Tuesday, 18 March 2014
Spring?
Well if spring is going to take it's time getting here, I can at least change up the header photo on the page! This is from a trip last May through the west central area of Temagami. A small chute somewhere on Pilgrim Creek, in the Solace Wildlands, one of the last roadless and virgin areas left in the Temagami canoe area.
Monday, 3 March 2014
Deep Freeze 2014 - Sideburn Lake
February, one of my favourite months! I get to join a bunch of like-minded folks for an annual 9 day winter camping trip somewhere north of Sudbury, Ontario. This year was the 13th annual "Deep Freeze" trip. In the past we have mainly used the Via Rail "Budd Car" service out of Sudbury to access a camping area but it was decided to look for a new area this year, one that was accessible by vehicle. The Budd Car has become increasingly unreliable over the years, mostly due to aging equipment that can't take the cold weather abuse. Last year the train missed running on Tue/Wed of the week we were out and consequently some folks had to hike 12-13 km down the tracks to a road access where they could be picked up as they needed to be elsewhere other than stranded in the bush!
Anyway, planning began in the late summer/fall and centred on an area we had used in 2011 when the train didn't run at all for the week. We had headed north of Sudbury up Hwy 144 and then trekked off the hwy about 3 km though the bush across Sideburn Lk and into Smokefox Lake to set up. Not everyone who planned on the trip came with us, about 10 of the group decided to go to Killarney PP instead of heading into the unknown area. This year we scouted out the area in the fall by hiking and canoeing into the location we were interested in. This group of winter enthusiasts started out 8 strong but over the years has seen as many as 44 attendees and has settled into the 30 - 40 range yearly. A group this large needs 3 things for a successful trip - parking for upwards of 10-15 vehicles, a large enough area for 10-12 hot tents and a few cold tents plus a ready supply of firewood!
Parking in the bush in winter is always a problem as roads are not plowed and gravel pits, lake access points etc are unavailable. Fortunately the area we wanted to access has a gravel pit along the highway that the local trapper keeps plowed for access to his trap line and cabin, 1 necessity taken care of! In 2011 we trekked into Smokefox Lk and while we managed, camping spots for large tents and the firewood supply were a bit of a problem. On one of our hikes we had crossed into Sideburn Lk and a couple of us had noted a supply of standing dead trees on the north end of the lake and had put the info into storage in our brains as a possibility someday. Well, we scouted the area in the fall and the wood was there but again not a piece of flat ground for tents to be found in close proximity to the wood supply! Further down the lake was a piece of shoreline that looked like a bench and had plenty of room for any number of tents but a very limited supply of firewood. However, there was a couple trees available that would get us through the first night till we could move some wood from down the lake - about 900 - 1000 metres away. All in all it was a doable situation all be it with some work but it was decided that Sideburn Lake would be the location for the week.
Joe and I went out to check the gravel pit parking area and to set a trail into the lake the weekend before the camp. The pit was plowed with room enough for all and we established a safe area to unload vehicles and load toboggans up the highway a kilometre or so from the pit parking area.
We set the trail and brushed out the trail through a swale we cut through along the way.
Things were set and folks notified of the trail head location and I spent the next week organizing my food, equipment and packing!
Well, Saturday dawned clear and cold with a bit of wind but then it has been that kind of winter - an old fashioned cold winter with a lot of snow! The put in is about an hour north of Sudbury and I was the first to arrive at around 9:00 am and was greeted by a colorful sundog hanging in the sky. The other folks started to filter in and the arrivals continued all morning long. The first group of 6 were on the trail by 10:00 am and we pulled into the camp location about an hour later.
Folks continued to arrive throughout the early afternoon and by suppertime the population of Sideburn Lk. had grown to 29 people and 2 dogs! We set up camp which included 9 hot tent and 2 cold tent setups spread around the area. Once set up was completed, a couple of dead trees were felled and firewood for the evening was split and piled at each hot tent and a communal water hole was established. Jim and his family came in on 2 Skidoos which promised to make the collection of firewood down the lake much easier than first anticipated on Sunday!
Sunday arrived with a clear sky and cold temps to start the day! Once folks had finished breakfast and chores a wood detail was established.Four of us headed down the lake cutting dead trees as we worked our way down to the area with the bulk of the dead trees and Jim and his wife Nadine took turns pulling sled loads of wood back to a central area at camp. Here the rest of the folks kept busy splitting, delivering and stacking sled loads of wood at each hot tent site. Four hours work gave us enough wood to last till late in the week.
