Fri, Jun 1 2007, Sat, Jun 2 2007, Sun, Jun 3 2007 - Camping at Bruce Peninsula National Park (Backcountry) (View Original Event Details)
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For all of us on this trip, Betsy, Hendrik, Alison, Margaret, and Melissa, this was a virgin experience. None of us have been to this part of Bruce Peninsula and some of us have never even been here ever. All of us were still blown away at the stunning beauty of Bruce Peninsula.
We arrived at the Cypress Lake parking lot and the trail head at 22:00. The sun had already set. We hoped to arrive earlier, but getting lost from Newmarket was a setback of 1 hour. Still, we continued to set out in the darkness for Storm Haven, supposedly 2 km away, armed with headlamps. The campsite turned out to be 3 km because of an incorrect marking on the Bruce Trail Reference Guide map. It was tricky to find the tent pad we were actually supposed to be on as we were fumbling around in the darkness. We ended up with Site #6 rather than the assigned #7. We couldn’t find any other campsites either so we squished our MEC Tarn 3 and MSR Hubba Hubba tents on one site. It was 01:00 by the time we were ready to fall asleep.
The next morning we woke up at 08:00 to the sound of birds chirping and the view of Georgian Bay. Breakfast was easy with only having to add cold water to the freeze-dried breakfast of raspberry granola we bought. It was actually surprisingly tasty! The water I filtered from the lake was clean and tasted just like bottled water. At about 11:00 we were then packed and on our way to High Dump.
Surprisingly the weather was pleasant and the mosquito count low. Bug nets were not even required for the weekend. Betsy and Margaret confirmed that citronella leaves do not work and ended up using bug spray with DEET. That seemed to have worked out better for the both of them.
We couldn’t help ourselves and took a leisurely break for lunch. We sunned ourselves and napped for an hour on an outcropping of exposed rock overlooking a stunning view of Bruce Peninsula. We could have been mistaken for lizards or seals.
When we arrived at High Dump campsite and setup home, we headed down to the boulder beach. Most of us jumped and splashed into the freezing waters of Georgian Bay. We were so sweaty and sticky from the hike that a nice rinse was called for a comfortable sleep and courtesy of our tent-mates. Again, we fell asleep on the rocks under the sun to dry off and warm ourselves until dinner time. There was a reoccurring theme on our trip.
More freeze-dried foods were called for and for dinner it was Katmandu Curry Rice. We boiled water on the beach and added it to the package. Nothing was simpler and it was also quite good. We continued chatting away against the background of the setting sun and the call of the loons.
In the middle of the night, some of us woke up to the roar of thunder. We heard the splattering of rain drops against our tents and worried for tomorrow. The crack of thunder was far, but we were amazed that it traveled so far. Hendrik took a walk in the evening and saw the lighting strike in the distance. Unfortunately with the thunderstorm, the full moon did not shine through; however, luckily we only brush through the storm’s edge and we woke up to a dry tent, platform, and trail.
Breakfast wasn’t as easy as we imagined. To our “oops” we found that the pancakes in the bag was really simple pancake mix like you can buy from a box in the grocery store. It required oil and it would cook like normal pancakes at home. We didn’t have any oil on us but through the kindness of strangers (fellow backpacking campers), they gave us a cup so we can make some. The pancakes tasted OK but against our recommendations for future trips because of all the work required.
Because of Melissa’s very hard, unbroken mountaineering boots, she pulled out at Halfway dump because of complaining feet. Hendrik and Margaret stayed with her while Alison and Betsy speeded along the rest of the trail towards the car without their packs. It gave the three of them to explore the beach located at the bottom of the Halfway dump trail, which was gorgeous with the famous Georgian Bay clear blue waters. The weather was perfect and some of us fell asleep sunning in the rocks before it was time to lug all 5 packs up to the parking lot to meet Betsy and Allison.
Luckily we headed home when we did. A storm moved into our area just as we drove out. It was a good time, good trip, good memory.
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