trying not to take for granted all that we went without during the time abroad. Too quickly though we adjusted and became accustomed to our comfy beds, clean bathrooms, and big kitchen (in comparison to a gas stove and three tiny pots), and I realized if we didn't push ourselves it would be very easy not to venture into the more challenging but very rewarding outdoors. That, combined with the fact that despite seeing wonders on other continents we've explored too little of our country, province or even locality, made us resolve to venture beyond our home (and my parent's cottage) this summer. Realizing the kids had never been to our biggest tourist attractions, we sent them on their own to the CN tower to jump up and down on the glass floor (I was glad I wasn't there to worry) 
and Jacob went with his exchange partner Anael on a tour of Niagara Falls.
But what we most wanted was the experience of living outdoors again, being subject to the weather, watching the sun set and the moon rise, so planned two camping trips that would let us live temporarily in nature while discovering more of our own province.
Our first sojourn was to the Bruce Peninsula to hike the northernmost part of the Bruce Trail. First, we needed to get to Wiarton. With no car we figured we'd simply take the bus, but after multiple bus companies either cancelling or never offering service, we found the only way to get there was by car. After calculating the expense in time and money of bussing to Owen Sound and then getting a taxi to Wiarton we decided to rent a car for the journey. It would have been frustrating to rent a car only to have it sit around the whole time while we hiked, but after encountering our next obstacle - the lengthy distance along the trail between campsites (not coverable with a six year old and fully loaded packs) - we decided to use the car and Paul's bike as a shuttle for those days that were too long to hike between campgrounds. We had been at my parent's cottage on Georgian Bay (with Paul's sister Kate and family)
for the days previous, so Paul biked from there to the car rental place in Midland, put the bike on the car, and drove back to pick us up and head northwest. We stopped just north of Wiarton to visit the ruins of the McNeill mansion,
and to do a short side trip of the Bruce Trail. We managed to follow the wrong set of blazes for this most basic 2 km hike, and while we didn't get lost we missed doing the loop and instead just ended up at a parking lot where we turned around and came back. Still a beautiful hike, complete with a rusty staircase that brought back memories of the Vietnamese infrastructure.
Having learned how not to misread markers we were now well set up to follow the trail correctly for the rest of our hike. We drove on to Cape Croker and spent our night at this beautiful and quiet campsite on a tranquil lake.
No clean drinking water so we used our water filter - a necessary piece of equipment for this trip. We got reacquainted with our camping kitchen and had Asian noodles with peanut sauce on our picnic table adorned with an Air Transat blanket left over from Jacob's exchange partner Anael's visit.
We packed up our tent, and drove south to the Jonas Bluff access point which we had chosen as the official start point of our Bruce Trail hike. We parked the car and set off on a 8 km morning hike through the forest back to Cape Croker, stopping for a snack at the first of many scenic viewpoints.
As we neared the campsite the trail came to a fork - one direction split off to a short side trail that headed back to the parking lot, the other direction, while still officially part of the trail, went along a quiet road. Paul set off on his own for the first of the many extra miles he would put in over the week. While the remaining four of us plodded along the road that led to the campsite and the next part of the 
trail, Paul ran back to the car, drove to the Hope Bay campground, then biked back to Cape Croker where we were lunching, reading and swimming while awaiting his arrival. Paul locked up his bike and we set off again. My pre-trip fear of bears accosting us along the trail seemed unnecessary as we walked along the forested paths and occasional boardwalks,
the kids making enough noise to scare off any wildlife in the vicinity. Puzzling warnings by area hikers (who we'd contacted in advance) that the trail was dangerous and simultaneously overcrowded by hordes of visitors in August proved equally incorrect. The trail was well marked, with guide ropes and ladders to help traverse steep areas
and very safe (though of course it was important to stick to the trail as there were steep drop offs should one venture away too far), and we passed not one person the first day on the trails, and with a few exceptions, almost no one thereafter either. Near the end of the day we emerged from the cool of the forest into the hot sun of the Hope Bay road and had to cajole Tom the last two kilometres, fuelling him with a combination of m&m's, stories and outright haranguing to finish. The arrival at the campground was well worth it, and we rewarded ourselves with freezies on the camp store patio and time lounging on the beach chairs after a refreshing swim.
The next three nights we spent hiking to, around and from Lion's Head, where the water of Georgian Bay becomes an intensely beautiful turquoise blue, changing to navy when the water deepened.
We enjoyed mostly sunny and hot weather, with only a sprinkling of rain one day, justifying the extra baggage of raincoats.
The terrain varied from all varieties of forest
to field
to classic Canadian Shield.