Turned out that Sunday night was to be our coldest night in camp as well at -29 Celcius! Gotta love whoever invented the Styrofoam we use on our "thunderboxes"!
Camp quickly settled into the normal deep freeze routine - lots of snowshoe hiking, ice fishing (or wishing) daily chores and socializing. Since this camp was road accessible we had folks both coming and going according to their own schedules etc. One cold tenter left on Monday and Moe and Kevin, 2 long time attendees, arrived with Moe's hot tent plus another cold tenter skied into camp! A few folks left on Wednesday but a couple more showed up to replace them, it's always a relaxed atmosphere with folks coming and going as their schedule dictates. This year we had 35 attendees over the course of the week. Every year we usually have some sort of party during the week and it has evolved into a pot luck dinner one evening. In 2005 another tradition started when Al brought his guitar for Hawaiian Night in sub zero temps!
Thursday night was to be the night and Al pulled into camp on Wednesday guitar in hand.Many of the folks would be leaving on Friday so another wood detail was organized and enough wood to see the remaining campers through to Sunday was gathered and delivered - gotta love them skidoos, saved us from hand dragging wood a kilometre to camp!
A common area for the potluck and bonfire was prepared along with enough wood for a bonfire to sit around while Al entertained us with his vast repertoire of songs. Al is willing to play in almost any conditions and fortunately Thursday was one of our mildest days so his hands didn't get too frozen!
He played for about 3 hours and as usual he finished the night off with an a capella rendition of Stan Roger's - The Northwest Passage - with the group pitching in on the chorus. Below is a video of the night's finale posted by D. Mataruga: Northwest Passage
Many of the group were packing and getting ready for heading home on Friday morning so we took a bit of time to take a group photo of the folks that were in camp at the time.
After packing and saying good byes all around that left 12 of us in camp till Sunday. Chores, hiking and fishing ruled our remaining days and on Saturday night Al again played. He put on his "indoor" concert live from "Smokey's Lounge" for the remaining folks in camp. A more intimate and much "warmer" experience for all!
One unique thing this year was listening to the Olympic hockey games on a small radio. It certainly gave ua different slant on the games listening to them rather watching on the TV. You could hear Al whooping and hollering across the whole camp every time the women's hockey team scored on the way to their thrilling comeback to win the Gold! A couple of us are actually old enough to remember listening to Foster Hewitt broadcast hockey on the radio many years ago.
We packed up Sunday and headed for the road where Joe's wife, Carol met us and shuttled us to the pit to retrieve our vehicles. Once packed and goodbyes had been said, we were all on the road home with another great winter camp finished with some of the finest folks around!
Anyway, planning began in the late summer/fall and centred on an area we had used in 2011 when the train didn't run at all for the week. We had headed north of Sudbury up Hwy 144 and then trekked off the hwy about 3 km though the bush across Sideburn Lk and into Smokefox Lake to set up. Not everyone who planned on the trip came with us, about 10 of the group decided to go to Killarney PP instead of heading into the unknown area. This year we scouted out the area in the fall by hiking and canoeing into the location we were interested in. This group of winter enthusiasts started out 8 strong but over the years has seen as many as 44 attendees and has settled into the 30 - 40 range yearly. A group this large needs 3 things for a successful trip - parking for upwards of 10-15 vehicles, a large enough area for 10-12 hot tents and a few cold tents plus a ready supply of firewood!
Parking in the bush in winter is always a problem as roads are not plowed and gravel pits, lake access points etc are unavailable. Fortunately the area we wanted to access has a gravel pit along the highway that the local trapper keeps plowed for access to his trap line and cabin, 1 necessity taken care of! In 2011 we trekked into Smokefox Lk and while we managed, camping spots for large tents and the firewood supply were a bit of a problem. On one of our hikes we had crossed into Sideburn Lk and a couple of us had noted a supply of standing dead trees on the north end of the lake and had put the info into storage in our brains as a possibility someday. Well, we scouted the area in the fall and the wood was there but again not a piece of flat ground for tents to be found in close proximity to the wood supply! Further down the lake was a piece of shoreline that looked like a bench and had plenty of room for any number of tents but a very limited supply of firewood. However, there was a couple trees available that would get us through the first night till we could move some wood from down the lake - about 900 - 1000 metres away. All in all it was a doable situation all be it with some work but it was decided that Sideburn Lake would be the location for the week.
