So here we are, June 21st, Fathers Day, and the weather forecast is calling for rain. It's amazing how quickly the forecast changes. Less than 24 hours ago, they were calling for clear skies and a high of 27 - not so much now. Hopefully the change in the forecast will not interrupt many family plans.
For me it has not interrupted plan with Pops, but it has changed my plans to stain the fence. Hopefully the forecast will hold for the next few days and I can get it done after work.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Free Tree Program
Today we are going to pick up our free tree. The Trees, Reforestation and Environmental Enhancement (TREE) Program is a four year initiative that aims to enhance the City of Ottawa’s urban and rural forests through the planting of 100,000 trees between 2007 and 2010. The TREE Program empowers Ottawa residents, businesses, community groups and schools to participate in planting trees to enhance and maintain the city’s forest cover and combat climate change.
We're hoping to get a Japanese lilac and we'll plant it in the back yard. It will be the cornerstone of a new garden. This is a great program and we're glad that we are able to participate.
We're hoping to get a Japanese lilac and we'll plant it in the back yard. It will be the cornerstone of a new garden. This is a great program and we're glad that we are able to participate.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Ultimate Game #1
So tonight was game #1 of our ultimate season. We came quick out of the gates, but were not able to hold on to the lead for long. We ended up loosing the game 15-7. Damn wind - at times it was very difficult throwing a disc - near or far. All in all it was a good learning experience for the team and I predict that we will have a win under our belt within three weeks.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Victoria Day
The alarm went off at 830am on Victoria Day Monday. We didn't have to go work, instead we had a packed day scheduled hunting some caches out off of Corkstown Road in Nepean. We met with my parents at 10am and were on the walking trail by 1045. We found five caches before we broke for lunch. We ate at the nearest Tim Hortons on March Road. After a well deserved break, we headed back to the trailhead and finished off the afternoon with four more caches.
It was a great day with Kris and my parents. Nothing beats a nice day in the great outdoors!
It was a great day with Kris and my parents. Nothing beats a nice day in the great outdoors!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
A Successful Weekend
Well we made it back after a fun filed weekend in Algonquin park. We left the friendly confines of our homes at 5am on Friday. From there we stopped for a quick bite to eat at the Renfrew McDonalds. Their new coffee isn't that bad. We arrived at the Portage Store at Canoe Lake in Algonquin Park at approximately 8:30am. We really made great time driving up from Ottawa. We got our permit and rented two canoes (Kevlar - Expedition Canoes - 16ft) and were in the water via access point 5 (link to free map of canoe routes in Algonquin Park) by 9:30am.
We headed north to the 295 meter portage into Joe Lake. From there we continued on a North East route through Joe Lake past the Arowhon Pines Lodge and into Little Joe Lake. Once we crossed Little Joe Lake; we came to the 165 meter portage and into the creek that connects Little Joe Lake with Baby Joe Lake. At this point we arrived at our second last portage. Before entering and crossing this portage, we made a quick stop at the Lost Baby Joe's Cache (Algonquin Park) cache. We were the first people to find this cache since September 13, 2008. It was a nice way to break up the paddling. We traded a Canadian Geocaching patch for my first travel bug (ERIN).
Once our break was over, we entered the 435 meter portage; which consisted of rough terrain (mud, fallen trees; moose droppings and those pesky black flies). The portage finished with us reaching Baby Joe Lake - a nice and small lake. At the end of Baby Joe lake our final portage (200 meter) stood in our way before hitting our final destination; Burnt Island Lake. This lake is huge, we scouted out a few potential camp sites and settled in by 2pm with the 8th one in. If you count the sites from the south west end of the lake you will come to ours. It was the sight on the point looking back at where we entered the lake. A beautiful view of the sunset. We did some fishing and I caught the only fish - a nice sized speckled trout.
Saturday morning brought, clouds and cool weather. Once we had breakfast we headed out to find the Burnt Island Lake Cache. This cache was on an island within the bay we were camping in. The cache itself was a camouflage painted .30-cal ammo can; and the swag inside was dry as could be. We traded the ShakasFour Courners Benchmark Micro Geocoin#2 for the Purr-fect Geocoin, signed the log and placed the cache back where we found it. We were the first people to visit this cache since August 30, 2008. Once that was complete we began exploring other parts of the lake. We didn't get too far as the winds picked up and it was quite difficult moving around in such light canoes.
