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3 day father & son trip: Haliburton's Frost Centre

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Happy to report that I finally managed an overnighter with my 7 year old son. He's been comfortable in the canoe for years but only showed interest in camping overnight this summer. Wanted to give him a nice experience for his first trip so planned a 3 day, 2 night simple loop in a familiar area that involved a combination of large lakes, marshy rivers and easy portages. We ended up in the Frost Centre just southwest of Algonquin park, a short 40km away from our cottage. I had assumed that given the relative proximity of the route to Highway 35 and the town of Dorset there would be cell coverage to ease my wife's worried mind. Once at the access point however, there was no signal so we would be in communication silence for the duration of the trip...exactly what I wanted!

The route started at the Deer Lake access point, down Raven Lake, a 360m portage to Gun Lake where we would camp on a peninsula point (campsite #94). The way out involved going up the narrow channel north of Gun, through another short 160m portage and loop back into a marshy area of Raven Lake before returning to the access point. Wanted to make the exit closer in case it was needed and get the longer portage out of the way on the first day when we were energized for the trip.
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Packed relatively heavy because I wanted him to have some of the comforts for his first time. Our 15' wood canvas would be the transportation for the trip. The portages were short anyway and a double carry would be welcome time to stretch our feet. Here is the shot of our gear at the Deer Lake access point.
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A little over an hour later and we approached the first portage. The map said 360m, the sign 343m.
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The little man was ready for his first carry. He's using the wool blanket pack I made for him earlier in the year. He's got the two kneeling pads rolled up on top.
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His favorite part of the first portage was the wooden boardwalk setup over some soggy areas.
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A huge rainstorm the night before made the place extra mucky. The area had received a summers worth of rain in a day. The mosquitos were out in full force and showed the poor guy no mercy. But on the walk back for the 2nd load, we spotted this young snapping turtle right in the middle of the path so that was a nice treat.
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Another 45 minutes of paddling and we eventually made it to our elevated rocky site. He was eager to get out before fully unloading the canoe to explore our new home.
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Just before the trip, I ended up getting a new tent for the family that was on sale - 25% off. Had sold my 2 person tent years ago after switching to hammocks. This new tent is the Eureka Midori 3. Bit heavy but good enough for the needs of our growing family and the dimensions fit our super comfy double sleeping mat. Here's the tent setup with rainfly rolled out of the way and a Woods 200 pack for scale.
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Here's our 10x10 tarp setup in the living area. The natural rock edge served like a countertop and someone placed a flat slab on top for an even better cook surface. You can just see the tent in the far left of the photo.
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Dark clouds came in for our first evening, but he patiently waited out the hour long rainfall in the tent, content to draw pictures of the day's events. We had also made a leather case together for his coloring pencils in anticipation of the trip.
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The rain let up later that evening so mealtime was under the comfortable tarp. Brought along some more homemade gear, including a folding tripod stool and a collapsible bucksaw chair I've posted about before. Re-using one of the kneeling pads as a cushion made it super comfy and he pretty much hogged the chair for the rest of the trip.
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A new gadget for camp was a little device called the SaveAqua tap. It's a self-sealing gravity tap that can attach to virtually any plastic container lid. We used it as the washing station. I attached the tap to the plastic screw lid of an unused 64oz. Sawyer Squeeze bag and suspended it from a nail left on a tree. A quick push up of the ball tip and water would flow down allowing you to efficiently wash hands or pots. Once released the water flow would shut off tightly. With a collapsible bucket underneath, the grey water could be easily collected
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The next morning was grey but serene. Woke up to my son missing from the tent. He had gotten dressed and was watching calling loon in the distance with his binoculars.
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Breakfast was some pancakes made with mini trangia set and some homemade utensils carved a while back.
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The campsite featured a wonderful flat rock right at the water's edge that we called the "dock". We lounged around camp that day wondering if the drizzling rain would persist, but thankfully sunny skies were in for the rest of the trip.
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Just around the bay was a small cascade - Brandy's Falls. Last time I visited here it was completely dry, but the deluge from 2 days before raised the water levels enough for us to hear the falls from our tent. We hopped into the canoe and went to explore...
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At this point in the trip, I gave him the option of bailing out early if he was bored and wanted to go home. He said "No way!" and wanted to start on an early dinner. We made dehydrated soup and he dug right in.
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After playing some cards and more drawing I was wondering what he this restless 7 year would do to entertain himself. He decided to spend the next hour finding and throwing small rocks off the ledge.
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We learned from a passing group that the regional fire ban had been lifted given all the rain so it was off in the evening to collect some dead wood along the shore for a small fire.
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He had a pair of water shoes for paddling but to be comfy in camp, I had made a pair of father and son leather mocassins from oil tanned leather using this tutorial here. They held up well and he noticed how quiet they were while walking around camp. He spent even more time silently wandering around the peninsula tracking a persistent woodpecker going from tree to tree.
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We fell asleep easily the 2nd night and woke up to a nippy morning where the full moon was visible in the horizon.
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By now the food barrel was considerably lighter so he wanted a go at carrying it. Here he is retrieving it from the far side of camp. The straps needed to be re-adjusted but he was willing to carry it on the next portage.
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After a leisurely breakfast and breaking camp, he helped load up the canoe by the shore dock before the paddle back to the car.
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I had anticipated an hour to paddle out, but the river and marshy section was choked with lily pads that slowed us down considerably. Ended up being about the same amount of time as it took to paddle in. Managed to get one more photo of the stillness on the paddle out before the camera's batteries died out. Wanted to get more pics of the 2nd portage but the batteries were at the bottom of the pack and not worth the hassle.
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He's already talking about carving his own paddle and going out for longer trip next year! My worries about how to entertain him were unnecessary. There was enough nature to explore and time slowed down to a much better pace. The one thing we noticed is that plenty of wasps were attracted to our yellow tarp and his favorite yellow T-shirt. Next year, he'll be bringing another color.
 
