Friday, January 26^th 2001

It's 8am, it just started to snow again, temperatures are around -10 ºC. The evening before I packed my stuff in order to start on a new adventure with Sabine. In icy cold air we leave Waterloo by car, ahead of us a hardcore winter camping weekend in Algonquin Park ;-))

We talk a bit, enjoy the landscape of Waterloo region with farms rushing by. Morning sunlight dips snow-covered shapes into a beautiful light presenting us - sitting in a cosy car - a transfigured view of the icy reality.

The trees are covered in frost that the sun will diminish within the next hour.

Minutes later Sabine falls asleep. The strenuous and exhausting days during the week take their toll ;-)) and so I find some time to let my mind wander. As Sabine wakes up I just get off the highway 11 heading for Huntsville. At a Tim Horton's we stop to wait for Rob and Vroni who are hitchhiking from Sudbury. After we had some Muffins and went to get some more important groceries we figure out that we might be in the wrong Tim Horton's. However, we drive back to the highway, follow it northwards and in fact there is another exit with a Tim Horton's just beside the ramp. Vroni and Rob are already waiting, so we get going right on.

We take highway 60 to the east, our destination is Mew Lake Campground, about 30 kilometers into Algonquin Park. We get our camping permits at the west gate and actually book for just one night.

At the campground we pitch up the tents and go for a little hike on Bat Lake Trail. We walk up to Bat Lake where we have a break. We have hot tea, muesli bars and Stollen cake (that Vroni brought along, delicious).

We decide to walk back, cause it's already getting dark. Back at our tent a fire is lighted pretty fast, in darkness we cook a rice-vegetable-ground-beef-pan. As Sabine and I were sitting in the Tim Horton's in Huntsville we had some good ideas concerning the culinary aspects of the weekend. After we finished the food (this time we were able to really cook the amount we are in fact able to eat) we are sitting around the fire and warm up. Temperature probably dropped down to -15 ºC. For desert we have something that fits perfectly to hardcore winter camping: chocolate ice cream with Kahlua, whipped cream and a chocolate chip cookie in shape of our Initials. Unbeatable!

At around 10:30 we have eaten enough, fire wood is gone and it's getting to cold to sit around fro much longer. So we get into our sleeping bags and try to get warm. Half an hour later Matthew and Jessica - friends of Rob from Ottawa - arrive. We talk for a while through the tents walls, then the two get into the tent we already set up for them this afternoon. The night is cold but with some precautions (blankets, heating pads and bottle with hot water) were are fine.

Saturday, January 27^th 2001

In the morning we get up early. Every movement in the tent causes lots of ice crystals of frozen condensation fall down on us. The more we were looking to get into the warm sleeping bag the evening before the much we want to get up now, get moving, get warm. Even though we have good insulating mattresses we can still feel the cold creeping up from the ground.

We have breakfast as always: hot chocolate and oatmeal with fresh fruits - simple and tasty! We break camp and get our stuff packed into the cars. Put equipment weighs a lot this time, not least because we take along some good stuff for next evening, but more about that later on....

We drive back to Minessing Trail and want to start from there for a snowshoe hike across Canisbay Lake, the same route I hiked before about 4 weeks ago.

This time we have to carry about 25 kg more and fight our way through deep snow until we reach Canisbay Lake. From now on the trail - which is just a white plain in front of us - runs across the lake for about 2.5 km .

The upper layer consisting of powder snow covers another layer of slushy, soaked snow. It's a weird feeling like breaking into the ice with every step but then just sinking into the snow. However, temperatures are below 0 ºC since mid of December and therefore it's definitively safe to walk on the ice.

We don't make much headway and as we finally arrive at the beaver dam (BD) in the north-eastern corner of the lake it's already late afternoon. We agree on short-cutting a bit and hike on westwards until we get to a canoe portage. I can remember that the ski trail which we want to get on intersects this portage. Our goal for today is to pitch up our tents close to a shelter that is located between Canisbay Lake and Linda Lake. On our actual route we cut off about 3 km and so we reach the shelter in which I had a snack with Peter and Nicolas only few weeks ago.

We enter the shelter that is already heated up, other skiers must have used the wood stove that is mad out of an old barrel. So were are able to dry our cloth that are wet from the hours of hiking with a backpack. And suddenly we feel very comfy and cozy and so we decide to stay in the shelter. As we get hungry it comes to me that we forgot something really important in the car, something that we do need later in the evening. The shelter is only 5 km away from the parking lot and Sabine, who also recognized the importance of the missing ingredient, accompanies me on this nice walk. We are hiking pretty fast and rush through the woods with our snowshoes. The sunset is barely visible through the trunks, but it colours the sky in orange and red. Only 110 minute later we are back at the shelter, heated up and exhausted. But afterwards I can only tell that it has been absolutely worth to get those 2 litres of orange juice ;-))

For dinner we have pasta with tomato-zucchini-tuna sauce and we have a real feast on it. The stove really heats up the shelter and so our cloth are dry after a couple of hours only. A bit later - the shelter has survived an arson attack meanwhile - we prepare what I was looking forward to all day - the Feuerzangenbowle (German mulled wine). Preparation is everything, means that do have 1.5 l red wine, spices, rum, rum-soaked orange bits, a sugar cone and finally orange juice, too. We can get started. As the sugar cone is melting within blue flames a sweet alcoholic smell fills the air. Sitting close to the stove we sip the hot concoction that warms us from inside. Not later than now everybody is glad not to get out into the cold anymore this evening. We are all pretty tired and fall asleep short time later. The temperature in the shelter drops quite fast, the stove isn't radiating much anymore. I wake up several times during the night, a mouse is running across my sleeping bag, I can hear its paws padding......

Sunday, January 28^th 2001

We wake up around 7am, it's below 0 ºC, the water in our bottles is frozen. Quickly we pack our stuff and have breakfast. An hour later the cabin looks much more tidy again. We just fill up the fire wood supply and sweep the room. At 9:30am we get ready to cover the remaining 5 kilometers to the parking lot.

As we start hiking it just begins to snow, thick snowflakes are falling, covering twigs and branches with icing. In the morning sun we hike on....

After one and a half hours we reach the car, load our stuff and say goodbye to Matt and Jess. Back on highway 60 we drive to Huntsville where we all get something hot to drink and some muffins. Then we have to say goodbye, too. Vroni and Rob hitchhike back to Sudbury while Sabine and I jet southwards on highway 11. On our way back we make a two hour stop in the biggest factory outlet in the area where we go shopping and have something to eat before we head for Waterloo. During our drive the sun sets behind a band of clouds that seems to get bigger and bigger. Finally we dip into these clouds, the rest of the route it's hazy and foggy but we don't mind. We were lucky with the weather again during the weekend so it really can't bother us now. At 7pm we arrive at the CLTs, happy and satisfied. For Vroni and Rob the way back to Sudbury takes them a bit longer. In North Bay they get stuck, nobody would take them along and it's already getting dark. After three hours they give up and go to the bus terminal where they get some sleep while waiting for the next bus that is leaving for Sudbury around 4am.

We all will dive into the world of university and work again, but even it will engulf us for the following days, plans for the next adventure are already made......