Joe and I went out to check the gravel pit parking area and to set a trail into the lake the weekend before the camp. The pit was plowed with room enough for all and we established a safe area to unload vehicles and load toboggans up the highway a kilometre or so from the pit parking area.
 |
| Lots of room! |
 |
| Trail in the swale |
Well, Saturday dawned clear and cold with a bit of wind but then it has been that kind of winter - an old fashioned cold winter with a lot of snow! The put in is about an hour north of Sudbury and I was the first to arrive at around 9:00 am and was greeted by a colorful sundog hanging in the sky. The other folks started to filter in and the arrivals continued all morning long. The first group of 6 were on the trail by 10:00 am and we pulled into the camp location about an hour later.
 |
| on our way |
Sunday arrived with a clear sky and cold temps to start the day! Once folks had finished breakfast and chores a wood detail was established.Four of us headed down the lake cutting dead trees as we worked our way down to the area with the bulk of the dead trees and Jim and his wife Nadine took turns pulling sled loads of wood back to a central area at camp. Here the rest of the folks kept busy splitting, delivering and stacking sled loads of wood at each hot tent site. Four hours work gave us enough wood to last till late in the week.
 | |||
| oh yeah - heat! |
Camp quickly settled into the normal deep freeze routine - lots of snowshoe hiking, ice fishing (or wishing) daily chores and socializing. Since this camp was road accessible we had folks both coming and going according to their own schedules etc. One cold tenter left on Monday and Moe and Kevin, 2 long time attendees, arrived with Moe's hot tent plus another cold tenter skied into camp! A few folks left on Wednesday but a couple more showed up to replace them, it's always a relaxed atmosphere with folks coming and going as their schedule dictates. This year we had 35 attendees over the course of the week. Every year we usually have some sort of party during the week and it has evolved into a pot luck dinner one evening. In 2005 another tradition started when Al brought his guitar for Hawaiian Night in sub zero temps!
 |
| A memorable night in 2005 on Nitro Creek! |
A common area for the potluck and bonfire was prepared along with enough wood for a bonfire to sit around while Al entertained us with his vast repertoire of songs. Al is willing to play in almost any conditions and fortunately Thursday was one of our mildest days so his hands didn't get too frozen!
 |
| Al |
Many of the group were packing and getting ready for heading home on Friday morning so we took a bit of time to take a group photo of the folks that were in camp at the time.
 |
| Is it working? |
 |
| Smokey Lounge- Bar and Grill with Bill, Al, Trish and Daniel |
We packed up Sunday and headed for the road where Joe's wife, Carol met us and shuttled us to the pit to retrieve our vehicles. Once packed and goodbyes had been said, we were all on the road home with another great winter camp finished with some of the finest folks around!
 |
| Friday group photo - M. Graves |
Slideshow
M.Graves 2014 Deep Freeze Facebook Album
Thursday, 13 February 2014
Deep Freeze almost here!
Well this year's Deep Freeze camping trip is about to begin! This will be our 13th annual trip and the folks will begin to arrive Friday night for a Saturday morning haul into camp on Sideburn Lk. about an hour's drive north of Sudbury.
Joe and I made a quick trip into the camp last Sunday to set a trail and to brush out the trail through the lowland swale on the route from Hwy 144 into Sideburn Lk. Should make things much easier come Saturday!
There's lots of room for anyone who wants to come along and have a great time with some good folks. Info above with some updated information on access and parking - Access/Parking Info.
Joe and I made a quick trip into the camp last Sunday to set a trail and to brush out the trail through the lowland swale on the route from Hwy 144 into Sideburn Lk. Should make things much easier come Saturday!
 |
| 1st Lake - swale ahead |
 |
| Sideburn Lk - camp around the corner |
 | ||
| the trail in the swale! |
There's lots of room for anyone who wants to come along and have a great time with some good folks. Info above with some updated information on access and parking - Access/Parking Info.
Saturday, 16 November 2013
Winter is almost here
Changed up the back round and header photos to get me a little more in tune with the upcoming "hard water" season. We've had snow a few times this November and so far nothing has stayed. It certainly looks like it won't happen this coming week either, forecast for tomorrow is for 14C and thundershowers and to stay above 0C most of the week! Maybe have time for a last paddle before I start prepping the winter toboggan and hot tent gear!
Plans are underway for the 13th annual Deep Freeze camping trip in February, new participants are always welcome. Here's the blurb from the Canadian Canoe Routes forums. You can check the winter forum for further information as we get closer to February: myccr Deep Freeze - forum topic
Every winter since 2002 a group of enthusiasts has been getting together in February somewhere north of Sudbury and having a good time indulging in one of our favourite pastimes – sleeping in the cold!
