Winter Cabin Life at Silent Lake Provincial Park

We haven't seen much winter this year so when the snow finally started to fly mid-January we decided we should head north for a couple of days and take in as much winter as we could before it all disappeared. We discovered that Silent Lake Provincial Park had some cabins available, so we booked one and started getting ready. While booking the cabin we noticed that there is no lack of availability during the week. If you can get away during the week this would be a great option.

We booked cabin 206, somewhat randomly and I think it turned out to best cabin for us. It was on the lake side of the road, which meant we could walk out the front door to the lake. The cabins on either side of us were empty for our stay. But most importantly, we were able to turn the hill down to the lake into a sledding hill. I don't think any of the other cabins had such a nice sledding hill right out the door. When you have kids your criteria for a successful location can be quite different.

Cabin 206

We were only able to spend two nights so we made good use of our time. Upon our arrival we notice that mother nature had set the perfect scene for us. The temperature was below freezing, but not by much; the trees were covered in snow, from a storm the previous weekend; and the sun was setting. We unloaded our belongings, had something to eat then headed outside. We roasted some marshmallows then made our way to lake to get a good view of the night sky. The night sky was absolutely stunning. One of our daughters lay on the frozen lake just taking it all in. We talked about how the sky might have looked different thousands of years ago and how it might look different thousands of years from now. We also talked about how vast the universe was and pondered questions such as: what if there are other universes out there? It was certainly the highlight of the day.

The next morning we headed out on the ski trail. We didn't really pay much attention to the map before we left. We figured we would ski until our six year old got tired, then turn around. That's what we had done last time we were here. We left from point A and headed towards point B. There's a steep uphill climb just before B. I was worried that our daughter would get tired or frustrated after climbing the hill then she'd have to walk down the hill and ski back. We decided that Sarah and the girls would turn around at the hill and ski back to the cabin. Our son and I would continue on and do the 5 km red trail. We all had a great ski and met back at the cabin for lunch. While we were out on the trail we realized that all of us would be able to complete the 2.5 km green trail. This would make a great trip for tomorrow.

Some of the Ski Trails

Looking Across the Lake

And We're Off

Stream Flowing Out of Silent Lake

One Way

So Much Snow

All Covered in White

After lunch the plan was to do some ice fishing. We hadn't been ice fishing yet this year since it has been so warm, so we were looking forward to getting out there. Our son went to sort through the fishing gear while Sarah and I cleaned up after lunch. After a short period of time he came in asking where the fishing rods were. When he told me they weren't with all the other ice fishing gear, I realized that they were in the garage at home. Oh well. We dumped all the gear out of the sled and spent a good part of the afternoon sledding down the hill.

Going Down 

Who's Steering This Thing?

Headed for the Jump!

After a bit of sledding I put the skis back on and did the 10 km yellow trail. It was very picturesque The warm-up hut (located at point F) would be a good spot to stop for lunch some day.

Small, Frozen Body of Water

Warm-Up Cabin

When I got back to the cabin we started thinking about dinner. The plan was to BBQ some sausages, but it was so nice out that we all wanted to just be outside. We decided to cook our sausages over the fire instead.

Tending the Fire

Checking on The Sausages

The next morning we packed up (checkout time is 11:00), vacated the cabin and headed out for a ski. We brought a lunch with us so that we could eat on the way. The plan was to ski the 2.5 km loop, stopping about midway for lunch. 

Heading Up the Big Hill

Improvised Picnic Table

When we finished the loop our six year old said "Let's do it again!". We were all shocked that she wanted to go again, but we were all happy to oblige. We had the rest of our lunch by the lake then proceeded to complete the 2.5 km loop again. She was so much better the second time around. She even wanted to go a third time, but we weren't sure we had time (or that she would have the energy). I guess next time we'll have to do the 5 km loop, possibly with an additional 2.5 km loop.

We had a great time at Silent Lake. It was so nice to get a taste of winter. The cabins are a great option. They're very spacious. They can sleep 5 and come equipped with a microwave, fridge, kettle, a small counter with kitchen cupboards and shelves, a dinning table and a BBQ outside. The cabins are very similar to the one we stayed in at Arrowhead. The big difference is that the enclosed porch was heated at Silent Lake and it had an amazing collapsible drying rack. The drying rack was a great place to put hats and mitts to dry. I think I want one of these for home!

