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What Is In That Tree?....Oh, Wow!!

8/15/2020

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The sun was up but still behind the trees, leaving us in the chill of the crisp morning air. We looked across the marsh grasses to the sunny side of Ishkuday Lake in hopes of seeing a moose on the otherside; maybe even yesterday's moose. But no luck. The shrews were not to be seen this morning either. At least the cold was keeping the mosquitoes away too.
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I went down to the shoreline to see what was stirring there this morning.  I was pleased to find a Grey Tree Frog hanging out on the branches there. (Yes, I know, the Grey Tree Frog is actually green. I suppose it gets its name from the colour of its belly). It is not all that common for me to see one of these on my hiking trips.
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Today would be our last full day of hiking on this trip and tonight would be our last night sleeping in the park. I was already wishing it could last longer. We would be hiking roughly 6 km today. We decided that we would stop and have breakfast at the old, abandoned,  train trestle. 
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By the time we got packed up and were on our way, it was starting to warm up. It was a nice, sunny, easy, walk. We took a moment to stop at what we considered to be the real "lookout", which was not far from the abandoned train trestle. Now that we had come full circle, I could make out where we had camped, on the second night at Islet Lake, from here. It was just to the left of the point (which from here looks like an island). 
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At the bottom of the old train trestle was the remnants of the last of a logging run. They were all jammed together as a reminder of the history of this place. We reached the top of the trestle just moments before a gentleman and his dog reached it. We sat and talked with him there for a bit before continuing on our way.
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From here on out we were back on what used to be the old railway track. The rest of the way was flat after that. Muddy, but flat. 
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   When we got to the portage between Hot Lake and Rain Lake, we met a couple of guys just starting their hike in. I think they said that they were headed to Weed Lake so they had a long way to go yet. One of them had a little fishing rod with him. They asked us questions about how the trail was and what we used for filtering water. When we told them that it got pretty muddy up ahead, one guy turned to the other and said "See, I told you we should have gone canoeing!"  These guys were clearly new to backpacking and didn't have a water filtration system with them. Their plan was to just boil their water (which is fine, but can be a bit of a chore to wait for it to boil and then wait for it to cool again). One of the two was much less happy to be backpacking than the other. I hope by the end of their trip he comes to love it as much as we do. It would be a shame if he didn't. 
   About another kilometer or so later we stopped for a break and a snack at the side of the trail. I was so busy noticing things like chipmunks and caterpillars that I didn't notice that I had sat on the root of a pine tree and sat in a whole bunch of pine sap. By the time we got up to go there was a large patch of it on the seat of my pants and it had soaked right through and was sticking to my butt. When we got to the camp and I was finally able to take them off, it was like ripping a large band-aid off my butt. 
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About 20 minutes later we arrived at our campsite. It was located at the bottom of a large hill. We were happy to find that we were the first ones here and that we got first dibs. ​It may be down a hill, but that just made it more private. 
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As I got to the bottom of the hill and the site opened up in front of us, I was very happy with what I saw. This site was much nicer than the other site on Rain Lake. It was beautiful here! There is a big pine tree right in the middle of the site. The site reminded me of a scene out of a Winnie The Pooh book. I felt I was in the 100 Acre Woods. 
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Posted way up high on the trunk of this beautiful tree was a sign.
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The sign said that this site was reserved for backpackers only (which was us). I guess that they have had problems with canoers camping here in the past. I could see why they would want to. It is a beautiful spot. 
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We set up our tent in the dappled shade of the beautiful tree. 
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Then we found the path to the lake. We had this whole section of Rain Lake all to ourselves! The trail cuts through a part of the lake which makes a division from the larger part of the lake. It was almost as though this was an entirely different lake. And there was no one on it but us. 
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The water was so clear and it didn't take long before I was in there swimming. The water was nice and warm. I stayed in there swimming for a very long time. This was the best swimming hole of the entire trip!  While I was in there, I took my pine sap covered pants in with me and washed them. I used hand sanitizer mostly and a little bit of soap. I had to wash it a couple times but by the time I was done, the sap was pretty much gone. I will probably run them one more time through the washing machine when I get home just to be sure. 
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The other nice thing about this site was the location of the thunder box. You did have to cross a little foot bridge to get to it which I thought might be a bit of a hazard if you need to go in the middle of the night. But, during the day it was perfectly fine. 
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The thunder box itself was a bit of an older one, but it was clean and free of spiders. The nicest part about this thunder box was that it was the most private one we have had the whole trip. Every other thunder box was visible to anyone walking down the trail (except the one on Weed Lake) and you just hoped that no one came along while you were sitting there. Not this one! Full privacy here! 
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At some point Heather reminded me that we had to go and see if our stash of canned peaches and pears were still where we left them. I told her that I would go and get them and so I left her at the site and I went on my quest for the canned fruit. It wasn't that far away. I had stashed them in the old, abandoned, logging camp only about a 5 minute walk down the trail. It just meant that I had to climb back up the hill to get to the trail again. A little toad was also making the climb up the hill to the trail. 
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When I got to where I had stashed the cans of fruit, I pulled away the moss and saw that they were still there. The roots of the tree had provided excellent cover for them. 
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I pulled them out and checked them over. They were still in great condition. We were looking forward to eating these with our supper. When you have traveled in the bush for over a week and have not had any fruit in that time, a couple cans of peaches and pears are a real treasure! 
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When I got back to the site it was about time for lunch. We didn't eat the peaches and pears for lunch. We saved them until supper time. While we sat and ate I looked over at the root of the big tree and all of a sudden a little head popped up for a second and looked at me. Then is disappeared again. I kept watching the spot and the head popped up again. It kept doing this. It was a little sparrow watching me. Every time I turned my head or made a slight move it would duck back down behind the root. It was so cute. It was like this bird was playing peek-a-boo or something. I had never seen anything quite like it. Birds usually just fly away. They don't duck and hide like that. 
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After a bit, he moved away from the root and was a little more out in the open. But even then, every time I made a slight move he would duck and flatten himself down onto the ground instead of flying away. He was very entertaining to watch. After about 15 minutes of this "you can't see me!" game he did eventually fly away. 
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I took some time to look around the site a bit more. Over near some drift wood was an area where you could see some larger fish swimming around. They were not huge, just maybe 6 or 7 inches long. But they were bigger than the minnows we usually see near the shoreline. The water was so clear that it was easy to see them. 
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Heather called me over to show me an unusual beetle that had perched on the edge of her pot. It was a Northern Pine Sawyer Beetle. You don't see those around too often. You see the dark longhorn beetles often enough, but not the ones with this colouring so much. 
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Heather and I decided that we would both do our own thing for awhile. Just at the top of the hill where the trail is, there is an entrance to a portage that leads to Little Mc Creaney Lake. Heather decided to take a walk down there while I decided to explore around the site some more. I was interested in checking out the portage too, but I wanted to get photos of birds which is easier to do when you are alone. So I figured I would just go by myself later. 
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There were so many unusual things to see in this park. It was a new adventure every day. I came across a strange looking fly. It's markings were very similar to that of a wasp, but its eyes were striped like that of a deer fly. I had never seen one of these flies before.  I found out later that it was called a  Bald-faced Hornet Fly. 
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   After awhile, Heather came back and said that she had heard something large in the bush down the portage but didn't see anything. Of course both of us immediately thought back to the moose that we had seen on the trail yesterday. So, I figured that I would take my turn going down the portage and see what I could see.
     The portage is fairly wide and flat and easy to travel on. I quietly made my way down the trail and tried my best to get some good pictures of birds. One robin was particularly cooperative with me. 
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The Golden-crowned Kinglets were not as cooperative, but I did manage to get one decent picture. 
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This whole time it was so quiet and peaceful that it felt like I was the only one around for miles. I loved that feeling.  The portage follows along the edge of Rain Lake for a bit until eventually you get to the end and it starts heading into the woods. Then on the right there is a bit of a marshy area that can be seen through the trees. 
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There were White-faced Meadowhawk Dragonflies zipping around from place to place in this area. 
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   Then I stopped still. Out of the corner of my eye I saw something through the trees. I crept in closer to get a better look. There was a Blue Heron standing in some water doing a little fishing. I stood there and watched him for a few minutes trying to be as quiet as I could. 
   But then the quiet was broken. Not by me, but by some people coming down the portage. My illusion of being by myself was shattered as I heard them coming my way. The heron heard them too and decided to fly away.  I couldn't see them yet, but I figured that I may as well just turn around and head back now. Besides I had no idea how far it was to the end of the portage.
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I walked back for a little bit and I could hear the people getting closer. I turned to my right because I was going to look back to see if I could see them yet.  I froze. There in a tree less than 10 feet away from me at eye level was an animal looking right at me.  I couldn't believe my eyes! It was a Pine Marten! Oh wow! He froze too. Then he started growling at me. That had me a little concerned. I wondered how well they could jump and if it had any intentions of jumping from the tree right on to me. He was that close that it would be entirely possible. 
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Fortunately, the people coming down the portage were getting closer and were making enough noise that the Pine Marten noticed them too and his attention was drawn away from me and over to them. That's when he decided that with reinforcements coming that it might be best if he started climbing higher into the tree. And that is what he did. 
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Soon, three women carrying a white canoe came into view. They saw me standing under the tree with my camera in hand and asked me what I was taking pictures of. I told them that I thought it was a Pine Marten and I pointed him out to them. Naturally, they got out their cameras too and we all started to take pictures. By this time I am sure that the Marten was just wishing that we would go away so that he could go back to doing whatever it is he was doing in the first place. One person at the base of the tree he might have been able to deal with but he was not having anything to do with 4 people at the base of his tree. So he just sat there waiting for us to leave.
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Once we got our pictures, we obliged the poor thing and left. I thanked the ladies for helping me with the pictures (They had shown me the best spot to get a clear picture. Otherwise, my pictures would have been dark and with too many branches in the way).Then they went on ahead with their canoe and I followed leisurely behind them. 
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When I got back to camp I told Heather all about the Pine Marten. She  told me that it was a 2 km long portage so, had I gone to the very end I would have traveled an extra 4 km that day. It was good that I turned around where I had.  
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Heather and I set about making supper. As we sat eating our cans of peaches and pears we watched a couple of squirrels chase each other around. 
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A little chipmunk was running around too but he was much more shy than the squirrels were. 
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When it was close to sunset, we didn't see much in the way of colours on our section of the lake. We figured that we would go up the hill and cross over the trail to the other side of the lake to see if the sunset looked any better there. We saw fishing boats and canoes coming ashore for the night, but we didn't see a whole lot of colours with the sinking sun. The clouds in the sky still looked pretty though.  Again we were disappointed in the sunset. So, we headed back to our site. 
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We were surprised to find that back at our campsite (which is only about a 2 minute walk away) the sky was filled with the pinks and purples of the sunset. The difference in the sky in such a short walk was amazing! The beauty of the colourful clouds reflected in the still, clear waters of the lake. It was so lovely. 
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Just before it got dark we built a fire and put our food up into the tree. 
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Heather made a make-shift lantern using her bottle of water and he small flashlight, She had seen it online before and had wanted to try it. It works pretty good! 
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   Out on the other side of the lake I saw a flash. It was lightning. I stood up and told Heather what I saw and she looked too. There it was again. Another flash of lightning. A storm was on the horizon and heading straight for us. there was no thunder or rain yet, but it was sure to follow. Heather went about getting the tarp put up over the tent while I held the flashlight. We hadn't needed a tarp over the tent for days but we weren't taking any chances tonight. 
   As I stood there holding the light I could hear the sound of hundreds and hundreds of mosquitoes. I said "Heather.... we are going to have a problem! Listen!" She stopped and heard it too. She started working faster on the tarp. We were about to get assaulted by a mass of mosquitoes and we wanted to be able to jump into the tent and protect ourselves from them.
   Then all of a sudden the noise from the mosquitoes stopped. Not a sound. And no mosquito to be found anywhere. It was the strangest thing. 
   When Heather was done with the tarp and everything was put away, we decided to stand down by the lake and watch the storm come in. There was still no rain or thunder yet. As we stood there we saw two very black clouds come towards us. They were large but not so large that you couldn't see the stars in the sky all the way around them. When they were directly over our head we thought for sure we would get rained on. But nope. Not a drop. And still the lightning was putting on an amazing display on the other side of the lake. 
   We stood there so long that we decided to get our chairs and sit by the shore to watch. We sat watching for about an hour. It was almost as though the storm was sitting suspended at that end of the lake. The lightning never came any closer to us. Eventually it looked like it started to move ever so slowly to the right of us. We got tired of waiting for the storm to reach us and so we decided to just go to bed. It had been an amazing light show. Even as we crawled into the tent there was still no rain and no thunder. 
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(** The photo of the lightning was not taken by me. My camera would not pick up the lightning at all. This photo was taken by  György Károly Tóth (username: Zajcsik) from Pixabay and looks very much like what we saw that night,**)
The rain and thunder did eventually come, but not until 6:30 in the morning. It wasn't a bad storm like we had expected but it was still a good thing that Heather had put the tarp up. The tarp created a dry perimeter around the tent where we were able to sit and eat breakfast and pack up our stuff while staying relatively dry. 
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We were in no rush to leave today. Actually, we wanted to drag the trip out as long as we could because we were not looking forward to going back to civilization. By the time we were ready to go it had stopped raining. As we climbed the hill from our campsite back up to the trail I could see a woodpecker and other birds looking for their breakfast. 
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A hawk flew above our heads looking for its breakfast too. 
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   We got to the parking lot just before noon. They have a cute little log cabin mail box where you can leave your expired permits and any comments you may have. 
   It had been a fantastic trip with a number of "once in a lifetime" experiences. Although we would have loved to stay even longer, some burgers and fries were calling our names at the local chip truck on the way back to town. But I am sure that we will be back one day, even if it is just for a one or two night stay. 
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Moose Hunt On The Way To Ishkuday

