Monday, August 8, 2011

Muskosung Lake Adventure


I know it’s not quite Southern Ontario but as the crow flies we’re only about an hour further north, so I hope you’ll forgive this latitudinal deviation.

It’s time once again to trade in the internet, telephone, and TV for the sound of waves lapping against the shore, wind in the pines, and loons calling on the lake.  But, this year there is a difference; we brought our 9 year old granddaughter along for the week.  It’s been quite a number of years since we spent a whole week with someone that age and really didn’t know what to expect.  I do seem to recall from years of venturing into the wilds with our two boys that there was one simple rule to follow; if the kids are happy the parents – or in this case grandparents – are happy.  

So just what do you do with a 9 year old girl?  Well, as it turns out, you do pretty much the same things as you would do with a 9 year old boy.  You fish, you swim, you let them have their own space; you stroll, hike, talk about nature, answer a continuous barrage of questions and simply enjoy the moment.

The Drive

I tend to be very destination driven when I hit the road; I don’t sightsee and I never make a long drive longer than necessary.  To me sightseeing is something you do after you arrive at your destination and before that you only stop when you need gas, or when someone starts to do the “pee pee” dance. 

My wife usually tolerates this fixation, however, kids don’t seem to share this “damn the torpedoes; full speed ahead” mentality so we compromised.  I got my way in terms of our departure time (5:30 a.m.) and we planned a couple of stops along the way for a snack and stretch of the legs, including a short hike along the trail at the top of Airport Hill in North Bay.  Why so early you might ask?  Well I’m no novice when it comes to travelling north and anything you can do to get a jump on the mass migration north from Toronto is a good thing.

The Cottage

Our dwelling for the week was a cabin at Camp Horizon about a 20 min. drive north of Sturgeon Falls.  The cabin was a bit on the small side but everything was functional and Becca had her own bedroom with triple bunks which posed quite a dilemma for the young lady; which bunk to sleep on?  Of course to a 9 year old, higher is better, but we finally agreed that she could have the middle bunk and our English Springer Spaniel Casey, who insisted on sharing the room with her, was relegated to the floor.  Even though the bedroom doors were left open, the first night taught us to bring a nightlight along.  It seems that waking up in the dark and not knowing where you are can be a bit intimidating for kids.  Personally I was just thankful to let my head hit the pillow, but there was definitely a light there the next night.

The one really great thing about this particular cottage is that we had our own private sand beach right in front of the cottage.  This proved to be the major attraction of the week for both Becca and Casey.  There were a few spats about who owned which castle or hole in the sand – Casey proved to be the more determined of the two – but luckily he found greater pleasure in chasing frogs in the nearby weed bed.

After lunch grandma and Becca usually headed for the main beach where there was a raft, a water slide, and new friends to meet.  As for me, I took this opportunity to keep the rum from going bad and to bury myself in a good book.

Fishing

Next to playing on the beach our nightly fishing excursion seemed to be the most popular event of the day.  Supper and dishes finished we’d grab our rods, tackle life jackets and head for the boat.  

The first evening all 4 of us set off to walleye hole on the far side of the lake.  Now it’s been a number of years since I’ve taken Casey fishing in a small boat and had forgotten one small, but very important detail.  He is a trained hunting dog that flushes and retrieves birds and just loves to hit the water to fetch anything that is thrown.  Guess what a lure looks like to a dog that wants to retrieve?  Well I managed to keep him in the boat but it wasn’t the most relaxing start to our fishing endeavors.  After that, grandma opted to spend some R&R time with Casey on shore while me and Becca headed out for our nightly adventure on the lake.

Lake Muskosung is only about 3 sq. miles and boasts a wide variety of game fish, so even though I wouldn’t call the fishing spectacular there was plenty of action to keep us both happy.  Becca even won a prize in the kids fishing derby for the biggest smallmouth bass.

Rainy Days and Other Diversions

As with most of Southern Ontario rain was not a big issue this year.  It only rained one day and because we were within a reasonable proximity of Sudbury grandma and Becca headed off to Science North.  If you haven’t had a chance to visit this great northern attraction you simply must make time to visit.  I got to spend the day cleaning up my hard drive and starting to write this blog, however a bit of solitude for the day was welcome. 

Geocaching is another fun adventure for kids of all ages.  This high tech game of hide and seek will take you to beautiful places that you won’t find any other way.  I typically download coordinates for several caches in an area before we leave home and print off the corresponding maps and information.  On this trip we followed an ATV trail into the bush for about a kilometer and then, after a bit of searching, found the cache hidden along a rock cliff overlooking a typical Northern Ontario moose marsh.  We didn’t see any moose but did hear some loud snapping of branches below us.  This is also prime bear habitat so we didn’t linger to find out what it was.  

I hope you enjoy this short sample of our 2011 Lake Muskosung adventure and remember to get out and enjoy everything that our great Ontario outdoors has to offer.  If you’re taking the kids remember to be flexible and everyone will be happy.

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