Matawinie Overnight

For my birthday I invited friends to do an overnight hike and they said yes! I had a hard time picking a trail since I'm just learning the area so I relied on some hiking groups for suggestions. I know that I can camp on any crown land but it is nice to have some advice on the trails and tips for camp sites.

I had someone reach out to me with a trail recommendation, he sent some photos and gave a lot of tips. He gave me all the information I needed to plan a trip with some unexperienced overnighters. We knew we'd have to hike about 16km to get to the site that had been recommended but agreed if we saw somewhere appealing earlier we could stop. We left the city shortly after 8 so that we could get a good night sleep.

The trail started off super muddy and even those with waterproof shoes didn't stay dry for long. I was pleasantly surprised to find a number of geocaches along the way. They look to be set up by the same person as they were all the same design. Fred had never heard of them so I think we'll plan an actual geocaching adventure soon.

We were pleasantly surprised to find this super cool refuge along the trail. We really want to come back and camp out in it, if we don't carry a tent there's more room in our bags for beer!

It was a little after the refuge that I noticed I didn't have Thor attached to my bag. I'm usually pretty compulsive about checking him, I did take him all the way along the ECT with no issues. I think I was (happily) distracted by taking new friends to the woods and forgot about him. I ran back to check the last spot we'd taken a break but didn't see him so we planned to check the next day.

We stopped for a picnic at the first lookout we saw. It's a scenic trail with lots of lookouts over lakes and mountains. We were quickly far enough away from the highway to only hear nature, and the birds were chirping a lot.

We realized around 5 that we probably weren't going to make it to the recommended campsite. None of us wanted to rush in the first place so we were taking our time with viewpoints and breaks. We decided to start looking for flat spots, my one condition is we be close to a water source. Not long after we passed a flowing stream we saw a fire pit so we investigated a bit more. Sure enough there was a nice clearing with plenty of space for the tent.

This tent has really been through it and stands to prove that you don't really need fancy, expensive or lightweight gear. Dad got this for me on clearance back in 2010 to take tree planting. I lived out of it for around 2 months. It definitely got sun bleached, the zipper was broken and there were some holes. Thankfully Dad loves to support me in my adventures and repaired it for me.

I also got to test out my new water filter that Dad gave me for Christmas. One of the things I had mentioned in my reflections of the ECT was wanting a water filter more like this. Since I had been using the MSR Autoflow, I was filling up my water in the mornings and nights and carrying a lot of water weight. I decided that I would really like a smaller one that did just a liter or so at a time. Even one that I could use as my water bottle so I could fill up faster and more often.

I met Kathleen and Fred (and Cheryl - who is in NS at the moment) about two months ago through Facebook. We clicked instantly and I am so happy that we've become friends. Even knowing each other the short time we have, they did everything they could to make my birthday special. I don't usually make a big deal out of my birthday and was happy to just go camping with friends. They brought wine, candles and streamers and surprised me with it once we set up camp.

Once the sun set and it started to get chilly, we put out the fire and played games in the tent. Of course hiking about 14km left us tired so we didn't stay up too late.

We were all up pretty early the next morning, Fred and I both follow the suns circadian rhythm. We had a leisurely breakfast around the fire before setting off. We knew we'd hike out faster since we'd already seen the look outs but we did have to be home by curfew.

Another part of why Fred and Kathleen woke up early had to do with their seeping conditions. Kathleen had seen a deal on Marketplace a while back for a camping bundle; tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, water jug, pots, etc,. Unfortunately, we didn't do a well enough check on the sleeping pads and the nozzles were broken. The nozzles weren't secured and kept falling out so we couldn't actually fill the sleeping pads. We knew they'd at least help them retain heat but not offer much cushioning. At some point one of the nozzles was crushed so we're not sure we can even repair it now.

The hike out was much easier and faster than the hike in. Although once we got close to the beginning we made sure to pay attention to see if we could find Thor. Unfortunately, he wasn't at the refuge or the trail head. We double checked the parking lot and the information booth but no luck. I did post in a few local groups about him but I don't know if he'll turn up.