Barking Space

Please be patient with this one. It’s a bit long and image intensive. Hopefully it’s worth it…

Base Camp

The first evening was pretty uneventful. Dennis and Lorraine were pretty knackered and had to take care of Farley the dog (who had the trots earlier on because of excitement), so they opted to stay at their site across the water (about a ten minute paddle away).

We got our fire going, and Natlie prepared our steaks (which Tien and I picked up from St. Lawrence Market earlier that week). It was a nice dinner, which was accompanied by various forms of mixers.

Mmmm…Meaty*…
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The Drink of Champions

Camping in the interior is a tricky affair when it comes to alcohol. You are not allowed to bring cans or glass bottles with you, so you have to be creative.

Usually we bring rum or vodka** in Nalgene bottles. We’ll mix this alcohol with some drink crystals and lake water to make coolers.

It sounds pretty lightweight, but considering that the ratio of alcohol to everything else increases as the night goes on, it is pretty effective.

Refreshments***.
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Cue Music, Maestro

As the evening progressed, we broke out the guitar. Yes, we brought a guitar. Last year in a canoeing magazine, I found an ad for a guitar made my Martin specifically designed for backpacking. It has a full-length neck, but the body size is greatly reduced. This obviously takes away from the full-bodied sound of a normal acoustic guitar, but it increases the structural integrity and reduces the weight.

I managed to find a knock-off for about one tenth the price and bought that one. It sounded pretty good in the wilderness, I must say. Before the trip, Dave and I talked about learning a whole bunch of songs to play around the campfire.

Of course, this never happened.

Instead, we fumbled our way through whatever we decided to play, our powerful vocals trailing off after the second or third line, only to be replaced with sloppy chord work and mumbled lyrics.

The night before, on Tea Lake, Isha made a comment involving the Juicy Fruit song. Dave was kind enough to play his version of that, and it became the song of the weekend.

God have mercy on our souls.

Artsy Dave rockin’ out.
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In the Forest the Lion Sleeps Tonight

Brad’s voice crackled over the walkie-talkie informing us that he and Phung were around the corner.

True to his word, they arrived shortly after and went over to the other site to set up their tent before coming back to spend some time with us.

It was a quiet evening, filled with music, drinking and laughs. Brad and Phung left for their site, paddling back under a beautiful moonlit sky.

The rest of us hit the hay at midnight or so.

And for the record, everyone snored at some point. Not just me..

This is what you could see at night****.
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A New Day Dawns

Remember how I mentioned that I tend to wake up before everyone else?

I do that so I can have the morning all to myself…

For more information about the photographs, check out Figtography.
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The Sting of Defeat…er…The Heat?

Mrs. J and Dave had some problems that started the day before with a hap-hazard application of sunscreen.

Mrs. J had a painful burn just below her collarbone, while Dave’s leg was doing an impression of Two Face from Batman.

While it was apparent on the day it happened (Friday), it was much more obvious the next day. Glaringly obvious.

Here are some images that started out as a demonstration of Dave’s burn, but turned into the worst album cover of all time…

This started as a way to show
how red Dave’s leg was****.
I don’t know what happened****.
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Things to Do…

When you’re camping in the middle of nowhere, you have to make your own fun. Here is a list of things to do in picture format. It allows me to be lazy by glossing over the weekend with a photo montage. Click any photo if you would like to see a bigger version…

Things I Learned This Year

Every year I learn a few new things when I go camping. This year was no exception…

• I thought I could sweeten some Nescafe instant coffee (that Dave brought along) with some Apple Rum. No go. It tasted disgusting. My face registered as much, even though I was trying to look like I was enjoying it. Dave named the drink Bull Sack.
• If you ever wondered who would win in a fight between a Great Blue Heron and a Snapping Turtle…

  
  Fatality*******.
  Click to enlarge…

• Dave created what he thought was a new drink, called Vodka Water. Guess what it’s made out of? Dave insists it is the best thing ever. You know what? It’s not.
• Euchre is tiring.
• Bacon is the food of the gods…

  
  Myself* and Phung**** getting our Bacon Mojo on.
  Click to enlarge…

• Throwing knives at logs (not trees) is stupid when the knives are black and the dirt under the leaves on the ground is also pretty dark. It’s a good thing Dave lost his own knives. I would have felt guilty if I lost them. Maybe.
• Inukshuk construction in the Park is still wrong********…

  
  Nat. Bane of Inukshuks in 2006*******.
  Click to enlarge…

Fin

It was a great trip.

With the exception of needing two sites and the hellish paddle back, everything went really well. We all had a great time and it left us looking forward to next year’s trip.

I had a really good run of photos, some of which will make it into the photo blog. The strangest one by far was this one…

I was a little but tipsy when I did this.
However, it turned out as expected.
And no, that’s not actually Dave, it’s me.
Click to enlarge…

There were so many great pictures and memories.

That’s what happens when you have great friends. You can rest assured that no matter what the weather is, you will always be in the company of wonderful people…

Our motley crew.
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For more camping goodness, you can check out Dave’s Version.

* – Photo courtesy of Isha.
** – Of course Jägermeister is always a staple as well. We just don’t need to mix it with anything.
*** – Just so you know, other than the flask, everything is plastic. Please don’t bring glass or cans into the interior.
**** – Photo courtesy of Dennis.
***** – Photo courtesy of Mrs. Jorge.
****** – Photo courtesy of Lorraine.
******* – Photo courtesy of Brad.
******** – Inukshuks are not part of the natural landscape of Algonquin. The local native population has never used them. They are used elsewhere, though (up North). In Algonquin Park they are the equivalent of gaudy billboards. They are also quite hazardous when precariously perched on rock formations adjacent to Highway 60. For these two reasons they should be destroyed, and the rocks that they were built with should be spread about to make it inconvenient to attempt another Inukshuk…

Filed under: Anecdotes, Friends, Special Events | 20 Comments »