The Happy Camper: Returning to Algonquin’s Shirley Lake
Jesse had the new app, and we all heard his phone blast the tornado warning loud and clear.
It was the first time in my camping life when I seriously went back in the woods to look for a “low lying area” to weather out the storm. Branches broke above us, tents were seconds away from being blown from their pegs, thunder rumbled, lightning cracked and the rain turned to golf-ball sized hail. It wasn’t good!
Three years prior, on the exact date, we had camped on the same island campsite on Algonquin’s Shirley Lake. The sun was shining and we even took a dip in the lake. Now, we were wearing every layer of clothing we had packed and cowering under the rain tarp, hoping the storm would quickly pass.
There were jokes of Dorthy and The Wizard of Oz, and a sighting of her little dog Toto flying by in the insane winds. That’s what a lot of us do during high anxiety moments; we crack one-liners to ease the nerves of what’s to come.
Thankfully, the really nasty weather hit just east of us. Jesse even cooked up a good supper of Jambalaya while we all helped drain the corners of the tarp of pockets of rainwater. His meal beat Ashe’s pulled pork the first night but didn’t win over Tim’s Tesco sausage pasta with olives, sun-dried tomato and parmesan cheese on our third night. I think my maple bacon and french toast was a delicious but Mike’s breakfast of dehydrated apple slices and raisins, something he called “apple pie,” won overall.
Only three lake trout were caught and ate. The weather kept us from trolling the lake most of the time. Instead, we gathered around the campfire, throwing chunks of wet wood into the fire, and retold stories of past Algonquin canoe adventures when the weather tested our gear and our spirits. Sean’s daughter had given me some Japanese scotch. She’s been there for a couple of years now, teaching English and learning the art of Ōmato Archery. Over a wee dram or two sipped around the fire, we all caught up with our lives, our families, our future wishes and past regrets. And we relished our next trip together; no matter the weather.
It was just good to be out in the woods again after a long winter.
Check out the video of the trip on my KCHappyCamper YouTube channel. I think you’ll see some familiarities to your own first trip out this season.
And here’s the video from three years ago at the same campsite to compare.