This coming February is the 13th year of this get together and this is an open invitation to anyone who thinks they might like to join in on the fun. The first “gathering” was held on the Vermillion River north of Sudbury with 8 participants. Beginning in 2003 we began using the “Budd Car” rail service from Sudbury to access the backcountry north of Cartier, Ontario in the Spanish River area. The 2nd year saw 20 participants in total and in subsequent years the average has been about 30 - 35 attendees yearly with a high of 45 one year. It’s a diverse group with folks coming and going depending on the year but we’ve had attendees from as far a field as Colorado, Tony (our honorary Canuck) and his family from New York state and a couple of Brits who were doing a work placement in Ontario one year!
This year there is a change to the location and means of access for Deep Freeze. The Budd Car service has become increasingly unreliable, particularly during the winter months. A few years ago (2011) it didn’t run at all during the week of Deep Freeze and the group split with some heading north of Sudbury and some to Killarney Provincial Park. Last year the train didn’t run on the Tuesday/Wednesday and consequently 10 or so folks didn’t make it in (ended up in Killarney again!) and there were folks who needed to get out on the Wednesday and had to hike 12 km down the tracks to a road for pickup – not a good thing all round!
So, this year the group will be headed north of Sudbury on Hwy 144 to an area just south of Halfway Provincial Park. There is an area to park vehicles off the highway and the camp area is about a 1 kilometer hike/pull in from the highway across a small lake and then a portage into the camp lake – Sideburn Lake. This is the same area the group used a few years ago when we had trouble with the train (2011). A campsite location was scouted out this fall and there is a large flat bench on one shoreline with plenty of camping room.
WHEN: February 15 - 23/ 2014 (Sat – Sun, 9 days)
WHERE: Sideburn Lake
HOW: vehicle access from Hwy 144 north of Sudbury, Ont.
WHO: Interested? Join us!!
Sideburn Lake is northwest of Sudbury, west of Highway 144 just south of the Halfway Provincial Park southern boundary. The following link is to a map of the area at 1:50000 scale. The 1:50000 topographic sheet is - Pogamasing, 41-I/13.
topo of area
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/v5G4Fj7ilMD8IGvmQ-Pd2dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
google earth
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/L ... directlink
photo of campsite area
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/f ... directlink
Anyone interested in this trip doesn’t necessarily have to commit to the full 9 days and in fact many folks have attended for a portion of the time only. You can alter or shorten your dates of both arrival and departure according to whatever works for you!
The parking area shown on the Google photo is located 17.9 km north of the Cartier turnoff on Hwy 144 or 1 km north of the Onaping Lake Road on the west side of the highway. It’s approx. an hours drive from Sudbury. The plan would be for folks to meet there at approx. 10:00 am on the 15th and head into Sideburn Lk. The parking area will be checked the previous weekend and arrangements made to plow it if necessary. Folks would be expected to chip in for the costs of plowing if required. (pit was accessible without plowing in 2011)
This is a relaxed base camp style winter camping trip. There is lots of opportunity for hiking, ice fishing, socializing, camp chores etc. This area also lends itself to some nice cross-country skiing on connected lakes and trails in the area. All participants are responsible for their own arrangements; this is your trip if you choose to take it. Many will be there and folks are more than welcome to come. Bring your gear, be prepared and plan for it accordingly.
The following link will take you to trip reports from past Deep Freeze trips in the area - missing the 2012 trip, we did go!
http://canoedog-ca.blogspot.ca/p/winter-trips.html
Cheers, hope to see you there!
Plans are underway for the 13th annual Deep Freeze camping trip in February, new participants are always welcome. Here's the blurb from the Canadian Canoe Routes forums. You can check the winter forum for further information as we get closer to February: myccr Deep Freeze - forum topic
Every winter since 2002 a group of enthusiasts has been getting together in February somewhere north of Sudbury and having a good time indulging in one of our favourite pastimes – sleeping in the cold!
This coming February is the 13th year of this get together and this is an open invitation to anyone who thinks they might like to join in on the fun. The first “gathering” was held on the Vermillion River north of Sudbury with 8 participants. Beginning in 2003 we began using the “Budd Car” rail service from Sudbury to access the backcountry north of Cartier, Ontario in the Spanish River area. The 2nd year saw 20 participants in total and in subsequent years the average has been about 30 - 35 attendees yearly with a high of 45 one year. It’s a diverse group with folks coming and going depending on the year but we’ve had attendees from as far a field as Colorado, Tony (our honorary Canuck) and his family from New York state and a couple of Brits who were doing a work placement in Ontario one year!
