Canoeing in the Massasauga Park, Ontario, July 15-22, 2011

Blog in Polish/blog po polsku: http://ontario-nature-polish.blogspot.com/2011/07/massasauga-on-2011.html
More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/sets/72157627573094734/with/6104393117/



It was our 5th canoe trip to the Massasauga Provincial Park and still not jaded, we were really looking forward to it! On July 15, 2011 we departed Toronto in the morning, stopped in MacTier, bought and broke some wine and soon arrived at Pete's Access Point.



After picking up and paying for our campsite permits, we drove to the ramp and unloaded our car. While doing so, a gentleman with two kids was getting his canoe and kayak out of the water. He showed us photos of two Massasauga Rattlesnakes that he spotted at night at his campsite—not a very common sight, as this species is quite rare and endangered. Once we loaded our canoe with the numerous pieces of our belongings, it (again!) attracted attention of some campers; one of them, upon seeing it, said, 'it's crazy! I did it once like that... and the canoe capsized!' Well, it has always been our problem, too much stuff, but we do want to camp in comfort and be prepared for every eventuality.



In 2010 our group had stayed on two campsites, 508 and 509 and we liked both of them; this year we booked campsite #508 for the first four nights of our trip (as apparently 509 is no longer reservable for reasons unknown to us and the reservation clerk) and expected five other people to share this campsite with us. It was located just next to the channel, yet unlike campsite number 507 on the other side of the channel entrance, this one was pretty well sheltered from the boat traffic by a rock formation, quite spacious and offering a nice view. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the campsite; the first thing we did was have a (still) cold beer. Catherine unpacked the canoe and I set up the new tent—we just bought Eureka's “El Capitan 3”, the same blue model I bought in 2006 (it developed a zipper problem), but this one came in green.



Once we were done, we went over the other side of the rock, sat down and observed entering and exiting the channel and enjoyed the sunset. Once it became dark, we started a campfire; probably all the campsites on the shores of Blackstone Harbour were occupied and we saw campfires and laud laughter of other campers. At about midnight I heard some splashing in the water, but did not see anything, so we got into the canoe and paddled about 10 meters offshore. The splashing was occurring everywhere around the canoe, we saw water rings, but despite using powerful flashlights, did not see anything. I was pretty sure it was garpikes, long and ancient fish, that made those splashes—if it's hot, they often swim just under the surface and stick out their long jaws out of the water from time to time.

Friday, July 16, 2011 was very hot a humid, so we decided to go for a swim. There was a scenic bay between campsites # 509 and 508, with a rocky island in the middle, so we swam to the island (it was very muddy and shallow and we could have probably walked on the bottom of the water) and laid down on the rock.



After a while we saw an aluminum houseboat coming out of the channel and parking just at our campsite—and saw a couple of people disembarking from it. Catherine shouted, “what are you doing on our campsite?”—and they yelled back, “we're your friends”. Well, it was of course Mike and his friends Barry and Janet—we expected them, albeit not arriving on a water taxi, but in a canoe! Soon, we swam back to the campsite and greeted them and their two dogs, Finn and Jack (yes, the latter dog's name was somehow a source of confusion, I never knew if they were calling me or the dog). Janet set up her tent, Barry and Mike slept in hammocks. Later they paddled to the Moon River Marina and got some cold beer; in the meantime Sue and Ian arrived and pitched their tent. Once we had fire, we grilled some food, I had several Polish sausages to share and we sat till probably midnight talking and enjoying the food, beer and wine.

On Saturday, July 16, 2011 we paddled to Moon Island, where the Moon Island Trail started. While the gang went for the hike, I was fishing from the dock, but soon it was so hot and sunny that I had to find a shaded place in the forest and red some magazines.



About two hours later they came back, tired and bitten by horse flies, but raving about the scenery. We were planning to paddle to the Moon River Falls, but due to the heat and humidity decided to paddle to the Moon River Marina, where we bought cold beer and had some ice cream outside and then returned to our campsite.



While leaving the marine, I caught a nice bass which we had for dinner this evening, after a lesson from one British friend on how to fillet it. Even though the park staff said there were no bear problems on our and adjoining campsites this year, we still hung our food in the barrel, just in case.

Next day, Sunday (17/07/2011) Catherine and I were up very early in the morning and we decided to go for a paddle. We paddled to the north end of Blackstone Harbour, passing by a number of campsites, some of them vacant.



We were back at the campsite by 10:00 am, just in time to give Janet a canoe ride back to Pete's Place—Mike & Barry paddled to the marina to pick up the car. Also Sue and Ian were heading for Toronto that day. Once we dropped off Janet, we drove to MacTier and bought some supplies for the second part of our trip and drove back to Pete's Place. Although we were supposed to stay on campsite #508 till Monday and then paddle to campsite # 202, we wanted to paddle there as soon as possible since a big storm was forecast for later in the evening through early morning today. It turned out that campsite #202 was available for the night, so we changed the reservation. Back at the campsite, we rested a little, then packed our canoe and about 5:00 pm (relatively late) departed for the other campsite.



