Personal Narrative: Back Country Camping

“Back country camping?”

It had been a decade since I camped last, and I recalled it being a jam packed, smokey, noisy family campground. I had only been camping in the “real woods” once, and that was literally decades ago - four of them. And now, Wendy, who is a self-proclaimed Queen-of-the-wilderness, introduced a weekend in the interior of Algonquin Park as one of our - Canadian Destinations.

Admittedly, I pretended that I didn’t hear her the first time she suggested it. I almost cowered as I envisioned myself being dirty, tired, wet and cold as I tried to start a fire without the aid of a nearby store (where I could run out and pick up a fire-starting log or a gallon of gasoline). My kids will testify that sometimes even that didn’t

help my fire starter-ness. We often gave up on the idea of smokey amores and opted for peanut butter and jam sandwiches by the luminescence of my flashlight. Well, no matter my apprehension, the challenge was issued and, well, I am not one to back down! Bring on the back woods!

This new back country concept got me recollecting my past experience in
Algonquin Park when I was nine. Yes, I was single digits; I went with my father, uncle, and big brother Mike.

It was a fun and exciting experience, other than the fact that I was terrified to meet up with a bear (I still kind of am - don’t tell the Queen please).

I remember portaging to some cool lake, having fun at the campsite,
and exploring the area with Mike, both armed with Swiss Army knives.

Kindly, it was suggested by my travel partner, “I will take you to the exact same place you went when you were a kid!”. That sweetened the deal. Dad passed away two years ago, so this was my chance to visit a far off land that he and I shared so many years ago.

Wendy and I got right on-line and perused the Parks Canada website (www.ontarioparks.com) to explore the website. We found it - Joe Lake.

20 minutes later we were grinning like kids - having effortlessly cruised the site, found our lake, registered our trip, paid, and started our packing list.

Looking further into the website, I was very impressed at the vastness of Algonquin - its interior of maple hills, rocky ridges, and thousands of lakes, and the only way to explore the interior of this park is by canoe or on foot. You can enjoy camping at eight different campgrounds, hike 14 trails, take part in extensive Natural Heritage Education programs, and visit Algonquin’s exceptional Visitor
Centre, Logging Museum, and Art Centre. Every Thursday
in August, park staff have offered the “Public Wolf Howl”, a highly
engaging program on wolf ecology that includes howling for wolves.

I hadn’t realized that
Algonquin Provincial Park is Ontario’s oldest provincial park. Wendy tells me that it also offers
a magical wilderness experience. Amazingly, it is also easily accessed from
Southern Ontario offering nearly 30 different entry points. There is access to
maintained campsites and portages amidst the serenity and natural beauty
of Algonquin’s wilderness.
2,000 kilometres of canoe routes connect thousands (yeah, thousands!) of pristine lakes that can take a lifetime to fully explore.

So with our plethora gear arranged, organized, and packed up we headed out early Friday morning from London, Ontario. An easy four hours drive ahead of us.

I was grinning like a Cheshire cat because I was nine again and was reliving my back woods dream. Dad would have been proud.

When we crossed into Algonquin Park on Highway 60. I was thrilled at the beautiful scenery that surrounded me and I kept my eyes peeled for moose sauntering across
the road which apparently are almost as frequent as people I’ve heard! We arrived at Algonquin reservation centre where we checked in and received information about the area. She also gave us friendly (and life saving) advice
about how to effectively store our food at night. Barrel it and tie it - 10m high, 60m from your tent - downwind.

We then strolled across to the Portage Store, which took a while as I was constantly having to pick up my jaw, I was in complete awe over the scenery. Here we found an excellent resource for
gear and rentals. We arranged to rent a canoe and the staff very
promptly had us geared up and on the water with exactly the right equipment. The Portage Store also is an excellent source for gifts and a great unique
restaurant which we found out after we poured our exhausted bodies out of the canoe after the trip. (Visit www.portagestore.com)

After weeks of planning and waiting, Wendy and I were finally on the water! And this time instead of my little kids Swiss Army knife, I had my awesome manly Leatherman Multi Tool. Oh and of course my Kodiak Wildlife Products bear safety kit including pepper spray, bear deterrent horn (why get close enough to spray it?), bear bells (why get close enough to have to use the super sound horn?), first aid kit (why get close enough to even need that?) and flares, just in case the rest didn’t work.

