treefrog
30-08-2012, 02:29 AM
Unfortunately, we haven't had a lot of time this summer to go out and get lost in the bush... I've hardly even had a chance to
properly keep up with the forum; but this past weekend was a nice hot one so Sharon and I decided to find a swimming hole and stay at it
seeing as how summer is nearly over and it might be our last good chance for a camp-out.
Last trip was a multi-lake tour in Algonquin, which meant travelling light, but this time we opted for a non-portaging trip on some of the
crown land near home. The difference between portaging and not portaging meant that this weekend we had folding chairs and beer and
basically any comfort item we could stuff into the canoe! We took Sharon's Jeep down a bush road to a fair sized lake where the swimming is
good and the sunsets are lovely...expecting to see probably a few other folks along the way. Well, by Saturday afternoon we were starting to
wonder if the planet had been evacuated and we missed the news! We were the only people on the lake all weekend; once we thought we heard a
quad bike in the distance, but other than that we were the only ones for miles around. Not to complain, mind you. (There are hundreds of lakes in
the area and having a small one to yourself isn't hard to do, but this was like we found an uninhabited planet).
The only other sign of life was some creature that decided to make a hellish crash in the bush behind our tent at about 2am!
Sure was nice to take some time and charge up the batteries, just laying in the sun and drinking wine. I had it in my head I was going to take the
time to try some proper bushcraft and try lighting the campfire with a firesteel, but didn't even muster that much ambition I'm ashamed to say!
Here's some pics of our private lake:
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12109.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12110.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12117.jpg
Scouting out potential rocks to jump from. Love that rush hitting the water from 20 ft up...
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12114.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12119.jpg
This last pic is from where we set up camp on a small penninsula to get the best sunrise and sunset:
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12093.jpg
Happy camping,
Jack
Update on Canadian Mike's Scout knife....made it through it's first canoe season still somewhat sharp but not near so shiny.
I fear that with my sharpening skills it may never again be as sharp as that first day!
Starting to get a nice patina and looking like it belongs with the camping gear...
great knife, Mike.
properly keep up with the forum; but this past weekend was a nice hot one so Sharon and I decided to find a swimming hole and stay at it
seeing as how summer is nearly over and it might be our last good chance for a camp-out.
Last trip was a multi-lake tour in Algonquin, which meant travelling light, but this time we opted for a non-portaging trip on some of the
crown land near home. The difference between portaging and not portaging meant that this weekend we had folding chairs and beer and
basically any comfort item we could stuff into the canoe! We took Sharon's Jeep down a bush road to a fair sized lake where the swimming is
good and the sunsets are lovely...expecting to see probably a few other folks along the way. Well, by Saturday afternoon we were starting to
wonder if the planet had been evacuated and we missed the news! We were the only people on the lake all weekend; once we thought we heard a
quad bike in the distance, but other than that we were the only ones for miles around. Not to complain, mind you. (There are hundreds of lakes in
the area and having a small one to yourself isn't hard to do, but this was like we found an uninhabited planet).
The only other sign of life was some creature that decided to make a hellish crash in the bush behind our tent at about 2am!
Sure was nice to take some time and charge up the batteries, just laying in the sun and drinking wine. I had it in my head I was going to take the
time to try some proper bushcraft and try lighting the campfire with a firesteel, but didn't even muster that much ambition I'm ashamed to say!
Here's some pics of our private lake:
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12109.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12110.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12117.jpg
Scouting out potential rocks to jump from. Love that rush hitting the water from 20 ft up...
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12114.jpg
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12119.jpg
This last pic is from where we set up camp on a small penninsula to get the best sunrise and sunset:
http://i390.photobucket.com/albums/oo345/barefoot_01/mairaug12093.jpg
Happy camping,
Jack
Update on Canadian Mike's Scout knife....made it through it's first canoe season still somewhat sharp but not near so shiny.
I fear that with my sharpening skills it may never again be as sharp as that first day!
Starting to get a nice patina and looking like it belongs with the camping gear...
great knife, Mike.