Getting Out There...

I think I first read about the Paddle In the Park Contest through an update on the Algonquin Outfitters Facebook page around the end of the summer in 2013. In the spring of 2014, I was excited to see the PITPC Facebook page post with the first clue.

During my first canoe trip with some girlfriends to Kawartha Highlands, I brought the contest up and expressed how fun it would be to find a paddle at some point in the summer. But to be honest, I can be an all talk no action kind of gal at times and never really tried to decipher any clues. That is until the "Portage Queen" clue was posted. I knew right away the paddle was around Rock Lake and immediately called my husband at work and stated I wanted to search for it. We discussed going together with our children (who are 5 and 3 years old), but I was hesitant about my youngest handling the adventure. So I recruited two other Portage Queens (Ang & Ruby) to make it a Mommy/Daughter week-end challenge. We had tons of fun searching, but didn't find the paddle (to my disappointment). I wrote a poem:

From Ottawa and Haliburton these portage queens came,
to search for a paddle in the Algonquin Park rain.
For 3 long hours our 4 year old girls,
searched all the trees and under every squirrel.
Alas, we must have interpreted the clue wrong,
because we are unable to sing the "we found the paddle" song.
Tonight we'll sleep in our warm cozy beds,
with dreams of future paddles in our heads.
It was such a fabulous way to spend a Mom/Daughter day,
thank you Paddle In The Park Contest for letting us play!

Eventually, when the second clue was released, Ang did succeed in finding it (which most of you know), and I'm proud of her for taking the initiative to get out there. But what I really want to highlight about this experience is how truly AWESOME those words, "get out there" are.

I love canoeing, but admittedly, I wouldn't say I have tons of canoe trip experience. My first time on a canoe trip was when I was an Ontario Ranger at Esker Lakes when I was 17 years old. We paddled the Larder River (Raven - Wendigo). Back then my love for tripping blossomed, and yet it was 5 more years before I did another canoe trip on Frost Centre property as an intern at the Haliburton Forest, the summer of 1999. Since then I'd say I've logged 1/2 a dozen canoe trips. In 2006, my husband proposed marriage with a 17 foot Le Tigre (Surrey River) canoe, he purchased at a there and back sale at Trailhead. I figured we'd be tripping frequently after that, but life happened and excuses came easy with major home renovations and eventually having kids.

I had been in BC and my husband picked me up from the airport, I found this in our back yard when I returned home.

In May 2013, I did my first canoe trip since having children (with the same Ang, from above). It was 2 nights, in familiar surroundings on Frost property (which is now called Haliburton Highlands Water Trails). It sounds cheesy to say, but that trip was "spiritual" in a way. I remember getting up one morning early, and just really embraced my surroundings while Ang slept. I watched the sun come up and the mist rise, eventually seeing a beautiful shoreline reflection on the glassy waters.

I kept thinking how much I missed being out there. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I heard a loon call, and seriously started to cry. It was like I had found a part of myself again, I didn't know was missing. (At that point, it had been 5 years since my husband and I took our honeymoon trip down the Tim River in Algonquin Park - FIVE YEARS!)

Weaving our way down the Tim River, Algonquin Park 2007

To be honest, I feel a little guilty for not using our canoe more. That being said, I read blog after blog about "How to Canoe Trip with Small Children" with hopes of becoming hard core and introducing them to tripping as babies or toddlers. But it just didn't happen. We have been on the water with our children every summer, but the canoe introduction was paced.

This is my son and I canoeing on Eagle Lake, near South River. His comfort zone was right there!

 

 

All this to say, this year the words "get out there" really resonated with me. My goal in the spring was to make sure we took the kids on their first canoe trip. We set aside a week in August. All summer we were back and forth about where we'd go, but we figured Algonquin Park would be the destination. And then 2 weeks before our vacation we started making alternative plans to camp in the Adirondacks. It looked like we'd go another year without a trip, probably due to underlying parental fears. That is until I started paying more attention to the PITPC, which brings me back to the hunt for the Portage Queen paddle. At the same time I booked our campsite at Rock Lake, I also book a canoe trip through the Baron Canyon with my family. I figured it was time to stop making excuses and just do it!

 

On August 27, 2014, the Brenner-Kauffman family finally GOT OUT THERE! We started at Achray Campground, spent nights on Stratton & the High Falls Lake, and then finished off with an 8-hour day consisting of 8 portages (or hikes as my kids called them). And guess what, it was so worth it.

 

Our son, Finn, was napping upon arrival to Grand Lake (Achray Campground),

so we prepared the gear and had an early lunch while waiting out his nap.

We hit the water with an alert and happy boy.

 We spotted some turtles sunbathing, so we went in for a closer look.

 

 When we arrived at our first campsite on Stratton Lake,

the couple that had spent the previous night here warned there were "lots of frogs" and 1 friendly chipmunk.

There were tons of frogs along the shore and on this rock. It looked like they may have been in the final stage of changing from tadpole to frog,

because some of them still had short tails. That's a question for my former Fleming College, Fish & Wildlife professor, Kevin Callan. ;)

 

 I was really proud of my daughter's initiative to set up camp, she was a great helper.

 

 The volume of canoe tripping with kiddos was taken up a notch,

 so I happily took some solo time across the lake to gather some wood.

 

 Somewhere in her short 5 years of life, she learned how to set up a teepee style campfire.

To find her doing this after setting up the bedding in the tent, 

 I was sort of shocked because my husband and I didn't specifically teach her that...

 

 She was proud of herself, and so were we!

 

 This kind of precious moment doesn't happen always,

but I've noticed when we "get out there", they seem to happen more often.

 

 Stumped! ;)

 

 We took some time to splash around at the High Falls portage, after having lunch on Day 2.

 

 Lily pads and water shield were great sources of entertainment for our little munchkins.

 

As were frequent campsite dance parties.

 

 On our first night the kids were pretty excited and a challenge to get to bed.

Night #2 - they put themselves to sleep. (Woot woot!)

 

 Before we met, my husband had never canoe tripped, hard to believe,

 because I couldn't ask for a better paddling partner.

 

 When you enter the draw the PITPC asks "What is your favorite reward that you have found in nature?"

My answer changes, but I really love being by the water on misty mornings, just like in this photo.

 

 Family portrait. Theme: Pepperette Silliness

 So, your kids have never been on a canoe trip before?

No.

And you decided to take them on a route where you have to do 8 portages in one day?

Yes.

Brave...really brave. lol.

 

Yes, it wasn't the greatest plan for a first trip, but they were troopers. For anyone who has done a Baron Canyon trip,

you know there is an option to take one route with several portages (our choice),

or take another route with less portages but the distance is greater overall.

I was surprised how well the kids did. I think breaking it up was the better choice because they enjoyed the "hikes".

 

 My daughter was restless being in the canoe so long on the Baron River.

But promises of ice cream and dinner at a restaurant helped to keep the protests at bay.

 

 

When we arrived at the end of our trip at Squirrel Rapids, there was a huge sense of accomplishment for all of us. My son asked, "which campsite are we staying at tonight", and my husband and I looked at each other and just smiled. Every once in a while I see people post quotes on Facebook, along the lines of  "nature is the only therapy you need" or "teach your kids to play in the dirt". There are so many benefits mentally, physically and spiritually to "getting out there" and I'm thankful to the fine folks at the PITPC for reminding me of that.

 

A gorgeous misty morning on High Falls Lake, Algonquin Park.