Restoule now tell me, Am I really going to love you forever, Oh, Oh, Oh, Or am I caught in a Hit and Run?

If you've ever been on a long trip there is often a moment where you'd rather be home, or in a bed, or dry, or any place, but where you are.  Upon arriving in Restoule Provincial Park, right after Cheaters Park and before that the curse of Lake Nagagamisis, I was on the brink.  Thankful for the great rest at Cheaters park and a chance to refresh ourselves, we were now camping well into the second weekend of September and the weather was not showing signs of being an Indian summer.  (Should be First Nations summer as it is not referring to a summer in the land of curries.)  While driving the long and winding road into Restoule, I was shocked at how many deer we spotted and it made me think of how, in a month, my father and brother would be shooting them.

"O.K. I'll make you a deal.  Don't tell your family where we are and I'll stop giving you the stink eye," Deer.
"Stupid deer" Me.

Not all of the provincial parks are open in September, so you have to check which ones stay open later, but if they are open, and you're game, you pretty much have the place to yourself.  We had our pick of the sites and chose a nice one by the beach.

Bev in welcome/tah dah pose at site 236 at Restoule.

The site was fairly private, but as always,  provincial park + hardwood bush = you can see your neighbours.  Luckily for us we were the only ones around so we had no neighbours.  After setting up we set off on a hike and mushroom hunt (Shhhh. We're hunting mushrooms).   The first hike we did was the Angels Point Trail (2.5 km) -- an easy hike where we killed a lot of mushrooms.  This was the sort of hike that you take with your kids or your parents just to get off the campsite.  That being said, because it was prime mushroom season, Bev and I enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

Pave this trail and it's a scene from Miller's Crossing.

The second hike we did was the River Trail (2 km) -- more of a moderate hike through another hardwood bush, we were surprised we didn't get to murder any mushrooms.  I think they got word and all went into hiding.  This hike was more our speed and beautiful, but because there were very few mushrooms, we enjoyed ourselves ever so slightly less.   Rangers Point (1km) is a flat easy trail that takes you along a river to Stormy Lake.  It is suggested that you take a picnic and go on this trail, but personally I think this is a trail to teach your one year old how to hike.  There is a nice view of Stormy Lake, yet let's put it this way; we didn't take a picture of it.

I now must confess.  We decided that we were only going to stay one night at this park sometime during our first day and when you do that, you have to be choosy on what you do and what you skip.  I don't feel right anymore only going to a park for a night and reviewing it, because I find that you always miss something (maybe a second night?).  On that note, the other two hikes are Gibs Trail (? km) which is a linear trail meaning at some point you have to choose to turn around and travel the same path back.  Gibs travels outside the park into crown land which I worry about because I think I would want to see the end of the unmarked, unmaintained trail and may never be seen again.  If we had the time I think this would have been our favourite trail and many a mushroom would have perished.  Lastly, Fire Tower Trail (7km) is a challenging hike to the top of the bluffs and a historical fire tower.  We did the tiniest bit of this hike through a pine bush and enjoyed it, however I have to assume if you have seen one fire tower you have seen them all.

There, now you've seen one.

It may seem like we didn't enjoy ourselves at Restoule and that is simply untrue.  We walked down to the beautiful beach, we did as many hikes as we had time for, and we checked out the entire campsite which is mostly a smart set up, with many sites at various elevations so no site is staring at their neighbours.  Due to this, I was confused by a bit of the history.  This park was originally a farm, but with all the hills I have to wonder what they were farming?

One of the Beaches at Restoule.  Pretty eh?

In an effort to include other points of view I want to say that a friend of mine, Charles Lehmann, really had a bad time here.  Upon further questioning (using the comfy chair and the pointy cushions), he admitted his drive to the park was long and uncomfortable, the water was too warm, the floor of the lake was mucky, he had a run in with an Ontario outhouse cobra and there was a fire ban.

Charles after his run in with the Ontario outhouse Cobra!

All of these things can ruin a camping trip and we are usually very careful to avoid these things at all cost.  For example: Fun Fact: to anyone who wants to go camping on May 24 weekend watch out that there isn't an alcohol ban at your park, unless you like it that way.  Personally I don't like being told what to do.  For us camping is about being together and great food over an open fire.  Enter the internal monologue : I'm not one to show off my food normally and a part of me is already feeling guilty for wanting to do it and another part hates the first part, but I do want to show the wild mushrooms and I've done that in the past without any problems.  Hell I do it again at the end of this Blog post.  Screw it, I'm going to do it.  Exit the internal monologue. Here is what we ate at Restoule.