Paul continued his jockeying us to and from the trail heads by driving one way and biking the other, each evening ending up at the Lion's Head municipal campground where the kids did yoga
and we enjoyed our only fire of the trip (the rest of the time fire bans were in effect).
The swimming was fantastic when the trail descended from the forest to the stony shore
and the town beach just next to our campsite had a sandy shore, a raft for diving from, and a marina where the local astronomical society brought massive telescopes out for visitors to view Mars, Jupiter and Saturn and learn about the various galaxies and black holes up above. One night we took a break from camping food to enjoy fish and chips while we watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics in the Lion's Head Inn.
Our final day in Lion's Head after we'd packed up the tent and replenished our supplies at the grocery store, Paul drove to the trailhead where we would come out that evening. As he made his way back by bike, the kids and I walked along the road and into the forest. We spent five minutes trying to find the trailhead, doing our best to get lost despite the clearly marked trailhead we finally found just next to the parking area we had wandered off from, then hiked along to the next access point where Paul had parked his bicycle.
The day's hike was as lovely as the others, with regular breathtaking viewpoints
but the highlight for the kids was definitely the arrival at the Mountain Trout campsite, situated far from anything else, on a lake with a great dock with Muskoka chairs for sunning and reading, and an impressive water trampoline set-up where our kids played blast off and a bouncy slide we all raced down.
For the final three days of our hikes we would carry our full backpacks as we travelled through the park and camped at the wilderness sites. The kids and I geared up for the journey by reading, playing on the splash pad, relaxing and eating ice cream, then were shuttled to the trailhead by the campsite owners, while Paul drove an hour to Tobermory, picking up our camping permits en route, then biked two hours back (much of it on gravel roads) to our starting trail access point.
While the hiking was more arduous with our packs (except for Tom who always managed to get away without carrying one more than five minutes),
the opportunity it gave us to access the incredibly beautiful backcountry sites, swimming in deep blue waters and dining on the rocks with only a handful of other campers around, was more than worth it.
The sunsets after each beautiful day were just icing on the cake.
The local wildlife still mostly eluded us (I can't say I was sorry not to see any bears - I want to know they are around and thriving - and a sign at one of the campsites warned a bear was in the area - but would rather not encounter them!) however on our final day we met a large Massassauga rattler on the trail, who was evidencing his displeasure by loudly rattling as first Jacob and Kyra stumbled upon it, then later Paul, Tom and I, warned by the first two, raced by. We mostly reacted to the potentially dangerous (though apparently no rattlesnake fatalities in around 50 years) reptile in all the ways you are not supposed to, yelling, running past when it was clearly agitated etc. It was a little disconcerting to see how quickly reason left us in the face of a threat, even one that wasn't much of a concern.
Our last day on the trails was also the busiest, primarily due to the enchantingly lovely but quite crowded Grotto, an area of caves and deep blue water, full of cliff jumpers and picnickers who'd driven there for the afternoon. We found our own cave around the point and dove in off ledges at the back of the grotto. Less than a kilometre further along the trail we came to a wide bay contrastingly devoid of people,
where we cooled off before hiking the two remaining hours through the forest. It was the hottest day yet, and though there were tantalizing glimpses of the water, it was far below us for the rest of the day, or hidden as we moved deeper into the forest.
The beautiful surroundings made up for it, but by the time we came back down to shore, and the parking area where Paul had dropped the car three days before, we were more than ready for the relief of the bracingly water, plunging in as soon as we could strip off our hiking boots.
The conclusion of one successful camping trip should have left me excited about the next, but back in the comforts of cottage and home I started to feel a little anxious about the canoe camping trip Paul and my sister Rachel had put together. Worried about the ardour of multi-day paddling, which I had never done, and enjoying the comforts of the cottage, I was a little reluctant to head back into the wild, but with the canoes rented, the campsites booked, and the route planned by everyone else, I had little cause to complain and was happy enough to go along for the ride as long as I wasn't responsible for leading it.
Naturally my pre-trip anxiety was unfounded, and the five days in Algonquin Park were incredible. I had never stayed at campsites so remote yet comfortable - flat(ish!) and soft terrain under our tents, great water access - we dove in off the rock sides of our island
and peninsula campsites - and fire pits for cooking bannock and roasting marshmallow. The outdoor toilets though rustic to say the least - mere plywood boxes over a pit in the ground - had almost no odour, and there was none of the claustrophobia of being stuck in a outhouse with walls and a roof - when nature calls one just sits in the open air and enjoys the view of the forest.
