Fri, Jun 13 2008, Sat, Jun 14 2008, Sun, Jun 15 2008 - Wet 'n wild weekend at Elora Gorge: Camping, Tubing, Swimming, & Hiking (View Original Event Details)
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When at the pre-meeting Dave said that he wanted to bring his blow-up and pump, we sat there wondering if he had something else in mind for an event that I had named "Wet 'n wild." Thankfully, it turned out that he meant a blow-up tent. Instead of having poles, the tent's frame had air. Because it was going to be such a fun tent, the girls decided that the boys (all three of them) had to share that tent.
The first time the TOC tried to go tubing at Elora two years ago, the water level was too low. To prevent this sad situation from happening again, Jenn and I decided to put on this event in early June. We drove into Elora only to discover that the water level was too high! We're starting to wonder if the TOC's pursuit of tubing at Elora is cursed.
We booked three neighboring sites and had plenty of tents, so there was a small tent city going on. Matt did a great job of setting up the tarp over a couple of picnic tables, which came in handy because we did get rain overnight, but luckily never during the day.
Saturday morning, we had a fantastic omelet and bacon breakfast. Jenn got breakfast rolling (she and Dave went to Tim Horton's for a coffee run), Dave took over the cooking of the omelet, Lisa was in charge of bacon, and everyone else pitched in with chopping and cleaning up. Because there would be no tubing that day (sad faces all around), we decided to walk into town and do a little shopping. Shopping and camping, now this is MY kind of outdoor event! Dave led the hike through the woods and took us to his favorite places -- Hole in the Rock and an abandoned house. Then shortly thereafter, we were in town.
Elora is just about one of the cutest little towns that I had ever seen. We broke into several different groups depending upon interests. Dave, Matt, and Jenn decided to enjoy the beautiful afternoon with a quick beer at a pub, Margaret, Jose, Michelle, and I decided to meander the main drag and do a little shopping. We found a beautiful little antique store that sold marvelous jewelry (all very reasonably priced) that we later sent Jenn to. Definitely we should do a shopping and swimming event at Elora in the future. Then many of us ended up meeting at the local ice cream store (Great minds think alike! Dessert before lunch!) and had a tasty treat.
We walked back to our camp and had lunch before heading out to Elora Quarry for some swimming. The quarry is absolutely beautiful. The slate gray walls and the bright turquoise-colored water made a picturesque scene. The water was just cold enough to be quite refreshing on a very warm afternoon. Lisa initially thought the water was too cold, but Dave "tricked" her into the water by telling her about the waterfall that was on the other side. Dave would defend himself by saying that there was a waterfall, which is true, but whether or not it was worth swimming to the other side is debatable. Margaret celebrated her birthday by cliff-diving, and Matt and Jose joined her.
After a few hours of swimming around and lying under the sun, we headed back to camp for dinner. Dave, once again, took charge and did a masterful job of grilling steaks. For dinner, we had steaks, salad, and baked potatoes; the TOC knows how to eat at camping trips. Instead of going for dessert right away, we decided to go for an evening hike around the gorge. A few decided that was far as they wanted to go, a couple decided to stay longer at the river, and the rest of us finished our hike. At a field, we started to see the fireflies wake up. Little dots of light flashed on and off.
When most of the group was back, we started up the campfire and made smores. Jenna, who is originally from Turkey, learned about this North American cultural camping treat. One by one, people drifted back to their tents to go to sleep.
The next morning, Margaret made a great oatmeal breakfast (an assortment of fresh and dried fruit of mangoes, bananas, kiwis, cranberries, and raisins; sliced almonds; and different sugars). If there were an award at the AGM for best oatmeal, I would nominate her (Linda D. would get my other nomination). We also had sausages to go with our oatmeal. Dave impressed everyone with his appetite. He and Pia went to Timmy's for another coffee run and he got a breakfast sandwich. He informed us that this was his second breakfast, as he had already eaten a bowl of noodles earlier. And yes, he did consume a bowl of oatmeal.
Everyone pitched in to break up camp. Unfortunately Jessica and Pia had to leave early. Lily, Lisa, Michelle, and Jessica decided to do another hike around the gorge, while the rest of us went back to the quarry for one last swim. We all agreed that this was a wonderful low-key weekend.
When it came time to leave, we had to get Jose's attention who was sitting on the rocks. Our frantic cries of "Jose! Jose!" did nothing to get his attention. Finally out of sheer frustration, I yelled, "Hey, Sexy!!!" Now THAT got him to turn his head around. So let it be known that Jose would like to be called "Sexy."
A good time was had by all.
Much thanks to Lisa, Jenn, Margaret, and Dave for shopping and the food for this trip, but also to everyone else because everyone was really great about helping out in camp, whether it was chopping or cleaning, or setting up and taking down tents. This was a really great group of people. We all really enjoyed Dave's outrageous sense of humor.
Jose sends us this brilliant short film he made entitled Are we there yet?.
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.