May 2017

Bentshoe Lake – 1st kayak camping trip of 2017

By |2017-05-02T16:07:22-04:00May 2nd, 2017|Categories: #drysuit, #kokatat, Bear vault, bearproof, camp, Campers, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, Exploring, gear, kayak, kayak camping, kayak portaging, Kayaking, loons, Ontario, outdoor products, Outdoors, owl, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, scenery, scenic, tangii, tent, tentcamping, water, waterways|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had plans to head over and visit my kayaking coach for some training in preparation of my Level  1 Sea Kayak Instructor Course, but as sometimes plans do, they were moved to another day during the week.  This put me at 8am on a Saturday morning, kayak on car all ready to go, and no plans for the weekend. Guess I could start my kayak camping season after all?  You didn't have to twist [...]

March 2017

Hardwood Hills Ski Bike – Snowshoeing & Cross Country Skiing

By |2017-03-14T20:50:15-04:00March 14th, 2017|Categories: #snowshoe, #snowshoeing, Adventure, Canada, chalet, cold, creek, creeks, Cross country skiing, day trip, Exploring, girls, hardwood hills, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, inspiration, Muskoka, Nature, Ontario, Ontario Trails, Outdoors, outdoors jen, scenery, scenic, ski resort, ski trail, skiing, snowshoe trails, Trails, Uncategorized, walking, walks, winter, winter Wonderland, women|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Last year, I had driven to Arrowhead for a day to do some adventuring with my friend Cathy. It was a great day and while I was there I got to snowshoe, skate and cross country ski. I had never cross country skied and was grateful that Cathy was there with me as she'd done it before. We only skied for a few hours, if that, but I thought it was a fun winter activity [...]

February 2017

Winter in the Wild -2017-Featuring-Different Ways People Winter Camp!

By |2017-02-23T06:50:28-05:00February 23rd, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, alone, birds, camp, campchairs, camping, campsite, Canada, carcamping, Chairs, cold camping, day trip, Exploring, falls, family day weekend, food, Fun, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, homemade, hot tent, ice skates, ice skating, kyra on the go, Nature, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, ontarios highlands, outdoor products, Outdoors, Parks, Provincial Park, skating, skiing, sleep, snowshoe trails, tarps, teepee, tent, tentcamping, timriver, tipi, tourism, tourists, Trails, Uncategorized, walking, walks, waterfalls, winter, winter camping, winter Wonderland, winterglamping, winterinthewild, yurt|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It was a great day to head to Algonquin Park for the Winter in the Wild Festival. I was pretty excited to be a demo this year with my hot tent and also get to see all the other great ways people camp in the winter! There are so many ways you can do it. This year, my plan was to capture a few of each type and post about them. (see green link partway [...]

1st Cold Camping Trip! – Solo Backcountry on St. Nora Lake

By |2017-02-14T15:16:15-05:00February 14th, 2017|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, algonquin highlands, alone, backcountry, backcountry camping, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, cold, cold camp, cold camping, Exploring, falls, frozen waterfalls, gloves, hike, Hiking, hiking trails, ice, icefalls, inspiration, learning, Nature, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, ontarios highlands, outdoor products, Outdoors, Parks, portage, portaging, pull in, sledding, solo trip, summer tent, tent, tentcamping, texting gloves, toboggan, Uncategorized, walking, water, waterfalls, waterways, winter, winter camping, yolo|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

 It was Thanksgiving weekend, 2001 and I did a backcountry trip backpacking in to Bucholtz Lake on the Eastern Pines Backpacking Trail in Algonquin Park. I had a -5 sleeping bag and I remember I was laying there wearing all the clothes I had brought in,  including my jacket, in my sleeping bag and I was frozen solid.  All I wanted to do was be warm but there was no way I was walking  out [...]

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

Paddling on Big East Lake – Living Life With No Regrets

By |2016-12-13T18:56:59-05:00December 13th, 2016|Categories: Adventure, algonquin highlands, alone, animals, backcountry, backcountry camping, camp, camping, campsite, Canada, Exploring, gloves, ice, Ice trail, inspiration, kayak, kayak portaging, Kayaking, moosehunting, Muskoka, Ontario, Ontario Trails, ontarios highlands, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, solo trip, sunrise, sunset, tangii, tent, tentcamping, texting gloves, Uncategorized, Up north, water, waterways, winter|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

It is a time of year when one must be really careful going out on the water.  I often receive comments of concern, people calling me brave,  and others blatantly stating I am unsafe, careless and should not be doing what I'm doing.   What if you fall out of your kayak?  You will freeze instantly!!! I have been kayaking for over 15 years of my life.  In that time, I have never, not once, [...]