Steak, and wild mushrooms.  I'm sure we had a vegetable not pictured here.

Restoule is also a great jumping off point for canoe trips, they have back country sites available all the way to lake Nipissing.  It looks amazing, but unfortunately I don't think we'll get a chance to try it for about 7 years from now.  The best sites are; at Kettle Point Campground numbers 424, 426, 430, 432, 435, 437, 438, and 440.  At Putts Point Campground numbers 233, 234, 235, 236, 253, 257, and 309.  And at Bell's Point Campground numbers 4, 7, 8, 16, 29, 39, 41, 43, 44, 47, 49, 50, and 53 -- be warned at Bell's it's a bit of a walk to the beach.

Privacy:  Decent.  There are private sites (look at the suggestions) and if you set up your equipment you can block sight lines to other campsites.

Hiking and Activities: Very Good and by that I mean there are quite a lot.  I was impressed with the amount of hikes, if you like canoeing you could easily spend 5-7 days at this park.  They also have programs run by the campground during the high season.

Park Class:  I'm guessing recreation.... and I am wrong.  This park is a Natural Environment class of park which means: "Natural Environment Parks are selected to protect large, representative, and ecologically viable areas throughout Ontario."  I really am no good at this game.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water: You can get to the water from every site within minutes.  The beach quality was good, but to be honest we just got our feet wet due to the weather so I can't be sure Charles wasn't correct in his assessment of the water quality.  Note that you can also swim at Stormy Lake.

Recommended Length of Stay:  If you are canoeing then you could stay for two weeks in the back country enjoying yourself, but if you are on a family trip I would suggest 4 days.  A hike a day, a swim a day and rent a canoe for a day to check out some of the close lakes and fishing.

Overall Impression:  I liked Restoule, but we were there at a good time of year for me.  Privacy I think would be an issue if this park was full and it wouldn't be hard to fill that beach in the same circumstances and if the bottom is all weeds and muck well then you might not want to be in the water for long.  Two of the hikes were silly easy, but they had three that were/would have been fun. 

Rating out of 107:  Tough call really because I liked it and it has drawbacks, but I think it has to fall at #52 for all those times I played cards with my family and was left cleaning the floor of the cards.

Again if you're keeping track:

#2 Algonquin

#3 Quetico

#19 Sandbanks

#21 Neys

#22 Wakami Lake

#23 Nagagamisis

#29 Pancake Bay

#33 Chutes

#52 Restoule

#53 Point Farms

#56 Inverhuron

#93 Rainbow Falls

#101 Turkey Point

#105 Bronte Creek

And now a mushroom moment with Robert Fidler:

First we saw...

Oyster mushroom or Pleurotus Ostreatus. Edible.

Then, 

Amanita Muscaria or Fly Agaric. Poisonous.

Then...

Hygrophorus Russula. Edible.

And lastly.

Amanita Flavoconia or Yellow Patches. Poisonous.

Thank-you and good night.

Cheater Park with Beverley and Robert

Disclaimer: This is a joke and should not be taken seriously within the context of the Blog.

After having a glorious cheater night in North Bay September 2013, I think it only right to talk about rain.  Rain can kill a camping trip before it ever starts, I can't tell you how many times we've returned home with sand in every crevice ... of our camping gear.  A three day rainy stretch in any camping trip is bad, but an East wind September rain is only good if you are wanting to be sick or toughen yourself up for winter.  Here are a few tips to any of you campers out there if you want to try a camping trip with a chance of rain;

• Always bring a raincoat.  If you have rain-pants even better, even if it's just for getting up in the middle of the night -- if you know what I mean.

See raincoats and happiness.  Please don't question what camp site we are at.

• Get an eating tent.  I know it may seem extravagant (about $200), but if you can hang out and be dry then the rain doesn't make you question whether you should wake up at 7am and go home from lake Erie (Rock Point).  It's also good for bugs, can block the wind, and it's a great place to store things like dry wood, clean cooking gear and drink coolers. 

A simple man with his simple eating tent.

• Potato Chips are an amazing fire-starter.  I guess it's the oil in them (which I wish I could unlearn) but if you need to get a fire started in the rain potato chips will give you a consistent flame for up to 3 minutes to get everything else started.