We took the same route we did last year, so it was quite familiar. Since it was so terribly hot and humid, the relatively easy (12 km) junket was quite exhausting and demanding; I was sweating and kept drinking a lot of water. As we were paddling, we passed campsite #211 on which we had camped last year and soon were about to enter Three Fingers Bay, where our campsite was located.



We had selected and booked this campsite months in advance—at least on the map, it looked great—a blind bay with three smaller bays, with only one campsite—we expected to experience plenty of serenity. Yes, it did say on the map that it was a 'mooring area', but there were so many empty mooring areas that we did not really pay much attention to this detail. But... once we entered the bay, we soon spotted the distinct orange sign on our campsite—as well as a big yacht moored just a couple of meters in front of the campsite and actually tied to a tree on our site. As we were approaching the campsite, we saw another big motorboat... and another... and another... Altogether there were about 10 sizable yachts in the bay, albeit only one so close to our campsite. When we approached it, we saw it was tied to the tree on our campsite; to make matters worse, its generator was constantly working and it was quite noisy. The campsite was on a hill and we could have either take a more direct route, albeit a steep one, from where the yacht was, or a less steep, but longer. Catherine informed the yacht owner that it was our campsite and asked him if he could shut off the generator, but he said something about having problems with his motor and that he would shut off the generator later. He was not friendly or helpful—it was surprising, since he was virtually trespassing on our site. As it was getting darker, I wanted to get our stuff to the campsite as soon as possible, so we got to the rocky shore and started lugging our bags up the hill, which was the long circuitous route.



Once I got the tent, I was setting it up, while Catherine was bringing the remaining things. We managed get everything in place in a record time and soon were sitting atop the hill in our chairs, on our campsite, enjoying the view—i.e., looking at the moored motorboat, listening to its running generator (which, thanks God, was shut off soon) and watching their 2 kids swim off the rocks below. Catherine was very irritated and tried calling the park office which of course had closed hours earlier. I was so thirsty that gulped the last cold beer in a second and then drunk about 1.5 liters of water—and still was thirsty! It took me a while to cool off. Eventually we started the fire and had our supper. Exhausted, we went to bed relatively early.



A violent storm, with thunder and lighting roared over our area (yet, the weather report had been correct), but all I remember was seeing at one point an almost incessant lighting, yet I was so sleepy that simply did not care much (as if I could have done anything about that!). Catherine apparently was totally unaware of the storm, dreaming of ways to get even with the yacht owner, I imagine.

Monday, July 18, 2011 was hot and dry—but there were plenty of water puddles all over the campsite, especially under our tent (which was set up in a hollow), yet it did not leak. We dried the tent and the tarps and then moved it to a different area. The yacht mooring in front of our campsite now was even more visible than before, but eventually it departed; the other yachts were moored farther away and did not really bother us; in fact, their lights provided quite an interesting show at night as several of them tied up together.



While camping on Wreck Island in 2009, we paddled to the famous Henry's Restaurant on Frying Pan Island—and also 'discovered' an LCBO store that sold cold beer! Since we were camping not that far away from that island—and it was so hot and humid—on July 19, 2011, after listening to the weather forecast, canoed to the store. The area was relatively sheltered, but in the event of stronger winds it would be difficult for us to paddle. We passed by a few islands, several cottages and striking rock formations. I was trolling all this time and near Breen Island caught a nice, 3 kg. pike. Upon arrival at the LCBO store dock, we were helped by its employees to tie the boat (not that we needed that!) and proceeded to make a number of purchases, including beer and ice.



An hour later we were on our way back to our campsite—and while paddling near Breen Island, I caught another pike, at almost exactly the same location I had caught the first pike! Once we were back, I cleaned the pikes and filleted them, albeit with some difficulty. So, we enjoyed grilled pike and cold beer—and so did some marauding animal, who stole the leftovers, unbeknownst to us; because some sizable bags were dragged a few meters from the campsite, we think that it might even be a small black bear.



On July 20, 2011 we got up in the morning; it was a little misty and otherwise very quiet. We paddled to the small bay located behind our campsite; it was very picturesque, with steep rocky shores and there was a beaver dam at the very end.



Then we went to the opposite bay, passing a few moored yachts along the way—and finally paddled to the third bay (after all, the bay we were staying on was called “Three Fingers Bay”, each bay forming a distinct ‘finger’), but only went to the narrows where Catherine approached a park box, supposedly containing some information bulletins... and instead was ‘attacked’ by a small mouse which had been living there!



Then we paddled back to the campsite. However, we paddled there in the evening—fortunately, there were not any boats (probably the passage is too shallow as well as a felled tree blocked it—it's a pity the park did not make a campsite there) and we were lucky to enjoy the serenity and peacefulness... which I thought was interrupted by a sound coming from the very end of the bay.



Indeed, there were a mother-moose and her baby, a small moose, enjoying en evening stroll on the muddy shoreline and water plants! We kept coming closer and closer and eventually she slowly left, the cub following her.
In the evening we again sat on the top of our campsite and admired the bay.



