Training Log Archive: Bash

Algonquin Park canoe trip - Day 1

'Bent, BulletDog and I headed into the backcountry for a week of peace and relaxation. Well, sort of. We both have races coming up so we planned to do some training, but there was plenty of time for swimming (which doesn't count as training at our skill level), reading, listening to podcasts and just admiring the view.



We were going to revisit some of the lakes we paddled on our honeymoon 15 years ago in September. We weren't adventure racers then but we were definitely canoeists. We travelled about 9 hours each day and did 37 portages in 5 days, ranging from a hundred meters to several kilometers. This time we were planning a lighter schedule. After all, BulletDog was with us and we didn't want to be cruel to animals.

We put in at Canoe Lake, one of the busiest access points in the park on the Friday before the long August weekend. Really good thinking, Bash. Naturally, the beach was packed but it was still beautiful. (I didn't start taking photos till we were past the main crowd.)



We got out on the water along with lots of others. Many canoes were fishtailing up the lake with three people flinging their paddles frantically from one side to the other. I couldn't suppress my inner racer and every time we passed a boat (which was often because we were paddling hard), I caught myself thinking, "Ha! There's another coed team." There were boats with coolers and folding chairs, boats with 20-something guys who yelled constantly about nothing just to hear their own voices, and paddlers of both sexes who were exposing far too much skin on a sunny day and would regret it when they portaged tomorrow.

Instead of being turned off by the crowd, I had a feeling of camaraderie since we were all (or mostly) Canadians who had chosen to spend our holiday weekend in a canoe. So in spite of how different we might have seemed from one another in some ways, we had something fundamental in common that brought us all together from different walks of life.

Eventually, we moved away from the crowds.



Joe Lake.





The canoe campsite on Joe Lake where we got married in front of 100 friends and family members, most of them sitting on their PFDs.



Our trip from this point on was going to be a loop that would return to our wedding campsite after 6 days, then we'd head back to Canoe Lake.

BulletDog was an excellent canoe trip companion.



We headed up to Tom Thomson Lake then portaged into Ink Lake. I once read in a backpacking guide that a woman should never carry more than 25% of her body weight in her backpack, and a man should carry a maximum of 30%. Using that rule, we would both need to weigh 360 lb to get all our stuff over the portage in one trip! I carried 90 lb on the first day before we started eating the food. The Ink Lake portage is a tough, rocky, rolling 2.3 km slog and I decided to count portaging as CrossFit-type strength training instead of mere "trekking".

This photo shows my "short, lazy" portage method. For longer portages, I attached everything to the big pack. I can only do one rep of flinging 90 lb onto my back, so it's risky. If it had ever backfired, I would have needed to rest a minute before trying again - although I'd probably have wrecked myself on the first try.



'Bent had about 110 lb including the canoe. Not much fun but we have an inviolable "1-trip portage" rule, sort of like the K2 Rule in Hamilton.



We followed the creek into McIntosh Lake for our first night.



There was a stiff breeze with weird clouds so we grabbed one of the first open campsites we found in case a storm came in.



After dinner, we used some of our precious duct tape to repair our wine. I'd been pleased to find 1L tetrapaks of wine as a luxury item - white for 'Bent and red for me. What I didn't realize is that tetrapaks disintegrate when they get wet, so it was an ongoing battle to preserve the remaining wine. We both lost wine that ran out into our packs over the first two days. It was so frustrating to have to ration myself to a small daily glass when I could smell red wine on everything in my backpack - even the toilet paper! The silver lining is that the wine wasn't very good. And here I would have expected that only the finest vintage would be put into a tetrapak.



The storm didn't come but the west wind kept blowing into the evening and the clouds remained unusual - also very beautiful.





The clouds grew quickly and we witnessed a wild type of weather phenomenon, maybe a gust front. In less than a minute, we went from a stiff breeze from the west to a strong wind blowing from the east. We ran around camp making sure that nothing could blow away. Blackness fell around us as the wall of dark cloud moved across the sky leaving only a little strip of clear sky.



We went to our tent, expecting a thunderstorm to follow since we'd seen some lightning. I had a bad feeling about the strong wind and told 'Bent I wanted to move the tent over a few meters. I didn't like the look of the white pine above us. 'Bent extolled its virtues, pointing out its obvious health and greenery, but I couldn't shake the thought and invoked the "square dance rule". 'Bent agreed to move the tent. This rule in our marriage dates back to the time when we arrived at a community hall for a reunion that included a square dance. As a structural engineer, as soon as I walked into the place, I felt uncomfortable about its structural soundness and the plan to hold a square dance there. 'Bent thought I was being silly - until the floor collapsed during a group photo long before the dancing began. Ever since then, he is more inclined to go along with my instincts, even when he thinks I'm overreacting.

We took out all the tent pegs and started to slide the tent over with all the gear inside. As we did this, I was hit by a small branch that stung more than I would have expected. The process was awkward and slow, and we suddenly heard a huge crack from the tree above. Aaackkk!! We yelled in the darkness, encouraging BulletDog and each other to run away. A huge, deadly branch crashed down a few meters away. We pegged the tent down in its new location but didn't want to go in yet. We stood near smaller trees for a few minutes until the wind faded a little. Then we went into the tent where I couldn't fall asleep for awhile. Ahhh, sweet, relaxing vacation.

Here's the branch when we checked it out near our tent the next morning. Ouch. Yes, that is my "I told you so" look.

How does this always happen...? Up after 3 a.m. packing for canoe trip and cleaning for house sitter. Turns out a week's worth of food weighs a heck of a lot! Who needs strength training when I'm going to be portaging 437 lb for 20 km? Looking forward to it anyway! I'm off the Internet till Thurs. night. Catch you on the other side.