8/14/2020

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We woke up at about 8:30 in the morning. Today we were not in any rush. We only had to hike 3.9 km to get to our site on Ishkuday Lake. There is only one site there so we had no competition to get to it. There isn't a good place to access water at Ishkuday anymore due to beaver activity so, we had to plan accordingly.  Heather filled up the water filter and we put it inside an empty, red, food bag (the water proof kind that we had been using to hang our food in the tree). We had eaten enough food by this point that we had a bag to spare. Then she put that into her backpack. It meant that she had to carry extra weight but at least we would have water when we got there.
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We were beginning to pack up our stuff when a gentleman came hiking by. He was headed in the opposite direction that we were headed. That meant he was headed towards the sinking bridge that we had crossed yesterday. We warned him about the bridge and about a couple other muddy places that he was about to encounter. We started talking about different hiking stories each of us had and, before we knew it, about a half an hour had gone by. Eventually we said good bye and finished our packing up. It was about noon by the time we finally left the campsite.
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We looked for fresh moose tracks in the place that we had seen them yesterday, but there weren't any new ones there. We did see some fresh tracks further on down the trail though. 
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The mosquitoes were not bad at all today. We were actually able to enjoy the view and stop to look at some of the flowers and mushrooms.
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We came to a wide open grassy area that used to be an old logging road.
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And a little further on you could see deep grooves in the ground where old logging machinery had once been. You could just feel the history in this place. It was all overgrown now though, of course.
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Then we came to a spot that was much more interesting than the old logging roads. It was an area where all the grass had been flattened down. A moose had bedded down here!!  Right in the middle of the trail!  Our hopes of seeing a moose had just risen again.
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However, if there had been a moose sleeping here, he wasn't there now. We kept hiking for awhile and eventually my attention turned to other things. Smaller things. Like toads hoping through the dead leaves on the ground. 
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As usual, Heather was ahead of me. I was just coming up over a rise when all of a sudden we heard a huge CRASH!!!  I looked up to see Heather grabbing for her camera. And over to the left of us, not more than 40 feet away, was a male yearling moose jumping up from the ground! It had been lying on the ground near an old fallen root of a tree and had blended in perfectly so we didn't see it until we were almost upon it. And clearly it hadn't seen or heard us right away either.  Heather and the moose surprised each other.
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I didn't see the moose as clear as Heather did because I was a bit further behind. The moose had run into the trees and then stopped for a moment. All I could make out was a dark blob. We both stopped too and tried to take a picture. But I couldn't get one and Heather's came out too blurry to know what it was. She quietly mouthed the words "Did you get a picture?"  and I shook my head "No".  So she quietly tried to tip toe closer. But the moose was having none of that and he took off running. Oddly enough he didn't run into the trees but instead came back out onto the trail and ran up the trail. We tried to follow, cameras in hand. Then we came to a long, wet, muddy area in the middle of the trail. The moose of course went right through it. And Heather went right through it. But I played the part of the clean freak and tried not to get all full of mud. That was when Heather got way ahead of me and I lost track of her all together.
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By the time I got past the mud hole, all I had to go on were the moose tracks in the mud. I listened as I went, trying to hear either Heather or the moose. I thought I could hear the moose but I wasn't sure. It is incredible how something so big can move so quietly through the bush! 
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I could see where the moose had slipped a little in the mud as he ran.
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This whole time we were following the moose, we had remained pretty quiet. But then I came to a fallen tree right in the middle of the trail. There was no way I could get around this tree and still stay quiet. By about this time I was ready to give up. 
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The lake was to my left and I figured that the moose probably headed that way because I thought I could hear him. I wondered if Heather had gone off trail to follow him. I knew that she knew better than to do that, but then again with all the excitement,  maybe she might have.  I decided to stick to the trail.
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Eventually I came to some places where I could see the lake and I was hoping maybe I could see the moose from a distance, figuring that he would be way over on the other side by now. I wondered if I should turn back and look for Heather or just assume she went on ahead to the camp. I really wanted to find out if she had gotten a good picture or not.
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When I came to a rocky area where I could sit to rest for a minute, I decided that I would just continue on to camp and if she wasn't there then I would leave my pack and come back to find her. I knew that the chances of seeing the moose again now were next to nothing. So, I continued on alone to the campsite.
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The closer I got to the campsite the less lake there was and the more marsh there was. I could see why a moose would like this area.
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Finally, I came to the orange marker for the Ishkuday campsite. And there was Heather waiting for me. She thought that I  had gone chasing the moose into the bush too.  Both of us laughed when we thought that the other had taken off into the bush after the moose, even though we both knew that the other knew better than to do such a thing. We swapped details about our moose experiences and discovered that neither of us got a good picture.  We were disappointed about that. 
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By this time it was about 2:30 pm.  We began to set up camp and I  had a chance to look around the place. The site is not bad, but there is definitely no place to swim, and there were not a lot of flat places without roots sticking up. It has a very woodsy and remote feel to it. But it is shady and peaceful here.
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There are a couple paths to water but water that is not "marsh soup" is not plentiful.  The water here would be very hard on your water filtering system. And if you didn't have one of those then you would certainly have to boil the heck out of it.
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Someone had left a pot behind and I used it to scoop some relatively clean water from Ishkuday Lake. We only used it for putting out the fire later on though. After all, Heather had carried all the drinking water with her. We didn't want that effort to be for nothing. So we used the water we that brought with us for drinking purposes.
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Ishkuday Lake was as wild and overgrown as everyone said it would be.  There were reeds and tall grasses and old grey dead pines sticking up everywhere. 
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But way out in the distance there was some open water.
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A mergenser duck was enjoying a swim out there, far from the reaches of any human or predator. 
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Blue damselflies flitted around the shoreline. 
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And frogs tried to camouflage themselves in the water near the fallen logs.
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The trees along the path to the bathroom reminded me of the backyard I had when I was growing up (we lived out in the country on 23 acres of forested land). 
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One of the trees had a huge growth or "burr" growing on it. My nephew says people cut these burrs off and can make wooden bowls and things from them. I was just glad it was a burr and not a bees nest. 
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The bathroom was home to a Tomentose Burying Beetle. I had seen two or three of these on this trip. They were always near the thunder box. 
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   After we rested awhile, Heather and I decided to backtrack to where we saw the moose without our packs on to see if we could see it again. We knew the chances were slim to none, but then we thought that seeing it the first time was not likely to happen. We still had the excitement of adrenaline rushing through us so, in our minds, anything was possible. 
   We had invited my niece to join us for the last two nights of our hiking trip and we didn't know if she was going to show up or not. But just in case we left her a note and a map showing her where we saw the moose which was where we would be. It was only about a 20 minute walk from the campsite. 
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When we got back to where we saw the moose we analysed the tracks. The footprint was almost as big as the top half of my shoe. 
Heather described her moose chase to me as we walked along saying things like "and here is where the moose ran onto the trail." and "this is the spot where he ran into the woods and I lost sight of him". 
Turns out that all the time I had thought I had heard the moose to the left of me heading towards the lake, the moose had actually gone to the right, heading away from the lake. So, it was a good thing I didn't try to follow him. I was way off base as to what direction he and Heather went after I lost sight of them. 
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We didn't see the moose again (which was really no surprise to me) but we did see some bear scat. It was pretty old and we were not concerned about it being in the area at all. 
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We enjoyed the walk back through the trees that were starting to grow long shadows as the sun was beginning to get lower in the sky.
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When we got back to camp we made supper. My niece never did end up joining us. Instead we played Yahtzee for awhile; just the two of us. We were joined, however, by a couple of shrews that live in holes at the bases of a couple of trees. I tired for so long to get a picture of them scurrying around but they were way too fast for me. They are cute, but they just don't sit still even for a moment. 
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Eventually the sun started to sink below the horizon. We were hoping for a nice sunset, but once again, there were no spectacular displays of colour. Just the fading sun and then the oncoming greyness of dusk. I went to the side of the lake in hopes of getting a nice, colourful,  sunset picture, but it wasn't to be. 
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And then something strange happened. When I took the next picture and looked at it in the picture viewer, I found that the picture looked as though I had taken it in the dark of night. But it wasn't dark out yet. So how can that be? 
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And stranger still was that I could see two little white dots in the center of the picture between some branches. When I zoomed in, it looked like two eyes peering at me from the dark. 
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The next picture was not dark at all. It was back to normal. 
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I checked my camera to see what the picture before it looked like. It was a picture of the fire we had made. It was not dark either. So here was this dark, night time picture of something peering at us from the marsh smack dab in the middle of my early evening pictures. I really don't know what to make of it. 
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I had one more strange picture that I took that evening. I was trying to take a picture of the cozy glow of the flashlight on inside the tent, but I accidentally turned the flash on so it lit up the whole site when I took the picture. Later, when I got home and looked at the picture, I noticed an orb of light at the tree (on the left just beside  my walking stick). I wonder if other people who have camped here have had similar strange things happen when they have taken pictures here. It would be interesting to find out. I went online when I got home to see if there were any spooky stories about this particular lake or campsite, but I didn't find any. 
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Despite the strange pictures, nothing else unusual was seen or heard. Instead, we went to sleep with the sounds of frogs and crickets singing all around us and with thoughts of chasing moose down the trail going through our heads. It had been an exciting day for us and we were looking forward to what tomorrow might bring. 
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And The Frogs Laughed