Looking at the motor boats, I was so glad I did not own one—the last thing I’d like to deal with would be getting (very expensive!) gas, fixing it, carefully navigating treacherous and rocky waters of Georgian Bay, listening to the sounds emitted by generators, inhaling gas fumes and roasting in the sun in the middle of the day. It’s true that the best things in life are free—or at least very inexpensive!

On July 21, 2011 we were hoping to again paddle to Frying Pan Island and get some beer—it was so hot and humid—but due to the wind, we waited till about 3:00 pm. Even thought it was windy, the waves were not very high and our canoe kept moving quite fast, reaching up to 5 km. However close to Emerald Island we started to paddle on a relatively open water and suddenly both the wind and the waves significantly slowed the canoe’s speed—and we knew that soon there would be more and more open water! We rested a few minutes in a bay, gave it the last try—and eventually paddled around Emerald Island and turned back (so long, cold beer!).



Instead, we paddled to Jenner Bay nearby; one yachtsman had recommended us to camp there instead. The narrow passage to this bay at least prevented bigger motorboats from using it as a mooring area. There were three campsites in the bay; all were rather dark and none was occupied. We docked at campsite #601. Once we went into the forest, it was like being in a different world—there was something scary and creepy about the forest, so much so that I suggested a horror movie could be made at that very location. When we left the bay, we tried, once again, to paddled towards Frying Pan Island, but gave up and paddled back to the campsite. We spent some time exploring Three Fingers Bay and then were back at our campsite.



July 22, 2011, the last day of our trip!

It was exactly 5 years ago today (in 2006) when I joined www.meetup.com; since then I have attended well over 100 various events and organized about 20. It was also 30 years ago when I was spending my last summer camping vacation in Poland, in Mazury, near the town of Spychowo. On that day, exactly 30 years ago, my friend, I.P. and biked to Ruciane-Nida. Well, Poland was experiencing a huge crisis then, there were shortages of literally everything, money were becoming worthless and when we were passing by a store in a village of Zgon, the saleslady was just closing it because the store had NOTHING to sell, not even the proverbial vinegar! Four months later I left Poland for good, and 17 days after my departure, on December 13, 1981, marital law was imposed by the communist government. Well... the time flies and everything changes!



We packed up and lowered some of our possessions down the steep rocky shores directly to the canoe in order to avoid carrying this stuff to the bay where we usually kept the canoe. On our way back we set up the emergency tent and had a nap (after all, we were up at 6:00 am, very early for us!) and continued our 16 km. trip, arriving at Pete’s Access Point at 5:00 pm. While packing up the car, I heard the news about the terrorist attacks in Norway which resulted in 67 deaths. We drove to Oasler Provincial Park where we quickly took a shower, then drove to Perry Sound, to the Sobey’s Supermarket where we were planning to buy salad and dressing and then have a supper on the shores of some lake. But we saw that the store had a very good variety of hot, ready-to-eat items and due to the closing hour, their prices were slashed by half. Thus, we purchased a pack of “Southern Style Fried Chicken”, some ‘Chicken Fingers,” wedges, chicken patties and similar items, hoping to bring some home. Then we drove to the dock where the Thirty Thousand Islands cruises depart, sat on a dock, facing the cruise boat and opened our food items. What a nasty surprise awaited us! The ‘southern chicken’ were tasteless, dry, tough and basically not edible; half of the wedges were not edible either (hard and dry), the remaining portion was partially edible—provided one likes eating bland, over-cooked and tough potatoes; the patty was terrible. I’m glad Catherine purchased ready-to-eat salad (which she planned to take home), at least we could eat something normal and fit for human consumption.



Perhaps I had shopped at Sobey’s once or twice in my life before and I had the impression it was a rather good store, offering high-quality food. This experience, however, immediately changed my opinion about Sobey’s—I cannot understand how it is possible to MAKE such bad food, let alone SELL IT (regardless of the price—even if the store were giving it away, I’d not touch it). The next day we wrote a letter to Sobey’s requesting the refund and enclosed the receipts along with some labels; so far (September 2, 2011) we have not heard from Sobey’s. After an email to their head office a chintzy $15.00 gift certificate with a letter of faint apology was received.
Anyway... so, after this terrible lunch we probably should have gone to McDonald’s, but although we were somehow hungry, we had enough food and did not feel like eating for a while!



Over all it was a nice trip, but we were quite disappointed with our campsite location and the mooring boats. Catherine took time to write a letter to the park warden. They engaged in a short phone conversation and the refund request for one night was granted but as of today (October 13, 2011) not processed though. Most likely we will contact the park and the Ministry of Environment to discuss some of our observations as I do not think the park treats us, the campers, and those big boats, equally—it was quite disturbing to discover that yachts had not been asked to pay the $10.00 mooring fee and most likely, were not even aware of such a fee.

Blog in Polish/blog po polsku: http://ontario-nature-polish.blogspot.com/2011/07/massasauga-on-2011.html
More photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jack_1962/sets/72157627573094734/with/6104393117/