• When setting up your sleeping tent always take into account which direction is west and the angle of the ground. (personally I like to be under trees and on grass if there is any question about weather)
• Try to have some dry wood.  If your wood is wet you'll never get a fire started.  As a side note if you are ever going to Fundy National Park bring your own wood.
• When all else fails -- get a hotel.

Cheater's Park in North Bay at site 136 after a good night's sleep and a swim.

And if you're like me no good site can be too far from the water, which for us was about a minute walk from our site.

They even had a wholly unnatural hot spring in the back.

Now just for shiggles let's see where the Cheater Park would have numbered in the Provincial Park ratings.

Privacy:  Fairly private.  Even had our own comfort station.

Hiking and Activities:  Poor.  There were no hikes and patrons had to pay for their own activities, but this site was right next door to a bar.

Park Class:  N/A.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water:  There were sites closer to the water, but we were within a minute walk.  The water was warm, but not much room to swim.

Recommended Length of Stay:  One night just to warm up and stay out of the rain.

Overall Impression:  We needed this after the tent ate Beverley at Lake Nagagamisis.

Rating out of 107:  I would honestly put this park at 99, but truly this is a 1% sort of camping spot.  Now on to Restoule!

Bronte Creek Provincial Park: A Gateway park is not quite the Real Thing

Near the end of the summer 2013 we decided to jump out of town to a Provincial Park.  Bronte Creek Provincial Park is only 40 minutes outside of Toronto in good traffic -- that's a funny key to this park, good traffic.  You could also take the Go train to Bronte station a 10 minutes bike or cab from the park so people who are vehicularly challenged this is a park for you.

Bronte Creek is a provincial park smack dab in the middle between Oakville and Burlington.  Beautiful park land and a pioneer village have been transformed into a gateway provincial park for beginners.  I think it's important to note that I am not a fan of this park.  A gateway park for amateurs is not my problem, but here is what is from my judging criteria for provincial parks.  Just for fun I'm going to rate each of the categories out of 10.

They didn't want a war between Oakville and Burlington so they put a Provincial Park in between them.
Who's ready to Annex the Sudatenland?

Site Cleanliness: 1 out of 10 for the square footage that didn't have someone else's garbage on it. Awful.  The great young lady at the front gates gave me one of the best sites at the park and I was cleaning up the site the whole time I was there.  I don't want to blame beginners, but for you beginners out there, whatever you bring into the park you should take out of the park or dispose of at the garbage and recycling stations located in every provincial park.  At this park it was everything from bread clips, twist ties, elastics and bottle caps (pretty normal) to glass (less so) to dirty diapers (never happened before),  I think I spent 2 hours cleaning my site and the surrounding area and filled a Zehrs bag.

Post cleaning: Site 407 was comfortable and fairly private.

Privacy:  1 out of 10 for the percentage of sites that are private.  There are some sites that are private, but most are in the middle of an open field -- so if it rains you better have an eat tent or something else to do, I guess you could always drive 10 minutes into town to a pub, restaurant or, worst case scenario, a hotel.  The good sites at Bronte Creek are; nothing in Prairie, 229 in Savannah, 301-303, 316, 317, 320, 324, 327, and 328 in Woodland, and 406-409 and 417 in the Ravine.  So out of 144 sites they only have 15 that can remotely be considered private.

What 129 of the campsites looked like.  "Get the lawn mower out we need more sites!"

Hiking and Activities:  5 out of 10 for the kilometres it takes to get there.  Here is the only thing Bronte Creek does well, the park has 5 trails, a frisbee golf course, baseball diamonds, a petting farm zoo, a model airplane flying zone, a working farmhouse, and a nature centre -- sounds amazing right?  BUT they are all a 5 kilometre drive from the campground on the QEW.  There are no trails, no roads, and no zip lines to connect the campground to 98% of the activities the park has to offer.

This gives you a good idea of how things are set up.

What are the 2% of activities you don't have to drive to?  The campground has an amphitheatre where the staff do programs for children.  We went to see an evening program called Flashy Feathers and Bashful Birds where we learned all about LBB's or little brown birds.  To be completely serious the multi-media talk was for children, but both Bev and I really enjoyed it. (Says something about us I guess)  The other percent is for the 2 trails at the campground: one to get people to the park office (Gateway Trail -- no description) with a beautiful view of the adjacent subdivision and the other is a decent trail through the forest and what use to be farmers' fields:

Field and Forest Trail (3.5 km):  This was a decent hike through Carolinian forest with some wild apple trees and a little bit of wildlife.  If you do get lost on the trail you end up in a subdivision so make sure you look at the map before you leave your campsite. (At the Campground)

At the Day Use Area:
Trillium Trail (1km):  Another walk through the forest on top of the ravine.  From what I understand this is a great place in the Spring to see different wildflowers.