Collapsible Drying Rack

Collapsed Drying Rack

If you're looking for somewhere to go for a winter getaway, Silent Lake is a great option. They have 34 km of ski trails, 3.5 km of dedicated snowshoe trails (though you could snowshoe on the lake or on any of the unplowed park roads) and ice fishing (hand powered augers only). We will certainly be back, hopefully with our of our fishing gear.

Kawartha Highlands: Anstruther - Serpentine - Rathbun Loop

We decided to explore the north-east corner of Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park since we have never been to that section of the park. One of the things I like best about this park is that it is so close to home (about an hour and forty minutes) and it feels a lot like the more northern parks. Our goal was to leisurely do the Anstruther to Serpetine to Rathbun loop. We planned on five days so that we could take our time and enjoy the sites.

Day 1
We put in at the Anstruther Lake Access Point. It was very windy when we got there, and as you might have guessed the wind was blowing directly in our faces, which made fro a bit of a tricky launch. Once we were on the water things were great. The kids all did an amazing job of paddling in such a strong wind. They really dug in when we needed them to. I'm so impressed with their growth as paddlers over the years (Our six year old paddles like a veteran paddler). Since we were battling a strong head wind there was no time for pictures.

As we neared the first portage of the day, into Rathbun Lake, we spotted a bald eagle flying overhead. I find these birds absolutely majestic and am happy to see that they are making a come back. We got to the portage, unloaded and sorted out who was taking what on the portage. We blasted through the portage then when back to check out the waterfall. I love that our kids are so excited to see and explore waterfalls.

Climbing the Waterfall

Posing(?) at the Waterfall 

More Waterfall Climbing

We spent longer than we should have exploring the waterfall, but the kids were having a great time. We had lunch at the end of the portage and watched the streams of canoes making their way out of the park (it was Sunday afternoon).

The trip across Rathbun was quick and uneventful but the portage into Copper Lake was a little busy when we got there. Sarah was able to land her boat and get going on the portage. Shortly after she left a couple were putting their boat into the water, followed by a trio in a different canoe. Our older daughter and I waited on the water until the portage was clear. This portage also had a beautiful waterfall. We didn't stop, we just admired it in passing since it was getting late and we were getting tired. The portages for the day were short, but they were both steep uphills. From Anstruther Lake to Copper the elevation gain is about 45 m, over about 600 m. The Highlands part of the park name isn't just a cute name to invoke visions of beauty. They're called Highlands for good reason.

Once on Copper Lake we paddled to our site (235).

Copper Lake

The site was nice but the swimming wasn't great. The water was a bit swampy. That didn't stop us though. We found a path through the lily pads and swam out to some cleaner water. It was a hot day and were were all ready for a swim.

It's Amazing How Much Cooking the Kids Want to do When Fire is Involved

The Wind Finally Died Down

As we explored our site we were amazed by quantity and size of the blueberries. They were big, bright blue and they seemed to be everywhere. Blueberries would become a common site on the trip. We couldn't get over how many there were everywhere we went.

Day 2
Our goal for the second day was to get to Serpentine Lake. We had booked the island site (221) and were looking forward to a couple of days there. Our older daughter was convinced that we should take the short route via the 200m portage into Serpentine. The rest of us really wanted to go the long way through the marsh, into Anderson Lake the across the 610m portage into Serpentine.

As we were preparing to leave it started to rain. We found our rain coats and setup a tarp so that we could finish packing up. We waited a few minutes for the rain to stop. It slowed to a very light drizzle so we headed out and as it turns out it didn't take long for it to stop raining. We made our way to the marsh leading into Anderson Lake. It didn't look like this root was very well traveled. It was a real challenge trying to determine which way to go and there was some tough slugging in some sections as we maneuvered through the mud, grass, etc.

This Might be the Right Way!

After much meandering we made it to Anderson Lake. It's a small lake with only two campsites on it. I imagine it's a very peaceful lake to stay on. We didn't see anyone else while we were there. We found the portage easily, but it was a bit of a challenge to get to.

Almost at the Portage

 There was a shallow muddy path leading to the portage. Most of us ended up with wet feet getting to solid ground.

