Restarting Adventure

The forecasted overnight storms didn’t materialize, and after a good night sleep we woke to sunny skies, cooler temperatures and a better attitude. We made coffee and took it with us for an early morning wander before the temperatures got out of control. I know that home has been experiencing a ridiculous heatwave, but it now appears to have found us! We found the fen, a boardwalk trail that we had hiked when we were here before. A fen is a unique wetland in that it gets its water from underground. It is nutrient rich allowing for peat formation. The boardwalk is necessary for exploring here, but it also makes a nice easy hike. We enjoyed it so much we decided we would start each day here with this stroll while we enjoy our coffee! It was only 9:30 by the time we arrived back at the trailer longing for A/C! A beautiful walk in the early morning light Cotton grass is a very common fen plant The pitcher plants had me humming along to Little Shop of Horrors I have never seen so much Lab...

Leaving Quetico today was a little disappointing. The park was such a tranquil spot that I could have happily stayed longer. Admittedly the mosquitos were vicious, and some of the trails were in need of grooming, but the park felt like an untouched piece of wilderness and the peaceful solitude was good for the soul. Our trip to Blue Lake Provincial Park was uneventful. The roads were a bit rough, but the fact that, for the most part, we had them to ourselves, allowed us to travel stress free. In an interesting little twist, we met up with Jenna’s Aunt and Uncle in a parking lot in Dryden. They are travelling from their home in Hanover to visit their son in Alberta, and Dryden is where our paths met. Linda and Brian are lovely, and it broke up the travel to stop for a little visit along the way. Arriving in Blue Lake to a very humid 29° admittedly did not get me off on the right foot but a poorly organized entry (they couldn’t find Jonathan’s site on their map – because it’s wrong!!)...

 Just another day in paradise! The storms came in last night as promised, and it rained most of the night. This morning was dull and gray, but the rain had stopped and there was a promise of blue skies as the day progressed. We all decided to stick together again today and try the Pickerel River Trail and surrounding area. Good choice! With the promise of clearer skies today, and the possibility of seeing the Bootid Meteor Shower tonight, we were also looking for a good place to view the night sky. We found both! The Visitor Centre is the start of the Pickerel River Trail, and he has a big open parking lot area not easily found in this wilderness park. More about stars later! The trail is, for the most part, a boardwalk trail along the Pickerel River. It is also part of the Trans Canada Trail. We have hiked on the Trans Canada Trail many times, in every province, but it never ceases to amaze just how incredibly different the sections of this trail are from sea to sea. With the ...

 We awoke this morning to glorious sunshine and a beauty of a day. It really was the first time since we started on this trip that we were compelled to go outside with our morning coffee. This morning there no way to keep me inside.   David makes delicious camping oatmeal  Our pet chipmunk! I saw an online cartoon. It was a chipmunk and a rat chatting, and the rat was asking the chipmunk, "Who does your PR?" After a lovely, gentle start, with a warm welcome from local woodland creatures including our pet chipmunk (and no we are NOT feeding him) and sparrow, cedar waxwings, robins, and countless other birds, but not many mosquitos, we decided to try another hike. We separated from Jonathan and Jenna today as they wanted a little more adventure and we still have some of David’s lingering side-effects to consider. That sounds like we may not have been able to enjoy our ventures quite as much as Jonathan and Jenna. As it turned out, it was quite the opposite – we scored b...