were hoping they would pack it in, as I wasn't up for crying black fly bitten baby all night, but they eventually returned with mosquito netting jackets. Oh well.

A brief still moment in front of the tent we bought on the way up from Walmart. I don't know why we go into Walmart, it always makes me angry. We bought this tent because our old car camping tent is on it's last legs, and we could use a replacement. This one, a Ventura, was only $50!! Well you certainly get what you pay for. The zippers were weak, the velcro was sewn on with a single stitch, and the poles were so skinny, a light breeze could have blown it over. We would not be keeping it!

Shay got a fire going, and the smoke did help alleviate some of the bugs. We walked over to the lake and ran in. It was cold! But there was no way we were camping without swimming in the lake. Coon Lake is a nice shallow lake. I imagine in August it is quite warm. In May it is refreshing to say the least.

We cooked our dinner over the fire, and headed over to the lake to take some pictures of the sun setting over the lake.

We relaxed a little after chatting with our neighbours. She a teacher, and he doing something at Hydro One. This would be baby's first night in a tent. Oh joy. Despite some early crying, she did manage to get to sleep, and slept through the night which was impressive. We on the other hand, had a little more trouble. Shay didn't want to wear the hat I packed for him and woke up freezing. Our mattress had a leak as we slowly sunk closer to the ground, and our cheap tent was difficult to get in and out of for any mid-night washroom breaks. Car camping is fine, it's easy, you can pack a lot, sleep on a mattress, and eat and drink to your heart's content, but some of the people it attracts, makes it less enjoyable for the avid camper. We pretty much decided that we won't be planning anymore solo car camping trips for awhile. It's just not relaxing.

The rain began in the morning. The forecast had said no rain until Monday. It was wrong. It also said no bugs. But the bugs were buzzing. Apparently the ranger said they had just started that day. Sunday morning was wet, but it wasn't going to dampen our spirits. We made a delicious birthday breakfast for Shay, gluten free BLT's, egg/bacon/cheese English muffins, and Udi blueberry muffins, complete with candle! (picture coming soon). We had to eat in the car as we waited out the rain, but it was still fun.

Morning Birthday breakfast

The rain let up, and we packed up. We had big plans for the day. We cleaned up in record time, and headed out to do some hiking. The rain wasn't heavy, little droplets here and there, so we made our way to Lookout trail.

Map of the park and trails.

In the guide, it says that Lookout Trail is 2.1km, a 3* of difficulty, and should take about an hour to complete. It is very hilly, and a little steep at times, but we still did it in about 28 minutes. We stopped to take pictures too.

The Lookout

The second trail we did was right across from the Rock Lake turnout. Big Pines is about 2.9km, and is rated as 2* of difficulty. There are warnings at this trail stating that it could take as long as 2 hours to complete. It's features are an 1800's abandoned logging camp and old tall pines. We finished it in about 45 minutes. We actually found this trail to be a little more challenging than The Lookout as it has a lot of roots, and rocks littering the foot path. You can't walk without looking down to check your footing. A good little hike!

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We stopped at Spruce Bog so that Shay could get some footage for an accessibility video he's working on. This trail is on a boardwalk, and is somewhat accessible for those with strollers or wheelchairs. There are toilets at this hike.

No trip to Algonquin is complete without a visit to the Visitor's Centre. Ahh dioramas! I am interested to come back in August for the Wolf Howls.

Many Meese, Moosen

Despite the bugs and rain we had a great time. We were very excited to have seen a moose, and the rough night and rain were only going to make the couple's resort all the more enjoyable!

Killarney Camping -Near North Ontario

This past weekend, we made a trip to Killarney with Andrea and Justin, for some back country camping. We only booked in April or so, so we didn't get to the lakes we wanted. We could only snag a site on Bell lake for the three nights, so we didn't have the chance to do any portages this time.

Shay and I had a late start, and Andrea and Justin decided to take the Park bus. It will apparently pick up at a few locations in the GTA and drop off at different parks and lakes. They said it was great. They beat us to the park, and were able to paddle out and reserve site 81. This was a great site. The ground was a little slanted, but the proximity to the island, and tree coverage made it great.

We put up a tarp in case it rained, but we were pretty lucky weather-wise. It did pour on us in our canoes paddling out to Silver Peak, which was a treat, but we dried off on the hike up. We brought a few water jugs this time and used the pump. The pump was amazing. Justin pumped 8L from the lake in like 20 minutes.






Shay and I had to move our tent up the hill after the first night. We didn't like sleeping sideways on a 45 degree angle. Andrea found us a good spot up the hill.

The little orange triangle on the tree is what tells you where the sites are. There are only about 10 on this lake. If you are doing a portage you will want to find a site close to your exit. This isn't always easy to find. We watched campers paddle in at dusk, and circle the lake in the dark trying to find a site. It looked impossible. And there is no way of knowing what sites are already taken, so it's kind of a crap shoot. You could be rowing around the whole lake.

 Our little yellow tent in it's new location up the hill.

Nothing like watching nature while answering it's call. We prefer the back country boxes to outhouses, as you are not trapped in a smelly room.



