South Central Algonquin

Last week I led a 3-day trip through south central Algonquin park. Talk about busy. I've never seen so many horrible paddlers who clearly had no idea how to A) pack and B) paddle in a straight line. It made for a few laughs though. It was a pretty slow trip though as we had a really late put in and a late pick up so killing time was the name of the game. The kids were a bit crazy so I wasn't that sad to see them go.

A water lily

A frog that I caught and then took a picture of. I really like this one.

This was our first campsite on Burnt Island Lake. Nothing too spectacular here.

I always think this is cool, when a tree grows out of another dead tree.

A water lily again with a canoe in the background.

"Alright kids, family portrait."

Terry's wedding & stuff

I went to my best friend's from highschool's wedding last Saturday. I must admit it was alot more fun than I had anticipated. On the way out of camp I saw a gorgeous sunset and it made me sad to think of when I'll actually be leaving for good. This place has been so good to me.



On the drive back up I took a small detour off the 400 to take a picture of this little cabin I have been meaning to photograph for years. It looks so nice perched on the top of a little hill.



I like the wheat field too

Obabika Loop 2007

Ok, so I did this trip when I was both 14 and 15. It really was what sparked my love of the outdoors and camping etc. So it was great to get back. I went out with 5 campers and one other staff member. The weather was generally cool and windy but most of the time the sun was out and the wind was at our backs which was great.


Over the 5 days we were out we saw a total of 62 loons give or take. At one point on Wakimika Lake we saw 15 at once! This one was sitting on the nest so I could get really close as I went by.


This truck was just off the lake by the Obabika Inlet on a really overgrown logging road.

I was lucky to be accompanied by two kids who loved to fish even more than me and seeing as how I caught a bunch of pike on this trip when I was 15 we were eager to get to the "promised lake" which I promised was full of dumb big pike. After and hour of nothing, just on our way out Henry locked into this beauty.


About and hour later up the river just above a beaver dam I was lucky enough to snag my own pike weighing in at 5 pounds 9 ounces. I think my scale is wrong....



Just before we got the tail end of a big storm. My tent withstood the wind all night. Why I consistently set it up on the very point of the campsite and then worry all night about it blowing away remains a mystery.




This was one of our "family portraits" gone wrong on Diamond Lake on day 3. That day we got to sail a few kilometers which is always nice.


The last evening delivered big wind and an absolutely stunning sunset. These pictures don't really do it justice.


On day 4 I didn't flip over my map until we had already started setting up camp so I didn't realize how far we still had to go for the pickup the next day but thanks to an early start and a HUGE tail wind we cruised towards the location with time to spare so we went on a hike along some trials of Temagami old growth. The red and white pines weren't impressively large in girth but what was stunning was that they didn't taper, they were like 5 or 6 ft across all the way to the top practically and the top was WAY up there.

It's on the way

i know, i need a new post desperately. it's in the works

Indiana Jones and the search for the golden key

This session's theme is Indiana Jones. Tonight in the story line Indy was captured in a huge net down at chapel point and was left dangling from a tree. Luckily Boys' Camp camp was alerted by Indy's assistant and proceeded on a night hike after snack equipped with torches to rescue him. You could hear aboriginals in the forest beating drums. The catacombs are near. We'll look for them tomorrow.

It was really cool to set that up. The program seems like it's really going to be amazing this summer. It's great to have Styles back. I got to play the indy soundtrack off my ipod speakers. it was great to have some sound track in the middle of the forest. (the speaker batteries seem to act up alot though. logitech mm50)

These pictures looked way cooler on my other screen.

A memorial plaque for Mike "BAM" Flemming. The memorial service for him and another staff member who died was really sad. I didn't know Mike that well but he was a great kid!