Camping!

Where did Tai go?

• Elora Gorge Conservation Area with Lizard, Ha, and Collin. (Bike-camping)
• Craigleith with Kath, 1995, on bikes.
• Pinery (515) with Tree, 29-30 Jul 1996. After Hillside Festival.
• Mew Lake (90) with Tree, Pretzel, Ms. May, Boss Hog, and some nasty 'coons, 22-24 May 1998. This later led to Boss Hog meeting P.
• Mew Lake in the Humper with Tree, Pretzel, and Ms. May, Oct 1998. Hand-fed the chickadees. Pix are 35mm, need to scan.
• Awenda (Snake 314) with Pretzel and Succorso, 02 Oct 1999. Rainy. Caution Pants!
• Mew Lake with VW, 29 Apr 2000. Walked the Highlands trail, saw 3 snakes, 2 different woodpeckers, a grouse, 2 moose, a rabbit and a black bear.
• Killbear (Blind Bay 737) by myself :) 18-20 Aug 2000. Snorkeled. Lots of zebra mussels.
• Mew Lake (113) by myself, 14-15 Oct 2000. Saw a fox, even though I just sat around the site and ate. :)
• Pog Lake (remember Alf?) with Succorso and Pretzel, 19-20 May 2001. Walked the Highlands trail, got Pretzel dunked into a stream. Dual GPS!
• Tea Lake with the Sysadmins et al., 1-3 Sep 2001
• Mew Lake with Jawn and D, 8-9 Sep 2001. We like spicy bean sauce on campfire chicken breast in tortilla wrap, Mmmmm. D introduces me to gin and Se7en. Walked the Mizzy Lake trail, saw a very laid-back beaver.
• Canisbay (69) with the Sysadmins and Jawn and D, and a cast of thousands, 18-20 May 2002. Drove up with the patient Ap and a bad muffler. Walked the Bat Lake trail.
• Mew Lake (113) by myself 26 Oct 2002. Walked the Mizzy Lake trail, saw grey jays, two beavers, people from Maryland, mallards, and bear tracks. Lots of pics to come. 4 inches of snow, wow! A little bit like winter-camping, except warmer and wetter.
• Killbear (296) with sadrik, reeny, syber, Traycer, Succorso, Boss_hog, and the Smooch. It was a good time. Liquor ban. Too much food. We saw a toad, heard woodpecker and songsparrows. Succorso saw a bear. Deafening frogs. Saw Jupiter with Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto, thanks to my Zeiss Dialyt 56x25 and Traycer's big tripod. Also caught the Beehive Cluster (M44) for the very first time, using Jupiter as a guide. Beach, sandcastles. Went into Georgian Bay three times; it was not warm. Syber reads the Cat in The Hat. Walked the Lookout Trail and GPS'd it. 69 was jammed, so we opted out and took a nice drive back through Rosseau, Ullswater, Ufford, and eventually Weber's. You could check out Tray's pics too.
• Oastler Lake with Traycer, sadrik, reeny, Queen, syber, Frobozz, booya, Boss_Hog, P, and the Smooch, with Ms. May and Co. also around on their own site. Arrived earlier and lighter-packed than ever before with 'Bozz and Sybes in the car. Damnnow, can 'Bozz ever carry a lot of stuff in that canoeing bag. Did we see any animals at all? Just some neat bugs, and a train. (Train noise is a definite feature of Oastler Lake.) The bullfrogs croacking in the stream near the site were entertaining. We walked 6 km on Saturday. Keep the 100-numbered sites in mind for next time, it's gorgeous over there. Fewer bugs than I had feared. I only applied DEET once, but came home with fewer than 25 bites. Thanks for the canoeing, Boss_Hog and P! The lake was nice and warm, but I really, really do not know how to swim worth a damn. The Great Galaxy in Andromeda (M31) looked nice once I was able to get the tripod and the Zeiss happy with each other. We did not stay up long enough to see Mars, I am sad to say. On the other hand, no one got sick from the questionable refridgeration. Normally not a problem, but we had more meat than we had coolers.
  Four of us took pictures:
  • Traycer,
  • booya,
  • Frobozz, and
  • me of course.
• Awenda (501) with the freaks. Liquor ban, cold weather, a bit of rain, but no bugs, lots of wood, and some sunshine on Saturday aft. A group walked the Nipissing and Beach trails for a few kilometers. No swimming in this weather! Also no stargazing to speak of. We were swooped by a turkey vulture ("A CONDOR!" says Vann) ... and on Monday, the pitiful remainder who had braved the (promised) snow saw deer. Also I snapped a rosy-breasted grosbeak and we saw a couple different woodpeckers. All good! Hail to glaciers.
  Travel times: From Mt. P and St. C, Toronto.
  Up: Friday 20:06 to 23:30, 194 km. Got lost. Found. Checked in.
  Down: Monday 15:20 to 18:05, 171 km. Did not get lost.

Future plans

• Somewhere in southern Quebec with Jawn and Dor.
• Colton Point State Park, Pennsylvania, in the Allegheny National Forest Region. (Nice view!)
• Mount Hunger near Waterbury, Vermont, in the Green Mountains. (Nice pics.)

What should I bring?

Clothes etc.
• sweater
• shorts
• pants
• Sunscreen. Cancer is no fun.
• proper rainjacket
• hiking boots or other rugged comfortable footwear
• rugged socks so your boots don't destroy your feet
• hat with brim (useful in both rain and sun)
• gloves, warm hat (unless you are camping at sea level in guaranteed warm conditions)
• you'll want to like, brush your teeth and stuff, eh?

Cooking
• Firewood
• A wee hatchet
• Water, if not locally supplied. Check in advance for a boil-water advisory.
• Food, especially light food, nuts, dried food, frozen food (only if car camping) etc.
• A knife
• A spatula and a fry-pan and a pot
• Baggies, especially like freezer bags. Very helpful in keeping your food clean.
• Plastic wrap or aluminum wrap
• Paper towels
• Garbage bags
• If you're car camping, something to do dishes in
• a scrub brush and dish detergent
• that gelled alcohol stuff is awesome for keeping your hands clean while you're cooking and stuff

Safety
• Water and some way to carry it
• A water purification rig if you can't bring enough water with you
• Bug repellent. Be serious about this. You want DEET.
• A whistle, ideally like a Fox 40.
• A pocket knife
• A good flashlight or lantern that will work for hours if need be
• An emergency blanket
• Emergency food, like some energy bars.
• A first aid kit, no bigger than you know how to use
• A map of the area you'll be in

Shelter
• tent
• sleeping bag
• lumpy-rest (or other bedroll thing - insulates you from the ground)
• toilet paper
• a tarpaulin for rainshelter is good

File: http://www.eastpole.ca/sports/camping/
Created: 10 May 02, 13:32:00
Updated: 21 Jun 06, 14:48:35