8/13/2020

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Woke up to another gorgeous morning. I had woken up off and on during the night because it was cold. Only because I couldn't get my sleeping bag to zipper up right though. So, I welcomed the warmth of the morning sun. I looked around for my rescued dragonfly but, of course, it was gone. Hopefully it flew off on it's own accord and did not become a meal for something during the night. 
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I saw a little black mouse in the bushes but it was too quick for me to get a picture. We packed up and left our site (with reluctance) at about 10:30 a.m. We are off to Brown lake today. Heather told me that the sites at Brown Lake were not very good. So I wanted to stay at Gervais Lake even more. But that wasn't to be, so, off we went. There were plenty of creeks and streams along the way. 
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 But these places were not nearly as wet as the places to come. At least, here we had stepping stones to get to the other side.
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From the very beginning of the trip both Heather and I had wanted to see a moose. Algonquin Park is known for its moose so we figured we had a better chance here than anywhere else to see one. Before each trip I go on I say a prayer, asking God if I could see a particular animal or bird. This trip I prayed to see a moose. Each site we would come to Heather and I would say "That spot over there looks like a good place to see a moose if we get up early enough in the morning". Of course we never get up early in the morning though so we knew that probably was never going to happen. We had spotted moose droppings from time to time on this trail, but today we came across moose tracks in the mud. We had only seen one other hiker go past us and these tracks were right on top of his tracks so we know that the moose had come through here sometime after the hiker had gone by. It was a much nicer way to see a sign of a moose than droppings were. So we were happy to find relatively fresh tracks travelling in the same direction that we were. Maybe, just maybe, we would see one in the bush as we hiked. 
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Our trail to Brown lake would take us over 6 km. We would go both near and through some marshy areas as well as some hilly areas. There are only two sites on Brown Lake (plus one canoe site).  We wanted to get there first so that we could have first pick of the sites. We had a late start in the day, but we were still hopeful that we would get there before other hikers did. 
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We stopped to rest about half way to our destination at a portage. This is also where the trail splits and heads towards East End Lake, Loft Lake and Rainbow Lake. We were surprised to find yellow caution tape blocking that section of the trail. 
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There was a sign on a tree indicating that the trail to Rainbow Lake would no longer be maintained.  We were curious as to why they closed that trail off. Perhaps it was over used and needed a rest from people. Perhaps it was under used and was too much effort to maintain for no reason. Perhaps neither and for some other reason all together.  We never did find out why. 
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​Luckily, that was not the part of the trail that we needed to go down. However, Heather was disappointed because she had been considering backpacking down that section of the trail next year. Now she won't be able to. 
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After resting at the portage we continued on towards Brown Lake. We climbed up a particularly large hill and then back down the other side. At the bottom of this hill was a large pond full of dirty brown water. Surely this wasn't Brown Lake? I mean it certainly looked the part, but we hadn't traveled nearly far enough yet. 
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As we walked around the edge of the pond we could see that beavers had been hard at work creating this structure. We were now walking below the water line and we were looking up to the top of the dam where the water surface was on the other side above our heads. It was a bit of a strange feeling. 
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When we got to the other side and started to go back up hill again, I turned around to see where we had come from. I thought it was amazing how round the edges of the pond were. Hard to believe that beavers had made this. 
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Not all of the trail was hills and bogs. Some was leaf strewn paths lined with trees and a green carpet of seedlings. 
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And here too, the trees and rocks intertwined in a seemingly symbiotic relationship.
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This part of the trail had many wooden foot bridges that crossed marshes and ponds. At first glance, it may seem that one may look the same as the last one and you could get the feeling of "if you've seen one then you've seen them all". But if you let yourself think that way then you could easily miss out on the beauty of the things hidden among the tall grasses and murky waters. 
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It is here, in the far away parts of the park, that we found more of the rare, purple coloured, Gentian flowers that were just beginning to open. 
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One bridge in particular was a lovely spot. It was more than just a couple of boards across the edges of a marsh. It was a full fledged boardwalk that had a bench built right onto it. I didn't chance sitting on the bench though because it didn't have a back rest and I pictured myself sitting down with my back pack on and falling over backwards into the water. But I did spend a good while just standing there drinking in the quiet serenity of the place. (​The hill on the other side of that quiet, serene, boardwalk was killer though! ) 
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I spent so much time at the boardwalk that Heather had gotten quite far ahead of me. She wanted to get there fast to claim a site for us. So, I was by myself when I got to the last foot bridge.  I stepped onto it and walked across the first board with full, unwavering, confidence. Everything was going well until I got to the second board. Without notice, this unassuming footbridge turned into a sinking ship as the second board went right under the water under the weight of my feet! Had I not been so far behind Heather the board would have still been wet and I would have had a clue that it could sink. Instead, it was already dry by the time I got there so it took me by complete surprise. 
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​ I jumped back to the dry safety of the first board. I looked down and checked my boots to see how wet they were. Just a little around the edges, No water got inside. All good.  
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I looked over at a frog sitting on the wet board. I imagined that the frog was probably laughing at me thinking what a silly "huge-ling" I was.  Now I had to find a way to get across that sinking board.  I decided to just make a run and a hop and hope for the best. 
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I made it across and continued cautiously to the next board. However, that one was already partially under water (no surprises there) so I knew that it would sink even further when I crossed it. No choice though. There was water on all sides so straight across was the best option. I did another fast run and hop combo and again hoped for the best. 
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I stopped again to see how my feet fared in this attempt. Not too bad. My right foot got more wet than the left. But my hiking boots are very good boots and my feet inside were still dry. 
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And the frogs laughed. 
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Then I came to the end of the foot bridge..... Oh come on now!!  The bridge may have ended but the water did not. Not even close. Someone was kind enough to lay down a branch across the water, but it was far from adequate. There was nothing to hold on to and with the weight of my pack, I was absolutely sure I would not be able to keep my balance on the tooth pick of a stick in front of me. Well played Mario! Well played! 
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I mean, no word of a lie....there were minnows swimming around the tooth pick of a stick! That's how deep the water was. Minnows!!
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And the frogs laughed. 
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Well, there was nothing to be done but to cross. So I went as fast as I could, splashing all the way. When I got to dry land (well, sort of dry land) my boots were completely soaked, and there was a little bit of water getting in. Still not as bad as it could have been if I had been wearing any other pair of shoes I own other than the ones I had on. 
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I looked back at the tooth pick I just crossed and thought to myself. Surely I can find something better for the next person who has to cross. So I began to look around for some other logs or rocks or something to help bridge the watery gap. 
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However, after looking around, I figured out why there was only a tooth pick for a bridge. There really wasn't much else around to use as a bridge. I had to walk a little ways to find anything remotely usable. I managed to drag a few somewhat usable dead fall. But anything else was too heavy to carry alone. And considering I had thrown out my back a couple days previous I didn't want to chance anything more than that. Oh well, I guess something is better than nothing. I figured if other people added to what was there, then maybe, eventually, there would be enough dead fall there to walk across and make it to the end with relatively dry feet. It was too late for me and Heather but at least there was hope for the next people coming through. It was a start. 
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It was only a short walk from there to the campsite. I was happy to see the orange site marker on the tree. I arrived there at about 1:30 pm. 
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When I got to the site Heather already had the tent set up and the water filter going and the coffee water boiling. 
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Heather told me that when she got to the sinking foot bridge she just went through it non-stop and that her boots were fairly wet but not too bad. She also told me that when she got here she continued on to see what the second site was like. She got half way there when she met a couple who were also camping on Brown Lake and were coming to see what our site was like. They had talked for a bit and Heather let them have first choice of the two sites. They chose the farther one so we ended up with the first one. 
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The site was actually not bad, aside from the fact that the trail runs right through it. But we have camped on sites with the trail running through it before. At least this one had some logs as a dividing line. The campsite was on the right side of the logs and the trail was on the left side of the logs. 
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Heather had said earlier that the sites on Brown Lake were no good. But that was because she had thought that there wasn't any good access to the lake. However, she found a hidden path to a rock that opened up to a great place for swimming. So it turns out that the campsite was actually quite nice after all. 
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I looked out across the lake from the swimming rock and saw that there was a camper at the canoe site across the lake. I thought how nice it would be to take a canoe out on this lake. 
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I went in swimming. The water was warm and the rock was a great place for swimming. No mucky spots under your feet. 
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There were a whole bunch of minnows swimming at the rock with me. When I sat in the water on the rock, they all came up to me and started nibbling at me. It tickled. Heather chuckled and said "You know, people pay good money to sit in a tank of water and have little fish clean them. Here you can do it for free!" 
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Seems that the butterfly that landed on me earlier is stalking me. It has been hanging out at the campsite for hours flitting from tree to rock and all over the place for hours. (Ok, so it's probably not the same one, but it  looks very similar). Heather and I decided that it is our new mascot for the campsite. 
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There was a nice breeze coming from the lake and the sun was out so all our wet clothes and boots dried out really fast. We had lunch and a just sat and relaxed for awhile. 
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    At about 4 pm we heard yelling and what I figured was laughing coming from the direction of the next campsite over. It was fairly faint so we weren't sure. Heather didn't think it was people. She thought it might be animals, like foxes or wolf pups or something, The noises continued for about 20 minutes. We wondered if we should go check on the neighbours since Heather said they don't  have kids with them and it was too late in the day for new hikers to go by. So we put our food up in the tree and put our brave on and went to check it out. 
    As it turns out, the neighbours did have some kids after all and the noise was just them swimming and yelling and having fun. Can't lie, we were kinda hoping that it was foxes or something. However, on the way back to the campsite we did see some more moose tracks in the mud (headed towards the neighbours campsite). We didn't see a moose but we knew there was one in the area. 
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We also saw other tracks in the mud. 
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But the owner of those tracks was much easier to find than the moose was. 
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So, we got back to camp and made supper and watched the loons swimming on the lake. 
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As the sun started to sink and dusk settled around us, a lone duck could be seen in the distance. 
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We got our first decent sunset of the trip that evening. The peach and pink colours of the sky reflected beautifully on the surface of the lake.
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As we sat there watching the sunset, I spotted a black form swimming straight towards us in the water. 
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It was a beaver. It was swimming pretty quickly and in such a straight line towards us that I though it might come right out of the water and up into our campsite. But at the last minute he turned and kept following the shore line to some place further down the lake. 
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When it was getting dark we started a small fire and sat and looked at the stars for awhile. When the fire burnt down and we were getting chilly we decided to pack it in and head to bed. I went to stand up and stumbled and fell out of my chair and onto the ground. I laughed, and Heather laughed, and the frogs laughed. 
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Dragonfly Rescue At Gervais Lake

