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  1. #11
    Member PineMartyn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jodster View Post
    Hey Martin .... nice video's.
    On a couple of occasions that I've been able to "enjoy" crown land (not all), they have been less that favourable. This is a great way to get to untouched and mostly prestine lands for a great price (FREE!), but there are hazzards with it.
    You mention in the video that there is often garbage laying around in the PP sites. This may be true but only on crown land have I seen busted up coolers, lazy boy chairs and massive fire pits to name a few issues. This kind of large garbage is easy to drag in with a sled or ATV .... which is why you won't find it in a PP. To say it has never (or will never) happen in a PP would be very naive of me.
    At the end of my last camping trip to crown land, we returned to the truck to find it vandalized and a few items stolen. The OPP said it was common for the locals to search for these spots because the know that nobody will be returning to the vehicle at any time soon. The PP are, at the very least, patrolled on a regular basis. Again, to say it doesn't happen at a PP would be silly of me.
    I'm not saying stay away from crown land .... but rather .... don't discount the back-country of a PP where you don't hear the drone of ATV's or sleds that are also using the same land. It is way to much work to haul a lazy boy into the back-country of a PP
    A couple last thoughts .....
    Don't leave anything of value in your vehicle if you are going to be away for any length of time. Not everyone is a thief, but a vehicle that is unattended for a couple days is an easy target.
    Don't leave any food in the vehicle .... no rangers means no idea where the bears are and bears make short work of car windows.
    Be safe .... it is legal to hunt on or adjacent to crown land.

    Don't take this as a slam to your comments but as an addition (besides if we make it sound too good ..... it will get as busy as the PP's in the summer .... then where will we go????).

    No offense taken from your feedback Jodster. In fact I will echo a number of the points you raised.

    1) During hunting season, wear hunting colors.

    2) Don't leave valuables in your car. Leave your car empty, with doors locked, and the glove box and storage compartments open and visibly empty to signal that there is nothing of value within. Some people leave a note on the dash saying "Gone fishing, back shortly", but I've never done. We have never had a problem and have never met anyone who's had a problem with theft or vandalism.

    3) Don't leave food in your car, whether in a park or on Crown lands. Jodster is absolutely correct about bears and car windows. A friend of mine had his car broken into by a nuisance bear at the same trail head in Algonquin park twice in two consecutive years. His driver side window had been pulled out, his front seats torn to shreds, and the center of his steering wheel got gnawed off. Seems the bear had figured out how to get it's claws between the rubber seal at the top of the windows and shatter the glass by pulling hard on the glass with his claws. My friend's vehicle was one of 18 cars broken into by one bear on that long weekend. My friend (a former canoe guide in Algonquin) knew not to leave food in his car, but it would seem this bear had become so used to finding food in cars that he was systematically ripping out the windows and crawling into every car he could. A human-habituated bear is a bad thing. I worry less about bears when on Crown lands than when I'm in provincial parks.

    4)I will differ with you on the vandalism issue. Cars are routinely targeted by thieves in our provincial parks, which is why park officials patrol them. Thieves go where they know there will be cars loaded with goodies they can easily re-sell, such as cameras, phones, and camping gear. Trail heads and the canoe put-ins of parks are perfect places for opportunistic thieves looking for loads of cars parked side by side to break into. Every summer dozens and dozens of people have their windows smashed and their vehicles rifled through by petty thieves looking for easy pickings in Algonquin park. It doesn't stop me from parking and camping there, so I'm not worried about parking on the side of a dirt road in the country where scarcely a soul will go by and theft is statistically less likely. Can it happen? Sure. Is it likely...no.

    5) Regarding trash: I have seen truly horrific crap left behind on both Crown land and in our provincial parks, including the interior of Algonquin. But you're correct that any Crown land which is ATV accessible is apt to have more crap left on it. The same goes for Crown land waterways that are accessible to motor boats. There's just something about travel by motorized vehicle that brings out the lazy people who are willing to haul in heavy containers (bottles, coolers, etc) when full, but can't be bothered to haul them out when empty. Here's a photo of me of me, my wife, and a friend cleaning up a site we paddled past in a park in the Kawartha area.

    http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/...incialPark.jpg

    http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/...e/egg_0057.jpg

    Nice, eh?


