November 2017

East Paint Lake – Relaxing with Snakes

By |2017-11-21T19:34:52-05:00November 21st, 2017|Categories: Adventure, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, camping, campsite, Canada, Exploring, fish, fishing, kayak, kayak camping, kayak portaging, Kayaking, Nature, Ontario, ontarios highlands, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, scenery, scenic, solo trip, sunrise, sunset, swimming, tent, tentcamping|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had been go go go and I needed a bit of a break. I,  of course, didn't want to stay home though, so I planned a quick trip to one of my favorite areas, the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails.  I found a site on a lake called East Paint Lake that was all by itself.  To get there I just needed to do a short paddle and an 823m portage. Easy peasy!  Booked it [...]

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 [...]

Georgian Bay – Solo Kayak Camp – Conquering Fears !

By |2017-10-03T18:46:19-04:00October 3rd, 2017|Categories: Adventure, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, crownland camping, enthusiasm, Exploring, georgian bay, kayak, kayak camping, Kayaking, Nature, navigating, navigation, Ontario, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, scenery, scenic, solo trip, sunrise, sunset, tangii, women, yolo|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I have always loved the beauty of Georgian Bay.  You see, I have a thing for rocks. I just love them and Georgian Bay is full of them, in all different shapes, sizes and colors.  Then there's the water... it is this deep deep blue color... so pretty!   I spent some time on Georgian Bay during my Level 2 Sea Kayaking Course and I have wanted to go back ever since.  The problem was, like [...]

September 2017

Algonquin Kiosk Loop – 5 Day Solo Canoe Trip – Part 2 of 2

By |2023-11-10T20:07:32-05:00September 20th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, alone, backcountry camping, Campers, camping, campsite, Canada, canoe camping, canoeing, enthusiasm, Exploring, inspiration, kiosk, Ontario, ontario parks, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, Solitaire, solo trip, sunrise, sunset, tangii|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Part 1 of this trip can be found here.   This is the continuation of that post starting from the afternoon of Day 3 at my site on Big Thunder Lake. I had just arrived, set up my small footprint tarp and was sitting under it enjoying some lunch...... While eating my lunch on day 3 on Big Thunder Lake, I realized I would have to move the small footprint tarp I was using and [...]

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 [...]

Kayaking with Kevin Callan – Herb Lake, Haliburton Water Trails

By |2017-09-12T19:33:35-04:00September 12th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, algonquin highlands, backcountry, backcountry camping, camp, Campers, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, cooking, education, enthusiasm, Exploring, food, inspiration, kayak, kayak camping, kayak portaging, Kayaking, learning, Nature, navigating, Ontario, ontarios highlands, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, scenery, scenic, sightseeing, sunrise, sunset, tangii, teach, teaching, training|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Ever since my first trip with Kevin Callan, The Happy Camper, in June of this year, there has been a challenge set forth for Kevin the (mostly) canoeist to go on a kayaking trip with me.  Our second trip over the Canada 150 long weekend, brought us canoeing once again, but I was promised a kayaking trip at some point and I was going to make sure it happened, no matter how short or the location. [...]

June 2017

Women on Water Paddling Festival – It’s called WOW for a reason!

By |2020-05-18T14:02:11-04:00June 20th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, camp, Campers, Canada, canoe, canoeing, cottage, cottaging, education, enthusiasm, Fun, georgian bay, glamping, inspiration, instructors, kayak, Kayaking, learning, learning centre, level 1, level 1 instructor, meditation, Muskoka, Nature, Ontario, ontario sea kayak centre, Outdoors, paddle, paddle canada, paddling, Presentation, scenic, sunrise, sunset, sup, tangii, teach, teaching, training, Uncategorized, water, waterways, wild women expeditions, women, womens event, yoga|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Before taking my Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor Course with Ontario Sea Kayak Centre, my coach Dympna had asked me to attend the Women on Water Paddling Festival.  I had no idea what this festival was all about and had not heard of it until she'd mentioned it. I did a bit of research and it looked like a really cool weekend that had been created by Wild Women Expeditions and Ontario Sea Kayak Center, [...]

My Instructor Sea Kayaking Course at OSKC – Am I An Instructor Now?

By |2020-05-19T16:18:13-04:00June 13th, 2017|Categories: #course, Campers, camping, Canada, certification, education, enthusiasm, glamping, harmony, harmony inn, inspiration, instructors, kayak, Kayaking, learning, level 1, level 1 instructor, Muskoka, Ontario, ontario sea kayak centre, paddle, paddle canada, paddling, sunrise, teach, teaching, tent, tentcamping, training, Uncategorized|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I actually had decided going into my Level 1 Sea Kayak Instructor Course, that I wasn't going to blog about it.  I had things to learn and too much to do and needed to be serious and focused on learning as much as possible. Studying while kayak camping weeks before the course No time for pictures, (HAHAHA, yeah, well, I always get a few pics!!) But I think you get the drift of [...]

January 2017

Scout Valley Loop Trail – Gorgeous Snowshoeing

By |2017-01-24T20:00:04-05:00January 24th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, alone, animals, Canada, cold, conservatationarea, Conservation areas, conservationarea, creek, creeks, day trip, Exploring, frozen waterfalls, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, hikingtrails, inspiration, Muskoka, Nature, Ontario, Ontario Trails, outdoor products, Outdoors, shoe, sleep, solo trip, sunrise, Uncategorized, walking, walks, water, winter, winter Wonderland|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I woke up Saturday morning around 6am with nothing planned for the day.  I was just going to relax, catch up on blog posts and maybe watch a few movies.  Unfortunately, my brain was not in agreement of any of those things. It was supposed to be really cold out, about -30 with the windchill but sunny and I just had to get outside anyways! Since my last trip at the end of December, testing [...]

December 2016

The Sounds of Silence – Exploring Silent Lake

By |2016-12-20T20:28:08-05:00December 20th, 2016|Categories: algonquin highlands, alone, animals, beach, bonnies pond, Campers, camping, campsite, convienience, cooking, Exploring, falls, frozen waterfalls, glamping, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, hikingtrails, hot tent, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, Parks, Provincial Park, silent lake, solo trip, sunrise, texting gloves, Uncategorized, walking, walks, waterfalls, wind, winter, winterglamping, yurt|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It's hard to believe that only 9 months ago, I had my first visit to Silent Lake!  It was a wonderful experience and I was hoping for more of the same this trip.   I had planned on going for just one night when I discovered yurt #5, the same one I stayed in, in March, was open, but there is a two night minimum for booking yurts, so I took it for two. I [...]

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