Hike The Trail And Ride The Waves

There is nothing better than seeing kids laughing and having fun with their friends! What better place to have some fun than the great out doors! There were two things that we had on our list of things to do today.  One was to go floating down the lazy river in our inflatable  boats and the other was to go on a hike. We decided to do the hike first. 

We drove our cars to the other end of the park where the trail begins. The kids were excited. The weather was beautiful. It was a great day for a hike!

The trail that we chose was the  Wabashkiki Trail. It is an easy trail that is a one kilometer loop. It is on a peninsula in the middle of Moore Lake. I like it because you can explore a marsh and its resident wildlife on this trail. Danielle liked it because there were no major hills to climb.

Right at the very beginning of the Wabashkiki Trail there is a very short side trail that leads you to the Amable Du Fond River. We went could see some dead fall in the water that looked like it may have been the work of a beaver. We were hoping to see a beaver but  we never spotted one. 

The trail starts off as a very wide path; almost a road really. It was so level and super easy going. 

Eventually the road turns into more of a regular trail and it leads you once more to the edge of the river.

Naturally, the kids started looking for frogs. Personally I was hoping to see maybe a turtle or a blue heron. We did see a few frogs, but we didn't see turtles or herons.  

We came to a little foot bridge where we stopped to gaze into the water below. It was so calming and relaxing at this spot. 

Near the bridge we found some Forget-Me-Not flowers in bloom. These tiny flowers remind me of my mother every time I see them. Not sure why. Possibly because she was the one who taught me their name and so now I associate it with not forgetting her. 

We found a shady spot to stop and take a rest by the shore of Moore Lake. 

A little further on we came to another bridge. This one was quite a bit wider than the previous one. It was big enough to hold all of us at once. 

Instead of Forget - Me - Nots growing nearby, there were orange Spotted Jewel Weed.

Even the fungi growing on the boards of the bridge were vibrant oranges that whispered of the coming of autumn. 

On the other side of the bridge we came to a lovely spot. It was a wide open area nestled under the shade of some pine trees. It would have been the perfect spot for  picnic if we had brought one. 

​ I took some fruit roll ups and granola bars from my little pack and we had a bit of a snack instead of a full fledged picnic lunch.

Everyone headed down to the water's edge to see what could be seen. 

From across the lake we could see the beach and our campsite. It looked very tiny from way over here. 

Nevaeh was full of excitement and went rushing down the hill. 

Her big brother had to stop her from sliding right into the water. 

Once Nevaeh was a safer distance from the water's edge, the boys were able focus their attention on the more important things.... hanging out and looking for frogs. 

Danielle just loved this spot.  Gonna have to come back and do a 'no kids day" one day. 

After a good rest we left the lake behind us and continued back onto the main trail and into the woods. 

By this point we were about half way through the trail and since it was a loop, we were on our way back. 

We left the trees and got back out to where the marsh grasses grow and back across the bridges. 

By the end of the trail the clouds were starting to fill the sky. We were hoping that the weather stayed good because we had some plans for the rest of the afternoon that relied on good weather. 

Despite some cloud cover, the sun was still on our side and the weather was still warm. This meant that we could fill our inflatable boats up with air, get into our swim suits and head down to the lazy river near our campsite called the Amable Du Fond River. We had three boats, each containing one child and one adult.  There was Danielle and Navaeh in one boat, Marvin and Jay in another boat and myself and Hunter in the third boat. 

We started our adventure at the top of the river between the Jingwakoki and Babawasse campgrounds.  Our route would lead us under a bridge and we would end our ride just before the river meets up with the Campion Rapids.

Despite having floated down this river before on more than one occasion, I was still a bit nervous at first because I had a child with me that was not my own. I had only ever gone down this river with other adults.  Hunter and I were the first to go, followed by Danielle and Navaeh, and Marvin and Jay were pulling up the rear.

In no time at all my nervousness left me as the kids laughed and squealed in delight.  It also helped to see that kids even younger than ours were also going down the river. When I remembered that the water was actually only up to about my thighs and at any point I could get out of the boat and walk to shore without too much difficulty because it was that shallow and not crazy forceful that gave me a sense of "you got this". 
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Actually, our biggest problems were watching that our butts didn't get bumped as we went over the rocks, and trying not to get stuck on the rocks because the water was not always forceful enough to get the rafts over them. 