October 2016

Turkey Day at McCrae! -Cooking in my new Dutch Oven!

By |2016-10-18T18:43:59-04:00October 18th, 2016|Categories: Adventure, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear Barrel, Bear vault, bearproof, camp, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, canoe camping, conservatationarea, Conservation areas, conservationarea, cooking, creek, creeks, Exploring, fall, fallcolours, falls, food, Food storage, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, hikingtrails, homemade, learning, leaves, Lookout, Nature, Ontario, Ontario Trails, outdoor products, outdoorproducts, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, sunrise, sunset, tarps, tent, tentcamping, Trails, Uncategorized, water, waterfalls, waterways|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Since meeting my friend Jason last year, he has been going on about this place called McCrae Lake.  I had never been there and according to him, it was a gorgeous place to spend a weekend camping, fishing and enjoying nature.  The Thanksgiving long weekend was approaching and as I hadn't had any plans yet, I decided it would be a good weekend to check the place out.  It was also the perfect weekend to [...]

Camping in Killarney on Kakakise in a Konigshaus Kanoe

By |2016-10-12T16:31:00-04:00October 12th, 2016|Categories: #canoe, #trip, #tripping, Algonquin, backcountry, backcountry camping, Barrel, Bear Barrel, Bear vault, bearproof, camp, Campers, camping, campsite, Canada, canoe camping, Carlyle, Climb, Climbing, Exploring, fall, fallcolours, falls, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, homemade, Kakakise, killarney, Killarney Provincial Park, konigshaus, konigshauskanoe, leaves, Nature, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, Parks, portage, portaging, tarps, tent, tentcamping, Uncategorized, Up north, walking, walks, water, waterfalls, waterways|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

I had been wanting to adventure in Killarney all summer but every time I had a free weekend, the park was booked up.  When I checked a few weeks ago, I finally saw a few openings.  They were all with portages but after carrying my lil kayak over 3km's in Algonquin each way a few weeks ago I figured a kilometer was totally doable and something I wouldn't have an issue with. Since booking my site on [...]

Grundy Backcountry solo trip – Do not put hot rocks in tent!

By |2016-10-04T18:49:54-04:00October 4th, 2016|Categories: Bear vault, bearproof, camp, Campers, camping, campsite, Chairs, day trip, Exploring, fall, fallcolours, falls, grundy, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, homemade, inspiration, kayak, kayak portaging, Kayaking, leaves, Nature, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddling, portage, portaging, pots, Provincial Park, River, rivers, solo trip, Uncategorized, water, waterfalls|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

My very first blog post was after Canada Day weekend 2015 where I spent an amazing 4 days at Grundy Lake Provincial Park. I loved the park and had vowed to return and check out the backcountry soon!  It had taken a while but this weekend I was on my way and I couldn't wait! Grundy Lake PP is only about an hour and a half drive from my new home in Port Carling.  I [...]

September 2016

Portaging a kayak to Scorch Lake – Algonquin PART 2 & Re-Hydrating eggs

By |2016-09-27T17:09:21-04:00September 27th, 2016|Categories: Adventure, Algonquin, Algonquin Park, Algonquin Provincial Park, backcountry, backcountry camping, Bear vault, camp, Campers, camping, camping tips, campsite, Canada, Exploring, hike, Hikers, Hiking, hiking trails, hikingtrails, homemade, kayak, kayak portaging, kayak rack, Kayaking, loons, malone, navigating, navigation, Ontario, ontario parks, Ontario Trails, outdoor products, Outdoors, paddle, paddle canada, paddling, Parks, portage, portaging, Provincial Park, River, scorch, scorch lake, sleep, sleeping bag, sleeping matt, sleeping pad, sunrise, swimming, tent, tentcamping, Uncategorized, walking, water, waterfalls|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A CONTINUATION POST FROM Portaging a kayak-3x2 at Scorch Lake - Algonquin Park PART 1, PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THAT POST! It had been a very long day yesterday,  starting at 5am for me and earlier for Joyce. We had spent yesterday taking 9.5 hours to portage and paddle to get to our site on Scorch Lake, one that was clearly the worst site on the lake, even the privy was [...]

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