There and Back Again

Well, I survived the interior trip and live to smile about it - it was an awesome trip.

Day One Adventures: We put in on Rain Lake (not aptly named as we had no rain) around 8 a.m. and enjoyed a liesurly paddle down the long and skinny lake, it was still like glass. The first few portages weren't that bad, they did start to get really muddy though from the thunderstorm the day before. Kurt was so glad we rented a canoe that only wieghs 44 lbs!



I was glad they were short as we had to do each one twice to carry our gear. We made it across Sawyer, Jubilee, and Jaun lakes until we arrived at our campsite on Mocassin Lake. We were the only people camping here and it was so peaceful to just sit and listen to the loons and watch the beavers swim by. We set up camp, made a successful bear hang and decided to go for a paddle around the lake. Being the genius that I am I decide it would be a great idea to pump our water while Kurt paddled. So I dutifully filled our nalgene and began to remove the pump. It was not easy. Finally I was able to remove it when it when it went flying out of my hand and splashed into the lake, quickly sinking to the bottom never to return. I began to cry for two reasons; 1. how were we supposed to get drinking water? 2. the pump was not ours, but borrowed from Kurt's parents. After my short panic attack I realized we could of course boil our drinking water (we brought lots of extra fuel) and that Kurt's parents were not going to get upset with me. After calming down with a mug of hot chocolate I was able to enjoy the rest of my evening!




Day Two Adventures: Got up early, packed up, and began our trek to Misty Lake. This took us across Bandit, Wenona, and Muslim Lake. The last portage was over 1k and was muddy and hilly. Needless to say it was challenging and we were glad to finally see Mistly lake through the clearing at the end of the trail.






We found an awesome site on an island all to ourselves. We found other campers across the lake that would let us use their water pump so that we wouldn't have to boil all of ours and could save feul (we rewarded these kind people with candy we had brought on the trip). But the best part was we saw two moose. First we saw a cow because every canoe that came on our lake headed over to this one area, and the moose was just chilling. I guess this one liked the attention. But when we went for a sunset paddle, we saw a bull moose with huge antlers! He didn't let us get too close, which was okay with me!





Day Three Adventures: Today was our rest day, no new campsite to get to, so we decided to make pancakes. Kurt found blueberries nearby and made us blueberry pancakes! We took a day trip to Timberwolf Lake, saw another moose bringing our count up to three. It was hot and sunny all day, we took many opportunities to go for a swim! We found driftwood and Kurt made a huge fire that night.










Day Four Adventures: Got up early, packed up and headed to Daisy Lake. Faced our next long portage and began the first trip with our gear when we ran into a group that was heading back to get the rest of their gear. Kurt joked that they could carry our stuff back as well - I guess they took him seriously because we met them halfway on our return trip carrying our stuff for us! Once again we rewarded kindess with candy. We paddled Little Misty Lake and then the Petawawa River which was all windy and still, so cool in there. Got a soaker doing a lift over a beaver dam! Our last portage that took us to Daisy lake was really short and beside a gorgeous waterfall. We found a beatiful site, set up camp, swam, and took naps in the sun.





While we were watching the sunset that night, we heard something splashing on the other side of our campsite so we headed over to see a cow and her calf coming for supper. They were so close and we just watched them eating for about 20 min before they left through the back of our site and into the woods. We fell asleep listening to the wolves calling each other. Amazing end to a beautiful day.



Day Five Adventures: Homeward bound! I was nervous for this day becausee we had two portages that were over 1k, our longest yet. We paddled Daisy and successfully made through our first long portage. We did not see any bears, thankfully, on any of our portages because I kept singing, loudly, the "Going on a Bear Hunt" song to scare them away. We did see prints and scat though, which made me a little nervous. We paddled across Casey Lake and arrived at our last portage of the trip. It was downhill the whole way - yipee! Kurt made me rest at the end and he returned to get the last two packs. Then, I thought we would have an easy paddle back on Rain Lake to the put in. Unfortunately there was a strong headwind and we had to really work for it! We arrived at the car exhausted and ready to head home. But then the car wouldn't start! Luckily the warden who happened to be putting in there to do some trail repairs is also an expert on cars and got us on our way.




Sigh - strange to be back inside four walls again. Nice to have toilets and showers though.

We headed to Kingston to visit my family. Kurt enjoyed a water fight with Naomi while we waited for Peter and Devon to arrive.We also were able to catch some of Isaac's soccer tournament, and I was able to visit with Erin and see her PEI honemoon pics. Unfortunately Jonathan couldn't make it :(. It was awesome to see everyone but way too short and rushed of a visit!