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).

I'll raise your Huron with an Inverhuron Provincial Park

Back when we all thought the Blue Jays had a World Series team the last week of June 2013, Bev and I were out camping for a week along lake Huron.  Our first stop was Inverhuron Provincial Park, just north of Kincardine.  The start of camping season for us is always an exciting time when money is just paper and at that time it still was.  And I can remember back in aught 9 when we still had a penny too, but I digress.  On the way to the park, we found Hoity Toity Cellars on Kings Highway 9 just south of Walkerton, where we decided to stock up on some Ciders to enjoy during our trip (made solely with fruit, I asked -- no water involved, if anybody's watching).

No, I'm not getting paid for this plug.
It was just great ciders with unassuming names like '66 Pick-up' and 'Paint the Shed Red'.

Now for any of you out there without young children, the last week of June is one of the best times of the year for camping. The weather is warm enough for swimming (in the twenties most days), most campgrounds are quiet during the week (with students still in school), the beaches, trails and campsites are pristine (freshly cleaned for the season), fishing is good (not yet spooked by a culling), and the staff are all super friendly and helpful (not jaded by the job yet).  You will miss out on the campground programs, which I get so much information out of, but understandably they are usually geared towards children (For example Flashy feathers and bashful birds talk at Bronte Creek or Invasive species talk at Darlington which I'll talk about in future blogs).

And no, I'm not getting paid for this plug.  View of Bruce Nuclear Plant from the trail at Inverhuron
-- couldn't they just put up a big blue curtain?

And now a short history lesson:  Inverhuron opened in 1956 with 351 campsites and offered families a campground with a beautiful beach, hiking and overnight camping and there was much rejoicing. Yah!  Then in 1970 the province of Ontario decided to place Bruce Nuclear power plant on it's northern border. Why not?  I'm sure some people loved watching the construction in the early days but in 1976 concerns rose about the production of heavy water. Eleven percent denser water means more floating, but don't drink more than 50% of your body weight or you'll shuffle off this mortal coil.  And Inverhuron was reduced to a day use park only.  Boo!  Bruce Nuclear stopped producing heavy water in 1998 when they started using enriched uranium.  Yeah?  And overnight camping resumed in 2005 with 125 campsites.  Whew!  Inverhuron is redeveloping and eventually wants to have 250 campsites, new trails, and an amphitheatre.  By my count only 90 more sites and an amphitheatre to go.

The back exit of our site, right onto the trail.  It's not the beach but you can get your feet wet anytime you want.

The sites at this park are excellent when it comes to privacy, other than the gaping hole to the trail.  One can easily solve this problem by putting a tent up to block any looky-loo's or maybe a curtain.  The best sites at Inverhuron were chosen for privacy and not necessarily because of their proximity to the water since there are no sites right on the beach, but 7 and 72 are really close.  The best sites are #7, 27, 68, 72 (the best), 113, 159, and 169.  Bev and I were both pleased with the site we chose and the beach. And here they are in that order.

Site 159, left side.  Obviously after dishes, as our towel racks are full.

AND NOW...

Site 159, right side.  You'll notice we plugged the hole with our sleeping tent and put up a choke wire for any raiders.

The trail right out of the back of 27 of the campsites leads south to the beach which at most could be a kilometre away.  Not crazy convenient, but not Turkey Point.

The beach at Inverhuron and as an added bonus; a boat launch.

Before this trip, I thought lake Huron would be freezing cold at this time of year and I was happily mistaken.  All along the coast of Huron there are sand dunes and because of that there are mini sand dune/bars in the water.  So you go out the first 20 feet and the water is beautifully warm and probably only 3-4 feet deep, then there is a sand bar, then there's another 20 feet of tepid water about 4-5 feet deep, and then another sand bar, then it's swimming time in cool to frigid cold water.  And I guess that's how sand dunes work.  The single hike the campground offers, Scenic Drive Trail (4km) was an easy hike that goes the full distance of the park and could be done by mountain bike if you're into that sort of thing.  As a side note, this was the first time I saw a Yellow Lady's Slipper wild orchid and it made me smile because I have killed/given up on so many orchids in the last few years.

Obviously if this one can live here I'm doing something wrong at home.

All in all this was a good start to the trip.

Site Cleanliness:  Excellent.  This maybe because it was the start of the season, but it still was way above average.

Privacy:  All the sites are trying to be private, but some are succeeding more than others.  There are also a lot of pull through sites which to me was curious.

Hiking and Activities:  Beach and a hike is a little sub-par, but they are trying to improve this with more hikes -- coming soon.

Park Class:  I have to guess historical (because there's not enough recreation, wilderness, area for nature reserve or natural environment, and there isn't a waterway) and the answer is... historical.  There is proof that this area has been used for 4500 years for fishing and hunting by First Nations peoples.

Beach Quality or Ease of Getting to the Water:  Beach quality is very good, but ease to get to the water falls on the poor side.

Recommended Length of Stay:  I'm going to be kind and say 3 days, 2 nights.  If you bring a boat and want to fish then it could be much longer.  I think this is a great relaxation park, but I can't wait to see it in a couple of years.

Overall Impression: Good, but meh.  But hey, it's only been reopened for 8 years.

Rating out of 107:  As much as I'm trying to be nice to Inverhuron it's still has to fall in the 50's so let's give it #56 for the year it opened in all it's glory and hope that it can get back there, so when we are doing MacGregor Point we can pop in for a surprise visit.

Again if you're keeping track:

#2 Algonquin

#3 Quetico

#19 Sandbanks

#21 Neys

#22 Wakami Lake

#23 Nagagamisis

#29 Pancake Bay

#33 Chutes

#56 Inverhuron

#93 Rainbow Falls

#101 Turkey Point

Trying to get a tan, while reading Bob Newhart's autobiography (Thanks Jason Enberg) and carrying around a baby squirrel on my chest.  He was just interested in the nuts.