8/12/2020

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I woke up at 8:30 a.m. to a gorgeous, sunny, morning. My back was feeling much better. Not perfect, but still good enough to travel. On my way to the bathroom, I noticed a toad that was enjoying the morning sun just as much as I was. It's so nice to have the sun out and not another rainy day. 
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A sparrow watched us as we packed up camp. 
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We said good bye to the loons and they waved good bye back to us. 
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We left camp at about 11 a.m. and headed off to Gervais Lake. We were now far enough into the back country that we were not seeing a whole lot of people and finally I felt like my world was peaceful. And a Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly seemed to think so too. 
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There were still quite a few muddy areas along the way. 
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In fact, it was so wet that in one place the trail itself was a creek and people had just made a new trail along side the original one in an attempt to keep their feet from getting soaked. You could avoid the water for the most part, but it was more difficult to avoid the mud. 
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As wet and muddy as it was, there were still many interesting and beautiful things to see. The roots of some of the trees twisted and turned leaving you to wonder how it got that way. 
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Brown fuzzy caterpillars of the St. Lawrence Tiger Moth were on a journey of their own to find food and perhaps a safe place to make a cocoon. 
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Blue damselflies darted about and rested from fern to fern in the late morning sunshine. 
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When we had traveled a little over 1.5 km we stopped for a rest at the Tern Lake portage. While we rested a lone hiker came by and we chatted with him for a moment. He asked if we knew how far it was to Tern Lake from where we were. We told him it was "815 meters that way" and we pointed in the direction that he needed to go. He thanked us and continued on to Tern Lake. He was probably wondering how we were able to be so exact with our distance in our directions. What he didn't know was that we could see a portage sign with the distance written right on it.
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​ He was on the other side of the tree so he couldn't see it. I was somewhat amused by our fake fortune teller abilities and I smiled to myself about it. 
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As we rested I sat back and looked up at the sky. It was after noon by this point and yet, the moon was still clearly visible in the daytime sky. 
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Heather and I took out our map and had a look at where we were and how far we had to go. Today we were hiking almost 6 km to get to Gervais Lake.
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Our map was well used and all the rain from the days previous had left it in a bit of a rough shape. Part of it had ripped away, so Gervais was literally "off the map". 
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After a short rest we continued on. The mosquitoes were still bad in a lot of places but we found that whenever we were near a lake we would get some wind and the mosquitoes would diminish. 
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There were some rocky areas that were rougher to travel on but nothing to cumbersome. My back was doing ok and the pain from the previous day was almost all gone. The more I hiked, the better it felt. I guess the muscles just needed to get moving and get warmed up. 
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On some trees grew the brightest red fungi that I had ever seen. They were so red that when the sun shone on them, they reflected the red colour onto the bark of the tree. And they grew in a spiral pattern all around the tree. 
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At one point we came to a little board walk bridge that crossed a marshy area. It was quite lovely. 
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White-faced Meadow Hawk Dragonflies were particularly plentiful here. I stopped and spent some time here just drinking in their beauty and enjoying the peace. 
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I was so enthralled with the marshy area that I hadn't looked ahead at what was to come. If I had, I would have noticed the giant hill that was right in front of me that we had to climb. It was huge! I slowly made the climb and when I reached about half way up, I turned around to see how far I had come. I could make out the wooden bridge far below that now looked so small. 
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Knowing I still had to get to the top, I continued my climb upwards. If the climb itself wasn't bad enough, there were a large number of very tiny toads also making the climb up this hill, and so I also had to keep an eye out for them. I was afraid that I was going to step on one if I wasn't careful. They easily blended in with their surroundings. I eventually made it to the top of the hill with no toad casualties. 
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We traveled through the woods for a few more kilometers. Eventually we came to a stream where we had to jump from stone to stone to get across. Growing along the edge of this stream were some purple Narrowleaf Gentians that that hadn't quite opened yet. These flowers are somewhat rare to find. 
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In order to get a picture of them I had to balance myself precariously on a rock in the middle of the stream while using my walking stick for balance. One false move and I would have fallen into the stream. But I managed to get my picture and keep my boots dry. (The things we will do for a photograph, right?) 
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Finally I arrived at the last wooden foot bridge before the Gervais Lake site.
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The water was clear and yellow water lily flowers were growing just above the lily pads.
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Frogs were enjoying a rest on top of the lily pads. 
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​ I didn't know this was the last foot bridge to cross before I got to the camp site, at the time though. Heather was up ahead by this point and I could just see her across the water. I thought that she was just resting and waiting for me at another portage or something. So I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the orange sign for the camp site and realized that we had reached our destination for the day. 
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It was about 2:30 when I arrived. I was more than happy with the site. It was wide open, right on the lake, and was the best site we had camped on during this trip so far. 
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The camp fire pit was well laid out with log benches all around. ​There was a continual breeze here so that meant that there were no mosquitoes. Heather and I came to the conclusion as we were hiking that day that every time we felt a breeze come up, that was God giving someone a reprieve from the mosquitoes somewhere. 
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However, since there was a continual breeze, someone had taken some of the stones from around the fire pit and built them all up to one side in order to shelter the flames from the wind. The rest of the stones were scattered about the campsite, presumably used to weight down tents and tarps. 
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I left the stones built up on the one side because our flames would need shelter from the wind too. But, I gathered up all the scattered stones and attempted to rebuild the other side of the fire pit. It wasn't the best, but it was better than nothing there at all. 
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Even the thunder box was freshly dug and newly built. I checked it to make sure no one had tangled up the chain like the last time. Heather called this toilet "Rick's toilet" (from Rick and Morty). I never watched the show so she explained how Rick has a special bathroom on a planet all to himself where he can just sit and be alone and enjoy the scenery. 
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I understood what she meant. The view from "Rick's toilet" here at Gervais was the nicest view we had for a toilet so far. You could sit and do your business while looking out at the lake. 
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To one side of the campsite is a tree with roots that are well above ground level. Heather explained that this tree had been growing on the stump of an old tree. As the stump weathers away, the tree  is left standing on its own by its roots. She said that last year when she had come through here, there was more stump left than there is now. Eventually the stump will be completely gone. 
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In some places in the pine needles were strange little fungus  growing up from the moss. I had never seen these before. When I got home and researched them I found out that they are called "Earth Tongues". 
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We didn't go in swimming at Gervais despite there being a perfectly good place to swim. We were tired of being cold and wet and having to dry our clothes. So we decided to just sit and enjoy the lake from dry land instead. 
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It was nice to just sit back and stretch out my legs and enjoy the sun for a bit. As we sat, we talked about how this might be a good place to see a moose in the morning if we got up early enough. (I knew that we would never wake up early enough for that. We aren't early risers. But we could still hope to see one). 
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Sitting quietly was also a great way to have the birds come and visit. When you are sitting still and doing nothing, that is when they like to come. There were quite a few Chickadees around.
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There was also an American Redstart...
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... and a Magnolia Warbler.
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Normally we wait until dusk to put our food up in the tree. But, Heather and I both planned to leave the campsite to go exploring in opposite directions so we thought it would be wise not to leave the food at ground level unattended.  Unfortunately, Heather's process of using a pot to get the rope over the branch back fired on her once again. For a second time, in two days, the pot swung around and hit her in the forehead. Dangerous things those pots! I took a try at it. I am not as good as Heather is at getting the rope over the branch but I did manage to do it without getting hit. (Came close a couple times though). 
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After getting the food up in the tree, we both went to explore the area. I back tracked a little to where the trail split and headed towards West Otter Paw Lake. I liked the name and I was curious to see what the closest campsite on that trail looked like. The campsite on West Otter Paw was only about a 2 minute walk. Unfortunately, there was someone on that site so as soon as I realized it, I turned around and left before they saw me. I didn't want to disturb them.
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So, instead I headed back to the wooden foot bridge that we crossed to get to our campsite. It is only about a one minute walk away from the site. There, I saw the most unusual Crane Fly I had ever seen. It had white feet, like it was wearing boots or something. I learned later that it was an Eastern Phantom Crane Fly.
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The water level of the lake is held by an old beaver dam. The old logs that line the perimeter are a great home for frogs and minnows. 
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I stayed by the foot bridge for quite awhile. Eventually I realized that the sun was getting lower on the horizon and that my stomach was telling me that it was supper time. So, I headed back to find Heather. 
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We started a small fire to cook our supper (and to burn our garbage) and we ate the last of the cheese that we had gotten as a thank you from our guests Frank, Alex, and Roche back at Weed Lake. 
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We were hoping that we would be able to see a spectacular sunset on this lake since we had a nice, clear view. But the sun sank behind the trees and there were no pretty colours to go with it. Heather said that we should write a strongly worded letter to the park and let them know that we were going to rate their sunsets as a 2. We had not seen a good sunset on this trip yet. 
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With the sun gone and dusk upon us it wouldn't be too long before it was completely dark out. That was when I noticed a dragonfly out on the surface of the lake. It had somehow fallen into the water and was trying desperately to get out again but was not having any luck. I knew that, at this time of day, it wouldn't be long before either a fish grabbed him or he drowned (and then a fish would grab him...either way he was potential food). So, Heather passed me her walking stick and I hugged a tree that was leaning out over the water and reached as far as I could with the stick. All the while, I was hoping that I didn't slip and fall in the lake. The walking stick only barely made it to him, but I managed to get him on it and I pulled him out of the lake. Dragonfly Rescue!
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​   I took him off of the stick and onto my hand and let him dry off a bit. But he didn't fly away. The problem now was that it was too dark out for the dragonfly to fly. I had to figure out some place safe for him so that he didn't get eaten by an owl (that whole destined to be food thing again) and far enough away from the water that he didn't fall in again. This brought up the question ..."Where do dragonflies sleep, anyway?"  I didn't really know.
   I ended up putting him on a bush that was relatively close to the lake, (but not too close) and just hoped that he would be safe through the night. 
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When it got dark enough, Heather and I watched for meteors falling again. We only saw a few. So, once it started getting chilly we headed to bed. We slept with no tarp over the tent and nothing but the screen door between us and the great outdoors. Just before falling to sleep we heard the loons getting really loud and  and rowdy. They called back and forth to each other, non-stop, for about 3 minutes straight. We were wondering what in the world was going on out there.  Finally they calmed down and went back to normal. We  would hear only the occasional  call from them. The last call I remember hearing before drifting off to sleep was that of a Barred Owl. 
  I really liked this site. I wished we could have stayed for 2 nights instead of just one. But in the morning we would be heading off to Brown Lake. 
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Perseids And The Lookout Fails To Impress