Surprisingly, after a bazillion years, my canoeing skills came
back quickly, which was a relief, even though I was sporting my Kokatat PFD, as was Wendy.

I remember “life jackets” being all cumbersome, ugly, and smelling like old sailors. This new PFD was nothing like that. I barely knew it was on, it had pockets for everything, and you could see me in the water from a mile away - if we tipped - not that we were going to. The ice out date was less than a week past.

We navigated Canoe Lake and enjoyed a number of unique
landmarks along the way such as a miniature lighthouse and a totem pole. We even found a cool bridge Wendy just had to stop and do some yoga on. I didn’t get that but it made for some cool shots!

Sitting there in the canoe I mused - this amazing area was a common destination and source of inspiration to Tom
Thompson, an influential Canadian artist of the early 20th century. He
directly influenced a group of Canadian painters that would come to be
known as the Group of Seven, and although he died before they formally
formed, he is sometimes incorrectly credited as being a member of the
group itself. Thomson first visited Algonquin Park in May 1912 and
returned for many years because the park was a major source

of
inspiration for him. He actually died on the property, and although it
was said his body was transferred to another location, rumour is that he
was actually buried in Algonquin Park.

On the other side of the lake we approached our Portage point. I must say
I loved our SealLine dry packs because we were able to fit everything
inside their mammoth size of 115 litre and transport it and the canoe in one simple trip to the next
lake. Wendy is 5’-4” and she was totally comfortable carrying her 115 L SealLine bag AND the canoe. The best part? Everything was totally dry. We had water under us, water falling on us, and didn’t have to baby our packs to keep them dry. Sweet invention since 1975.

We climbed back in and canoed across the lake through some
beautiful countryside and forest-lined waters. We had several options for
campsites but found a beautiful location on a peninsula.

When we saw the site we knew that was the one! We climbed out of our
canoe and explored the campsite and area. We then began to unload our
gear and set up camp. I’ve got to mention, with 115 litres of one big ‘space’ one needs something to organize. Sea to Summit has these amazing things called packing cells, and stuff sacks (where were they 40 years ago?). We were both pleased all weekend how nice these little storage devices kept our massive packs organized. Wendy says she’s never felt to organized on a trip ever.

So, her job now was to put up the tent, an easy task for the Wilderness Queen; my job was
to start a fire - without gasoline. It had been many years since I lit a fire but because
the weather was great recently and the wood was dry it was a easy, even sans igniter. When
the tent was pitched and fire started we set up the rest of our gear. Therm-a-rest provided the much needed mattresses under our Therm-a-rest down mummy sleeping bags. I was no longer worried about the hard ground or the cold. We
both sat there afterward staring out onto the water enjoying the early
evening. The colour streaming across the sky was beautiful and the weather was
comfortably warm. We spent the rest of the evening and night by the fire
enjoying our surroundings and listening to the eerie calls of the loons swooning to each other from afar. After a day of canoeing and camping we were
tired and were happy to settle into our tent and off to our sleeping bags to be serenaded. I thought to
myself as I lay there how amazing backwoods camping can be. I thought it
would be more difficult and cumbersome with all the oversized gear from
days past but everything was easy, smooth, and quite compact and lightweight. You will find a list of Canadian Destinations Mag’s top 10 picks for camping gear in a separate article. Please look for it if you are wondering what made our trip so much easier!