The portages from river to lake to pond varied in distance from 100 to 1500 m. My favourite canoeing was along the Tim and Petawawa rivers, though water levels were low so sometimes we were punting more than paddling.
Rachel and I each took a turn carrying a canoe, but the bulk of the heavy canoe work was done by Paul, Ben and Jacob. Though no question portaging was the hardest part (though paddling against the wind on Misty Lake was a contender), it broke up the journey and kept the day interesting, plus provided opportunities for snack and swimming breaks.
We were in a three canoe convoy,
and only the lead (Paul, Kyra and Tom) had an encounter with a moose. The wildlife sightings for the rest of us were confined to frogs, red squirrels, chipmunks and muskrats which Paul and the kids followed in the canoe one early morning. For the kids as well as the adults it was a really positive experience,
and though it was nice to return to civilization (via Weber's for poutine and garden burgers on the drive home), there was no question that I would like to get out paddling again as soon as possible!
All in all the experiences of the summer confirmed our love of Canada's outdoors, and though we aren't immune to the allure of glaciers, oceans and cycling meccas of faraway lands we visited, we deeply appreciate the incredible beauty we have here at home, and look forward to exploring more.
I will continue to publish this blog from time to time, basically as a trip journal for myself, so feel free to unsubscribe at any time! But happy to share this with any of you who still want to read!
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Our multi-day hikes in New Zealand and Australia had been relatively easy to organize, with the state governments providing detailed itineraries in print and online that listed designated camping sites or huts spaced at reasonable intervals along the way. In Ontario by contrast, we couldn't find a basic guide that quickly laid out a route or comprehensive guide to accommodations. The Bruce Trail guidebook is definitely a necessity, but it isn't always user friendly, especially for people unfamiliar with the area. After the somewhat frustrating experience of trying to plan it, I decided to write our own blog of it so that others interested in the hike from Wiarton to Tobermory could use it, and so we could repeat the experience in the future more easily. And while our next trip to canoe in Algonquin Park thanks to Paul's extensive previous experience, I thought others too could use a suggested itinerary as well. So the details of the trip are listed here. Phone numbers and email addresses for all campgrounds available by checking online.
1) Hiking (with children) from Wiarton to Tobermory on the Bruce Trail
Day 1 - Drive north! For those without a car, it is possible to bus to
Owen Sound and then take a taxi north, then use taxis and campground shuttle services (or walk if you are fitter than us) to get between access points of the trail. Sleep at at Cape Croker campground.
Day 2 - Hike Jones Bluff to Hope Bay. 20 km walking. Sleep Hope Bay private campground.
Day 3 - Hike Hope Bay to Rush Cove. 14 km walking to Rush Cove access point, further 14 km drive or walk to get to Lion's Head municipal campground.
Day 4 - hike 17 km loop around Lion's Head bluffs. No transportation needed. Sleep Lion's Head municipal campground.
Day 5 - drive (or taxi) to Cape Chin south, hike back 17 km south to Lion's Head to stay at municipal campground (we weren't able to find accommodation a reasonable distance from Lion's Head)
Day 6 - drive/taxi to Cape Chin north, hike to Mountain Trout, 14 km, stay at amazing Mountain Trout campsite
Day 7 - campground shuttle to access point, hike to High Dump campsite in Bruce National Park. 10 km, book campsite through national park
Day 8 - hike to Storm Haven, 14 km, book campsite through national park
Day 9 - hike to Little Cove Road, 14 km, drive (or hike additional 7 km) to Tobermory - multiple campsites available, we had dinner but drove back to Mountain Trout campsite for the final night of our trip.
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2) Algonquin Park 5 day canoe trip - also with children!
Day 1 - drive to Magnetawan access point ( bring your own canoe or arrange with Magnetewan outfitters). Paddle to first portage point, portage 160m to Hambone Lake, paddle and then portage 290m to Ralph Bice Lake. Long paddle to the end, 440m portage to Little Trout Lake, paddle to end of lake and portage 150m to Queer Lake, camp Queer Lake
Day 2 - paddle to Little Trout Creek and do 1500m portage to Tim River. Paddle along Tim river until 1050m portage to Shah Lake. 340m portage to Pandion pond, 700m portage to Misty Lake, camp Misty Lake!
Day 3 - rest day! Stay on Misty Lake.
Day 4 - paddle west on Misty Lake to 880m portage to Little Misty Lake, then paddle up and into the Petawawa River to Daisy Lake, doing two portages (450, then 130) along the way. Camp Daisy Lake.
Day 5 - paddle Daisy Lake, do 440m portage to Hambone Lake, paddle to 160m portage to Magnetawan Lake and back out to parking lot!
