Several days before going camping I usually check the weather forecast, for the best park or campsite to spend over the week-end in terms of more possibility of sunshine. This last week-end, I didn't care. Even though it could have been raining all day all night, I would be happy to stay outdoor in lousy weather. I needed quietness and to be at serene places, especially with what was happening in my life during the past few weeks. We, Cecilia and I, chose Grundy Lake to be our campsite last week-end and it was not a bad decision at all.
Grundy Lake Park, about 300 km north of Toronto is one of my favourite places for camping. There are several nice lakes in the park and also a nice canoe route. One could go to the interior or do onshore camping. There are several nice hiking trails inside the park and the number of sites are plenty, more than 400 altogether. It was still early afternoon when we arrived on Friday. Since school had started, we had a choice to go whereever we like on some of the main sites that are still open. We chose the waterfront or beach site because Cecilia had to portage the canoe by herself. Camping fees are indeed increasing every year since the Hilwans came to Canada :-). More and more people seem to enjoy camping. We had to cough up almost $ 25 per night for that premium site. Never mind, it's lot more fun and cheaper than "camping" in a hotel room :-).
As soon as we settled in, the name of the game when Cecilia and I camp together, just two of us, is scrabble :-). I usually move very fast so that she can win from time to time :-), kidding ... sometimes she is lucky ... kidding again, at times she is amazing and can beat me left and right. I moved fast so that I could read the book I brought. When the sun started to lower down herself, we started our preparation to go canoeing. The main agenda was fishing for her, reading for me. Cecilia helped portage the canoe to the beach, couple hundred meters or so. Soon the two of us were inside the canoe on the water. The moment of truth came :-). I knew I should be able to do it, paddling with just one hand, my right. I couldn't visualise what would be the reaction of my orthopaedic doctor if he saw me paddling in a canoe though :-). As some of you know, I am not yet allowed even to do my physio. It felt so good when our canoe started to move as usual. I could hear Cecilia saying "yes" a few times. After we reached the middle of the lake, some distance from shore, she started to cast her fishing rod and I started to read my 'Europe Through the Back Door' by Rick Steves, prep for our next year Europe backpacking and camping tour :-). We forgot to bring the pail for the fishes. No wonder, there was no bite :-). So, after about an hour fishing and reading with no catch, we called it quits. We went back and Cecilia portaged the canoe to our campsite. She refined her portaging skill herself in this trip because there was no way I could have helped her :-). By the end of the short 4 canoeing trips over the week-end, she was able to put up the canoe on her shoulder and lower it down later on without too much effort. Indeed, practice makes perfect.
The nicest thing about late summer or early fall camping is ... guess what... yes, there are no more mosquitoes or any kinds of flies, be them black, white :-), deer, horse or bear :-). So while the chef was busy cooking the rice, I was able to continue my reading without the need to swat the pests from time to time as we are so used doing it during summer camping. The firewood is plentiful too and lighted easily because it mostly came from pine trees. In no time the chef had the fire going and it was my turn to roast the sausages. We finished a simple dinner, Indonesian style or mainly rice with sausages and corn. That first night was quite cold, around 10C, so the heat from the fire felt really good. As if the day was programmed, as soon as we finished putting the last log into the fire, we could hear the rain saying 'hi'. Well, it was time to do all the bedtime rituals, hauling the food up the tree so that the raccoon would not be able to see, tucking everything in place so they wouldn't get wet, etc. We slept early that night, it was quite a long day for us.
Only Doug can beat me in waking up early :-), so by 6 AM I was already up and soon I went out. After putting water to the boil, I strolled along the beach. The lake, Gurd Lake, was still misty and was also waking up. The sun was rising in the east and the moon was nowhere to be seen, In fact September 9 was the date Indonesians called 'gelap bulan' or translated literally, 'dark moon'. That is always the best part of camping, when you wake up in the morning and there isn't a soul in sight but only nature surrounding you. It feels like thanksgiving every day to be in that environment. That is why the word 'present' means also, yes, a present. Forget about yesterday, it has passed and who cares about tomorrow, it hasn't happened. Sometimes, you could only do that if you are far far away from civilization or some people may say from a barbaric society, like what is happening in East Timor. Imagine if the people in Quebec who lost the referendum started to kill thousands of people who voted to stay in Canada. That is exactly what is happening there, the evil losers turned mad in collusion with despot rulers and army maniacs. Indeed, thinking and reflecting on the suffering of the people in East Timor and other parts of the world where we Canadians sent peacekeeping forces, always makes me sad.
