Haliburton Highlands Water Trails, Part 2

nunikani lake (direct, no loop) november 1st-2nd, 2014

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a bit of snow doesn’t scare me away from camping!

A little over a month after we first visited Haliburton Highlands’ Frost Centre, we went back for our final canoe trip of the season. Our brand new Ostrom canoe packs had just arrived in the mail, and we wanted to test them out before the lakes were iced over. Heading out for just one night with giant packs sure had its advantages: we were able to bring along extra blankets, butt-warming hunting cushions, extra dry bags full of warm clothes, and winter parkas. Continue reading

Haliburton Highlands Water Trails, Part 1

the nunikani lake loop, september 27th-28th, 2014

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big hawk lake, frost centre

Finding a weekend backcountry trip is usually pretty easy for us. Most of our trip ideas have come from Kevin Callan’s book Top 50 Canoe Routes of Ontario, and this route was no different. After briefly thumbing the pages for the millionth time, we decided to check out the “Nunikani Lake Loop” in Haliburton Highlands’ Frost Centre. Booking a reservation online was very similar to using the Ontario Parks website, except instead of picking up a permit at an access point, we could just print off the booking and go.

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Weekend on the Severn River

train bridge over the severn river

train bridge over the severn river. don’t worry. you’ll hear it.

September 12-13, 2015

I’m always looking for new and exciting places to go on quick weekend backcountry trips. After visiting the Massasauga Provincial Park, Haliburton Highlands, and the Canoe Lake access point in Algonquin numerous times, I was searching for a different fun area to explore. My requirements were that the trip had to be a maximum three-hour drive away from our home in Toronto, less than 10km of paddling and portaging to reach a campsite, and preferably Crown Land or in an unmaintained provincial park (free camping is a major bonus). It seemed like a tall order at first, until I put in a request on the forums at My Canadian Canoe Routes for advice. The response was overwhelming! After much deliberating, I decided on a little-known route just outside of Cottage Country in Muskoka, easily accessible from a government dock, no camping fees, and only a two-hour drive from our front door.

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Frozen Beer

launching with an icy, just-defrosted craft brew? pop it in a canoe cup-holder for safekeeping

launching with an icy, just-defrosted craft brew? pop it in a canoe cup-holder for safekeeping

If I’m lucky enough to be camping in an area without a ban on bottles and cans, you can bet I’m bringing along some beer. I’m a beer drinker, nay! connoisseur, and there’s nothing quite like cracking a can of frosty brew on a hot summer day after sweating my ass off carrying an eighty-five pound food barrel on my back over mosquito-infested portages on a canoe trip.

How do I keep my beer chilled and delicious without refrigeration, you ask?
I freeze it.

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Two Weeks in Temagami

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our progress using InReach and MapShare (until the loop abruptly ends when we ran out of power between lower matagamasi lake and karl falls. we have diplomatically decided that we are equally to blame for this, but really, it was Andrew’s fault).

the story of a magical 200+km canoe journey through time and space

(also known as that time tierney & andrew & the happy adventure went on a long, strange trip through the chiniguchi and sturgeon river waterways, temagami region, august 5th – 18th 2015)

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Intro

This is my bloggy-wog.

There will be some trip reports full of hilarity, utter despair, and the lesser emotions in between.

There will be recipes for near-gourmet camping meals and fabulous backwoods cocktails.

There will be honest and frank gear reviews with much cursing of zippers.

Enjoy!

tea