Training Log Archive: Bash

This was the only morning when we wouldn't be packing up to hike to a new campsite.





The Ohrlings had also planned a relaxed day in Warp Bay so we chatted over coffee and planned to meet later for a hike to Chalfant Cove, the northern trailhead of the Coastal Trail. There was a storm in the forecast around midday so we decided to wait until afterwards. Although there were strange clouds and strong winds, it actually ended up being sunny for most of the day.









As we sat reading, I got a weather alert: Tornado watch at Gargantua. Oh, great! We know to take shelter in a basement or at least a strong building if a tornado is coming but what was our best strategy if a tornado hit Warp Bay? After briefly considering the toilet building and bear bins, we looked for little depressions on the beach where we could partially bury ourselves in the sand. Luckily, we never had to put that plan to the test.



There was some crazy weather in other parts of Ontario and I think there may have been a tornado or two. There have been so many in Ontario this year! But Warp Bay was spared and the four of us finally headed out on our hike north to Chalfant Cove.



The route was a bit longer than advertised and featured some rocky climbs and descents but without our big backpacks, it felt easy.

We mostly walked in the forest but emerged to spectacular views over Indian Harbour. (Why hasn't it been renamed?)





We arrived at Chalfant Cove - another wild, remote campsite that is apparently on Explore Magazine's list of the best campsites in Canada.



Whoops, matchy matchy!



Dave and Connie had brought a treat - dehydrated homemade hummus. Because they were leaving the next day, they bequeathed their remaining dehydrated hummus and bananas to us. Yum!







We stopped to admire Indian Harbour in different light on the way back. The clouds still looked a bit ominous.









When we got back, we swam. (This outfit was my attempt to keep my wet feet from getting caked with sand as I walked back to the tent. I left my hiking boots right at the water's edge.) Lake Superior is usually 4C but this summer it's 7C - probably terrible news for the environment but a little better for backcountry campers. It was still quite refreshing but it felt so good to be clean that we went in the water on most days.



Then we read.



And watched a beautiful sunset, which was improved by the weird clouds.

Richard and I packed up early this morning so we could pick up our backcountry permit at the Agawa Bay park office and get to the Visitor Centre in time for our 9 am shuttle from Naturally Superior Adventures. Our driver was the owner, David Wells. He doesn't normally do vehicle shuttles anymore but the two other guys in the bus had requested David specially because they had great memories of a pep talk he gave them on their first Coastal Trail trip 20 years ago. We remembered him too because we stayed at their lodge in Michipicoten and used their vehicle shuttle for our 1997 paddle along the Pukaskwa coast.

David dropped us off at beautiful Gargantua Bay (pronounced GAR-gen-twa by the locals).





The Lake Superior Coastal Trail runs roughly northwest-southeast, finishing at Agawa Bay Campground at the southeast end. The northern trailhead is a campsite at Chalfant Cove, 10 km north of Gargantua Road. It's only accessible by an out-and-back hike so a lot of people skip that part of the Coastal Trail and just head south toward Agawa Bay.



Here's a more detailed map although it's difficult to see much at this scale. I'll post snippets for each part of our trip.



This backpacking trip was our 25th anniversary celebration, replacing our long-planned party with friends that couldn't happen due to Covid. We planned a slow trip with lots of time to enjoy our campsites so we headed north first to camp at Warp Bay for two nights.





This would give us time to enjoy the beautiful sandy beach, eat two days of food, hike to the northern trailhead at Chalfant Cove and hike a side trail to the Chair Island area.



Most of the trail to Warp Bay seemed like an old carriage road with some climb and descent. It was a great warm-up before the more technical sections south of Gargantua. The trail was enclosed in the forest so it was nice but there wasn't much variety. Unlike this photo, most of it was single track but the clearing was wide enough that it looked like it used to be double track.



There were signs warning of bears in the area and we saw plenty of evidence.



A weekend of rain was forecast but other than some fog and a few drops here and there, we stayed dry until we were in our tent for the night. In fact, we didn't hike in rain until our final day on the trail when there was a deluge.



About 2 km from Warp Bay, the easy trail ended and we crossed the Gargantua River with beautiful rapids and a waterfall.



Then we followed the right bank of the Gargantua River to Warp Bay and got our first taste of more technical trail.



We met a few people coming out from Warp Bay but only one campsite was occupied when we arrived. We looked around before selecting #4, which was protected from the weather but still close to the gorgeous sandy beach. There really weren't any bad campsites but the central campsites had bear bins, picnic tables and a small building with a composting toilet - luxury!



The only small disadvantage was the long walk to the river for water.



Looking at the map before the trip, we'd assumed that drinking water would be available anywhere along a "coastal trail" but it wasn't always easy to get water from Lake Superior. Sometimes there were cliffs, slippery rocks or crashing waves. On beaches like this, we had to wade out a short distance to get water without sand in it. Rivers and creeks were an easier option in some places.

It wasn't a problem; we were excited to start our vacation by staying at this great beach campsite for two nights.







Two day hikers appeared. One of them used to be a wedding photographer at Devil's Pulpit Golf Club in Caledon, and she offered to take a few photos on my phone for our anniversary. What were the odds?





I didn't log the final 1 km on the GPS track when we were just wandering around Warp Bay without our packs as we looked for the best campsite, checked out the bear bins and washrooms, etc.