End of the Line

The portage was wet, as a result of the rain and our younger daughter slipped going up a steep rock. She was frustrated about not being able to make it up the rock but was unhurt. We spent a short time regrouping (did I mention there were lots of mosquitoes and deer flies?) and everyone was on their way again. Unfortunately, there was no relief from the bugs at the other end of the portage since it was a bit marshy there as well. We got on the water and paddled to a more open part of the lake to get away from the bugs then had a snack. Everyone was in good spirits as we paddled to our site. It was still overcast but the temperature was rising. We made it to the island and setup camp. As we did so the sun came out and invited us for a swim. The water was nice. Our six year old daughter decided that she wanted to swim to the mainland. She didn't tell anyone this was her plan, she just started swimming. As we tried to get her to swim back towards the island we realized what she was up to, so we all swam to the nearest shore (a rocky point). It was a picture perfect afternoon and evening.

We were treated a beautiful sunset and went to bed shortly there after.

Incredible Sunset

Day 3
This was a rest day for us. We woke up and leisurely cooked pancakes over the fire. After breakfast we headed off to explore. Our son and I wanted to explore the creek near the 200 m portage. We paddled a short distance and discovered it was all dried up. It was an interesting creek because it looked like it had cut right through the rock, creating rock walls on both sides of us.

Time to Explore on Foot 

All Dried Up

I Guess This is Why There is a Portage

After we finished exploring the creek we went to catch up to the others. They were going to paddle over to a small island not far from the one we were staying on, check it out and possibly go for a swim. It was warming up nicely so we all spent some time in the water cooling off.

Approaching the Tiny Island

Jumping In!

Our son and I headed back to our site to pick up our fishing gear to see if we could catch something for lunch. We didn't get any bites so we headed back for lunch. We spent much of the afternoon hanging around the site, reading, improving our knot tying skills and just generally being lazy. We did some more fishing late in the afternoon and caught a couple of small fish. We decided it would be best to let them grow some more so we put them back.

Knot Tying in the Hammock (Along With Some Silliness)

Leave it to the 6 Year Old to Turn a Hammock Into a Swing

Great Spot for Story Time

Another Great Spot for Reading

 After dinner and getting everything cleaned up, I headed out for a paddle while the others chose to do some more reading. There were fish jumping everywhere. It was amazing. On my way back I spotted a bald eagle that flew right past the island we were staying on. I wasn't the only one who spotted it. The two loons on the lake (one on either end) were giving out their warning calls.

Another Great Sunset

Day 4

Today wasn't meant to be a long day distance wise. The plan was to paddle to the portage from Serpentine to North Rathbun, do the portage, paddle across North Rathbun, down the creek and then do the short portage into Rathbun.

Headed for the Portage

 The only hiccup with the plan for the day might be the 1415m portage from Serpentine into North Rathbun. This would be the longest portage we've done (other than on day trips when we didn't have much stuff). It started with a very steep uphill section and finished with a long gradual downhill. I got everyone setup to go, then set them on their way and then carried the rest of our stuff along the first 150m of the trail to get to the top of the hill. I eventually caught up to our older daughter who had stopped (about 600 m from the end) to battle some of the bugs that had been following her. I didn't meet the other kids until the end of the portage. They had no troubles at all (other than the bugs, but there was a strong breeze at the end of the portage that was helping). Sarah and I went back for the rest of the stuff and finished in good time. It felt good to get on the water again. We had lunch in the canoes, letting the wind blow us where it wanted to. We took some time to explore the marshy area between campsites 211 and 212 but discovered that the water was quite shallow and muddy. We backed out quickly for fear of getting stuck. We also spent a few minutes looking for the remains of a tramway in the area, but we had no luck locating them. North Rathbun is a beautiful lake (our older daughter pointed out that I said that about most of the lakes that we visited).

The rest of the journey was easy and uneventful. It was getting very hot again and we were all looking forward to cooling off in the lake. The water was so refreshing. 

After swimming we did some fishing. We had a few bites but didn't catch anything until we tried again later in the evening. Again all the fish we caught were small.

Site 202 From the Water

Another Incredible Sunset

Day 5

We had a slow start to the day. We slept in and we were in no hurry to get going. While we packed up we were visited by the wardens again. This was the third time in five days our permit was checked. We figure that's more than all other trips combined. It's great to see such a strong presence in the park.

The paddle to the portage into Anstruther was easy as was the portage. Our youngest daughter wanted to visit the waterfall again so we did that then got on the water. We had lunch on the water and made our way back to the access point.