I awoke to the light of the early morning and found myself excited for
the day’s adventures ahead. I then heard the tip tapping of rain hitting
our tent. It continued all day long for the next 12 hours. We tried to
make the best of the day but the rain did not let up very much. At one
point the rain turned into a drizzle and we were able to get out into the
water to canoe across the rain dappled lake. The drizzle wasn’t so bad and kind of
beautiful and we were able to see some wildlife - in particular, a
fabulous set of loons who swam up close to us and flew underwater right under our canoe. Serenading, and dancing for us.

One thing that amazed me is that I was still relatively dry and warm
throughout the day. We were both amazed. No jeans, trackpants, or rubber suit could do this. I had on me Coldpruf long underwear and Patagonia
outerwear. The Patagonia pants we both had are considered “water resistant” so we were both doubtful we’d be kept dry, especially canoeing in the rain. Nobody mentioned that what water hit them rolled off, and the little spots that stayed on the fabric evaporated with a little body heat that escaped. So really - that were waterproof as far as we were concerned. What’s that called? Technical fibre Wendy tells me. I didn’t really care; I was dry!
I also donned my Five Ten hiking shoes (nothing like the Nike runners of past days). These hikers kept me from slipping on the rocks and I found it amazingly
easy to navigate through the woods in them. In the past I simply wore jeans
and a light jacket and running shoes and I would have been soaking wet
and miserable. Not so with this gear and thanks to Wendy’s advice! Who knew?

We returned to camp around lunch and we were hungry. The first order of
business was to start a fire. However, that was going to be a challenge
because of the constant rain, but one that I wanted to attack head-on! I
went out to find some dry wood and found some old stumps where the wood
was dry inside. I must say that I really found the task enjoyable. Thank
goodness I had some great cutting gear. I recall past experiences with
dull gear. However, the Gerber air Ranger G-10 and Port Axe II made the
job easy! I was successful in starting a fire and, although we found it
useful to stay even warmer, it did not affect our ability to cook our
food. Rather than try to cook over the fire we used our portable stove (more in Wendy’s Corner!).
We spent the next several hours making the best of the day but eventually
returned to our tent hoping the rain would let up. After a few hours of
enjoyable quiet time together chatting and napping we heard the
rain stop. We left the tent and were happy to see bluish skies. It was
dinnertime and I wanted to stoke the fire. Unfortunately, it was
completely drenched and burned out. It was
even more of a challenge with the now wetter wood. I found success even
though the fire refused to actually stay lit! We returned to the MSR
stove which was life giving this trip, and by the end of day we were back in our tents and looking forward
to a warmer drier day the next morning.

The next morning came and we were ready to start the day and to
eventually pack up campsite and head back home. However, we were blown away by the fact that it was snowing! What happened to Friday’s
beautiful blue skies and warm weather? This was not the camping
experience I expected. However it was still beautiful and a lot of fun
and I actually enjoyed the challenges we were facing. And because we were dressed
properly we remained warm and comfy amidst the cold snowy weather. Funnily enough, Wendy forgot her gloves so she had to put her wool socks on her hands. What else would the Queen do?

We packed up our gear, got into the canoe and headed back. It was actually
kind of pretty being out on the lake amidst the light snowflakes drifting
down from the sky onto the water. We eventually made it back to the
Portage Store and we were admittedly a little tired and ready to change
into fresher clothes. We checked in our canoe, transferred our gear into
our vehicle, had a snack and hot tea, bought some gifts for some special little people in our lives, and drove back home.

Overall I had a fantastic time! The weekend offered challenges that were
unexpected but it was shockingly fun battling the elements, mostly because we were not fighting for our lives. We were overall very
comfortable, dry and warm throughout the weekend. We ate well and,
because of our modern gear, we were able to cook our meals with ease, sleep comfortably, stay cozy, sleep well, be safe, and enjoy our amazing Canadian Destination.
I truly
can’t wait for the next camping experience (and I can’t hardly believe I’m saying that) and I’m bummed it’s a few loooong weeks away. All I
can say is that if we did not have the gear we did my feelings about
backcountry camping would probably be negative, but I can’t wait to get back
to it - and we will honour Dad’s memory once again, in the back woods, with my Queen.