This year there is a change to the location and means of access for Deep Freeze. The Budd Car service has become increasingly unreliable, particularly during the winter months. A few years ago (2011) it didn’t run at all during the week of Deep Freeze and the group split with some heading north of Sudbury and some to Killarney Provincial Park. Last year the train didn’t run on the Tuesday/Wednesday and consequently 10 or so folks didn’t make it in (ended up in Killarney again!) and there were folks who needed to get out on the Wednesday and had to hike 12 km down the tracks to a road for pickup – not a good thing all round!
So, this year the group will be headed north of Sudbury on Hwy 144 to an area just south of Halfway Provincial Park. There is an area to park vehicles off the highway and the camp area is about a 1 kilometer hike/pull in from the highway across a small lake and then a portage into the camp lake – Sideburn Lake. This is the same area the group used a few years ago when we had trouble with the train (2011). A campsite location was scouted out this fall and there is a large flat bench on one shoreline with plenty of camping room.
WHEN: February 15 - 23/ 2014 (Sat – Sun, 9 days)
WHERE: Sideburn Lake
HOW: vehicle access from Hwy 144 north of Sudbury, Ont.
WHO: Interested? Join us!!
Sideburn Lake is northwest of Sudbury, west of Highway 144 just south of the Halfway Provincial Park southern boundary. The following link is to a map of the area at 1:50000 scale. The 1:50000 topographic sheet is - Pogamasing, 41-I/13.
topo of area
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/v5G4Fj7ilMD8IGvmQ-Pd2dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink
google earth
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/L ... directlink
photo of campsite area
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/f ... directlink
Anyone interested in this trip doesn’t necessarily have to commit to the full 9 days and in fact many folks have attended for a portion of the time only. You can alter or shorten your dates of both arrival and departure according to whatever works for you!
The parking area shown on the Google photo is located 17.9 km north of the Cartier turnoff on Hwy 144 or 1 km north of the Onaping Lake Road on the west side of the highway. It’s approx. an hours drive from Sudbury. The plan would be for folks to meet there at approx. 10:00 am on the 15th and head into Sideburn Lk. The parking area will be checked the previous weekend and arrangements made to plow it if necessary. Folks would be expected to chip in for the costs of plowing if required. (pit was accessible without plowing in 2011)
This is a relaxed base camp style winter camping trip. There is lots of opportunity for hiking, ice fishing, socializing, camp chores etc. This area also lends itself to some nice cross-country skiing on connected lakes and trails in the area. All participants are responsible for their own arrangements; this is your trip if you choose to take it. Many will be there and folks are more than welcome to come. Bring your gear, be prepared and plan for it accordingly.
The following link will take you to trip reports from past Deep Freeze trips in the area - missing the 2012 trip, we did go!
http://canoedog-ca.blogspot.ca/p/winter-trips.html
Cheers, hope to see you there!
Saturday, 19 October 2013
Planning
Someone asked me the other day how I planned the canoe trips I've go on. They remarked that it seemed like I got myself pretty far off the beaten path and just where did the ideas come from. I use several different resources when planning a trip some are online such as the Canadian Canoe Routes website, http://myccr.com/, peruse the routes section or the forums for a wealth of information and the Ottertooth site, http://ottertooth.com, which has some excellent interactive maps for the Temagami Canoe area.There are route guides such as the Kevin Callan books or my favourite the Hap Wilson Temagami guide, mostly because I spend much of my time canoeing in the Temagami area.
However my favourite is to use the 2 large Temagami area maps I have. They are both a detailed depiction of the routes in the Temagami area.
One is the Craig Macdonald map that shows Temagami as it was in 1900. Craig Macdonald is an ethno-geographer, Cree-Ojibwa place-name linguist and trails expert who spent 27 years doing research in the area. He interviewed over 200 Anishinabai elders and traveled over 1,000 miles in the backcountry exploring the nastawgan and methods of travel on them. Craig estimates that the nastawgan have been in use for over a thousand years. Temagami Nastawgan Map.
The other is the Friends of Temagami Adventure Planning map. For the past two decades, the Friends of Temagami has been documenting, restoring and promoting lost, forgotten and underused canoe routes in Temagami. This map is the result of a comprehensive review of existing information coupled with on-the-ground explorations. Temagami Planning Map.