8/11/2020

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We woke up just before 7 a.m. and our guests, Frank, Alex, and Roche got up at about 7:30 a.m. Thunder was rumbling like a stomach that hadn't had breakfast yet  and we knew that rain was soon to follow. 
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   Our breakfast banter with the guys was about how warm it had been the night before and how good everyone slept, as well as the anticipated hikes ahead of us as we would soon go off in different directions.
We had told the guys how both Heather and I had figured each other would bring the bug spray and so neither of us had brought any. So, as a parting gift, Frank gave us a bottle of bug spray as well as some extra cheese that was left over from the night before. He figured that since we still had many days ahead of us that we would need it more. We thought this was a great trade for sharing a campsite with them and we thanked them for their thoughtfulness. Heather was particularly grateful for the bug spray because she had been getting bit the most. 
   As the rain started to lightly fall, we began to pack up our gear. We were glad to have the tarp up so that we could stay dry while we packed up. 
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The guys wore blue rain ponchos while packing up their gear. We said good bye to the guys and wished them luck for their return trip.  They headed up the big hill to the main trail at about 9:15 a.m. and about 15 minutes later we were off too, going in the opposite direction. 
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Today would be the longest hike of our 9 day trip. There would be a lot more hill climbing in this section than there had been so far. The biggest hill of all on this trip also awaited us...the hill up to the lookout, which was about half way to our next site on the north end of  Pincher Lake. There are 4 sites on the north end to choose from that are on a first come, first served basis. We were going to aim for the first site on this lake because we will be tired and we will want to stop as soon as we can. (Our plans did not work out that way though). 
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We started off in the rain and it rained for most of the day. By the time we reached the site we were soaked through and through. We were hoping that the rain would let up and the sky would clear so that we could see the Perseids Meteor Shower tonight. It usually lasts for a few days every year at about this time but tonight was supposed to be the peak of the shower with about 150 meteors falling every hour. 
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Despite the rain we enjoyed some scenic views. There were a lot of boggy, muddy areas but there were also some pretty creeks and a little water fall making its way through the rocks.  
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I came across one rock on the ground that made me think of Groot from the Guardians Of The Galaxy movie. 
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Eventually the rain let up and it was just water dripping from the trees. A mist formed in the air all around us as the sun started to warm things up and dry up the moisture. Unfortunately this is when the mosquitoes became bad. We tried to just keep moving as much as possible so that the mosquitoes didn't have time to land on us. It only kind of worked. Heather was grateful to have the bug spray at this point. 
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Over time the mist dissipated and the sun came out to create a trail of dappled shadows and sunny spots. 
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One area was particularly rocky and reminded me of some of the paths that we traveled in Kilarney Provincial Park. 
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When the hills started to get steeper and rockier, we knew that we were getting close to the lookout. We knew that we were almost half way to our destination for the day. 
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Heather was ahead of me. So, when I reached the top of the hill she was waiting for me on a rock. I looked around and said "This is it? This is the lookout?"  Heather said "Yep. This is it"  The "lookout" may have been a good lookout point at one time but now the trees had grown so big that it obscured any sort of view one might have had of the area below. It was a little disappointing. There was a better lookout on the trail from Rain Lake to Islet than there was here. 
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Nonetheless, we took a nice long rest here and enjoyed what view there was. The bright red fungus growing on the old wet stumps were actually very pretty and different from the white ones that we usually see. 
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As they say, "What goes up, must come down". And so the decent back down the other side of the lookout hill was in our destiny. It was a little rough in spots, but all in all, it was far from the worst hill we have ever climbed on a backpacking trip. 
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At the bottom of the hill, off in the distance we could see a bit of the lake. It looked like someone may have made an unofficial make-shift camp site there at one point. Probably other campers who found themselves to tired to carry on. 
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We probably would have stopped more often and enjoyed the scenery a bit more if the bugs hadn't been so bad. Heather usually walks faster than I do so she got to the side trail to the first campsite on North Pincher before I did. When I arrived I saw her pack before I saw her. She had already went to the site and scoped it out and decided that the bugs were too bad on that site. Besides, it was the second one that we had wanted. So we went to the next one. 
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   Unfortunately, the second one was already occupied by hikers who got there first. So, we went to the third one. The third site was the worst of all the sites. It was a fire pit sitting in a small area with nothing but tall grass all around. There wasn't even a good place to put a tent. 
   So now we had to decide whether to go back to the first one or to go the last one and hope it was good. We were tired and wanted to just "be there already".  If we went ahead then we might either find someone on it already or it may be as bad if not worse than the one we were already at. In which case we would have to walk all the way back to the first site anyways.  We decided that I would walk ahead and if the site was good then I would just leave my stuff and come back to tell Heather. So that is what we did. 
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It was very muddy between the third and fourth site and I had to climb over a fallen tree to get there. However, the fourth site was actually decent. There were still a few mosquitoes here but they weren't bad like they were on the trail. So I dropped my stuff and went back to get Heather, It's a lot faster to go back when you don't have a backpack on. 
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We were so tired when we got to the site that we didn't even put up the tent right away. We did, however, set up a clothes line to get our wet clothes dried out. There was a bit of a wind coming off the lake so that  helped.
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At first glance the site looked like it didn't have much in the way of a good swimming area. It looked like just a bunch of bushes between us and the water. We were a bit disappointed. 
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I noticed a large rock that was out a distance from the shore and said to Heather "It's too bad we can't get to that rock out there." and she agreed. 
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But as we started exploring, we discovered that we could get out to the rock! There was a path with a bridge made of old logs that led straight to the rock. The bridge was not that great and if you weren't careful you would still get your feet wet, but that was worth the price to be able to get to the lake. 
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While standing on the rock I looked back and could see Heather across the way taking her shoes off and resting her poor feet. We had done a lot of walking today. 
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From out on the rock the lake looked very inviting. The water was clear and the rock was a great place to swim. I dove right in. The water was warm and refreshing. I wonder how many people have passed this campsite over because it didn't look like it had a place to swim. It pays to search around a little bit sometimes. 
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   After a swim I went to check out the thunder box. Someone had taken the chain and twisted it over and over again so that you couldn't barely open the lid. It took me some time to untangle it enough to be able to get the lid open again. I am guessing some kids probably thought it was a fun thing to do.  It's a good thing that it wasn't a bathroom emergency.
   When I got back to the fire pit, Heather showed me the caterpillar of a Close-banded Yellowhorn moth that she had discovered. It looked like a little yellow cactus with all its bristles. 
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We gathered some wood and made a fire so that we could cook supper. The rain had made the wood wet so it was a bit smokey at first but eventually we got it going. Somehow I threw my back out while I gathered wood.I am sure that the action of gathering the wood was just the last straw in the strain my back had gone through that day. I was a bit worried. After all, we were about half way on our trip and there was no way that Heather would be able to carry both of our packs. I have had back problems before and from experience,  I was fairly sure that if I was careful and if I got a good nights sleep that it would be better in the morning. But there is always that possibility that it wouldn't be. 
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   So, for the rest of the evening I was careful not to lift anything heavy and to not bend down to pick things up. Boy was I glad that I had decided to borrow Devin's little fold up chair and bring it along! Heather was super great at helping me out and taking care of me. She wasn't as good at taking care of herself though. When she went to put our food up in the tree, she used a pot tied to the end of a rope to throw over the tree branch. The pot got the rope over the branch just fine, however, it swung back towards her and hit her square in the forehead. It left a bit of a mark but she was otherwise ok. We spent the rest of the daylight hours playing Qwirkle until it got too dark to see the tiles anymore. We were just biding our time as we waited for the stars to come out so that we could see the Perseids meteor shower.
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   Once it got dark enough, we sat and watched the stars come out. The night was chilly for the first time on this trip so we sat close to the fire. As we sat looking up at the sky we could hear a rustling noise behind us. We knew some animal was over by our pots and pans, but it didn't sound big. We shone our flashlights over and discovered a little mouse rummaging through our stuff. I would have liked to have taken a picture of him but it was too dark. He didn't stay long because he didn't find anything interesting. All our food had been put up in the tree long before he came along.
   We saw a few meteors, but not very many. We only saw one really bright one. If this was supposed to be the peak of the meteor shower, it was very disappointing. We sat for well over an hour and saw no where near 150 of them. We saw maybe 10 of them. By 11 pm we gave up and called it a night. 
   I took a Robax for my back before going to sleep in hopes that my back would be better in the morning. If it wasn't then we were going to have some serious problems. But I decided not to let that worry ruin my sleep as I drifted off to the sounds of the loons calling near by. 
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Sharing A Site With Weary Travellers