We had an incredible five days out in the wilderness. It's so nice to be able to spend so much quality time as a family exploring and challenging ourselves. The only thing left to do was to bask in our bug bites, sore muscles and long lasting memories. 

Until next time Kawartha Highlands!

Solo Ski at Ferris Park

This weekend was shaping up to be one of the best for outdoor activities this winter. There has been a good amount of snow this week. In fact, it seems like it has non-stop snowed for the past two days. The temperature has been just a little below the freezing point. It seemed like a great weekend to get out and enjoy the wintry weather.

The only problem seemed to be that our two daughters woke up sick, our son was exhausted from his school ski trip yesterday and my wife is (hopefully) getting over her cold. When I asked at breakfast who wanted to do some cross country skiing today, our son was the only one that was keen. He changed his mind a short while later, saying that he was too tired. That meant, unfortunately, I'd be headed out on my own. 

I gathered my skis and headed for Ferris Provincial Park. In the past I've accessed the park from the east side of the river where the gate house is. This is the second winter that the gate at the road has been closed so I proceed to access from the west side by at the suspension bridge.

I crossed the bridge, strapped on my skis and had a great ski throughout the park. While in the park I had a few snowmobiles pass me while I was on the Trans Canada Trail and I saw one person on snowshoes heading in as I was heading out.

I captured some video, but not as much as I had expected. When I changed the camera battery about midway through my trip I must not have hit record. It's too bad that the most exciting parts were on the second half of the trip. In any case, here's some footage from my great day of skiing.

Fall in Algonuquin - Ragged Lake

We don't get to do much fall camping. Once school starts the kids get busy with their extra curricular activities, I get busy with work...excuse, excuses. We've often talked about how great it would be to get out during the week in the fall. There wouldn't be many people or bugs and there could be some really nice weather. I decided to book some time off and we booked a site on Ragged Lake in Algonquin. It was a bit of an odd trip. I had nothing to do with the planning. Sarah and the kids looked at the map, chose a section of the park, then chose a lake and booked it. It different kind of trip for us since we booked four days on a single lake. As it turns out we chose one the nicest four days of the summer. It was also the only camping we did all year where we didn't get rained on.

We arrived at Canoe Lake at noon and picked up our permit then headed across the highway to Smoke Lake. We had lunch on the dock (in the shade) on a very hot day. As we were having lunch two CC-130 Hercules flew across the lake and directly overhead. They were flying so low it looked like they were just above the trees. It was like I'd never left Trenton.

 We finished lunch, loaded up the canoes and hit the water. The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, the temperature was north of 25ºC and there wasn't much wind. Shortly after leaving dock we saw the park float plane take off right behind us. It disappeared for a while then came back, landed and docked. Next up in the Smoke Lake Air Show was helicopter dragging some long cables behind it. We had seen the same helicopter, as we drove in, hauling a very large piece of lumber.

After the Air Show we had a beautiful paddle across the lake. We saw a couple of small motor boats go by and a group of about seven canoes headed back to the access point but other than that it was very quiet.

On Our Way

We made it to the portage to Ragged a little quicker than expected. As we arrived there was a couple coming in the other direction. They had spent the night on Ragged and said the site they stayed at was very nice. They showed us where it was on the map. We easily managed the 240m portage. We got onto Ragged Lake and started negotiating which site would be our home for the next few days. I was pushing for the small island site in West Bay. One of the kids (possibly two) just wanted to grab the first site that we saw. They were hot and excited to do some swimming. Once we reached the big island in the middle of the lake they realized how quick it was to paddle across the lake so we made our way to West Bay. We didn't see anyone else on the lake. It was, after all, only Thursday. We rounded the corner so that the island was in site was in view and sure enough there was a canoe there. What were the chances that the only people on the entire lake were within a few hundred metres of each other? We opted for the site just north of the island which was fantastic. It had a great beach and was located on a point. Our middle daughter was very upset that we weren't on the island but after being there for a while she admitted that we had a great site. The kids spent most of the time that we were on the site at the sand beach or in the water.

We've Arrived

The Beach

Moose Bones on the Beach

Once we arrived at our site it was time for a swim. We were all really hot and the lake just seemed so inviting.

Time for a Swim

The kids stayed in the water while Sarah and I setup camp.

The Sun Goes Down Early This Late in the Year

Our son loves cooking dinner over the hobo stove so he got the fire going then looked after it while cooking for us. It was the last day of summer but it sure felt like it could have been the middle of summer.

