Alex and I went camping in Algonquin Park in July 2025
Awoke to a sprinkling of rain. Got up around 730 and made coffee. The lake was calm and it was overcast. I saw 2 yellow canoes go by loaded with gear and 2 persons each. They were most likely leaving and it was a good thing too as 30 mins or so later the wind picked up and it started raining. I brought the wood I had collected the previous day and the drying swimming gear into the tarp/bug shelter and hunkered down. It was continuously for several hours and during the last real downpour alex ran from the tent to come join me. He missed having a pillow and didn’t sleep as well as he could’ve. I promised to bring him a pillow the next time. We sat in the bug shelter staying out of the rain as I made pancakes from a chocolate chip muffin mix. He enjoyed that but his 2 nd one was a casualty of the dirt as it fell on the ground. It was around this time that we heard an engine and saw a float plane flying low from Carcajou nay towards Achray. It landed on the lake and taxied to the dock there. It wasn’t there long and hFlew off again, only to return several more times, landed via the same approach.
After this in the early afternoon, we played a game of 1812 (columbia games), and called it a draw halfway through the last season of the war (1814). He had taken quebec city, I had Albany N.Y.
Dinner was pataks butter chicken sauce, Happy Yak Freeze Dried chicken cubes, reheat rice in a bag and biscuits made from Bisquick. Alex said they were a cross between pancakes and biscuits. I made the biscuits first, then boiled water to rehydrate the chicken, reheated the rice and then made the curry. It was good. After dinner we explored a little more heading east this te along the water. The 3 rd site wasn’t occupied anymore. After coming back, Alex waded into the water and tried to rebuild the anukshuk I had built yesterday that had collapsed due to the waves brought on by the wind. Grand Lake is a long lake that starts narrow in the north and opens up as it gets to the south end. The winds on this lake can make for some big waves. We were wind bound today even though we had planned to go out canoeing and exploring we still found things to occupy us. An canoe with an outboard entertained us in the afternoon into the evening as it ferried several loaded canoes with people (and a kayak) out from achray into sites further along the shore or into the portage at stratton lake. Our neighbors in campsite 5 came via this way. They must have spent the day in achray, we hadnt noticed them gone.
Right now I am sitting with alex, in our camping chairs on the beach. The sun is finally out! Its 7:25 pm. Alex was hungry again around 8pm so we made the lunch we skipped, KD. He ate the whole box I made, again in the Lee of the tent vestibule. I cleaned up the dirty dishes afterwards and we continued to listen to the audiobook. Around 9pm we opened a bag of chips (ruffled plain) and retires to the bug shelter with the audiobook. The wind was still up and had very strong gusts. It was overcast again and getting dark by then. We stayed in the bug shelter listening to the audio book and eating chips until 9:45 and then sat at the beach watching the last of twilight fade into night. We retired to bed at 11. Alex saw a shooting star. He also pointed out what he suspects was the ISS or similar orbiting satellite. The night sky was cool to see for us city folk.
page-1- page-3- page-4-