The Glacial Boulder Gardens

I woke up early both because I went to sleep much earlier than I do at home and because I was so cold. But mainly because I was cold. After camping in Pukaskwa Park 2 summers ago and getting extremely cold (below zero degrees) one night, Heather and I will now often compare cold nights to that one. We determined that although this night had been cold it was not "Pukaskwa cold", as we have now coined the term. 
   It had rained all night and it was still raining, Our tent was fairly dry and so was Mom's and Carsten's. But Jo-Jo's and Devin's tents were both soaked. We literally had to turn them over and pour water out of them when it came time to pack them up. We were sure hoping for some sun today so we could get things dried out.

We made a fire to keep warm and to cook breakfast on. Heather made us all some pancakes and we were happy to have a nice hot breakfast. 

We didn't boil the coffee water over the fire though. Everyone needed their coffee fix too badly to have to wait for too long for the water to boil. So instead Heather used the new portable camp stove she got for backpacking. It's a neat little thing really. It's very small and attaches to a small canister of fuel. Then you just light it and put your pot on top. There is a little metal handle that you turn to adjust your heat settings or turn it off. 

After breakfast we got packed up and ready to start our hike to the next camp. We put on our rain ponchos to try to keep us as dry as possible while we walked. We left our site at about 10 a.m. and started off.

But it wasn't just the wet from the rain we had to try to avoid. The trail was also full of large puddles that we had to work our way around.

Since it was so early in the season the fallen logs and dead fall had not been cleared away by the park staff yet, so we had many large logs that we had to climb over. 

There were even still places where there was snow on the ground. It was quite a varied landscape we traveled over. 

There may not have been much in the way of greenery, but there was still beauty in the white and beige, old leaves that still resiliently clung to branches despite having seen winter winds and spring rains.

And there were the wonders of the oddities of plants unknown, such as a mushroom that looked like an eyeball or an olive nested in the soft, wet, moss. 

We walked for about an hour and came to a place where the trail splits into two different directions. There were some fallen logs to sit on and we were due for a break so we decided to stop here and rest for a bit.

Even here, near the edge of the lake there was more beauty to be found. I discovered an old stump that was completely covered in a lima bean green moss that had tiny, little, red,flower-like fungi growing on top of that. Or perhaps it was just the blooms of that particular fungi. Either way, I thought that the colour combination, in contrast to all the greys and browns I had been seeing, was particularly pretty. 

The two directions you can go from here is right, towards Achray or left, towards Bucholtz Lake. Our course was to the left. After we were done having coffee, Devin, Jo-Jo, and Carsten went on ahead. 

Mom, Heather, and I were just about to follow behind them when a man and woman came hiking towards us from the direction we were heading. We stopped to chat for a bit and they warned us that we were going to be going into the "Boulder Gardens" and that there was room for only one small tent on the site we were going to spend the night at. We didn't worry too much about it and figured we will just have to figure out which one of us will be sleeping in the designated site and the rest of us will have to set up our tents in the bush near by the site. We will make it work somehow.  They also told us that where the trail splits towards High Falls (we wouldn't be getting there until the next day), our feet might get a bit wet there. We were grateful for the tips and we told them what to expect on their next leg of their journey too. We said goodbye and started on our way. 

Most of the trail was pretty straight forward with no major hills or dips. It was just lots of trees with old, dead leaves covering the ground.

We did have to climb over a few fallen trees and occasionally the trail markers were down, but it was not really a problem at all. 

Eventually we found the sign for our campsite. Looking around, we could already see why they call this area the Glacial Boulder Garden. There were boulders everywhere.

Carsten, Devin and Jo-Jo had made it to the site before we did and had already started a fire in an attempt to get their things dried out before night fall. Luckily the sun was peeking out for a brief visit so that helped somewhat too.

Someone had made a table by tying some logs to a tree and placing a slab of stone on top. It would make a great fish cleaning station or a place to prepare a meal. 

There was a nice place to swim and fable was enjoying herself in the water. She found a floating patch of grass and every time she went to stand on it, it started to sink. It was funny to watch her try to figure it out. 

The thunder box left a lot to be desired. You had to make your way around puddles to get to it and it was surrounded by water. It would make for wet feet and tripping hazards in the middle of the night, that's for sure. 

But this big ole spider had no issues with it and thought it would do her just fine. 

The site was cute and cozy.....for one or two people. But sure enough, there was not going to be room for any more than one tent here.

There was an attempt at a platform for a tent by way of some little logs lying on the ground and covered in dirt and pine needles but even that wasn't well made. Only a really small tent would fit here. 

