When we travel by canoe, we are always
looking along the shore for potential campsites. You never know
when you might come by this way again. It is always good to
know what the possibilities are for spending the night.
I remember a large island I explored 20 years
ago at the north end of a lake nearby. At that time, it had
recently been burned and was not a great place
to camp. But it had potential. So I figured,
20 years later, it would be ready!
It took all day to get there. One of those
scorching hot and muggy days last week. From afar, it looked
good. Several of the large pines were not killed by the fire,
and lots of new trees had come to provide welcome shade.
We found a place to land the canoe, and got
out to explore. First thing to know about any potential camping
spot is, where will the tent go? Is there a flat spot?
Hmmm.
There was a recently used fire pit at the
landing place. It was kind of messy, but we could clean that
up. Up the rocky slope we climbed. Blueberries!
Despite the hot and dry weather, there were
lots of blueberries! And ripe, red gooseberries, Juneberries
and pin cherries! Yum! It was a delicious place to
explore.
We also found several long abandoned herring
gull nests. Some of them had broken shells from eggs that did
not hatch, or maybe were found by predators. One had the
remains of an adult gull - feathers and wings and dried up
bones.
Yet, it was late in the day. If we didn't
camp here, where would we go? Yes there was the messy cooking
area and abundant old gull nests, but the opportunities for
berry picking balanced that out. We finally did find a nice,
flat spot near the top of the hill, but it had no chance of
shade.
Then Allan found out why the loon splashed in
the water shortly after we arrived. Tucked under a spruce tree
at the shoreline was a nest with two mottled grey-brown eggs.
This was the deciding factor. Even though the middle of July is
very late for loons to be on the nest, we could not stay
on
that fruitful island. We could not deny them
the chance to sit on their nest.
Instead, we camped on a smaller island
nearby.
The next day we travelled along to the next
lake, and the next...several along a chain of small lakes.
Seven portages later, we came to our favourite lake, and our
favourite campsite. We have been camping here for decades, and
the spot remains as beautiful and perfect as it was all those
years ago.
Here's the list of criteria for the perfect
campsite: a flat place for the tent, sunny and shady places to
sit, room to wander and explore, a good place
to swim, beautiful views, clean and quiet.
Blueberries at hand for breakfast are a bonus. Ah,
heaven.
Viki Mather lives by a lake near Sudbury.
