Alright folks, it’s time to get honest.  Yup, the uncomfortable kind of honest where you actually have to be, honest!

Let’s go camping!  Let’s, actually means “let us” suggesting the plural!  What happened when I asked a couple of my closest paddling buddies was, “I’d love to, but…..” and I get that so I shoot off a note to a good friend and asked her what she was doing and if she’d like to get together.  Turns out she had already booked a site in Haliburton Highlands and as we’d been back and forth on a few other get togethers; this one turned out as the click.

CamperChristina is a “go to” gal for any season in the out of doors and truth be told, why would you not want to gain knowledge from an experienced woman of the outdoors.  Well, the answer may astound some while others may see it as super transparent.

I like people and can get along with the larger percentage!  Solo camping has been in front of me before and it didn’t work out that well.  For some, solo camping is just camping while for others, solo is a big deal.  I actually talked to myself a few times on the way up…..right to the point where I passed my cut off and thought, “Now, there’s an excuse.”

In the parking zone and a double carry put me on the water at the put in and as I scoped the waterscape before me I thought, “Why on Earth would you consider missing this?”  Thanks to Shawn Ryder and he knows so therein lies the importance of the mention.

No new gear except the Pilot canoe from Composite Creations and off we go to meet and camp with someone for the very first time on a lake I’ve never been to in a canoe I haven’t paddled with gear…. in a rain storm.  Ah, I can just feel the calm!!!!  Here we are in a new environment with a new’ish canoe and you’ve still got the semi-solo jitters!

Semi solo.  Think of it for a second.  The guys or the girls heading out on a trip and all the comraderie.  Fast forward to one person doing the packing, food prep, gear lines and safety check……all while they’ve been down this road and didn’t appreciate it!  Respect and commitment is what drives us forward.  Not just the test of the word to another but rather the word to yourself!

In transit the road actually dries track bare and the put in site looms.  Canoe in and gear stored and the lake is dreary at best.  None the less a job is at hand and the paddle bites on the first leg of the journey.  Instantly the phone ring goes silent as does the media alert.  The new alert draws attention to the shore line for activity and the waterline for the prevalent loons.   Within a paddle stroke you’ve distanced yourself from the outside world!

Another humbling lesson in the fact that the site is immaterial; it’s the destination that matters.  It matters most that you decide to go!  The benefit comes latter from those you share with and gain knowledge from; the most expensive thing you can own is a closed mind!