It's neat to trace routes out on the Nastawgan map and then the Adventure Planning Map, you quickly realize that the routes have been in constant use for a long time. I have used the nastawgan map to go looking for older routes that have fallen into disuse over the years such as the Marjorie Lake route which has been remapped and the portages re-established, putting the route back into use. Marjorie Lake Route.
I have the maps mounted on a wall and it's the first resource I turn to when I get the itch to get out canoeing again. I use it for the general layout of the route etc and then start researching the other resources mentioned for further information. Anyway, it's getting close to winter these days andI've now turned to winter camping trip planning - more maps!
However my favourite is to use the 2 large Temagami area maps I have. They are both a detailed depiction of the routes in the Temagami area.
One is the Craig Macdonald map that shows Temagami as it was in 1900. Craig Macdonald is an ethno-geographer, Cree-Ojibwa place-name linguist and trails expert who spent 27 years doing research in the area. He interviewed over 200 Anishinabai elders and traveled over 1,000 miles in the backcountry exploring the nastawgan and methods of travel on them. Craig estimates that the nastawgan have been in use for over a thousand years. Temagami Nastawgan Map.
The other is the Friends of Temagami Adventure Planning map. For the past two decades, the Friends of Temagami has been documenting, restoring and promoting lost, forgotten and underused canoe routes in Temagami. This map is the result of a comprehensive review of existing information coupled with on-the-ground explorations. Temagami Planning Map.
It's neat to trace routes out on the Nastawgan map and then the Adventure Planning Map, you quickly realize that the routes have been in constant use for a long time. I have used the nastawgan map to go looking for older routes that have fallen into disuse over the years such as the Marjorie Lake route which has been remapped and the portages re-established, putting the route back into use. Marjorie Lake Route.
I have the maps mounted on a wall and it's the first resource I turn to when I get the itch to get out canoeing again. I use it for the general layout of the route etc and then start researching the other resources mentioned for further information. Anyway, it's getting close to winter these days andI've now turned to winter camping trip planning - more maps!
Monday, 14 October 2013
Deep Freeze 2011 - Smokefox Lake
 |
| Smokefox Lake |
The plans for the 10th annual were settled upon and the
Nitro creek area was again our destination. The group all showed up at the
Sudbury station early Saturday morning only to find that the train was
cancelled! What to do? The group discussed options and plans evolved. One group
(9) consisting of the fathers and kids decided that the intermittent train availability wasn’t acceptable and
opted for heading to Killarney Provincial Park to camp for the week. The rest
of the group (23) decided to head north on Hwy 144 and strike out across
country via some lakes and trails to the Nitro Creek campsite and then use the Budd Car to get out
later in the week. Vehicles were left at
the Cartier train station in anticipation of the plan coming to fruition.
We headed north and headed west for Smokefox Lake for the
first night. We crossed the first pothole from the highway, busted a trail into
Sideburn Lake and headed for Smokefox. We found a trapper’s portage trail cleared
into Smokefox and we all found a place to setup for the evening. The plan was
to break a trail into Nitro creek the next day and take some of the heavier
supplies across as a group effort. Well, that worked and we cleared a trail
about ¾ of the way and stashed some supplies. Some of the group had planned on
attending on the Tuesday train and we found out through some satellite phone
messaging that the train was cancelled again due to mechanical problems. It was
decided that we would just stay at Smokefox Lake for the week, which turned out
to be a good call as the train didn’t run at all that week!
The Tuesday folks were all contacted and headed into
Smokefox and we carried on with on normal deep freeze activities of hiking, skiing,
ice fishing and socializing etc.
A celebratory party (with fireworks) in honour of 10 years
of “freezing” was held along with the “Dawg House’s” annual wine and cheese on
another evening.
All in all, another great trip with a great bunch of fellow
campers. We planned to again try using the Budd Car the following year so that
the families could also attend once again. It’s always great to have the kids
along learning new skills and helping to keep us all younger!
Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Oh well, s... happens!
Sometimes the best laid plans don't always work out like you envisioned them. I left for a solo trip with some forecasted inclement weather later in the day - rain and winds. Having tripped for many years I've developed a routine and set of gear that allows me to handle just about anything that I may encounter along the way. I did do something a bit different for this trip in using a 2 part pack system (clip together to portage, separate for packing fore and aft in the canoe) that I have, rather than my usual canoe pack and small barrel. With some judicious meal planning and dehydration prep, tight portion control and ruthless winnowing of nice to have stuff, I managed to pack everything for an 8 day trip in the 2 bags using a 20 litre olive barrel for the food - game on!!
