How has it been exactly 11 months to the day since I’ve last posted. Clearly it’s been quite a year. Well, let me get this 2nd and final part out of the way, and we can move onto some newer recaps in the posts to come… and I promise they will be much more frequent than once every 11 months. 😉
Let’s get back to winter camping, shall we?
This is the continued recap of WINTER CAMPING! ARE YOU CRAZY? PART 1. So I encourage you to check it out first, if you haven’t already.
Friday, 2/23: “Roadtrip!!!” continued…
I am almost embarrassed to admit this, but I brought up my snowshoes thinking I was going to be trekking through deep snow on the trails and if necessary, the metal spikes (before I knew the word crampon existed) at the bottom would give me the traction I needed. False.
Free of a broken tailbone, I finally made it inside. It was pretty quiet, and I was the only customer in the store. Possibly the only customer of the day. The rain was still falling, the ground was near impossible to walk on, and I had never heard of microspikes, crampons, trekkers, chains, or the various alternatives. Having no idea if I was going to ever want to do this winter camping thing again, I made the choice to buy a low cost pair of ICEtrekkers Chains. I think I paid about $30 Canadian for the pair. I was able to walk back to my car! #littlewins
My first pair of traction devices were ICEtrekkers Chains, and while I no longer use them, saved my @$$ that day for sure.
So now I have some traction devices and can walk on slick ground again, but c’mon, it was pouring rain out and was around 5 degrees Celsius. I was more than happy to wait for the overnight freeze to firm everything up and head out the next day. So I opted for a different adventure. Hostel anyone?
Friday, 2/23: “Hostel instead?”
As I was shopping at the Outfitters, a gentleman overheard that I was looking to stay a night in the area. He approached me as I was getting into my car and said he had one room left if I wanted it. Cautiously optimistic, I asked for details and he shared that he owned and ran the Wolf Den down Highway 60 a bit. No cabins left, but he did have a room in the main Hostel area of the property. I was sold! My first Hostel. I was excited. Another unplanned adventure.
So I embraced the day. Bought a steak, potato, mushrooms, onions and a bottle of red, settled into the place and decided to go for a short hike nearby instead.
Oxtongue River – Ragged Falls was my first trekking adventure of the trip, and was an absolutely amazing way to ease into the trip. It was already about 3:00 pm, so wasn’t going to go balls out on some long hike. A good out and back with a gorgeous end in mind before settling in for the night.
Hiking Trip Details:
- Roughly 3 km out and back, extending along the river past the falls
- Some steeper sections, but for the most part, an easy trek
- Gorgeous views of one of the top 10 waterfalls in Ontario
- Wear traction devices, especially if going across to the rocks that offer the best overhead views of the falls
Once I was done with the hike, I went back, cleaned up and settled in for my first night at a Hostel. There is something about how food and wine tastes when you are in your own little paradise. Part of me thinks it was the best steak and bottle of red ever. I met new people. Lost at some new games I had never heard of. Shared some stories and laughed the night away. It was an absolutely unplanned day, but could I have planned it any better? I think not.
To be continued… 🥾🍻
I loved this Andrew, great reading you are an amazing writer