We happened to put this tarp up on the windiest day. It took all four of us to hoist it up.

Chilling out by the fire pit

You can pre-order your canoe from Kilarney Kanoes. Prices range from $23-$43 or so per day, depending on how light you want your canoes to be. If you have to carry it over your head with all of your gear and hike 1000 meters you will want a light one.

When canoe camping, you need to be able to not only fit everything in the canoe, but also be able to carry it in the least amount of trips.



Tying up dishes and food in trees is mandatory in the back country. Despite all the promises of bears, deer, and moose, again, the loons were the only thing that made an appearance, aside from the regular squirrels, mice and chipmunks. Our resident chipmunk wasn't the brightest, and kept going for the water bottles. We thought maybe the bears sent him out as a distraction, but no dice.

Shay hoisting up the food

The view from our site was beautiful. To the right of us was an island, that we swam out to on the third day. Very refreshing.

Can you find Sean?

Enjoying the fire

Shay, disappointed in the lack of wildlife, found a moth and decided to follow him around. He named him Sean. Sean turned out to be pretty dull indeed.

The first night was cold, even after the wind died down. We were happy to have our toques and fleece to keep warm!

Sunset from our site over looking Bell Lake

Evening star watching was amazing. We were around the New Moon cycle, so we didn't have much light interference. It also happened to be the end of the Perseid Meteor shower, and it was unbelievable. I can't imagine what it looked like at the height! There were shooting stars so bright that they left a trail of light behind them in the sky for 5 seconds. Some took bouncy paths and a had pinkish green glow to them. Some of us (cough...Justin) swears he saw the Milky Way, but this came after missing a few of the best shooting stars, so the verdict is still out on that one. We saw good stars for two nights, then the clouds came in and we couldn't get a clear view.

Silver Peak as we approached in canoes

 On the second day, we decided to paddle in to hike Silver Peak. This is a challenging hike, that takes about 6 hours. The first 4km are pretty easy, but the last 1.6km is a steep rocky ascent. where at some points, you are scaling large rocks.

We paddled out, it took about 45 minutes to get to the trail marker. It started to pour, so that slowed things down a little, or sped them up perhaps. We stopped in our canoes to put on rain gear and continued on. The trail marker was also a little difficult to find. First we paddled through the swampy waters filled with lily pads and frogs, and got out at the portage. This didn't look right, and there was an 8 year old boy there who was camping and then going right from camping to another camp, and he was going into grade 3, and he had an older brother who was 11 but he was soon going to be a teenager, because you're a teenager when you're 14, and he didn't hike up to Silver Peak, but he had been camping for three nights, and if you have ever spent any time with a talkative 8 year old, then you can understand how quickly we got back into our canoes and paddled to the next clearing.

The trail opening is to the left of the portage. There is a sign and usually other canoes. We pulled out the canoes, and began the trail. The first sign we came to gave warning of the  78 km loop that you didn't want to get stuck on. We made sure to follow our trail markers correctly.





These Silver Peak and Bell Lake signs let you know where to go. You do join up with a few portage routes along the way.

The rain died down a bit and we were able to trek through the canopy of trees without getting wet. We were pretty warm at this point from all of the canoeing.

There are many birch trees in this forest. I imagine this hike would be absolutely beautiful in the fall.


Some of the trails have wooden platforms to help with the uneven grounds while portaging





The sun did come back out on the most treacherous part of trail. Once you get to that Silver Peak marker pointing around the bend, the rest of the trek is steep and rocky.

  

 

 It was necessary to stop for a rest and a drink. But all the hard work was worth it when we made it to the top!

It was hard work. We ate lunch at the top, got some rest. Then excitement overwhelmed us.
 Let the jumping begin!

 It was about this time that we turned around and looked up, and realized that we hadn't quite made it to the top yet. We packed up our lunch, taking all garbage with us, and continued up. Andrea and Justin took the lead.

Up a rock and around a corner and we found the true top of Silver Peak!

Finally at the top!

 Let the celebration begin!

From up here we could watch storm systems roll in, in other parts of the Park. We were hoping they weren't going to roll over Bell lake. It appeared that they were going in other directions. We noticed this at night as we watched lightning to the east and west of us. Now all we had to do was climb back down, paddle back the 45 minutes, and jump into the lake.

The next day we took it easy and hung out around our site. We got it in our heads to paddle out to the island. We did this after sending Andrea over in a canoe to make sure that we could jump off the big rock that protruded.  After she gave us the go ahead, we packed up towels, chairs, and lunches, put them in the canoe as Andrea offered to paddle back over, so we could attempt to swim it.

Best two out of three?

Three out of four?

The three of us made it over in good time, and were ready for a drink! Upon staking our claim on the island for the day, we noticed a head bobbing in and out of the water to the far left. And further behind that head, was another. It appeared someone else had had the same idea as us, but chose to swim from a MUCH farther location. They settled on the smaller island beside us (without the diving rock), as their friends joined them with canoes. We were quite happy to make it to our rock as it provided hours of entertainment. After some coaxing and peer pressure we got Andrea to leap off the side. Then she became more inclined to take pictures of us.

Another perfect day! We will return to Killarney!