Peter, Emily and Ken, Cynara and Jonathan and I went camping again over the Canada Day long weekend. This time we were at Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park. Just north of Algonquin Provincial Park, it's about a four hour drive from Toronto.
On Thursday night I met Peter and a bunch of the others for wings at Wild Wing across the street from his condo. While there I dropped off my pack and camp chair for him to take in his roof carrier.
The following morning I picked up Jonathan and Cynara at her place while Peter drove Emily and Ken from his place. We met at Yorkdale Mall and headed north together.
Traffic was slow going up the 400. Even though quite a few people left town for cottage country the day before, there still was a lot of traffic.
Our first stop of the day was at Big Chris BBQ Smokehouse for lunch in Barrie. We shared the sampler meal between the six of us. It was more than enough this early in the day.
We arrived at our campsite at around 6:00 p.m. All the sites in this particular park were small and jam packed together. There was barely enough room to turn around without bumping into your neighbour. A stark contrast from our previous camping trip at Awenda Provincial Park. At least the comfort station was relatively close by.
After quickly setting up in the rain we debated heading over to nearby North Bay to catch the Canada Day fireworks. Thankfully the rain stopped shortly after which made our decision easier.
Taking Highway 17 50-kilometres west, we got to North Bay shortly after 8:00. The fireworks weren't slated to start until 10:00 so we walked around taking photos on the beach and pier along the waterfront.
The fireworks started pretty much on time. Unfortunately we set up a bit far from the launch site, so my shots weren't that great. Peter's zoom compensated for that, but I only had my wide angle. As well, I mistakenly set my ISO too low which made my shots somewhat on the dark side. A big disappointment.
We returned to our campsite at around midnight. By then most of the other campers had called it a night. Not us... we started our campfire and cooked dinner.
The wood supplied by the park was great. The birch bark was dry and started with little kindling needed. It was amazing. We barbecued sausages, veggies and pork shoulder and belly. Slightly cooled beer helped wash it all down.
The skies had all but cleared by the time we finished eating. Time to find a spot by the lake to take star shots. Peter and I set up by a nearby boat launch and got some excellent shots of the Milky Way. After that we bundled up and headed for bed. By this time it was almost 2:00.
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