It was quite late by the time we finished eating, got cleaned up and hung the food. We piled into the tent and went to sleep. I had hoped to go out and take pictures of the stars but I was tired enough that I fell asleep and didn't feel like getting up at any point in the night.

The next morning we awoke to a perfectly calm day. There was no wind and the lake was as flat as could be.

Sunrise

More Sunrise

Fall Colours

The air was so still that we could hear the faint sound of logging operations off in the distance. It wasn't until the next day that I looked at the map and noticed how close we were to the edge of the park and a logging camp to the south.

After breakfast we paddled over to Archer Bay to check out the long beach we had seen the day before. The girls swam for a bit while the rest of us explored and took pictures.

Checking Out the Geese At Archer Bay

Beach at Archer Bay

Looking Into Archer Bay

After a while we decided to head back to our site for some lunch. We had lunch then Sarah took our youngest daughter for a nap. She'd had a very restless night the night before and could use a little more sleep. The rest of us spent our time swimming and playing with rocks. The kids discovered that some rocks were harder than others and that one type of rock turned to sand easily if you rubbed it or banged against other rocks. We figured it was sandstone. They had such a blast identifying rocks and making sand. It was quite fitting given that our daughter was studying soil, erosion, etc. at school. Experiential learning at it's best!

Playing with Rocks

After hours of playing in the water we decided it was time to start thinking about cooking up some dinner. We started a fire and cooked up some delicious pizza. After dinner the girls hung out around the fire while my son and I went fishing. We both caught a fish on our third cast and had a few other bites. It was great to be on the water as the sun disappeared below the horizon.

The next morning was almost as calm as the first morning. It was a bit cool but once the sun came over the horizon things started to heat up pretty quickly. We took out some eggs and discovered we hadn't brought any fat to fry them in. The good news was that we had some Ready Crisp bacon. We fried it up which gave us enough grease to be able to fry the eggs. It was a delicious breakfast. For whatever reason this was the first time in a long time that we brought eggs with us. It certainly won't be the last.

Breakfast

After breakfast we hopped in the canoes and headed for Parkside Bay. We were just looking to explore and see what was around the corner. Our son fished while I paddled and Sarah paddled as the girls played in the front of the canoe. Somehow we'll need to get the kids to paddle more on our trips (not that it mattered for this trip). As we paddled our son caught a nice smallmouth bass. He was pretty excited. This was the first time he'd caught a fish big enough to eat.

Heading to Parkside Bay 

Beautiful Day

Mountain Behind Our Site

We paddled for a bit but it was getting hot so we headed back to our site. On our way back we could really notice Ball Mountain behind our site. I wondered if there were any lookouts on the mountain. I imagined that the views of the lake might be great.

We headed back to the site. I dropped our son off then went to clean the fish. The rest of the crew started a fire and when I came back we cooked the fish and had a delicious lunch. You could say that our son was hooked on fishing at this point. He was really excited to be able to catch our lunch.

Big Catch

In the afternoon we hung around the site and did some swimming and relaxing in the hammocks.

Hanging Around

While the kids were relaxing I decided to head up to the top of Ball Mountain to see what I could find. There were no trails beyond a certain point but I managed to meander to the top. Once I made it to the top it was pretty clear that there was no lookout but there was a gorgeous meadow of maple saplings. It wasn't at all what I expected but it was super rewarding none the less. 

Maple Saplings 

I made my way back down and we had dinner. After dinner we did some fishing but didn't catch anything. It was another beautiful night on the water.

Beautiful Night on the Lake

The next morning we woke up to a really humid morning. The forecast was for a maximum temperature around 30ºC feeling more like 40ºC. We had breakfast, packed up our stuff and headed out. It was a hot, hot day. Hard to believe that these were the first days of fall. We were hoping to stop somewhere for lunch and a swim but we were not covering ground very quickly so we ate in the canoes and pressed on. 

On the Way Back - Captured by the Four Year Old

Smoke Lake

It was very busy heading to the access point. It was amazing to see how many people must have been in the park over the weekend. We were all sweaty and smelly when we got to the access point so almost all of us opted for a swim. It was so refreshing. I couldn't believe how much cooler I felt after being in the water.

We had a great four days in Algonquin in the fall. We will certainly be back for more fall trips in the future.

Do you have a favourite fall destination?