    Thanks for your input on this. All the points you raised are relevant considerations for anyone interested in Crown land camping.

    Hope this helps,
    - Martin
    No one has ever been heard to say on a deathbed, "I wish I'd put in more time at the office."

  2. #12
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    Hey KOm4, which area of Northern Ontario do you make it to?

    One other point for Crown Land, especially if you're in Northern Ontario, is to have an emergency plan in place, including someone who knows where you are and when you're coming back. Where we go camping, there is NO cell service at all. If something happens, you're on your own until your emergency contact misses you. If you don't have one, you're just plain on your own.
    I've had the pleasure of spending 10 years working in some incredibly remote areas of Northern Ontario. It wasn't until my last stint a few years ago that the companies considered satellite phones and Spot GPS units to ensure our safety. I'm just lucky nothing happened during the other 7 years out there.

  3. #13
    Member PineMartyn's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NWOHanger View Post
    One other point for Crown Land, especially if you're in Northern Ontario, is to have an emergency plan in place, including someone who knows where you are and when you're coming back.
    I dwell on that point in some detail in the 2nd video, but it's worth mentioning here in case someone doesn't watch the 2nd part.

    Thanks,
    - Martin
    No one has ever been heard to say on a deathbed, "I wish I'd put in more time at the office."

  4. #14
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    Sorry Martin. I didn't get to the end of the video. Too much is obsolete for us up here. We just leave town and we're pretty much good to go.

  5. #15
    Senior Member K0m4's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NWOHanger View Post
    Hey KOm4, which area of Northern Ontario do you make it to?
    North Bay. Which, when I'm looking at a map is basically only "northern" in relation to Toronto The gf's dad drove me out in the middle of nowhere two summers ago and left me for dead. Well, until two days later when they picked me up again. Somewhere north-east of the town. I like it that it is a carbon copy of Sweden (where I'm from) - and I mean literally, didn't believe my eyes the first time - but just a bit wilder somehow. And in the vastness you are only as close to civilisation as you want to be. Awesome

  6. #16
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    Thanks for the video's. I have often wondered about but never figured out Crown Land. Now I don't know where I will turn up... ;-)
    YMMV

    HYOH

    Free advice worth what you paid for it. ;-)

  7. #17
    Senior Member snidetripod's Avatar
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    Thanks for this thread PineMartyn. This will definitely help in setting up the hang out here in Alberta.
    Check out my youtube channel. Vids about hammock camping, geocaching and outdoor fun.
    Adventures With Snide Tripod

  8. #18
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    I've jumped back between google earth and the policy atlas on many occasions, trying to find something close enough to Toronto to easily do a weekend yet without cars buzzing by (for disclosure sake, best I've found is QEII Wildlands PP).

    I've found that google earth/maps shows much more detail about road access than the atlas to help find access. I've even used the sat images to see whether it looks like roads continue beyond the marked roads. I will warn people though that sometimes google marks some 'roads' that are better described as ATV trails. 4X4 advised.

    The other thing I've done with the sat images is to check if there are any cottages on the lakes/ponds I'm looking to go. Although cottages mean access roads, they also often mean motorboats which always seem to be out at 5:00 AM fishing - I'm not a morning person.


    As a p.s. many of the other areas beyond general use also allow 'crown land recreation' (aka camping).

  9. #19
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    p.p.s. Some areas such as the poker lake area in the Halliburton Highlands are crown use BUT are regulated by another agency and require permits to camp.

    I'm sure that past North Bay, this isn't much of an issue.

  10. #20
    Senior Member snidetripod's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by NWOHanger View Post
    It wasn't until my last stint a few years ago that the companies considered satellite phones and Spot GPS units to ensure our safety. I'm just lucky nothing happened during the other 7 years out there.
    The Spot Messenger in is not your best bet in Canada. We have free search and rescue up here, Spot requires an annual membership or fee to use. Your best bet is to get a PLB. These are great little units that rarely fail, Spot units are prone to failing, and can not always be seen by gps satellites.
    Check out my youtube channel. Vids about hammock camping, geocaching and outdoor fun.
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