8/10/2020

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I woke up at 6:30 a.m. to the sound of a thunderstorm off in the distance. Five minutes later, a light rain started to beat against the tent. My back was a little sore, (something I knew would be resolved if I were to just get up and move around) but it was too early to get up. I had a fantastic nights sleep though. It wasn't too hot or too cold and I had slept well. I decided to wait out the rain and I fell back to sleep for awhile.
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​ I woke up again around 8:30 a.m. to the sounds of other hikers going by. There was some mist on the lake, and the leaves were still wet, but the sun was coming out. It was looking like it would be a nice sunny day after all. 
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Today we were headed to Weed Lake. There is only one site on Weed Lake so we knew that we didn't have any competition for it. It was only about half the distance we had traveled yesterday (4 km) so we were in no rush to get going. We sat and talked for a few hours and leisurely packed up the camp. We said good by to Theivy and Buddy and  finally headed off at about 11:30 a.m. 
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Not too far from the Islet Lake campsite we noticed a number of old beaver chewed trees. We didn't see any dams or lodges around so we figured that the beaver had long since come and gone. 
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We traveled for about a half an hour when we came across a log across the path with 3 guys sitting near it, taking a break. We stopped and talked to them for a bit and learned that they were from the Ottawa area and that they were on their way to North Pincher Lake. We didn't talk long though because we were anxious to get going. 
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There were quite a number of creeks to cross in this section of the trail. Some of them very small, and some of them very pretty. 
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We stopped for a break where we thought the map said there was a  tiny lake. There wasn't. But we were tired so we set up our chairs and rested here anyways. This was one of those times when we were glad to have brought the chairs, despite an extra pound of weight because there was nothing but wet ground to sit on everywhere. 
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   We had only been there for about 15 minutes when the 3 guys that we had passed awhile back came walking by. They had caught up to us and were now passing us. Once again, we chatted with them for a minute or two before they continued on their way.
   After we were rested up we started on our way again too. We just rounded a bend when a large creek came into view. I guess we were off a bit with the map and if we had just gone a little bit further, we would have had a more scenic view to rest at. Ah well, live and learn. 
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Like yesterday there were some interesting plants and mushrooms along the way. Not nearly as many though. I recognized yje pale pink and white colours of a ghost pipe. I had seen these in another part of Algonquin Park in May of 2019.
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In contrast, was the deep red colours of the Goblet Waxcap mushrooms.
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But the most interesting mushroom that I saw was the giant stone mushroom that was sitting under the roots of a tree.  Ok, so it's not really a mushroom, but it sure looks like one. 
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Roots and rocks were intertwined everywhere and made for some interesting landscapes. 
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As Heather often does, she went up ahead of me and out of sight for a time. Eventually I saw the orange sign that indicated I had made it to our campsite. 
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The Weed Lake site is situated at the bottom of a very large hill, At the top of the hill I saw a backpack and thought it was Heather's. I looked down the hill and saw Heather talking to some people. I was worried that, like on a previous backpacking trip, we may have to argue with someone over who's site it was. However, when I joined Heather at the bottom of the hill I was surprised to find that Heather was talking to the 3 guys that we had crossed paths with earlier on the trail.  They had seen the site was empty and had stopped here to have lunch. We didn't mind because we have stopped at empty sites for lunch before too. We told them to take their time.  They introduced themselves as Frank, Alex, and Roche. 
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We talked to them for awhile and found out that they had started from the beginning of the trail (Rain Lake) and had to go all the way to North Pincher in one day because when they had booked the trip, all the other sites were full. So they didn't have much choice. So in one day they would have to hike over 21 km. And the worst was yet to come. Heather knew that there was a "look out" (that wasn't really a look out) at the top of a very big hill that they would have to climb in order to get there. North Pincher was where we were scheduled to camp tomorrow so we knew what a journey it would be for them. At this point they were only half way there and they were already exhausted. 
   Heather and I let them eat while we explored the site a little and started the water filtering through our platypus filter system. Then Heather and I discussed letting Frank and Alex and Roche share the site with us. It was a big enough site so we were both good with that. 
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So we offered to share the campsite with them. However, they declined and decided to keep going, despite being tired. So, as they were leaving, we told them that if they found themselves not able to make it all the way to North Pincher, that they could always come back to share this site. The invitation was still open. They thanked us and then made the climb back up the hill to the trail. (Turns out, the backpack that was at the top of the hill that I thought was Heather's was actually Frank's... he was wise to leave it up there so that he didn't have to lug it all the way back up the hill again. It was a relatively steep hill). 
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After the guys left, we went about setting up camp and getting a better look at the site. 
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Aside from it being at the bottom a big hill, the campsite was pretty nice.  It had a nice big fire pit area with logs to sit on.
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Even the thunder box was brand new made with all brand new wood. 
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There wasn't really what you would call a beach area but we did find a flat rock area by the water's edge where we were able to go in swimming. The water was not as cold as it had been at Rain Lake. it was good to rinse off after a long sweaty hike. A momma loon and her baby were enjoying a swim there too. 
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After our swim, Heather suggested that we do some painting. She had brought along some painting kits for us that she had devised. They consisted of paint in little old film canisters, some painters tape wrapped around a paint brush, various sized paint brushes, pieces of acetate (to mix colours on), and some paper, all rolled up inside a couple of cardboard paper towel rolls. It was a light weight, space saving way to be able to bring painting materials with us on our trip. 
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I had seen a mushroom in amongst some light green moss that  I thought would be a good subject to paint. Heather chose to go down to the water's edge and paint a lake scene. 
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So we sat painting for a few hours. When we were done, Heather had a lovely little painting of Weed lake. All I had was a hot mess. I hated mine. The paper was not what I was used to and the brushes would not give a fine enough stroke. Although Heather's painting turned out great, she still agreed with me on the paper and brushes. We both agreed that next time we would bring better brushes and a roll of proper painting canvas and try our hand at it again. 
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After giving up on the painting I sat and watched the loons swim by for a bit until we got hungry and decided that it was about supper time. 
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The evening sun was starting to shine through the trees and we sat talking and waiting for the water to boil and the fire to heat up. It was about this time that we looked over to see Frank. Alex, and Roche who had given up trying to make it to North Pincher and came back to take us up on our offer of sharing the campsite. They had made it as far as the look out hill, but once they got to the top of that they decided that they were too tired to do the whole trek. They had originally planned to camp at North Pincher and then go around the circle to camp the next night at Rain Lake. That would have been more than 40 km in 2 days (we were doing that in 9 days). Instead, they figured it was best to turn back today so that they were that much closer to the exit tomorrow. They weren't even sure they were going to stay at Rain Lake anymore. They might just hike right out the next day.  
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   We all sat down to eat and talk and to let them rest before they set up their tents. They shared their cheese and we all shared some conversation about other camping and backpacking trips we had each been on. It was nice to have the extra company for a night.   (If you read this Frank, Alex and Roche, we both say Hi and it was great meeting you!) 
    Then when it started to get dark, we showed them where the best place was for them to set up their tents.  It was at about this point when the mosquitoes were starting to come out and they were pretty bad. They were tiny mosquitoes so you couldn't see them well and you didn't know they were biting you until they were already half way through making a meal out of  you. At first we thought it was sand fleas but then we realized it wasn't.  So, with the annoyance of mosquitoes and the guys being exhausted, and Heather and I having to get up early in the morning for the longest leg of our trip (over 8 km) we all went to bed fairly early. 
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It was a very hot and humid night. We slept with just the screen up in the tent and slept on top of our sleeping bags instead of in them. The last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep was the sound of  Great Horned Owl calling out  across the lake. 
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Rainy Days Are Good If You Are A Mushroom

8/9/2020

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We woke up at 8 a.m. to a rainy, grey, morning. Not the way you want to start off your backpacking day, but it wasn't raining very hard so it wasn't too bad. Our tent was still dry and so was all of our stuff. 
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Besides, I had a new rain jacket this year. I got it as an award from work and I just love it. It is a Marmot brand jacket and normally I would not have been able to afford one like it; they are pretty pricey at about $250 or so. But let me tell you, it is worth every penny that they are asking for one. It is super light weight and the water just beads right off of it (unless it has been in the rain for a very long time, and even then you get damp but not really wet). There are zippers for air circulation and nice sized pockets. (If you do buy one, get one size larger than what you would normally wear because they are not designed to hold heat and you will probably want to wear a jacket or sweater under it).  
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We said good bye to Devin and Jasmine at about noon and headed on down the trail in a light drizzle of rain. Today we are headed to Islet Lake; about a 7 km journey.  Not far into our second day we met up with a lady who was also headed to Islet. There are four spots to choose from at Islet and they are on a first come, first served basis, just like Rain Lake was. We talked to her for a bit and she said that she was hoping to get to the furthest Islet site because she had a much longer journey the next day so she wanted to cover as much ground today as possible. 
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We told her that we were aiming to get one of the middle sites at Islet. So, at least we knew who one of our neighbours would be tonight (and that we weren't competing for the same site). We said good bye to her and told her that we might see her again later if we passed each other again. Then we continued on our way to Islet Lake. 
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Again much of the trail is wide and flat through this section of the trail. 
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And old railway ties are still visible in the ground. It is easy to imagine yourself riding a train through here. All this scenery that we see up close would have gone whipping by the eyes of a passenger on a trail so long ago. 
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But there are also a number of beautiful spots as well. One of my favourites is where the sides of the trail become covered in light green deer moss. Heather told me that Devin had seen a "fairy orb" in this section when they had hiked it last year. I can see  how a fairy would like to dwell here. ​So pretty! ​
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Eventually the long, wide, flat trail stops at an old train trestle. From here on out the trail becomes more like the hiking trails we are used to. But this is a good place to rest and sit for a bit. 
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After resting up, we make our first down hill climb of the trail. It leads down to the creek and across a split log bridge. 
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From below the trestle, you can see what remains of the wooden frame that used to hold up the tracks. 
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And the view of the other side is that of a big log jam with left over sunken logs from back in the day when the logging camp was active here. 
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By now it isn't raining anymore and the dragonflies and damselflies have started to make an appearance. I have always loved the contrasting black coloured wings against the bright green body of the Ebony Jewel Wing Damselfly. The name is very fitting. 
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Along with the pretty insects, came the not so pretty insects. All the rain and muddy places had put out an open invitation for the mosquitoes to come out and have a feast. Heather doesn't like to hike with long sleeves and pants like I do. So she got the worst of the bites. She asked me "Don't you get hot wearing that?" and my answer was "Yes, but I would rather be hot for a few hours than to be all bit up with mosquito bites for days afterwards". So to each their own, I guess. 
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What likes a damp forest after a rain more than mosquitoes do? Mushrooms and fungi. And boy, do these trails have a wide variety of those!
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They came in all manner of shapes and sizes and colours.
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Including one that looked like someone dropped a ball of uncooked bread dough on the ground. 
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And one that looked like a shiny copper ball. 
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There was a mushroom that made me think of Alice In Wonderland. All it needed was a caterpillar. 
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Oh wait... we had one of those too! 
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Naturally there were many different types of fungi as well. 
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But my favourite was one that had orange and red swirls. It looked  like it could be some sort of ice cream flavour. 
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We did a little more mud hopping across trails for awhile. Before we arrived at Islet Lake we started to get tired. We decided that if no one was on the first site, we would take that one instead of one of the middle ones. 
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However, there was someone already on the first site so we ended up getting the second site instead. We arrived there at about 3:30 pm. One of the first things we noticed was that the mosquitoes were not as bad here as they were on the trail. 
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The site itself was decent enough, but it wasn't one of my favourites. For one thing, you have to go down a steep hill to get to the water and there wasn't a good place to swim. Another thing was that the thunder box was up a hill. And after hiking about 7 km, the last thing you want to do is go up a hill every time you need to go to the bathroom. 
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Despite those draw backs about the site, the view of the lake was still nice enough. 
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Before we did any setting up of the tent or anything else, we just sat for a rest. Heather brought along a light weight, fold up chair that fits into a small bag. I used to think that she was crazy to bring along the extra weight and I had never brought one with me before. But before leaving Rain Lake, Devin offered to lend me his. I was going to turn him down, but then I decided, why not? So for the first time, I also had one of these chairs with me. I have gotta say that these babies are well worth carrying an extra pound or two! They are fantastic for when you are on the trail and want to sit and rest and there are no logs or rocks to sit on. They are very comfortable too. I was also thankful to have one later on during the trip when my back started to bother me one day. I may just have to go buy one for myself. 
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No sooner had we sat down to rest than a chipmunk popped out of a hole under a rock near the fire pit. The little rascal went straight for Heather's backpack and started snooping around in all the pockets and through all of our stuff. In no time at all he found the unfinished part of a granola bar that was in a bag and he absconded with it down the hole. We named that guy "Theivy".
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A few moments later he showed back up again with his buddy, who was not as bold as Theivy was, but definitely was looking to see what he could find too.  We named him "Buddy".  We knew we had to keep a careful eye on our food while we were at this site. We could not leave anything unattended while those two were around. 
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Other residents of this site were a sparrow....
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...and a toad. 
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Eventually we got around to setting up the camp. We opted for the tarp over the tent again because we had checked the long term weather before we left home and we knew we could be expecting more rain. 
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We thought that the tree we had our tent set up under was a pine tree from the look of the bark. 
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But then Heather pointed out that it wasn't a pine tree at all. It was an old birch tree! When you looked way up to the top of the tree you could see that this tree had leaves, not pine needles. 
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We noticed that someone had left behind some pots and pans and a grill. It always baffles us to see things like this left behind. I always wonder, "Did someone bring them all this way with the intention of leaving them here on purpose? Or, did they get this far and realize that they were too much weight to carry for the rest of their trip and so they left them? Or did they just forget them?"
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We didn't do much that evening. We were too tired. We were even too tired to gather much wood for a fire. Instead we resorted to just making a small fire using twigs. It lasted just long enough to cook supper and then we let it go out. 
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   After supper we were just sitting and talking and watching for the sun to go down, when we were surprised to have 2 visitors to our campsite. It was the 2 young people who had been carrying the blue food barrel together the day before. Apparently they were staying at the Ishkuday campsite that was not too far from us. Ishkuday Lake is no longer much of a lake due to the work of beavers and so we were told that you couldn't get water there. These two had come in search of water. We welcomed them and let them take water from our Islet Lake access.  They filled up the bottles and containers that they had with them, thanked us, and then headed back to their campsite. 
   We went back to watching for a sunset. There was no real colourful sunset here. Just the sinking of the sun and then grey sky which turned to night. The mosquitoes came out again around 9:30 pm. So, we decided to put our food up in a tree and call it a night. Tomorrow we would be on our way to Weed Lake. 
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A Cache Of Fruit At Rain Lake