We headed back to camp and had lunch and that's when the rain started. It rained from noon to about 7pm and it got cold. Thankfully we brought multiple tarps and set one up under some trees to stay dry. We kept the fire going all afternoon and allowed us to keep warm as well. Once the rain stopped we had dinner and sat around the fire for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning brought some flurries as we were eating breakfast and packing up. Such a nice surprise. (sarcasm here). Once we were packed up we were in the water by 10:30am and heading back to access point #5 via the same route. Due to our key observation skills on the way up, we were able to shorten the time it took to get back to the portage store by entering the water once we got around the dams at the portages. The water level was quite high as compared to the fall. We were in the car on our way back to Ottawa by 1:45pm.
All in all it was a great weekend in the wild and I would recommend Algonquin interior camping to anyone who enjoys the outdoors.
We headed north to the 295 meter portage into Joe Lake. From there we continued on a North East route through Joe Lake past the Arowhon Pines Lodge and into Little Joe Lake. Once we crossed Little Joe Lake; we came to the 165 meter portage and into the creek that connects Little Joe Lake with Baby Joe Lake. At this point we arrived at our second last portage. Before entering and crossing this portage, we made a quick stop at the Lost Baby Joe's Cache (Algonquin Park) cache. We were the first people to find this cache since September 13, 2008. It was a nice way to break up the paddling. We traded a Canadian Geocaching patch for my first travel bug (ERIN).
Once our break was over, we entered the 435 meter portage; which consisted of rough terrain (mud, fallen trees; moose droppings and those pesky black flies). The portage finished with us reaching Baby Joe Lake - a nice and small lake. At the end of Baby Joe lake our final portage (200 meter) stood in our way before hitting our final destination; Burnt Island Lake. This lake is huge, we scouted out a few potential camp sites and settled in by 2pm with the 8th one in. If you count the sites from the south west end of the lake you will come to ours. It was the sight on the point looking back at where we entered the lake. A beautiful view of the sunset. We did some fishing and I caught the only fish - a nice sized speckled trout.
Saturday morning brought, clouds and cool weather. Once we had breakfast we headed out to find the Burnt Island Lake Cache. This cache was on an island within the bay we were camping in. The cache itself was a camouflage painted .30-cal ammo can; and the swag inside was dry as could be. We traded the ShakasFour Courners Benchmark Micro Geocoin#2 for the Purr-fect Geocoin, signed the log and placed the cache back where we found it. We were the first people to visit this cache since August 30, 2008. Once that was complete we began exploring other parts of the lake. We didn't get too far as the winds picked up and it was quite difficult moving around in such light canoes.
We headed back to camp and had lunch and that's when the rain started. It rained from noon to about 7pm and it got cold. Thankfully we brought multiple tarps and set one up under some trees to stay dry. We kept the fire going all afternoon and allowed us to keep warm as well. Once the rain stopped we had dinner and sat around the fire for the rest of the night.
Sunday morning brought some flurries as we were eating breakfast and packing up. Such a nice surprise. (sarcasm here). Once we were packed up we were in the water by 10:30am and heading back to access point #5 via the same route. Due to our key observation skills on the way up, we were able to shorten the time it took to get back to the portage store by entering the water once we got around the dams at the portages. The water level was quite high as compared to the fall. We were in the car on our way back to Ottawa by 1:45pm.
All in all it was a great weekend in the wild and I would recommend Algonquin interior camping to anyone who enjoys the outdoors.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Algonquin Park
So, the boys are heading to Algonquin park tomorrow morning. I'm all packed, the GPS is loaded with the maps. Were aiming to be on the road by 5am and in the water by 9am. We then hope to be at either Tom Thomson Lake or Burnt Island Lake. Our final destination will be dependant on how the first portage goes. If all goes well we'll head to Burnt Island Lake. If it's rough, we'll then head to Tom Thomson Lake. We'll spend Saturday exploring (fishing, geocaching, hiking and drinking) our destination and then head back to Ottawa on Sunday. Hopefully the weather guys are wrong (as usual) and there's no SNOW or rain.
An update will come on Sunday.
Cheers.
An update will come on Sunday.
Cheers.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
GPS, Geocaching and Camping
With the fun Kris and I have been having with geocaching, I went out and purchased a new toy. A Garmin GPSMAP 60CSx. It's allowed for us to bring two GPS units geocaching. I've been really impressed with the 60CSx - the accuracy can't be beat, it picks up satellites very quick. This appears to be a great purchase! This is a great GPS for hiking and off-road. If you want a GPS for route directions, then I would recommend the Garmin Nuvi series. A good test got the 60CSx will be this upcoming weekend where the boyz and I will be heading into the Algonquin park interior for some camping. I'll let you know how that goes.
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