ACTIVITY: Canoe camping
WHERE: Frontenac Provincial Park (north of Kingston, Ontario; 2 hours-ish from Ottawa)
WHEN: April 2012
HOW LONG: 3 days, 2 nights
GROUP: 1 mama, 3 kids (ages 3, 5, and 7)
DETAILS: I chose to go to Frontenac because I was the only adult on the trip. I knew schlepping gear and the boat and keeping an eye on the boys would be tough on unmarked, unfamiliar, or gated roads or trails, so I went with the only provincial park in our area (we were based in Ottawa) that was open in early April.
We left right after school on Friday and arrived in time to sign in, put in, park, and paddle in to our site with plenty of daylight left for setting up and making a fire. (I brought dinner for us to eat on the drive so that hunger would not be an issue when paddling in and setting up. It worked well- I'll do it next time, too.) Frontenac has only wilderness campsites (so no car camping) and is open all year long, so as long as the ice is off the lakes we can paddle in to camp. The weather was perfect for us- below zero at night but warm enough for light clothing during the heat of the day. This trip was a beautiful way to welcome springtime.
We camped at Cluster 3 on Big Salmon Lake (check the Friends of Frontenac site for more campsite info). It was a 20 minute paddle past typical Shield and mixed forest. We had our cluster, probably the whole lake, to ourselves. The park has a network of hiking trails that run along the edges of many of the lakes, as well as some doubling as portage trails.
We chose the absolute easiest possible trip, and it was marvelous. Big motors are not allowed on Big Salmon so even during the summer the lake is free of noisy boats.
I can't remember if we bought wood or just scrounged for it. We had plenty, whichever it was.
We were there on the clean-up weekend so happened upon a few hikers and paddlers on Saturday. It was fun to encounter them and chat. My kids like to do that. Works for me.
We wandered, paddled, and sunk ourselves into the just-beginning-to-wake-up forest. Once we started to notice the wildflowers, they were everywhere. It was lovely. I asked the warden at sign-in how busy Frontenac gets in the summer. He told me that most weekend require reservations, but there are lots of openings even during the week. I would still check ahead, but I was happy to hear that there is a wilderness park so close to cities that is not completely booked up all summer long.
RECOMMENDATIONS
If I had another adult with me I would choose to try one of the shorter portages into an even more isolated lake. Big Salmon was easy to get to but we were fortunate and thrilled to be the only ones there. Visiting Frontenac in the early spring may become a tradition for us. I strongly recommend checking into it.
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