June 2018

Bentshoe Lake – 2/2 – 1st Kayak Camp of 2018

By |2020-05-18T13:55:53-04:00June 12th, 2018|Categories: Adventure, algonquin highlands, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camping, camping tips, Canada, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I left off in Part 1 on my beautiful site on Bentshoe Lake in the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails.  It was Saturday May 19th, and my friend Sean from Padding Adventures Radio was on his way to visit and spend the day in the rain with me, doing some kayaking, fishing and catching up. I collected some firewood after breakfast and waited for my friend Sean from Paddling Adventures Radio to arrive.  Sean had just [...]

Bentshoe Lake – 1/2 – 1st Kayak Camp of 2018

By |2020-05-18T13:56:00-04:00June 5th, 2018|Categories: Adventure, algonquin highlands, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camping, camping tips, Canada, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The May long weekend was on the way and I had no plans. I decided it was finally time to get out and do a trip. My concussion was still lingering slightly but I had improved greatly and figured a quiet, easy, relaxing trip shouldn’t be too difficult.  I booked a site in the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails on Bentshoe Lake. I had actually done my first kayak camp of last year there and knew [...]

May 2018

Packing for my 5 Day Algonquin Canoe Trip

By |2020-06-05T09:35:56-04:00May 22nd, 2018|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camp, Campers, camping, Canada, canoe, canoe camping, canoeing, dehydrated food, education, enthusiasm, kiosk, learning, Ontario, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, solo trip, tent, tentcamping|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Since starting my blog and youtube channel, I have gotten a lot of requests from people to see what I pack for my trips, so today I am posting what I packed for my 5 day Algonquin trip last summer.  This canoe trip, was not only the longest trip I'd done solo, but also the first time I was portaging a canoe daily to get to each site.  I had only portaged a canoe myself [...]

October 2017

Killarney – Solo Canoe Trip – Part 1/2- Paddle Paddle Muck Wind

By |2017-10-17T19:00:55-04:00October 17th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, canoe, canoe camping, canoeing, Exploring, fall, fallcolours, falls, killarney, Killarney Provincial Park, Moon, Nature, navigating, navigation, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, scenery, scenic, solo trip, storm, sunrise, sunset, swamp, tent, waterfalls, waterways, wind|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

With another long weekend fast approaching, it was time to devise a new plan. A 5 day solo canoe trip was in order and I wanted it to be as awesome as my Algonquin trip had been.  It would be hard to surpass but I believed I had the groundwork for another epic journey! After many nights of planning and consulting a few people who knew the area, making revisions and calculating kilometers and portage [...]

September 2017

Algonquin Kiosk Loop – 5 Day Solo Canoe Trip – Part 1

By |2022-03-31T10:08:43-04:00September 13th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, bearproof, camping, campsite, Canada, canoe, canoe camping, canoeing, creek, creeks, Exploring, inspiration, Kioshkokwi, kioshkokwi lake, kiosk, lakes, Nature, navigating, navigation, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, Provincial Park, scenery, scenic, solo trip, sunrise, sunset|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In 2002, I went on my very first backcountry trip. Five days, four nights and for someone who'd barely canoed, a huge challenge.  It was a loop full of portages and lots of tests and I had thought about doing it solo for quite some time now.  After a great deal of thought, I came to the conclusion that doing that loop solo, just wasn't realistic or feasible, and so I put it out of [...]

August 2017

The French River – 4 Day Solo Kayak Trip – Worst Site, Best Site- Post 1 of 2

By |2022-03-31T10:13:10-04:00August 15th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, bugs, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, Exploring, Fun, georgian bay, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, Nature, navigating, navigation, Ontario, ontario parks, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, Provincial Park, Rapids, scenery, scenic, solo trip, tangii, tent, tentcamping, yolo|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

As long as I can remember, I've always wanted to visit the French River.  I had no idea where to go, where to access, what to see, etc and so the trip kept getting delayed.  Finding myself suddenly available on the August long weekend and dying to do a 4 day solo, I decided the French River was where I would go. My awesome friend Kevin Callan had been there and had written about the [...]

The French – 4 day solo kayak trip – Bye Bye Go Pro Hello Fish! 2 of 2

By |2017-08-14T10:45:09-04:00August 14th, 2017|Categories: #adventure, #badweather, #blacksky, #camping, Adventure, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, compass, creek, creeks, enthusiasm, Exploring, fish, fishing, food, French River, georgian bay, inspiration, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, mapping, Nature, navigating, navigation, Ontario, ontario parks, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, Provincial Park, scenery, scenic, solo trip, storm, sunset, swimming, tangii, waterfalls, waterways, women|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

In my last post, part 1 of 2, Worst Site, Best Site, I had just said goodnight on a beautiful campsite on Georgian Bay.  The weather had been gloomy the last 2 days and I was hoping to rise early to some sunshine.  Let's see if my wish came true? It was Sunday morning, day 3 of my 4 day, 3 night solo kayak trip on the French River and I woke to a very [...]

July 2017

Solo Camping Tips with Michelle – Wow Auction Winner – McCrae Lake

By |2017-07-25T21:24:12-04:00July 25th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, bugs, camp, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, conservatationarea, Conservation areas, conservationarea, enthusiasm, Exploring, food, Food storage, girls, inspiration, kayak, kayak camping, kayak portaging, Kayaking, loons, McCrae Lake, Nature, Ontario, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, swimming, tangii, teach, teaching, Uncategorized, water filter|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

When my kayaking coach Dympna from Ontario Sea Kayak Centre, asked me to consider auctioning off a weekend of camping with me, for the Women on Water Paddling Festival silent auction, I thought she was off her rocker. The auction was very successful and proceeds went to the Georgian Bay Biosphere, a great organization that takes care of a place I love to play in and it is a good cause.  I agreed to proceed, [...]

Opeongo Backcountry Camping by Water Taxi- w Maryann & Randy

By |2017-07-18T19:03:00-04:00July 18th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, backcountry camping, Bear Barrel, Bear vault, bearproof, camp, camping, camping tips, Canada, canoe, canoe camping, Exploring, glamping, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, loons, Nature, Ontario, ontario parks, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, Provincial Park, scenic, swimming, tangii, tips, water taxi|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Since my Level 1 and Level 2 Sea Kayaking courses, I've been wanting to do a trip with my friends,  Maryann and Randy, that I met through the courses at OSKC. This weekend was finally it and I was so excited to be camping with them after all this time! They had advised me of a cool way they sometimes camp in the backcountry, or should I say glamp?  And that is to go by [...]

June 2017

Canoe Camping with The Happy Camper -Bugs, Banter & Boney M

By |2017-06-06T17:19:40-04:00June 6th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, algonquin highlands, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, bearproof, birds, blog, bugs, camp, Campers, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, canoe camping, cooking, enthusiasm, Exploring, gear, learning, morel, morels, Ontario, ontarios highlands, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, recipes, scenery, scenic, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Have you every wondered what it'd be like to camp with the famous Happy Camper, Kevin Callan?  I did too, so I decided to find out! I had chatted with Kevin Callan a few times online at the start of 2017, as he had picked me to do a blurb on my tipi for his winter camping book. When we met at the Outdoor Adventure Show this spring in person, we shared a few stories [...]

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