The Authentic Adventurer

After many months of trying to find a time that would work for the two of us to get out together, Michelle and I finally found a weekend we were both available for a quick overnight trip to the Haliburton Highlands Water Trails. We decided on completing the Nunikani Lake Loop from October 5th-6th, 2019 as it seemed do-able considering how few trips we had done this year and how poor of shape we were in haha (canoe tripping is tiring, but so worth it!). We made it to the Big Hawk Lake access point and unloaded our gear, ready to set out by 10am. We were doing the loop counter-clockwise, as recommended by Kevin Callan, "The Happy Camper," meaning we were heading up the right arm of the lake, towards Clear Lake. Surprisingly, Big Hawk Lake was a relatively easy paddle with only a little bit of wind and waves. Although the morning started out with frost on the vehicle and canoe, the sun warmed us up, forcing us to lose some of our layers of clothing by the time we made it to t...

With the success of our last trip together, my dad, my brother, and I began trying to convince my mom that she needed to join us on a canoe trip soon so that we could get the whole family out. After many months of trying to find a time that would work, we finally found September 7-8, 2019 to be a weekend that we all had free. We got to work planning the trip as soon as the date was set! As it was my mom's first time ever canoe tripping and she was a little apprehensive, we wanted to keep the trip relatively easy, so we decided on going to McCrae lake, for what would be my second trip there and everyone else's first. We got to work packing our gear a week before we were meant to leave for the trip, even packing a small dry bag of gear for our dog, Kayden, to come with us. He was very excited, to say the least when he noticed his food and leash being packed. On Saturday morning, we all woke up fairly early, grabbing some breakfast and loading our gear into the vehicle before he...