Worse still, the couple we passed weren't kidding when they said there was no room. Everywhere you looked it was boulder, boulders, and more boulders. And many of those boulders had large puddles of water at the base of them. There was no way we were going to be able to get all of us anywhere near this site, let alone right on the site. Now what were we going to do? 

I knew we couldn't stay there and we had to figure something out before dark so I started to walk along the shoreline to see if I could find another place. Everyone else stayed behind because they were tired and wanted to dry their wet things out. 

Of course it had started to rain again. At least it was only a light drizzle. I walked and walked until eventually I came back onto the trail again. I followed that for awhile until I started to hear the sound of rushing water. 

I came to a bridge and decided that if I didn't find a place on the other side of this bridge I would just give up and go back and ask everyone else if they had thought of any other options.  By now they might be wondering where I was and why it was taking so long to get back. 
      By the grace of God, there on the other side of the bridge was a place that would do just fine for all of us to stay the night.
      We aren't really supposed to camp off of the designated sites unless it is an emergency, but we didn't really have a choice. So I suppose this sort of was an emergency. What we didn't understand was why the website did not say that this was such a small site. Nor did the person who did the reservations say anything to Heather about it when she booked this site. And even more puzzling was why the ranger at the office hadn't said anything about the size of the site when he knew how many tents we had. 
      By this time I had traveled about an extra 1/2 kilometer and now I had to turn around and travel that distance again to get back. 

When I got back to the others, we decided to make the journey to the new site. I took Heather, Fable, Carsten and mom with me while Devin and Jo-Jo stayed behind to look after the stuff that was still drying. I would go back for them once the new site was set up.
      We were almost to the new site when we spotted a couple with a dog taking a rest ever so close to where we planned to camp. I was worried at first that they had planned to camp where we wanted to camp. But then I realized that they were not actually on the site and they were just resting before carrying on their way. However, since they had a dog and we had Fable with us and Fable didn't have her leash on (it was back with Devin), Heather had to turn back with the dog. I didn't hear her say she was going back and when I turned around she was gone. 
      Confused, I turned back to go and find her. Instead I found Carsten and mom and I showed them where the site was. I let them begin to set up while I went back to get Heather, Devin, and Jo-Jo because they wouldn't know where to find us. So once more I traveled back to the other site. 

When I brought Heather, Devin, and Jo-Jo to the new campsite, Carsten and mom already had a fire going in the fire pit. It dawned on me that with all this back and forth walking between the sites,  I had probably walked an extra 2 and a half kilometers today. I was tired. 

We started looking around and deciding who's tent was going to go where. Carsten discovered an area surrounded by logs in a square shape that looks like it may have been a platform or campsite at one point. 

Much of the ground was covered in deer moss which made it soft to lie on. 

We had a nice view of the marsh from where we were and I was hoping that maybe we would see a moose in the evening or early morning. But we never did. 

We did, however, see a pair of Merganser ducks.

Devin, Jo-Jo, and Carsten put their tents in a slightly higher area, closer to the trail. 

And mom put up her tent below me and Heather, between two trees. 

Just as we finished putting up the tents the sun came back out for us. We had a bit of a wind too, so the tents and wet things dried out in no time. 

We all just relaxed for awhile and enjoyed the beauty of the area. I took a short nap because all that extra walking had worn me out. 

Later in the evening we ate supper over the fire and watched the sun go down over the lake. 

A couple of sea gulls came to roost for the night on some rocks out in the lake. 

We watched as a couple of Canada Geese flew in and landed near by. 

They got nervous with us being so close so they made their way out further into the marshy, grassy area in the middle of the lake. 

I borrowed my mm's binoculars because I saw something swimming but I couldn't make out what it was. It was probably a beaver or muskrat. By the time I got back to the water's edge with the binoculars it was gone. 

As twilight settled in, the Spring Peepers started up their chorus of song. They were so loud that the noise was piercing. You had to face away from the lake to make the noise a little less deafening. And in the background we could hear one lone Bullfrog singing his deep throated song of "Donk-a-Lonka, Donk-a-Lonka".

It was not a very dark night and the moon shone brightly through the trees, making silhouettes of the trees against the sky. A bat flew by on it's nightly rounds. We are willing to bet that later on in the season this place is probably swarming with mosquitoes. But right now we have not seen a single one. Must be hard for the bat to find a decent meal at this time of year.
​      I would have liked to have stayed up awhile longer and enjoy everything, but I was much to tired. 

We made an early night of it and went to bed around 9:30. It doesn't seem as cold tonight as it was last night, but it is still pretty chilly.  From my tent I can see the glow of Carsten's flashlight through his tent walls and it makes me think of a cartoon I watched as a kid called "Will-O-the-Wisp". I am loving the sights and the sounds and I am happy to be here on this beautiful night.