The Authentic Adventurer

     Given the recent ease of restrictions that the province had put in place for camping due to COVID-19, my boyfriend Jeff and I decided to head out to some crown land to enjoy the backcountry over his birthday weekend. Our initial plan was to recreate last year's trip to McCrae Lake; however, we planned to leave much earlier as we expected that it would be fairly busy there. On Friday, June 5th, in the evening, Jeff and I loaded up the canoe and finished packing our gear so that we would be able to leave around 7am the next day. As McCrae Lake was only about a half-hour drive, we arrived at the parking lot before 8am, only to discover, not only a packed parking lot but a lineup of cars down either side of the laneway, and a continuing row of cars parked down the road. We decided fairly quickly that we definitely wouldn't be camping at McCrae that weekend.       Pulling onto the shoulder of the road to park for a bit, Jeff and I pulled out our p...

As winter seems to keep droning on, I found myself needing an escape from everyday life to tide me over until the weather warms and I can make it back out in my canoe. So, I decided to book a cabin with my boyfriend Jeff from February 15th-17th, for the family day long weekend. We ended up finding a great little cabin up in Kearney that we booked off of Airbnb. With no cell service and acres upon acres of land to explore, Jeff and I were really looking forward to our winter escape! Waking up fairly early on Saturday morning, Jeff and I loaded up the vehicle, heading on our way to get our groceries first, and then making it to the cabin by noon. The cabin we chose, titled on Airbnb as the Cozy Creek-Side Cabin , came equipped with a fully-stocked kitchenette with a sink, stove, fridge, and microwave, as well as a woodstove, board games, movies, and music. Despite not having any indoor plumbing, the cabin was a lot fancier than the backcountry trips we were used to, which made for a ni...

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...