Since we got camp set up early, I suggested a day hike to the Chair Island area so I could complete the final surprise challenge in the CMTR Summer Scavenger Hunt - the Three-Peat - before the Aug. 31 deadline. The idea was to choose three previous challenges and do them all in the same hike/run lasting at least 75 minus.



I chose the Naked Run (estimate the first 60 mins as accurately as possible without using a watch), CMTR (look for items starting with C-M-T-R five times in sequence, i.e. 20 items) and Trail Hunter (the scavenger hunt within the Scavenger Hunt). I could have done the "New Trail" challenge without any extra effort but these tasks kept both of us entertained on an inland trail that was poorly maintained in some places. The overgrown areas would have been a great place for a bear to hide - especially since there were lots of berries - so we made plenty of noise.



We arrived at a cool little campsite on Tugboat Channel. We preferred Warp Bay but this site was very private and wildly beautiful.





On the way back, we saw a couple approaching. They'd already passed through the heavily overgrown section where the trail almost disappeared so we knew they must be pretty tough. We started the usual polite chat then stopped: "Hey, you look familiar!" It was Dave and Connie Ohrling from Collingwood - fellow members of Highlands Nordic ski club and close friends of Angus and Sian Doughty. They were going to make dinner at one of the campsites then return to Warp Bay, where they had set up camp too. Cool!



We hiked back and went for a swim in Lake Superior. It was short and chilly but it felt great. We put on warm layers afterwards.

'Bent and I drove to Agawa Bay in Lake Superior Provincial Park. It was an all-day expedition with two very welcome breaks to catch up with friends. We met Hammer, Etoile and AdventureGirl! near French River as they were returning from Killarney. Then we detoured to St. Joseph Island near Sault Sainte Marie to visit "Danger Camp", Lawrence Foster and Trish Westman's cottage.

We were running late so we ended up getting dinner from Starbucks and arriving at the park too late to pick up our backcountry permit. It was absolutely pouring for the last few hours of our drive so we decided to sleep in our van in the Agawa Bay Campground rather than getting our tent wet and dirty. It worked out pretty well although it would have been easier if we'd planned that ahead of time. We could have had sleeping pads or inflatable mattresses ready to go.

The adventure begins, lol!

Life has been non-stop busy for the past month but after finishing three CMTR Scavenger Hunts, I didn't want to miss this one by just a challenge or two. So I squeezed in the very last challenge today - the Holiday Mash-up. The idea was to represent as many holidays as possible in your outfit and go out for an hour. This one would have been a LOT better with friends.

There were 11 holidays in my outfit: Christmas (Santa hat), Hanukkah (silly glasses), St. Patrick's Day (shamrock necklace), Remembrance Day (poppy), Hallowe'en (bandana), Canada Day (maple leaf mask + Haida art T-shirt as a symbol of reconciliation), Valentine's Day (Snoopy chocolate box from Mom), Easter (wee bunny), Oktoberfest (Bavarian cowbell), Robbie Burns Day (plaid tights) and Pride (rainbow socks). It wasn't ideal. I was wearing a fur hat, long tights and wool socks in a heat warning, and I met a stranger in the woods, which should have been worth bonus points!



After submitting my challenge, I was horrified to see a final hidden challenge pop up on the dashboard: 75 minutes combining three favourite challenges. Noooo!!!! I worked toward finishing today because we leave for Lake Superior Provincial Park early in the morning, and we'll be backpacking until a week from Sunday. After saying a bad word, I figured out some challenges that I can do while backpacking and I'll have to hope I can find some Internet since the Scavenger Hunt ends Aug. 31, and I'm not sure how late my submission can be.



Anyway, we're off soon! I need to finish packing food.

The Summer Scavenger Hunt has a Shop Local challenge. I parked my car in Palgrave village and hiked some trails I don't take very often. I even found an informal trail I didn't know about beside Palgrave Pond, and I followed it a long way - even when it got spooky. Then I picked up a yummy takeout burger and fries from the Caledon Hills Brewery. ('Bent is working late. When the cat's away, the non-vegetarians will play...)

The CMTR Summer Scavenger Hunt included a GPS Art challenge again. Last year my attempt was not ambitious at all. I just looked at the trails around our place and figured they looked like some animal. But they don't really, and nobody was fooled.

This time I wanted to try something harder but I was hampered by a lack of artistic ability and visual imagination. After staring at some old GPS tracks, I figured I could combine trails and bushwhacking in Palgrave East to draw a rooster.



I used a 16-year-old orienteering map to plan my route.



I dressed in my Orienteering Canada gear for inspiration.



(What's wrong with this photo? Yes, I left home without taking my GPS watch off the charger and had to go back.)

In theory, it looked pretty straightforward. Palgrave has a nice trail system.





In practice, I'd forgotten why nobody orienteers in Palgrave in summer.





There's also lots of poison ivy, thorns and stinging nettles.



My rooster isn't perfect but it's OK! The biggest problem is the beak, which was a GPS issue. The trail I was following normally looks a lot more like a beak. Also, my luxurious rooster tail didn't really work out but I wasn't enjoying that section of bushwhacking.

I had to spend some extra time on the trail to get up to 60 mins, the minimum time for this challenge.