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Algonquin Provincial Park -- August 2010

In August 2010, we mounted our largest ever group trip to Algonquin with a total of 20 people all heading out together for an amazing weekend of wilderness.

Travel to Ottawa

This year both Matt and Mike joined us on the canoe trip so I rented a car to get the three of us to Ottawa. My mom brought Mike and Matt to my apartment from London and Burlington respectively, along with a pile of snacks to keep us fed on the long drive to Ottawa. It was a great day for driving, dry and clear and we made great time. The only issue was that Hertz didn't have the car I reserved and so I had to take a different one. I went through the whole "but I have a reservation" spiel but to no avail. They just kept telling me they didn't have the type of car I wanted. One day I'd like to learn how car rental reservations work such that they can not have your car.

We arrived at the Williams's to an extremely full house, almost everyone was already there and helping prepare for trip. Mike, Laura, Matt and I drove into the city to pick up Mike's sister Norma to join us for supper and we enjoyed beers and hamburgers and salads out on the deck. It was a pretty overwhelmingly large group of people but everyone helped and there were no problems getting everything sorted out.

Approach

We got up early this morning to do last minute packing and head to the park. Despite having 20 people and 2 dogs to coordinate, we managed to actually leave Ottawa ahead of schedule! It was pretty amazing. We stopped halfway at a Tim Horton's as usual and proceeded to Achray Lake without any difficulties. Driving with a canoe on your car is less than fun, but I enjoyed getting the car really dirty and abusing it a little given that Hertz was such a pain this time.

Given that we arrived so early, and that we had such a large number of people we did not have lunch at Achray before starting to canoe into the park. We wanted to get the campsites as soon as possible to try to make sure we could get ones that were close together. We made pretty good time over the lakes, stopping briefly along the way to eat. Once on St. Andrew's lake we managed to get two gigantic sites right beside each other. Technically we had reserved three sites but we didn't need them due to the size of the ones we found. We split up into two groups, the older people and the younger people, with all of the cooking and other communal stuff run from the older people camp site.

After a swim to cool down, we convened at the primary site to gather firewood and start preparing supper. Laura and I took care of the fire and cooking the steaks and veggies. Supper was amazing as ever and in addition to wine we also brought beer this time. Delicious delicious beer. We brought a small keg of Creemore and a small keg of Keith's. It wasn't very cold, but it was still nice to have with supper. Also, new this year was a pair of guitars. Mike and Daniel played for us after supper and we all sang along. I'm sure we must have been the noisiest site on the lake, but we got no complaints.

As it got dark we relaxed around the fire and also out on the beach watching the stars and listening to Anthony play more guitar, including choice selections from Flight of the Conchords.

Launch site at Achray lake
Launch site at Achray lake
Um...no comment
Um...no comment
Loons on the lake
Loons on the lake
Middle-eastern Matt
Middle-eastern Matt
Aunt Joanne and Uncle Lloyd
Aunt Joanne and Uncle Lloyd
Matt at the lunch stop
Matt at the lunch stop
Victoria and Jess at the lunch stop
Victoria and Jess at the lunch stop
Me and my awesome sun hat
Me and my awesome sun hat
Building the firepit
Building the firepit
Getting the fire going
Getting the fire going
Kurtis posing with his wood and his axe
Kurtis posing with his wood and his axe
Matt and Anthony preparing some firewood
Matt and Anthony preparing some firewood
Mike and I
Mike and I
Chopping potatoes for supper
Chopping potatoes for supper
Kurtis and Matt chopping wood
Kurtis and Matt chopping wood
Mike chopping wood
Mike chopping wood
Aunt Joanne and my mom
Aunt Joanne and my mom
Laura in the sun while Dave reads out hockey stats from old Olympics
Laura in the sun while Dave reads out hockey stats from old Olympics
Me, mom, Matt (in order of blurriness)
Me, mom, Matt (in order of blurriness)
Daniel and Mike playing guitar
Daniel and Mike playing guitar
Awesome god-rays while we wait for supper to cook
Awesome god-rays while we wait for supper to cook
Laura and I cooking supper
Laura and I cooking supper
Mirror-like lake, with a beer buoy in the middle
Mirror-like lake, with a beer buoy in the middle
Preparing the steaks to go on the fire
Preparing the steaks to go on the fire
Time for beer!
Time for beer!
Enjoying supper
Enjoying supper
Siblings with funny faces
Siblings with funny faces
No idea what was happening here but clearly we're having a good time
No idea what was happening here but clearly we're having a good time
Anthony chopping wood. So many axes
Anthony chopping wood. So many axes
Judy, Pat and Laura chatting around the fire
Judy, Pat and Laura chatting around the fire
The guitars
The guitars
Late night fire
Late night fire
Camping

This morning we got up and got the fire going to cook breakfast of sausage and scrambled eggs. The fire was super hot though and the sausages definitely had that charred on the outside, cold on the inside vibe going on. It was all good though and everyone was happy. We relaxed for a while in the sun, played with the dogs and then all the young people headed across the lake in canoes to go cliff jumping! Kurtis, recently back from Japan, had found a great place to jump from on a previous visit long ago. It was a cliff above deep water, between 10m and 12m tall. Not too high, but much higher than anything I had jumped from before. Eventually everyone who wanted to had jumped off and we even got some video on Mike's camera. I only went once as my entry to the water made me feel like my nose was being torn off. I guess I landed nose first? No permanent damage though and it was lots of fun.