8/8/2020

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I was very excited about this trip. My sister, Heather, had booked it way back in March and we had been counting down the days ever since. It would be 9 days and 8 nights backpacking through the West Arm trails of Algonquin Park. First stop was the office in Kearney to get our permits and let them know that we had arrived. 
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The actual trail is another 40 km drive away from the office. When we got to the parking lot of the trail head, it was so crowded that there was not enough room for everyone so, people were parking along the sides of the road. We were a bit surprised by this. But then, in light of the fact that everyone was out trying to have a vacation during the days of Covid-19 and the fact that this parking lot was the jump off point for canoers and fishermen, it shouldn't have been that surprising I suppose. Heather had checked the website before we left and found out that every site in the whole park was booked solid. Good thing we reserved in March. We managed to get a parking spot though because someone happened to be leaving just as we were coming in. 
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Our first destination would be Rain Lake. There are two sites on Rain Lake and they are on a first come, first served basis. We were hoping to get to the first site on Rain Lake rather than the second one because we planned to meet up with my nephew, Devin, and his girlfriend, Jasmine, who were kayaking to where we were. (We pre-paid for their permit at the office). If we got the second site it would be a little more difficult for them to reach us (but not impossible). 
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The trail head had a map of the trails and warnings about bears and reminders to keep your food up. We have come across bears before, but never a moose and since Algonquin is known for its moose, I was hoping to be able to see one this trip. 
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Our route would take us 46.3 km around the first loop (left side loop  at the top of the map below). We would be going from Rain Lake, down to Islet. Next would be our longest part of the journey which was Weed Lake to North Pincher (almost 9 km that day). Then we would go from there to Gervais Lake and start heading back upwards to Brown Lake. From there we would go to Ishkuday Lake (which we were told is more of a swamp now than a lake because of the work of beavers, and there would be no water there). The last leg of our journey would be from Ishkuday back to Rain Lake again and then out. 
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And so our journey began by crossing a bridge. 
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We hadn't gotten very far when we already noticed that someone had left a bag of garbage in the brush on the side of the trail. Really!?! Now why couldn't they have taken that the rest of the way out? We were too far to turn back and we couldn't carry it for 9 days so we had to leave it. We were very disappointed to see that. (We did not see it on the way back so someone did the right thing and took it out. Thank you to whoever that was!)
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The first leg of the trail is like a dream. It is wide and open and flat. Very easy to travel and we were able to hike it quite quickly. 
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The reason that it was so flat is that this part of the trail used to be an old railway line. You can even still see some of the old railway ties embedded in the ground. In some places you will find bits of old metal from the rail way embedded in the dirt too. This leg of the trail (from the entrance to Islet or to Ishkuday) would be great for first time backpackers or for those who are not quite up to too much climbing. It's very easy going. 
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The scenery is beautiful here. Much of the time you can see the lake from the side of the trail, or you cross over little creeks. 
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The leaves were already just beginning to change colour here and there. Not too much. Just enough to remind you to enjoy what was left of the summer because before too long it will be autumn. 
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From time to time you would see a little toad jump out of the way. They were quite small and you really have to be careful not to step on them. 
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There were unusual things to see like, a wall of sticks (presumably made by beavers long time ago).
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As well as a lumpy tree that looked like it had a couple of butts sticking out of it. 
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It took us about an hour but it seemed to go by faster than that. Before we knew it, we had arrived at the first of the two Rain Lake campsites. 
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And we were in luck. There was no one else on it. We were the first to arrive. The first Rain Lake camp site is down a slight slope so that it feels like you have a wall around one side of you. It was kind of neat. 
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We set up camp and put a tarp over the tent. We were expecting to get rain at about 4 in the morning according to the weather man. 
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This campsite has a tiny little "beach area" maybe 10 feet wide. Heather and I both decided to try to do more swimming this year. We find that the older we get the less swimming we do. So, we wanted to change that. I was going to try to convince myself to go swimming at as many of the sites on this trip that I could.  I began by going in for a swim here. The water was a bit cold but it was clear and clean. The bottom was not mucky like you get in some places.  
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But then I was wearing my brand new water shoes that arrived in the mail just the day before this trip. If you get a chance to pick up a pair like this (got mine on Amazon) you will love them! They are super light weight,and they are mesh everywhere (they even have holes in the soles) so the water doesn't stay in them and they dry pretty quick. Gone are my "Ronald McDonald Shoes" as I called my previous pair. These are definitely the way to go. Not just for water either. They are a great way to let your feet breathe after taking off  your hiking boots and to wear around the camp. (And in case you are wondering.... no, I am not paid to endorse these or anything like that. I just really like them. But hey, if anyone wants to pay me to endorse these, I would be up for that, lol!).  
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A momma loon and her baby were also enjoying a swim with me in rain Lake. 
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All in all it was a nice little site. The only thing that I didn't like about it was that since it was so close to the jump off point for canoes, there was a whole lot of canoe traffic and other hikers going by here. So you didn't quite get that "your alone in the wilderness" feeling that you get when you are deep in the woods on a backpacking trip. It felt more like a car camping trip at this point. But we had 8 more days ahead of us so I was sure that would change as the days went by. 
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As expected, Devin and Jasmine arrived by kayak around dinner time. they were only staying for the one night and then they would be kayaking to Sawyer Lake while Heather and I continued on to Islet lake by land. 
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We had been sitting and chatting for awhile when along came a young couple in their early twenties, hiking along the trail. They stopped for a moment and looked at us and seemed a bit confused. We realized that they probably thought that we were on their site and that they didn't realize there were two sites. We explained to them that there was another site just up the trail a bit and that it wasn't too far from where we were. So off they went. 
But what had us watching them with awe as they left, was that they were carrying between them a big blue food barrel; the kind you use for canoeing. They had it between them, each one holding a handle, as they walked on down the trail. They had been carrying this thing for a couple of kilometers already. We chuckled to each other and said " I guess that's one way to make sure that you stick together on a trip!" Clearly they were new to hiking. 
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Talking about the couple with the blue food barrel led us to talking about the food that we had brought with us. Devin said that he had brought 3 cans of fruit with him. He figured it might be too much for him and Jasmine to bring and he asked me and Heather if we wanted to take them. Of course we knew it would be too much extra weight for us so we declined the offer, But then we came up with an idea. Since we knew that Heather and I would be coming back to Rain Lake on our way back out in about a weeks time, we figured why not hide the cans of fruit somewhere. Then when we got back we would have something good to eat and we would only have to carry the cans out with us, not for the whole trip. So I took a can of peaches and a can of pears and I set about looking for a good spot to stash them. 
  Across the trail and up away was a wide open space that I thought may have a spot that would be good for a cache. 
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 At one end of the wide open space was a big sandy hill. The whole area seemed a little out of place really. I climbed to the top of this hill and found the perfect spot. 
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At the top of the sand hill was a leaning tree with a hole under its roots that was big enough for the cans. I placed them both under the tree. 
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I filled in the hole with stones and moss and sticks until the cans were no longer visible. The idea was to keep it from getting too hot, and to protect it from the elements and to keep animals from getting it.  This was no guarantee that it wouldn't be found by some kids or something though. But I felt that the odds were more in our favour than not. I guess we would see in a weeks time. 
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I climbed back down the sand hill and headed back to the campsite. I noticed a large rock with a big smile on it at the bottom of the hill. The rock seemed happy, so I was happy.  :)  The rock would guard our cans of fruit. 
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When I got back to camp I told Heather about the odd area that I had hid the cans of fruit in. She pointed out to me on the map that the area had been an old logging camp and that was why it seemed a bit different than the rest of the area. I studied the map for a bit to get a feel of what was to come. This had been one of our shortest days of the trip. We hiked about 2 km today. Tomorrow would be about 6 km. 
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We didn't do too much that evening. Mostly we just sat around and talked. We built a fire and Devin roasted hot dogs. 
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As it got darker, the stars started coming out. On about our 4th night of this trip the Perseid meteor shower is supposed to be at its peak. We are hoping that we will have good weather and be in a place where we can see them well. As for this night, we could hear the call of the loons and of a barred owl in the distance. The mosquitoes that were nearly non-existent on the trail today were starting to make an appearance now. But they weren't too bad. 
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As I got into my sleeping bag I thought about how wonderful it was to finally get out of the city for awhile and away from all the craziness going on in the world right now. Here, it was peaceful. Here, it was beautiful. Here, I was falling asleep happy. 
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"Site Seeing" And A Secluded Beach