Half Moon Valley Trail (2km):  I enjoyed this trail, where you go down into the ravine through swampier bits and along Bronte creek.  Be careful the Giant Hogweed (dangerous invasive species) has found it's way in here and is along the trail.  (Also there is an MP3 audio guide that you don't know about until you get to Bronte Creek)  Click here for the link to the MP3 audio guide.

The two other trails, Maiden's Blush Trail (1km) and the Ravine Trail (2.7km), we didn't do because we were too busy playing disc golf or Frolf.

If you don't know what Frolf is then check it out where you are. There are courses all over and since we played Frolf here at Bronte we have played courses in Thunder Bay, Toronto Island, Mikisew Provincial Park, and Chicopee Ski Hill in Kitchener.  What I have been told is that the course at Bronte Creek is one of the best in Ontario and I believe it.  All you have to know is that frolf is frisbee golf.  So you start in the tee box.

You can buy weighted frisbees to throw your tee shot farther but we just went to Canadian Tire for our frisbees. The object is to try to get it in a chain linked hole 100 to 200 metres away.

Beverley and I have had so much fun doing this now we look for it everywhere we go and would like to start a Frolf league in Toronto if anyone would like to join.  

So all in all the activities get a high rating, but with a minus because it's... you guessed it - a 5 km drive to get there.

Park Class:  1 out of 10. Recreation, but you have to travel 5 km to do most of it.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water:  0 out of 10, for what I liked about this.  Now here is my personal favourite.  This is the only park I know of so far that has a pool for their water.  And I'm thinking 'No problem this pool is 1.8 acres in size'.  So on the first day, I'm by myself and I figure I'll go for a swim.  I drive the five kilometres and have to park a kilometre from the pool, no biggie.  I make the walk to the Kiosk and the nice staff person tells me I need to show proof that I'm camping at Bronte Creek.  Makes sense, you don't want to allow day use people in the pool, sure.  So I trek back to my car and get proof that I'm staying at the park.  The next time I'm at the kiosk I show my camping proof and the nice young staff person informs me that it will cost $3.25 for an adult and $2.25 for a youth, so it's another trip to the car for me.  Once I was finally in the pool area I was unimpressed.  The pool is only 6 feet deep at the centre. It was the beginning of August and the water was frigid cold -- colder than Lake Huron in June!  There was ample space for people to lie out on towels or enjoy a meal with their family, but I like Riverdale Pool across from my house better than this one and Riverdale pool is free! 

At least you don't get sand in your suit.

Recommended Length of Stay:   0 to 2 nights.  I would suggest that a beginning camper should try this provincial park for a weekend as a practice run to camping in other parks.  For anyone who has ever camped before, unless you're having a Frolf weekend, I would suggest to skip this park and drive an extra hour and a half to another Ontario Provincial Park.

Overall Impression: 1 out of 10.  I am not the right camper for this Provincial Park.  This park is for people who have never camped before, people who cannot drive more than an hour from home, and claustrophobics.  This is the type of place for an early to bed bush party, where a bunch of people of age could go for a party that ends at 11pm.  The day use area is great but the province should invest in a bridge or a pay zip line to cross the ravine between the campground and day use area.  Just like something else I can think of that uses gateway as a prefix, it just can't be as good as the real thing.  In the winter they hold a maple syrup festival in the day use area and they have a rink for skating so they have that going for them.  But it seems they don't have a copy editor --

Yep just control C and then control V.  Perfect! Upon reflection Bravo to MacGregor Point Provincial Park.

Rating out of 107:  105 because I think there may be one or possibly two parks worse than this given my criteria and level of experience.  It can't be last because of the Frolf course.