Once we got back to the site we had some lunch and then headed back out again with more people to go swimming at High Falls. It was busier there than ever before but we still had a great time swimming and playing around.

Once we were done, we went back to the site and started the fire going again to cook the meatballs for the pasta for supper. We also chopped a ton of wood. It's much easier to handle some of those chores when there are a dozen people interested in chopping and gathering wood. We would go on to burn a lot of the wood over the evening in a great big roaring fire that was great for marshmallows and sitting around. We were still able to leave a healthy pile for the next group of people to use the site though. Before it got dark a bunch of people played Apples to Apples. I spent the time chatting with Matt, Matt and Anthony on the beach with the beer which was fun too.

The evening was just as lovely as the one before and we stayed up late singing and playing guitar.

Morning pants
Morning pants
Cooking the eggs on the fire
Cooking the eggs on the fire
Marty being chased by a loon
Marty being chased by a loon
Marty the dog
Marty the dog
Marty the dog
Marty the dog
Gracie and her silly little hat
Gracie and her silly little hat
Mike cliff jumping
Mike cliff jumping
Kurtis cliff jumping
Kurtis cliff jumping
Mike on top of the cliff
Mike on top of the cliff
Matt trying to get in his canoe from the water
Matt trying to get in his canoe from the water
Kurtis posing on top of the cliff
Kurtis posing on top of the cliff
Paddling to High Falls
Paddling to High Falls
Paddling to High Falls
Paddling to High Falls
Mike at the start of his flip at High Falls
Mike at the start of his flip at High Falls
Mike in the middle of his flip at High Falls
Mike in the middle of his flip at High Falls
Mike at the end of his flip at High Falls
Mike at the end of his flip at High Falls
Kurtis diving
Kurtis diving
Awesome scenery
Awesome scenery
Swimming
Swimming
Mike in the water
Mike in the water
Laura and I swimming
Laura and I swimming
Me going down the waterslide
Me going down the waterslide
Laura going down the waterslide
Laura going down the waterslide
Mike going down the waterslide
Mike going down the waterslide
Mike and Kurtis on the waterslide together
Mike and Kurtis on the waterslide together
Victoria and Jess on the waterslide
Victoria and Jess on the waterslide
Matt backwards on the waterslide
Matt backwards on the waterslide
Mike waterslide fail
Mike waterslide fail
Kurtis going backwards down the waterslide
Kurtis going backwards down the waterslide
Kurtis surfing down the waterslide
Kurtis surfing down the waterslide
Matt back at the campsite
Matt back at the campsite
Matt pointing at something
Matt pointing at something
Tending the fire
Tending the fire
Brotherly love
Brotherly love
Dave kissing it better
Dave kissing it better
Ladies around the fire
Ladies around the fire
Matt and Mike, thug-style
Matt and Mike, thug-style
Anthony chilling at the fire
Anthony chilling at the fire
Victoria and Jess at the fire
Victoria and Jess at the fire
Summary video of the trip
Exit

We were up early this morning to pack up and head out. Breakfast was just a simple bowl of oatmeal and leftover fruit and granola but it was still delicious as all food is when you're camping.

The paddle out was easy and we made great time. The trip was wonderful and over too soon, but the sandwiches and cold beer we had at the cars were delicious and most welcome. After we loaded up, about half of us drove back to Ottawa with a few brief stops to deal with the straps holding the canoe to my car.

Back in Ottawa we unpacked, cleaned up and had most enjoyable showers. Supper was lasagna, caesar salad, bread, beer and of course, ice cream cake! Most people left or went to bed pretty early, but Matt, Matt and Anthony and I stayed up late chatting about lots of stuff.

Sunrise
Sunrise
Getting ready to head out
Getting ready to head out
Paddling out
Paddling out
Lunch and beer back at the cars
Lunch and beer back at the cars
Freezie!
Freezie!
Beer and shades
Beer and shades
Our whole group
Our whole group
Matt and our ice cream cake back in Ottawa
Matt and our ice cream cake back in Ottawa
Travel to Toronto

This morning we helped Uncle Lloyd return the canoes to the rental place and then Matt and I headed out for the long drive back to Toronto. Both my mom and Mike were staying in Ottawa. Matt and I made good time and had no difficulties with the drive. I dropped Matt back in Burlington then went back downtown and started my laundry and clean up. It was an amazing trip and I wish it could have lasted longer.