7/16/2020

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I awoke to the sounds of birds singing, wind blowing, and waves on the shoreline. It looked like it had been raining during the night, but it wasn't raining at this moment, The sky was very grey though. 
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Penny and Carsten and I decided to to take a walk down the Limestone Trail. We read in the park bulletin that there was a secluded beach on this trail and we were curious to see it. 
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The trail is a nicely groomed winding path through some beautiful stands of birch and cedar and other pines. 
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True to the bulletin's word, the secluded beach was not that far down the trail.It was quiet and sandy and looked like a great place to swim. We did not go in though.
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Instead, we explored the shoreline. There we found tiny little marsh beetles.
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We had to be careful so as not to step on other small insects, like an occasional wasp. Apparently I found out later on through iNaturalist.ca   that this is a Spinola's Mason Wasp which is quite rare and is considered to be critically imperiled in Canada. 
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On the other side of the secluded beach was more trail to follow. 
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We had to be careful not to step on the tiny little toads that would cross our path from time to time. 
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We came to another open area where we found a picnic table. This would be a beautiful spot for anyone wanting to have a picnic lunch, 
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The pair of loons from the day before were still around and seemed to be in love with each other. 
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A little red mushroom in the shape of an umbrella reminded us that it was about to rain soon. So, we headed back to camp to play a game of Catan in the dining tent. 
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As we played our game, a little Meadow Vole decided to come to visit us. It would pop in and out of the pile of fire wood that we had brought into the dining tent to keep dry. 
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When the rain let up, mom and Penny and Carsten took a walk to the Brent store and to "see the sites" (the other sites in the park. I drove dad there in the car.

There is a little town in the middle of this provincial park. By little I mean tiny. Maybe about 20 cottages or so. Brent was the former location of an old logging town and now the park has a Historic Walking Trail where you can learn all about it. 
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​​Unfortunately, the Brent store was closed. I am assuming this is due to the Covid-19 virus. 
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Despite having the store closed, canoe rentals were still available. You call in  your reservation, they get it ready, you come to the store to find the form posted on the door with instructions for pick up. Not a bad system.
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Since the store was closed, dad and I decided to drive up to see the Ranger cabins.
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There are two cabins that are for rent in Brent. Both looked like they might be nice to stay in for a few days.
We noticed that sites 24 and 25 seemed to have their own private beach. We kept that in the back of our minds in case we want to come backto do more camping here another time.  
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I brought my dad back to our campsite and then decided to take a walk on my own. Since we had just seen the sites at one end of the park. I wanted to see what the sites were like at the other end of the park. 
The main road through the park is the Brent Historic Site Trail. there is a big map on a billboard showing the 5 different historic locations. I was curious about the graveyard at historic site number 1. 
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I decided that I wasn't impressed with sites 7 to 13 that were along the way. They were not near the water, they did not have a good view and they looked a little dark since the trees were so thick that the sun was not getting through easily. It could just be that it had been raining off and on all day and the sky was still grey. 

At the graveyard was a large white cross. The graveyard was smaller than I expected and the cross was bigger than I expected. 
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The little graveyard is nestled in at the very end of the park beside a bunch of other sites. I figured I would look around and do some "site seeing" while I was here.  I spoke to a gentleman who was on site # 1 and he told me that he just loves the park and that he comes here every year. I thought the park was nice enough but I wasn't convinced it was great enough to come back year after year.... until I saw a gem of a site right across from his. 

It is site number 2. 

Site # 2 is very long. It is probably designed for an RV in mind. It is about as long as 3 campsites put together. 



​The further down into this site you go, the more privacy it has. It is decently wide and you can see the lake at the end of it. 
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And then when you get to the end of it, there is a great view of the whole lake and there is a tiny little mini beach that you can go swimming at. I could just picture sitting in a chair or at the picnic table watching the sunset from here. ​Site # 2 has become my favourite site I think. 
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Sites 3 and 4 were beside each other with no real barrier between them. They would probably be good for two families that wanted to be together. Sites 5 and 6 were also close together but were a little more secluded. They had a path to the lake but were not right on the water front. Nope, number 2 is the best site of the bunch at this end of the park. 
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I walked back to my camp and took a nap for awhile before supper. The rain had stopped for the day but the ground was wet in the grassy areas and you had to avoid puddles. 

We played games in the dining tent again after supper until bed time. We could hear a barred owl hooting it's distinctive call in the distance as we went to sleep. 
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The next day Penny and I were headed out to Driftwood Park for our annual Girls Only camping weekend while Carsten, mom, and dad headed home.  None of us ever did go on the crater hike, so we will have to come back to do that sometime in the future. However, Penny and I did stop to walk up to the Crater Tower before we left, which is on the side of the road on the way out. 
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At the top of the look out tower is some information on the size of the crater and how it was formed. 
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Tecumseh Lake could easily be seen from the top of the look out. Gilmour Lake was not visible from where we were. I guess the only way we will see Gilmour Lake will be to come back and hike the trail.  We both agreed that this view is probably stunning in the Fall when the leaves turn colours. 
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As we continued down the gravel road we spotted a young groundhog making his way across. 
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Before we could get too close to him, he made a dive for cover into the bushes on the other side. Safe and sound. 

It was a nice way to end our stay at Brent. Now we were off to Driftwood for fun and adventure with the girls! 
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The Long Dusty Road To Brent

7/15/2020

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   Brent campground in Algonquin Park is a place my family has been interested in checking out for a few years now, but had never gotten around to it. What we were most curious about was the hike around the rim of an old crater from a meteor that crashed thousands of years ago. Since Brent is not that far from home, we decided to take the time to visit it this year. 

​    The office itself is only about an hour away from where we live, but it is another hour drive from the office to the actual sites.
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Only one person was allowed in the office at a time and you had to wear a mask while you were in there. 
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The roads are narrow and  gravel ( and it is very loose gravel) with many winding curves . So unless you are in a big truck or are a fearless driver, the most you can go safely, is about 50 km per hour. Since the sites are 40 km away from the office, this makes for a rather long drive. The sites are remote enough that there is absolutely no cellular coverage anywhere in the campground. 
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And on dry and sunny days, the dust on the roads is very thick which can make it hard to see. I was driving behind my brother and the air conditioning in my car is not working so I had to keep the windows rolled up in my car. It was sweltering by the time I got there. The dust was so thick that when I parked my car I could see the outline of my niece's hoodie here I had put it on the hood of my car to dry off earlier that day.  
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I was sharing site 23 with my brother, Carsten and my sister-in-law, Penny. We had identical orange tents and we set them up side by side.

The sites were all very big, and very clean, and quite flat.
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The only thing we didn't really like about our site was that there was a small path that went right through our site that people were using to get from our section of the campground to the road on the other side of the campground. We put a stop to that  by hanging our clothes line right across the path. 


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My parents had site 15 which is actually designed to be an RV site. When my parents reserved the site, they actually had an RV at the time. However, just days before we were to go camping, the RV was in an accident and could not be driven any longer. So instead we put up my brand new 10 man tent as well as my dining tent on their site. Their site was wide open and in a flat grassy area. 
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​There are two different kinds of toilets in this campground. 

The one closest to my parents is wheelchair accessible. It is very clean and comfortable, but it is not a flush toilet. 
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.The other one, that was close to our site, was the composting toilet. These types are my favourite, They are the same as the ones that are found in the Kiosk campground and are built high off the ground. they are built of cedar wood and they do not smell bad like the other toilets often do. They tend to smell more like cedar,
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They get points for the composting toilets. they don't get points for the toilet paper though. The toilet paper was so thin that you could literally see through it. I never really understood the point of really thin toilet paper. People are just going to use more of it to compensate for the thinness. So, in my humble opinion, they may as well use toilet paper with a decent thickness. 
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Since it is about an hours drive from the office, there are a couple of interesting systems put in place here that you don't tend to see in the other campgrounds in Ontario. For one, they have designated First Come First Serve sites.  For another, they have a Ministry truck that comes along once or twice a day with firewood in the back of it. They go from site to site asking campers if they need to buy firewood. I thought that was very good of them. 
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Brent is known as a jump off point for many canoeists. As a result, the parking lot is often full and you can see many canoes coming and going. There is no real beach to speak of; only the area where the canoes take off from. Despite so many people using this as a jump off point, the park is very, very quiet. We were probably the noisiest ones there. 
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Come to think of it, I don't think we were the noisiest ones there. I think this guy was, 
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The beach / jump-off area is large with a number of picnic tables. 
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To the far right is a dock and the trail head to Limestone Trail.
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On the dock Powdered Dancer damselflies would land. 
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In the water, little minnows swam around and muscles left trails in the sand. 
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Between the rocks by the dock, some purple Bittersweet Nightshade was growing. 
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But to the far left is where it is loveliest. There are a couple of benches nestled in among the trees.  People sit here to watch the sunset or to relax with a view of Cedar Lake. 
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From here you can see the shore line and watch for the snapping turtle that both my mom and Penny saw swimming by every day. 
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Or you can watch a couple of loons swim by. 
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After we were all settled in and set up and had explored the place a little bit, it was close to sunset. The colours of the sunset were very pale and muted but had a soft, pastel beauty of their own. 
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After supper, and it was starting to get dark out, we gathered together in the dining tent to play a few games of Qwirkle. Penny found herself to be the new found friend of a little brown moth. This moth was the jumpiest moth I ever did see. It was always near Penny and it loved to knock over her Qwirkle tiles. There were other moths in the tent too, but this one made us laugh and was by far, the most entertaining moth of the evening. 
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Another visitor who was attracted to the light was a Black-ledged Sharpshooter Leafhopper. It was a rival in the competition for most jumpiest. However, the moth still won, hands down. 
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As we headed off to our own tents at the end of the evening, the stars were out but we could see lightning off in the distance. We hoped that the storm was just passing by and that we wouldn't get hit with heavy rains during the night. 
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    Our family members have always been avid campers. It's in our genes. Rain or shine or sometimes wind and occasionally the odd snow fall, there we are with a tent and a smile. 

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    Thanks for taking the time to read about all of  my adventures! 
    I hope you are out there having your own adventures! 
    - Dana W.
     

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