One Canoe, Two Canoes

We are hoping to do a lot of canoeing this year and have been looking on Kijiji for a canoe since last summer. Then in a single week, we bought 2 canoes. The first is a really light fibreglass canoe. Connell drove to Barrie in very bad weather to buy it. It's only 14 feet so too short for backcountry trips, but perfect for day trips. The second canoe, our friends bought for us, as well as one for themselves. They are 16 feet tanks, which were previously rented out through an outfitter. They are in great shape and are a perfect size for backcountry trips.

Now we just need to lose the snow and freezing cold weather.

Darn this snow!

Backcountry Fun - The Massassauga

We had a great summer, but we weren't quite ready to let it go so we planned a backcountry canoe trip for the second weekend of September. Since Connell was teaching on Friday, the earliest we could leave was noon, so we wanted somewhere pretty close. We choose The Massassauga Provincial Park, which is about 3 hours from Kitchener. I had talked to a really helpful parks person, who recommended 3 sites in the park. One was too close to the put in, one was too far (Connell is going to this site this weekend with the guys) but the third was a perfect distance for us. It was a great recommendation, lots of flat rock which is nice for Finian, and a beautiful view of the lake.  

The view from our site.

Our campsite. We used two small tents again. Our new tent is well camouflaged.

It was cold the first evening and night but we knew the sun was coming the next day. It was a beautiful sunny, hot day. Fiacra and Ailbhe again did a lot of exploring on their own, this time with both whistles and bear bells, and a kayak each.

Fiacra and Ailbhe kayaking

Fiacra and Ailbhe exploring on foot

Finian has his own paddle, a birthday gift from friends. He loves being in the canoe, he sits, stands, and kneels in front of me and paddles away. We have been borrowing our friends' canoe, a 17 foot Royalex. We are on the lookout for a similar canoe, hopefully from Kijiji.

Backcountry Fun - Bayfield Inlet

We did our first family backcountry trip the last weekend of summer. Connell and I have done many backcountry hiking trips (although the last one we did was over 10 years ago - ridiculous what kids will do to you), Connell has done lots of guys' canoe trips and I have done one girls' kayak trip (this is an annual event but I have only gone once, okay one year we were in France (acceptable excuse), one year I was 9 months pregnant (again acceptable), but last year and this year my reasons were Finian related - sorry buddy, you're out of luck next year). So we were way overdue for a family backcountry trip.

Early morning departure, canoe on roof, kayak in the van

We put in at Bayfield Inlet on Georgian Bay and paddled for about an hour to reach Elm Tree Island. It's crown land, so you pick a spot and set up camp where ever looks good. We got some very heavy rain just as we arrived, but for the rest of the weekend the weather was lovely.

Our camp - we used two smaller tents rather than our large tent

Fiacra and Ailbhe spent a lot of time exploring and looking for treasures. We generally let them do what they liked, island hopping via the kayak and swimming. We realized (later) that whistles would be a good idea so that we would hear them if they got into trouble. Connell had given them a long rope to attach to the kayak. To get to an island, Fiacra would kayak as far as the rope would allow and then jump out and swim the rest. Ailbhe would haul in the kayak and then kayak over.

Ailbhe in the kayak, Fiacra holding the rope

At one point, we saw Ailbhe heading out into the main channel. There weren't a lot of boats passing by but definitely some. While they would certainly avoid a little girl in a bright yellow kayak, they likely wouldn't realize that she was trailing a rope with her brother at the other end. Connell yelled at Ailbhe to come back but she decided not to heed his advice. We knew Fiacra agreed with us when she passed us going backwards at a speed she doesn't usually attain in the kayak. I guess sometimes a rope is a good thing.