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I routinely embark on outdoor adventures. Sometimes the moto "Be Prepared" from my days in Scouts rubbs off... This webpage highlights a few times I was a little less prepared than I should have been. Sharing some comical mishaps and trials from the trails, that made the wheels a little squeaky. But, hey. It's all in the name of a true adventure! |
About Me |
| The Adventures | |
| Adventures and Tips from Others |
Hi There! I'm a second year undergraduate student with a passion for the outdoors. I often travel solo in any parsel of free time that I have, which more often than not is last minute, leaving me unprepared.
I may be be under prepared but there are three things I never leave the house without
The snow drifts are too high to cycle through, my aluminum canoe is not an icebreaker. Come winter, I was lacking in adventure possibilities. After digging out my dads old cross-country skis from 30 years ago I was determined to take up this new activity. I went to the secondhand shop and purchased the first pair of X-county ski boots that fit.
Oops.
Apparently, all x-country ski bindings are not the same. Not one to be discouraged, I zip tied my boots in place.
Zip ties, though seemingly indestructible, don’t take kindly to -15°C. Blissfully skiing along, I glide forward with my foot and it sinks into the snow, my ski left behind on the trial. Zip ties apparently break when its cold and they’re under pressure.
Now what?
I had ignored the fact that I wasn’t prepared and ventured out anyways. I had no back up zip ties, no alternative method to fasten my feet to the skis.
This is where resourcefulness comes in.
You know the little zipper pulls on coats? Yeah, well they can really be a life saver.
It was just long enough to wrap twice
It wasn’t as stable, but I made it home.
Now I have ski and boot bindings that match.
Crocs. A questionable fashion choice, but a seemingly practical choice of footwear when you’re dragging a canoe through swampy creeks every hour.
I used to be against all the croc hate.
Now I side firmly with those individuals.
About ten minutes into the first portage of a five day trip, RIP to my foot. A blister, slightly larger than a toonie developed in my arch, each step in my poor footwear choice was extremely painful.
So I did what everyone would do an hours paddle into a five day route, I kept going. In my stockingfeet. (to provide some protection)
I really should have been better prepared, black socks would have been much more practical than my light grey ones. 😜
That trip, in honour of my mud caked socks I sang the campfire tune “Black Socks” on the hour. Launching, paddling the open water, clambering over beaver dames, scaling soggy portages, wherever I was, I was singing:
Black socks they never get dirty,
The longer you where them the cleaner they get.
Sometimes I think I should wash them but something inside me says,
"No, no, not yet!"
Not yet, not yet, not yet...
Sorry moose and beavers for inflicting upon you such an earworm.
Next time, I won’t wear crocs.
After a 12-hour day of hiking in pouring rain, I was exhausted. Fern was exhausted. We were both soggy, because even with our rain gear on, 12 hours of downpour finds its ways.
After setting up the tent, Fern immediately snuggled into my lofted sleeping bag. Looking so cozy, when she didn’t budge when I asked her to ‘heal up’ so we could go back in the rain, make some dinner and hang the food bag, I decided to leave her, unsupervised in the tent.
Throughout my battle with the stove to heat a lukewarm meal in the frigid weather, she stayed put.
When I left to go hang the food bag, that was apparently too much of a distance apart.
Fern decided it was time to remodel the tent. After all, it was missing a doggy door.
We were 13 days in with another 20 to go, and I wasn’t too interested in taking stakes in the bed and breakfast industry for mosquitoes.
I didn’t have tape. (What kind of hiker am I?)
I did however, have Band-Aids.
Doubt it will pass the ‘tent building code’. But it kept the rain and mosquitoes out and the warmth and Fern in.
Cycling. A fun activity. Sometimes a necessary mode of transportation as a pre-licence teenager. But most of all a way to keep up and meet the exercise needs of a high energy dog.
My mother was apprehensive, to say the least, the first time I brought up cycling with my late Brittany Spaniel, Fern.
I wasn’t swayed. I set out on my shiny red bike, leash in hand. The first kilometre was smooth sailing, Fern stayed a respectable distance from the edge of my bike so not to get caught by peddles or tires, this was great until we had to pass the first house. I had overlooked one major thing. MAILBOXES. The dog went on one side, I on the other. The leash made an abrupt intimate meeting with the mailbox and before I knew what had happened, I was plucked of my bicycle and lying in the ditch.
Fern was disappointed when we walked home that day.
It took a few more tires. A few more falls. A few slow training sessions. A new bungee leash, to aid in subtle communication, but eventually, we sailed along like a team. That was until 6km into the most synchronised ride we had had to date, where the pace was right and the sun was shining, my inner tube burst.
Cycling just never goes as planned.
Here are some of my favourite blogs and resources. The first two, incredible stories from two inspiring women.The last, a tool to be prepared.
Kate Lamb cycled from Bulgaria to London, England pulling her street dog Scout. Kate blogged throughout the entire process and adventure.
Grizel is another amazing outdoorswoman, She's completed the PCT, At, and in 2020 plans to attempt the CDT. on her blog, she covers all things hiking and nomadic life. From physical and mental health on trail to best outdoor practices and relationships.
This website contains countless, detailed maps, accompanying trip logs and recomendations for canoe routes within Alqonquin and other backcountry parks in Ontario and Quebec.
Know ahead of time if that river has a waterfall... or if there's 15 beaver dams to cross. Because if so, damn.