TOURduPARK
Scott wasted no time getting breakfast ready for the hungry crew
A battle of epic proportion was happening inside my Nalgene bottle
Photo: Scott Rogers
Hot tents are amazing – here we were in regular clothing, maybe a sweater at best and we were totally comfortable, despite it being -25 outside. Hot tenting is the only way to go, seriously. I really like Markus’ woodstove, its an older model but when it gets going this thing sounds like a freight train, chugging along and pumping out the heat. Given that we were leaving tomorrow and still had tons of food left, we spent the remainder of the afternoon relaxing in the tent, stuffing our faces. We didn’t have any day trips planned and I certainly wasn’t going tobogganing again – so it was nice to just hang out in the warm tent munching out. Given that it’s winter, you can’t use a water filter as you risk damaging the cartridge if it freezes – so we were just drinking water directly from the lake. This got me thinking – is this okay? Should we be doing this? Then I took a close look at my Nalgene and... What... the… heck! I could see little white bits floating around. No worries, right? Wrong. These weren’t your typical little white bits – these things were alive and moving with intention and consciousness. When it was dark I placed my flashlight at the bottom of the Nalgene to see if I could get a better view – mistake.
Two beef pot roasts cooking on the wood stove
Well that was it for me – no more water on this trip! I would have to survive on coffee and booze. What in the heck is in that lake? Not cool. Jeffrey and Scott were also less than impressed with these little critters whereas Markus didn’t seem to care – ‘extra protein!’ he proclaimed. I didn’t want any extra protein, I was just fine. It was getting late and I was surprised at how quickly the day seemed to fly by. Once again, we were all ready for dinner and I was up for the task tonight. I planned a simple meal of Beef pot roast in gravy, served with a side of mashed potatoes. These were Lou’s ‘boil-in-the-bag’ meals and they’re fantastic. I’ve eaten this many times on many canoe trips, but the three guys hadn’t tried it before – I hoped they would like it. At dinner was ‘cooking’ we continued the party with more drinks and chatter. I had to cook the roasts two at a time as the pot we had was not big enough to fit all four at once. I served Markus & Scott first while Jeffrey and I waited for the second batch. Both Markus and Scott seemed to really enjoy the meal and it was very hearty – the roasts are supposed to feed two, but I knew 4 hungry guys and two roasts would not be sufficient – I was glad I gave each person their own roast because all four of us cleaned our plates!
It was a relaxing day and it was nice to just do nothing and enjoy the warmth of the tent. For the third night in a row we hung out, drinking, chatting and laughing in the tent until it was time for bed. Somehow, I was placed on woodstove duties again and we all drifted off to sleep.
Photo: Scott Rogers
Photo: Scott Rogers
Beef pot roast with gravy and mashed potatoes
Day 3: Relaxing day in a Hot Tent
Well its official – that’s the coldest I’ve ever been overnight, period. It went down to -33 and I only managed to feed the stove once or twice through the night (it was just too cold to put even an arm outside the sleeping bag). I was awake before everyone else and it was still very dark in the tent. I grabbed a bunch of paper and kindling and stuffed it into the stove, aiming the propane torch directly at it. It took a few minutes but eventually the kindling was hot enough to continue to burn without the aid of the torch. I tossed in more kindling and logs then just let it burn. I pulled my sleeping bag back over me and laid down for a bit longer. Slowly I could feel the heat from the stove on my face and it was nice to have the cold and dampness fading from the tent. As it warmed up the others woke up one by one and by then it time for coffee. Scott left the tent to go grab some water from the lake but not without having to chip through the ice once again. Back in the tent the coffee was percolating and before we knew it we were back to enjoying hot java with Bailey’s.
Scott was on breakfast detail this morning and what a breakfast it would be – Laurie Loves Mikey Egg Patties. These custom-made egg patties are an excellent way to start your morning. Scott heated up the patties, topped them with bacon and served them on English muffins. A second pot of coffee was required today and nobody felt like moving just yet. My ass was still pretty sore from yesterday (what an odd thing to say while camping with three other guys) but it was feeling better. We took our time finishing breakfast as nobody was eager to go outside yet – still too cold. Unfortunately, we needed a bit more firewood to make it through the last night, so eventually we found the courage to venture outside. All four of us made quick work of collecting firewood, though it was becoming more difficult as we had to travel further away to find it. With that out of the way we made an attempt at hanging out around the outdoor fire pit for a while. Even with a good fire going it was too cold to comfortably enjoy ourselves so we loaded more wood in the tent then got back in.
We all stuffed our faces in an effort to lighten the load