Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park - Day 2

After staying up late the first night of our trip we slept in the next day. Besides Cynara, no one else woke up until around 11:00 a.m. It was closer to noon by the time we started "breakfast". And we didn't start our hike until 1:30 in the afternoon.

There were a few options for hiking. We picked the Etienne Trail System which had four choices. Out of the four we opted for the Nature Loop at 8.5 kilometres. Though we tacked on an extra 2.5 kilometres each way because we had to walk to the trailhead from our campsite because of the limited parking space there.

The day was nice for the most part. It wasn't too hot which was good. At the beginning it was mostly sunny with a few clouds. Though as the hike progressed we did get a bit of rain. Not enough to soak us, but enough to make the ground slipperier.

The rain affected Jonathan the most. Or more precisely, his pants. He said it made them too tight and hard to walk in. So he and Cynara took the short cut (Geology-Loop Yellow Trail) back. We continued on the Blue/Green Trail before deciding on the slightly shorter Green Trail Nature-Loop at the final split.

We arrived back at our campsite by around 7:00 p.m. Much earlier than the day before. We had plenty of time to cook dinner. This time in daylight.

I have to say, the firewood here was amazing the first two days. It lit so easily, it was magical. It was such a big difference from the damp wood up at Awenda on our previous trip. We had so much trouble lighting it there.

Dinner tonight would be similar to the previous day - pork shoulder and pork belly with sweet potatoes and veggies. We used the fire to cook all our food. No camp stove for this meal.

After we ate a few of us decided to go on the guided night hike. Along with a pretty large group of people, we met a couple of park staff at the visitor centre by the park entrance. They gave us an introduction of what we might see or hear and we set off in the dark.

We weren't supposed to use flashlights instead relying on our night vision and our hearing to detect certain creatures. Still, one of the small children on the tour kept turning her light on and chattering all night long disturbing everyone. I'm not sure why her parents brought her out.

We did see fireflies and heard some frogs croaking. No bats or owls to be seen. And no wolves were heard in the area (though we tried howling to see if they would respond). I don't think Emily or Ken missed much by not tagging along.

On the way back Peter and I dragged Cynara and Jonathan out to a different campsite to go to their beach to take night shots. We wanted a different vantage point to shoot the stars and Milky Way. We also did some night writing with our flashlights spelling out the name of the park. Sort of a tradition for us now.

Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park - Day 1

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.