- Joined
- Feb 28, 2007
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This weekend a buddy and I went off on a scouting trip to some Crownland in Eastern Ontario. Friday was sunny with an overnight low of -6oC. Saturday it hovered just above freezing all day and we saw lots of rain in the morning which turned into little pieces of hail and then back to solid rain that last through most of the night. Overall 32 cm of rain fell that night coupled with just above freezing temperatures at night. It was a challenge staying dry and warm. Still the countryside was gorgeous and we learned a bit about the lay of the land which will make the next camping trip to this area more efficient. We'll definitely be returning to this spot!
On the way in we were greeted by a red squirrel and an owl...A good omen
Lots of beaver there and we had quite a few angry tail slaps at the waters edge near our base camp.
One of the beaver ponds...
Overlooking Norway Lake where we set up our basecamp. Our intention was to hike to and camp out at Bearlake but we couldn't make it that far. After a 7.5 h drive beginning at 5:30 am, it took us 4 h hiking with our full packs on to get to Norway and that was as far as our legs and will would take us. The next morning we went on to Bear Lake and scoped it out but returned for the night at our basecamp on Norway Lake.
Some bear scat along the way..
This is the fine looking Brian Andrews hybrid knife - its a terrasaur handle married to his bushcrafter blade in full flat. This is a killer knife. I'll get up a few review up of it in the gear forum later!
Joe setting up his tripod bushchair
Still ice to be found here and there in the heavy cover parts of the bush.
Some chaga
We found our way to Bear Lake the next morning after a very sound sleep. I'm pretty sure if a carnivore started gnawing my legs off I wouldn't have woke up. Then as we found bear lake, we came across this crapper chair. Joe was quite pleased once he figured out its purpose.
Some groovy moss
A final shot of happy Joe before he became wet, cold and miserable Joe...
Part of Bear Lake
Carving a spoon with my new knife. This thing has the perfect handles for my hand. I just love it!
Found a deer skull and decided to haul it out.
The final road back complete with big puddles to jump (or swim through)...
The full video is linked below. It was a lot of fun. However, the rain/wet/hail conditions made things difficult. I was glad I packed as much as I did and anticipating the conditions, I used pretty much everything in my pack. The spare tarp to put over the fire area was a godsend. I think we would have went out of our minds on Sat. if we couldn't sit by a fire and do some wood carving to whittle the time away until bed time.
[youtube]_qdPa-ijWS4[/youtube]
On the way in we were greeted by a red squirrel and an owl...A good omen
Lots of beaver there and we had quite a few angry tail slaps at the waters edge near our base camp.
One of the beaver ponds...
Overlooking Norway Lake where we set up our basecamp. Our intention was to hike to and camp out at Bearlake but we couldn't make it that far. After a 7.5 h drive beginning at 5:30 am, it took us 4 h hiking with our full packs on to get to Norway and that was as far as our legs and will would take us. The next morning we went on to Bear Lake and scoped it out but returned for the night at our basecamp on Norway Lake.
Some bear scat along the way..
This is the fine looking Brian Andrews hybrid knife - its a terrasaur handle married to his bushcrafter blade in full flat. This is a killer knife. I'll get up a few review up of it in the gear forum later!
Joe setting up his tripod bushchair
Still ice to be found here and there in the heavy cover parts of the bush.
Some chaga
We found our way to Bear Lake the next morning after a very sound sleep. I'm pretty sure if a carnivore started gnawing my legs off I wouldn't have woke up. Then as we found bear lake, we came across this crapper chair. Joe was quite pleased once he figured out its purpose.
Some groovy moss
A final shot of happy Joe before he became wet, cold and miserable Joe...
Part of Bear Lake
Carving a spoon with my new knife. This thing has the perfect handles for my hand. I just love it!
Found a deer skull and decided to haul it out.
The final road back complete with big puddles to jump (or swim through)...
The full video is linked below. It was a lot of fun. However, the rain/wet/hail conditions made things difficult. I was glad I packed as much as I did and anticipating the conditions, I used pretty much everything in my pack. The spare tarp to put over the fire area was a godsend. I think we would have went out of our minds on Sat. if we couldn't sit by a fire and do some wood carving to whittle the time away until bed time.
[youtube]_qdPa-ijWS4[/youtube]