I knew I shouldn't have taken too long a time reflecting because the water must have already been boiling. I went back to the campsite and started the preparation to make 'Indomie goreng', the favourite breakfast of the Hilwans, added with 'bakso' or chicken-meatball and beansprouts. The timing was perfect because soon the main chef woke up. Fishing was in her mind throughout this camping trip. Off we went to an island in the middle of Gurd Lake after we finished breakfast. Gurd Lake is a small lake and soon we reached our destination. We went to another tiny or smaller island off the main island. There Cecilia was having a good time. She caught two small-mouth basses and one fish we thought was a walleye. It was time to leave as soon as the day became too hot and the fishes went 'home' to their 'campsites' :-).
We went to Britt, a small town nearby that if I am not mistaken was a place where Doug and his friend went for help on their French River trip mishap as Silvana told me. Yes, there is a coastguard station in Britt. "You tracked us down eh," said Jim the restaurant owner at Little Britt Inn. Teri the chef could really cook good meals and not too bad compared with my chef :-). In no time Cecilia finished her pasta, cheese ravioli, and I downed my steak sandwich. There wasn't much too see in Britt even though the people, like in small towns everywhere, were quite friendly. We went back to our beach front campsite after lunch.
Guess what was the next program? Indeed, playing scrabble again :-). Hmmm, actually we gathered dead wood first for campfire before we relaxed. What's for dinner? Those 3 fishes that Cecilia had skilleted and spiced. She deep-fried them and they were so delish :-) (Silvana's term for delicious). What's after dinner? Of course, canoeing and fishing again. It was quite windy though. We wished our canoe had an anchor because we had to keep on paddling back to the cove where 'the local' said he caught a big (hands stretched) pike. The 'local' guy's name was Jerry, a very friendly chap from Cape Breton. He was a coalminer but is retired now. He camped next to us with his trailer from June till October. Basically he sold Cecilia on what we could do after my retirement :-). No wonder it took her an hour to fetch a day pack by the shore. I saw her talking to Jerry when I was checking to see why it was taking her so long to get the pack. Well, who said it's easy to catch a fish? There was no bite at all even though we kept on paddling back to the cove for about an hour.
Campfire time came again. The smell of the pine wood was so 'delish' too :-). We had the tallest fire in the 'neighbourhood' because we put all the firewood into it since we still had a plan to go to the 'planetarium'. As I mentioned earlier, it was a new moon and the sky was dark. The Milky Way Galaxy was very distinct stretching north to south. Just a few seconds after we lied down on a picnic table by the beach, one meteor came by. Another one greeted us several seconds thereafter. One each for the two of us. The next challenge was looking for a satellite and eventually we 'caught' two sightings :-). Yes, we were like little kids and that's the essence of being happy, to be like children again.
Another present came again on Sunday, a gorgeous day. Not quite like her, Cecilia woke up just after I did my strolling and reflecting on the beach. So, instead of 'Indomie goreng' for breakfast, we had a full breakfast meaning pancake with syrup and fake bacon or turkey-bacon plus of course scrambled eggs. The fourth fishing and canoeing trip occurred thereafter. Sorry, no great fishing story but I managed to finish my European backpacking hints book. It was written more for the ugly American :-) but I still learned many things from it. If you recall, after I broke my foot 2 years ago, the very first hiking I did was on a trail called Gut Lake Trail. The trail is in Grundy Lake Park and so we went there after lunch. It is a nice trail, quite scenic with lots of variations. There is rocky terrain, there is also quite a dense wooded area, a nice lake and a river. It is up and down a bit but not too difficult for someone who is recovering from broken bones :-). It was so refreshing being able to hike for about an hour on this 2.5 km trail. Too bad I couldn't swim yet because I felt so hot after the hike. When will we, human beings, ever be able to feel satisfied? :-)
I was happy actually because we got a bonus from this camping trip. When I parked our car by the garbage/recycling depot inside the park, I spotted two Coleman naptha lanterns that had been disposed. Of course this friend of yours who hates waste :-), checked them. The bigger one had already missed several parts but the smaller one looked OK. We took this while thanking the guy who threw them away. He must be retiring from camping :-). Later on, when we were back at home, Cecilia tested it and it still worked like a charm. It added one more thing toward our Y2K readiness :-). So we now have three burners and three lanterns in case there will be no electricity on 1-1-2000 :-). There are still items we need to stock but this Y2K thing is a different subject even though it won't be a bad idea to go camping on that day :-). Prior to that, I am now looking forward to going on at least one more fall camping trip. Fall is the best season of all to go camping and to enjoy the beauty of the trees changing colours. So would you all join us on the October 1st week-end, most likely to Algonquin? It was in this park that I learned how to canoe with your Swift Joel :-). So if you and Silvana would like to be my 'sherpas', I don't mind going to the Algonquin interior :-). In the meantime take care my friends, goodbye, adieu.
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