All was going well until Danielle lost her shoe in the water. It was a croc so it was just floating away. Luckily Hunter and I were able to catch it and we pulled it into our boat. 

 At each rocky section we kept getting hung up on the rocks. It is tiring work to try to free yourself. We were definitely getting a work out.  However, the more they got hung up on the rocks the more that Marvin and Jay were getting frustrated. They weren't having quite as much fun as the rest of us. 

As Hunter and I went under the bridge we looked behind us and saw the rest not too far behind. Once you go under the bridge the river curves though and you can't see anyone until they also come around the bend.  So we grabbed onto some rocks and anchored ourselves while we waited for everyone else to show up.

It took a bit but finally Danielle and Nevaeh came around the corner.  They too waited for Marvin and Jay to come.  We waited. And we waited.  Eventually we were becoming concerned because they should have been here by now. Maybe we ought to get out and walk back along the river bank to find them?
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And then we saw them. But they weren't in their boat. They were walking along the bridge up above us!  They had given up and were walking back to the campsite.  Now that we knew they were safe we could continue on our way. So we let go of our rocks and floated on down to the meeting place. 

Hunter and I made it to shore first. We pulled our boat out of the water and then we waded into the water to wait for Danielle and Nevaeh to help them bring their boat to shore. It's a good thing we did too because all of a sudden we hear a shout. Danielle had gotten out of the boat to get unstuck from some rocks and had inadvertently let go of the boat. So Nevaeh was floating down the river in a boat by herself. She was headed right for us. I was prepared to dive in and swim for her if I needed to, but she wasn't that far from shore so Hunter was able to jump in front of the boat and bring her to shore. 

Meanwhile, Danielle was stuck upstream in the water on slippery rocks with only one shoe on. I grabbed her other shoe from the boat and tried to walk upstream in the water to give it to her so that she could at least try to get to shore in some comfort. The two of us were having a heck of a time standing up. Even with shoes on the rocks were slippery. We kept falling and splashing and we were just laughing and laughing!  Someone up on shore called to us and pointed out a path that would be easier to use than to try to walk in the water to the meeting point. So we got out there instead of further down stream and walked on dry land back to the kids and the boats. It was a little bit of an adventure! We told Hunter that he was a hero for saving Nevaeh. (She was never in any real danger. I would have been able to get her with no problem, but I wanted him to feel like a hero). 

Now that our river ride was done, we had to make the long walk back to the campsite. We picked up our boats and carried them as we walked down the road. Along the way other people passed us who had the same boats as we did and had also just floated down the river. We saw one truck go by that had giant inflatable swans that they had gone down the river on.  Many people, old and young, were having a good time on the river today. 

When we got back to camp Marvin was already busy preparing supper. The kids headed down to the beach where they found some kids playing laser tag. They joined in for  bit and played until it started to get dark. 

The kids would have played down at the beach all night if we had let them. But the sun was starting to set and supper was ready. So they said good bye to their friends and came back up to the campsite. 

We had another great evening of roasting marshmallows, making S'mores and drinking hot chocolate. It had been a long day and everyone was tired so we didn't stay up too late. With all the excitement of the day, everyone slept well that night. 

The next day we had to pack up to go home. We took down the tents and rolled up the sleeping bags. Of course we had to release the air from the inflatable boats that we had used the day before. What better way to empty the air than to just lie on them and relax in the sun while you wait. 

After everything was all packed up we decided to make one last stop before leaving the park. We thought it would be nice to take the kids to the Visitor Centre to see the displays inside. The kids were very interested in seeing the stuffed bear that was on display. Hunter had his own stuffed bear that he wanted to bring in with him to compare his to the real thing.  

As we walked from the parking lot to the building we encountered a garter snake that was trying to make its way from the pavement to the woods. 

We spent about 20 minutes looking at the various displays of taxidermy animals inside the Visitor Centre. The kids loved it. It was a nice way to finish off the trip. We have had fun at this park two years in a row now.  Next year we think we may change it up and go someplace different. Marten River perhaps. I guess we will see what next year brings.