Jan dropped me off in overcast conditions and I quickly headed off. Well the weather turned out to be somewhat more severe than forecasted and over the course of the next 5 hours I was thoroughly soaked to the core in spite of full rain gear and the wind switched to out of the north, precipitating a sharp temperature decrease. It was raining so hard that I needed to stop twice in a little over an hour's time to drain about an inch of water out of the canoe. Needless to say, my pack system was sodden and a fair bit heavier than when I started out.
I stopped earlier and one lake sooner to get under cover and change into dry clothing etc. Set up the tarp, gathered a bunch of small wet wood, got my twig stove going and brewed a welcome pot of tea and then a hearty pasta based supper. The rain petered out around 6:30 pm and I got about setting up my hammock for the evening. This is when I discovered that 2 of my dry bags aren't as dry as they used to be! I always pack the essentials in dry bags (sleeping bag/mattress, clothes, hammock etc) which in turn are packed in an Ostrom dry bag pack liner which has never failed despite enduring monsoonal rains or the occasional dump in a rapid etc on trips. However, since I was using my smaller 2 part system (each bag is about 35 litres) I used separate dry bags for different things this time without a pack liner. I found a fairly large wet spot on my down sleeping bag and the hammock was also damp in it's dry bag. Not much I could do about it other than make the best of it for the night and dry out things the next day, a bit of a pain in the butt but easily remedied.
The other foul up revolved around my sat phone. I am out in the bush camping, canoeing and hiking upwards of 40 - 50 nights/year in fairly remote areas and often solo. Jan worries about me injuring myself etc and we've developed a system using my sat phone to allow her to track my progress and ease her concerns. I am much more conservative when tripping alone than I might be with someone else but as we all know, shit happens, dump the canoe and lose gear, slip and fall injuring myself etc. I use an Inmarsat phone that has a built in GPS that allows me to send a location daily via a text message in the evening and Jan follows my progress on a map and all is well. So, the thing about using technology is it's great when it works and not so great when it doesn't. I did my usual routine and fired up the phone, locked on the system and the phone generated my GPS location and I hit send - sorry, network failure, message not delivered, sent to draft! OK, tried it again, same result, tried both a text and email message which is our main method of communication rather than the considerably more expensive voice option, with the same result. So, dial up and phone home which is when I got the message from the provider that my account had expired - Doh! It turned out it was not the end of September expiration date on my card as I thought but the beginning of the month. Oops, no remedy for this one as I use prepaid minutes and if you don't roll them over with a renewal before expiration you get to start over.
So, I'd gone from cold and wet to dry and warm to a wet sleeping system with the temps headed for freezing and a partner at home wondering why I hadn't checked in, life is good usually but sometimes the odd complication creeps in! Jan and I have an understanding should something go south on one of my trips if I haven't checked in, she will wait till for 2 missed evening communications and then call out the dogs as the deal is at that point something has probably happened. I awoke to a hard frost, and a stiff north wind but no rain and the promise of sun later in the morning. My sleeping bag was considerably wetter from my generated body heat and sweat and in a perfect world I would have just laid over for the day and dried out before continuing as except, for the phone, all was fine. I packed up and headed back south to a cottage lake hoping to find someone with some sort of phone service to alert Jan to the situation before she the set the dogs loose! If this option didn't work I would head down to the Kukagami Lake road and walk over to Sportsman Lodge where there is a phone. Long story short I managed to find a very generous couple on Matagamasi Lake with an internet phone system late in the afternoon. I phoned Jan and she picked me up a couple hours later.
Ah well, live and learn. I'm lucky to be able to indulge in my outdoor interests all year long and the sat phone has become an integral part allowing everyone a level of comfort and safety while I'm out there pursuing my passion for the outdoors. I checked my providers website this morning and low and behold they now are offering an automatic recharge option on the prepaid cards. Now that is a great Sid option as I'll never turn that sucker on again and get the "your account has expired" message again!! Now to unpack and dry everything out while I wait for my account to be recharged so I can finish what I started :-)
Post script: I spent an enjoyable few hours chatting with the older couple who lent me their phone. We discussed the history of the area (Chiniguchi area, Matagamasi Lake in particular), remote phone service - they live off the grid and our kids. Turns out one of their sons married the daughter of folks we knew when we lived in Thunder Bay in the early 1980's. It's a small world sometimes, after all what are the chances of anyone canoeing up to a remote cottage and finding out that you have some mutual acquaintances!