Murat, Thanks for posting that, I've been putting off bringing my two grandsons on trips worring about their short attention spans at 8 & 9. This gives me the inspiration to go ahead, We must pass the baton to future generations and offer to them an appreciation of the natural world and It's salvation from all encompassing technology in TV, computers & cell phones.
 
Kids need to get out there and find their own entertainment and what is better than a canoe trip? Our grandsons a couple of years ago were eight and 11 . Typical overscheduled and on electronics kids.

We dumped them in their own boat, told them to figure it out how to steer. We adults would not helicopter.. We took frequent beach breaks and the boys rummaged up a tennis ball.. With a beefy stick and some impromptu bases we soon had baseball going.

It was just a day trip of some 10 miles on a local river but the boys still remember that day fondly.

Yes they did figure out how to steer and power the canoe. They were usually ahead.. that competitive thing from hockey
 
Murat - Thanks so much for sharing your trip report & photos with your son. I'm glad it all worked out so well. We were supposed to take our two oldest grandsons out paddling in the Adirondacks this past week but a family emergency prevented it. Thankfully we were able to paddle a bit on a local river when their folks came to pick them up. My son-in-law joined us (my daughter stayed home with the 2 month old) and we also brought the 2 year old toddler along. Bottom line, we experienced the same as you. Being in a canoe, moving silently on the water's surface was all that was needed to keep them all attentive. No restlessness at all (unless they were itching for their turn to paddle) so we'll definitely try again for next summer.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper
 
Good for you guys, look like a great trip! I wish one day I will be able to do the same with my daughter just me and her!!
Good to see all the gear you made in use too!!
 
Thanks for posting, Murat. Great photos. Your son is obviously enjoying himself. I started tandem tripping with my son when he was 9. The first was an APP trip in the fall colours. I took him out of school for that one. Each year the trips get longer and more challenging. He's 15 now, and we just completed a 2-weeker from La Vérendrye down the Coulonge. I love tripping with him. Those trips have been some of the best moments of my life. And so far he seems to like it too! I admire the handmade stuff you've brought along, especially the mocassins. Is that canoe a 15-foot Bastien Brothers' Huron? The decks and seat hangers seem to say so. The first APP tandem trip with my son was done in an old 16' Bastien which I parted with a few years ago.
 
Thanks everyone. Needless to say, I was very relieved that he enjoyed himself. Don't want to force my passion for paddling onto him.

Martin, finally discovered the origins of that canoe last year. Got it in a trade for an old plastic fishing boat. All indications point that it is an older model Langford which makes sense since it was obtained around the Dorset area where Mr. Langford was originally based. It has narrow red cedar planking and the holes for seat weaving pattern is similar to Richardson / Rilco. Major difference is that the red cedar planking isn't full length, tapered and tightly joined in a half checked joint like Richardson's / Rilco's. Instead they have a typical planking pattern with gored planks on either side. I was able to I.D. with the help of some of the posters on the WHCA forums. Here's a link to a blog post I wrote that compares some Richardson vs Langford features...

http://paddlemaking.blogspot.ca/2015/09/canoe-identity-mystery-solved.html
 
That was an enjoyable read, father/son with a lot of gear made by Dad. I miss those days of taking my children, today they have their own families and life keeps them busy. Take advantage of every opportunity you can get.
I also enjoyed reading everyone's posts in this thread, nice stuff.
 
Glad you got to get out with your kid! Looks like you guys had a great time. Good for him to want to carry the barrel, too! I really like Haliburton Highlands.. a bit quieter than Algonquin, I find. Thanks for sharing.
 
Murat , Never mind, I found the DIY article on your wonderful blogsite. It's great that you share your investigations into traditional canoe gear .
 
Forest, just got back home last night so couldn't respond in a timely manner.

You probably read my experiment post here. The carrying bar and tump setup worked reasonably well with the portage pads. But after a year of use, I concluded that it could be thinned down a bit. Also ended up cutting the profile to match the curves of the thwart to make grabbing it a bit easier for the flip up to the shoulders.

If you're interested, more photos of this modified version are in the post link below...
http://paddlemaking.blogspot.ca/2013/07/keewaydin-raffle-canoe-with-temagami.html

I'm planning on making another bar (also from scrap sassafras wood) for my 14' Chestnut but that one will not have the shoulder pads cutouts.
 
Thanks Murat , I have Heb Evan's fantastic books "Canoeing Wilderness Waters " & "Canoe Camping" but couldn't recollect where I had seen that carry bar. I'll be making a trip soon with a canoe with very thin thwarts , So I have a workshop project with a deadline. Your posts sure help to expedite the construction !
 
Hello Murat V: Excellent report. I was a little older than your son when my dad took me on my first canoe trip. Great job on all of the home made gear. I am glad that the fire ban was lifted and that you got to have a camp fire.

Take care,
Cousin Pete
 
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