Again if you're keeping track:

#2 Algonquin

#3 Quetico

#19 Sandbanks

#21 Neys

#22 Wakami Lake

#23 Nagagamisis

#29 Pancake Bay

#33 Chutes

#53 Point Farms

#56 Inverhuron

#93 Rainbow Falls

#101 Turkey Point

#105 Bronte Creek

Come Buy the Point Farms Provincial Park

I figure just for shiggles I'd write this Blog as an ode to Charlie Farquharson.
Point on the Farms. By Robert C Fidler

We woke with the roosters the day we were leaving Inverhuron.  Had a cup of the black stuff and hit the road, rubber side down.  Now the two parks are only 'bout 50 some odd clicks apart so we took the winedy trail closest to the water to get there.  Some people got alot of money stashed along the coast of Huron in the way of cottages and boats and maybe just stashes, but we's was more interested in the water.  Took us to 'bout time for lunch and a nap to get there and right outside Point Farms is a mini-golf -- can't wait.

Well we done go into the park and the oddest thing -- they don't sell burning wood, heck they don't sell lighting wood neither.  They also don't sell ice and I think that dog don't hunt.  Guess who does -- the mini-golf.  So back out we go to get some wood and ice then finally to our site.  We choose a good one, maybe the best one; number 188.  It was big and private, but it did have a downfall -- the fire pit was under the power lines.  Way back in school they used to joke 'bout people living under the power lines glowing like a firefly, but I figured if it was just for a couple of days maybe I just get a glowing personality.  Here's what she looks like.

Getting into some lunch before setting up temporary shelters.

The reason why it be called Point Farms, is dumb simple, it used to be farms.  The government bought them up and opened up the provincial park back in '65.  Once we set up, Bev and I went for a hike then down to the beach.  The beach be something pretty like Inverhuron and a similar hike to get to her, but well worth it.  Take a gander.

There's my gal behind the magical picnic table.  Beach volleyball be included in the deal.

Far as the hikes go there's a few that circle 'round the campground, so I'll do her clockwise and try to be clear.  Ravine Trail (12 min.) from the beach to the group camping road, travels along this little crick where tonnes of birds and other vermin hang out.  Government couldn't kick 'em off the farm.

Grosbeak checking us out.  Figure it must be Germans who named this bird cause I think the beak is not bad looking.

From there you catch the Old Farm Trail (1hr); goes by the ole barn, the grazing fields, orchards, and marsh that used to make up the old farms.  Again flocks of birds, but also different wild apple and pear trees, no vermin (that we saw), butterflies, and a bunch of Carolinian forest varieties.  An easy hike, but good for the britches and a great deal to look at.  Like this.

This ole farm it ain't what it use to be, ain't what it use to be, ain't what it use to be. 

At the end of this one is another called Below the Bluff Trail (8 min.) which takes you just inside the forest, below the bluff, but not yet in the sand dunes. The only real good reason for this trail is to join the other two or if you hate beaches.

"Look the beach gone and ate that picnic table Martha.  Let's go home. I hate beaches."

Sites there be good and bad, the good ones are in Huron #93 and 99 and in Colborne #167, 168, 178, 184, and 188.  All in all this is a good campground 'cause of the beach, but similar to Inverhuron just without the Nuclear Power Plant beside it.  Yeah?

Site Cleanliness:  The rangers did a good job of cleaning it for the start of the season.

Privacy:  Good is good.  Bad is not good.  Lots of not good because it's in a hardwood bush (but it's better than some others).

Hiking and Activities:  There is a ball diamond, thought that was kind of cool.  The hiking is good and bird watching amazing.

Park Class:  I've got to guess this is Historical like the last for the same reasons as the last and I am ... wrong.  Recreational class and I get it because there was much more to do here then at Inverhuron.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water:  Not great.  While being on top of a Bluff has it's advantages (less wind, beautiful view, the chance to write bluff) it still took at least 15 minutes to get down the 20 meters to the beach.

Recommended Length of Stay:  I would say easily 3 days; every day you would want some beach time, one could do a small hike every day, mini-golf, and there is a great deal of nature to check out.

Overall Impression:  Bev and I did enjoy our stay at Point Farms.  We spent many hours in the water, couple hours hiking, and we did play mini-golf, which she let me win.  It's a good park, like Inverhuron, but because there are not a lot of totally private sites, and it's a hike to the beach it has to be ranked accordingly.

Rating out of 107:  Just a smidge better than Inverhuron, let's say by 3, so #53 she be.  

Again if you're keeping track:

#2 Algonquin

#3 Quetico

#19 Sandbanks

#21 Neys

#22 Wakami Lake

#23 Nagagamisis

#29 Pancake Bay

#33 Chutes

#53 Point Farms

#56 Inverhuron

#93 Rainbow Falls

#101 Turkey Point

First mushroom of the season.  Bondarzewia Berkeleyi (inedible).