Jan dropped me off in overcast conditions and I quickly headed off. Well the weather turned out to be somewhat more severe than forecasted and over the course of the next 5 hours I was thoroughly soaked to the core in spite of full rain gear and the wind switched to out of the north, precipitating a sharp temperature decrease. It was raining so hard that I needed to stop twice in a little over an hour's time to drain about an inch of water out of the canoe. Needless to say, my pack system was sodden and a fair bit heavier than when I started out.
 |
| Rain on Matagamasi Lk. |
I stopped earlier and one lake sooner to get under cover and change into dry clothing etc. Set up the tarp, gathered a bunch of small wet wood, got my twig stove going and brewed a welcome pot of tea and then a hearty pasta based supper. The rain petered out around 6:30 pm and I got about setting up my hammock for the evening. This is when I discovered that 2 of my dry bags aren't as dry as they used to be! I always pack the essentials in dry bags (sleeping bag/mattress, clothes, hammock etc) which in turn are packed in an Ostrom dry bag pack liner which has never failed despite enduring monsoonal rains or the occasional dump in a rapid etc on trips. However, since I was using my smaller 2 part system (each bag is about 35 litres) I used separate dry bags for different things this time without a pack liner. I found a fairly large wet spot on my down sleeping bag and the hammock was also damp in it's dry bag. Not much I could do about it other than make the best of it for the night and dry out things the next day, a bit of a pain in the butt but easily remedied.
 |
| Under cover and beginning to dry out! |
The other foul up revolved around my sat phone. I am out in the bush camping, canoeing and hiking upwards of 40 - 50 nights/year in fairly remote areas and often solo. Jan worries about me injuring myself etc and we've developed a system using my sat phone to allow her to track my progress and ease her concerns. I am much more conservative when tripping alone than I might be with someone else but as we all know, shit happens, dump the canoe and lose gear, slip and fall injuring myself etc. I use an Inmarsat phone that has a built in GPS that allows me to send a location daily via a text message in the evening and Jan follows my progress on a map and all is well. So, the thing about using technology is it's great when it works and not so great when it doesn't. I did my usual routine and fired up the phone, locked on the system and the phone generated my GPS location and I hit send - sorry, network failure, message not delivered, sent to draft! OK, tried it again, same result, tried both a text and email message which is our main method of communication rather than the considerably more expensive voice option, with the same result. So, dial up and phone home which is when I got the message from the provider that my account had expired - Doh! It turned out it was not the end of September expiration date on my card as I thought but the beginning of the month. Oops, no remedy for this one as I use prepaid minutes and if you don't roll them over with a renewal before expiration you get to start over.
So, I'd gone from cold and wet to dry and warm to a wet sleeping system with the temps headed for freezing and a partner at home wondering why I hadn't checked in, life is good usually but sometimes the odd complication creeps in! Jan and I have an understanding should something go south on one of my trips if I haven't checked in, she will wait till for 2 missed evening communications and then call out the dogs as the deal is at that point something has probably happened. I awoke to a hard frost, and a stiff north wind but no rain and the promise of sun later in the morning. My sleeping bag was considerably wetter from my generated body heat and sweat and in a perfect world I would have just laid over for the day and dried out before continuing as except, for the phone, all was fine. I packed up and headed back south to a cottage lake hoping to find someone with some sort of phone service to alert Jan to the situation before she the set the dogs loose! If this option didn't work I would head down to the Kukagami Lake road and walk over to Sportsman Lodge where there is a phone. Long story short I managed to find a very generous couple on Matagamasi Lake with an internet phone system late in the afternoon. I phoned Jan and she picked me up a couple hours later.
Ah well, live and learn. I'm lucky to be able to indulge in my outdoor interests all year long and the sat phone has become an integral part allowing everyone a level of comfort and safety while I'm out there pursuing my passion for the outdoors. I checked my providers website this morning and low and behold they now are offering an automatic recharge option on the prepaid cards. Now that is a great Sid option as I'll never turn that sucker on again and get the "your account has expired" message again!! Now to unpack and dry everything out while I wait for my account to be recharged so I can finish what I started :-)
Post script: I spent an enjoyable few hours chatting with the older couple who lent me their phone. We discussed the history of the area (Chiniguchi area, Matagamasi Lake in particular), remote phone service - they live off the grid and our kids. Turns out one of their sons married the daughter of folks we knew when we lived in Thunder Bay in the early 1980's. It's a small world sometimes, after all what are the chances of anyone canoeing up to a remote cottage and finding out that you have some mutual acquaintances!
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