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| Shoreline of Nellie Lake |
A clear starry night. Crisp cool air in the early morning. The mist rising off a mirror-flat lake. These are some of the things I had envisioned when thinking about camping in Ontario Parks. In the back of my mind though there was always the thought of the campsite next door and the friendly faces of the many campers around the campground. For the first time this summer those friendly faces would disappear, replaced with solitude and a much different connection with nature. An adventure in the backcountry of one of Ontario’s provincial parks was on the agenda. I found out quickly that interior camping offered a different experience, not better, just different. I hope to share some of the things that I feel helped make the trip a success and a great first experience with interior camping. The first difference was packing. My routine before wasn’t much of a routine. I’d grab my gear, toss it in the car and head out. Maybe grab food before hand, maybe grab food on the way. Forgetting something was a minor inconvenience. Not this time. Packing was light and it was done before the trip. I had to make sure that everything would fit before getting out there. Make sure I was able to carry everything. And again, make it as light as possible.
The trip itself needed more planning. This trip was by canoe into Killarney. I phoned the park ahead and asked for advice on trip times. After all, I thought, who else would know this better. The trip was three days. One day in, one day to explore and move to a different lake/campsite, and one day out. I thought this was a good amount for a first time experience. A longer trip seemed a little more daunting.
As the trip commenced my level of excitement increased and I found out that all of my planning was not in vain. I kept reminding myself (with a slight uneasiness) that I would be leaving the comfort of the car behind, and the support of Ontario Parks staff. Thinking along that line, I bought myself a first aid kit. My first night out (at a stop over campground) while cutting onions for dinner, I managed to cut my thumb. The cut was bad enough that by the time I got into the backcountry I was glad I had my first aid kit.
The morning of our start was wet and rainy. Thunder, lightning and a rain that came down in torrents! And what a great day it was. What made the day a success was bringing the right gear and the right attitude. The right gear was a good rain coat and some quick-dry clothes. The right attitude was something I refer to as my connection with nature. The landscape itself helped make the day a success. I simply looked around at the pine-laced mountains and a smile came to my face. When my feet finally got soaked on the portage trails walking in mud and crossing streams I simply looked at how beautiful the stream was and a smile came to my face. Nothing, not even a rainy day could dampen my spirits. My connection with the landscape could turn a cloudy day into a great adventure and it felt great, no matter what the weather was like.
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| The campsite on Nellie Lake |
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| The "breakfast table" at Nellie Lake |
I woke up on my first morning in the interior and popped my head out of my tent to look at a crystal clear blue lake, rocks sloping into the water’s edge, and rolling mountains in front of me. After a hard trek into Nellie Lake I came to one conclusion during breakfast, food tastes better in the interior. I don’t know how, I don’t know why, it just does. At least it seemed that way.
I unpacked my single burner camping stove (another great piece of gear to take backcountry camping), my kitchen and breakfast table was the crest of a rock sloping into the water just beside our campsite. Cinammon sprinkled oatmeal never tasted better.
My travel companion and I both agreed early in the planning that food would make or break this trip. We both went for different methods of food. My friend packed more of the raw ingredients. Preferring to pack a big bag of rice and in a lot of cases, just “wing it”. I bought a couple of pre-packaged meals preferring the "less I have to think about the better" approach. In the end, I think I might have preferred the raw materials approach. One humorous incident with misprinted cooking instructions for my wonderful packaged dinner and I turfed that package for the other package with correct instructions. A good tip on that note: if you decide to buy a packaged dinner, get one before the trip and try it at home. I don’t know what was funnier, the fact that I turfed the idea so quickly or the expression of confusion on my face at trying to figure out the misprint. My friend sure thought it was funny as he was chowing down.
One thing that struck me was the solitude of the whole adventure. We saw our fair share of people along the way. But those were brief encounters. I’m sure our nearest neighbor at the campsites was a kilometre away, maybe more, if there was anyone there at all. I think that helped reinforce the direct connection with the wilderness around me. It made the experience more personal. I got the sense that we were truly alone in the wilderness, surviving with what we had with us, and not what was available down the road at the general store. The solitude made it feel as though when there was a beautiful sunset you might be the only one there in that particular spot to enjoy it; that when the stars came out at night, you were the only one they were putting on a show for. And in my friend’s case he was the only one. He didn’t wake me up the second night when there was a clear starry sky. I got the description the next morning, which went something like this. "Man, you should have seen the stars last night, I looked up and didn’t stop looking for something like 15 minutes!" I’m sure that had he not been tired he could have looked at them all night.
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| Sunrise on Grace Lake |
I woke up the final day before dawn. We had some distance to travel to get back to our access point and then a long road trip ahead to make it home in one day. With the start of most of my trips in the past the thought of hitting the road was always the first thing on my mind. In this case my road was an open lake and no traffic, just a canoe and a peaceful lake. We packed up fairly quickly. Again the physical effort of canoeing hit me. But again nature stepped in to lessen my physical strain. I simply looked around at the lake: a beautiful sunrise that morning; mist rising up off the lake; the call of loons somewhere in the distance; shimmering golden sunlight on the water. It all made the trek out seem short. In the beginning I thought three days was a good amount of time, and really it was for a first time, but I found myself not wanting to leave, three days was too short! I was comforted by the thought that this might have been the first time backcountry camping, but it would certainly not be the last.
Scott Bishop - first time backcountry camper.
For more information and tips on backcountry camping visit the backcountry camping content on our website. Also, follow this link to a list of parks that offer backcountry camping.
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