This past weekend my daughter and I spent four days/three nights hiking and camping in Frontenac Provincial Park. I decided we could do the Big Salmon Lake Trail which is about 19 km with an additional 4.5 km to Big Clear Lake. Camping sites are all done in clusters of three to four sites.
On Saturday we left the trail head around 12:30 pm and 3 ½ hours later we arrived at Cluster 4 on Big Salmon Lake. The trail was very wet with many sections completely covered in water. The “dry” sections were muddy or slippery wet rock. We set up our hammocks, hung our bear bag, and had a pleasant night. While there were mosquitos on the trail, there were no bugs at our campsite. This continued for our entire trip. All the campsites were pretty much mosquito free. We never had to put on our bug jackets and pants for protection. We did use bug spray on the trail. This was unexpected for this time of year. For dinner we ate Mountain House Teriyaki Chicken, and Mountain House Chilli Mac. For dessert we split an Alpine Aire Foods Chocolate Mudslide Pie. All was excellent. We were both in our hammocks by 9 pm, enjoying our eReaders while listening to nature.
The next day, Sunday, we were hiking by 9 am and arrived at Cluster 13 on Big Clear Lake around 3:30 pm. It was a long day and I quickly set up our hammocks while my daughter went looking for frogs, water snakes, turtles, and other wildlife. We both cooled off with a swim in the lake and had our homemade dinner of Peanut Thai Noodles with lots of additional Sriracha Sauce. For dessert we split a Back Packer’s Pantry Crème Brûlée. Dinner was great. We had an exhausting day, and after our campfire we were both in bed by 8:30 pm to read and listen to the wildlife. The lightening bugs decided to put on a big show which made my daughter very happy.
The third day, Monday, we were hiking by 8:30 am and arrived at Cluster 6 on Little Salmon Lake around 1:30 pm. We set up our hammocks in a light rain, which eventually became a huge rain and thunderstorm which lasted until after 4:30 pm. We retired to our separate hammocks to sit out the rain. I made sure to set up our hammocks on the smaller trees on our site, and as the site was at the bottom of a hill, on Little Salmon Lake, there were many trees behind our hammocks that were much bigger and taller. This made me feel a little better when the giant thunderstorm hit. I yelled assurances to my daughter over the storm that all would be good. Everything was. After the storm was over we collected some very wet wood, built a fire, and enjoyed rehydrated homemade chilli with lots of additional Sriracha Sauce. For dessert we split a Natural High Cherry Blast. All our desserts were no cook just add water, stir, and let sit for ten-minutes. We again had an early night and were in our hammocks by 8:45 pm.
Our last morning, Tuesday, we were both up shortly after 7 am. We had a leisurely breakfast of oatmeal and I slowly packed everything up by 9:30 am while my daughter searched for frogs, snakes, and other interesting bugs. We lounged around, swam, and then hit the trail around 11 am. Two-hours later we were back at the trailhead, with another short jaunt to the parking lot and our car.
It was an excellent trip and I hope I have started a Father’s Day Tradition. My daughter had a great time. We saw two deer, many loons, ducks, Canada Geese, chipmunks, squirrels, painted turtles, snakes, and many beautiful butterflies or moths. Next year I will try to get my older son to come along (he had to finish his Bronze Cross course on the Sunday and could not join us).
Thanks for reading.
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