As the 2018 canoeing season was nearing it’s end, we really wanted to get out in our canoe at least one more time and after some consideration, we decided that it was time to visit an area that is fairly new to us. In the spring I had headed to the Haliburton Highland Water Trails for a solo trip and I knew that we should come back to this park, so we booked a night on Big East.
There were advantages to booking on Big East: there are no portages (well except for the short one from the parking lot to the lake) and it is an easy paddle to the site we had booked. The downside to there being no portages is that the campers across the water had brought along a guitar and thought that serenading the entire lake was a great way to spend the afternoon. Luckily they didn’t keep it up too long and we had a quite evening.
From the parking lot at Big East there is a short portage down to the lake, so we made quick work of getting all our gear to the shore and loaded into the canoe. Along the way, we ran into a family just coming back from a trip with a couple of small kids. They were busily carrying gear back to the parking lot, but couldn’t help noticing our canoe and how easy it looked to portage. I totally agree! This canoe has been wonderful to portage and has made our back country experience much more enjoyable. After a quick chat we finished loading our boat and headed off to our site.
It was a nice short paddle down Big East Lake, and we noticed a lot of places that would make for great summer swimming. Made me wish I brought my suit, but it was pretty chilly in the shade and it would have been a just a little too cold for recreational swimming… maybe after a few days without washing it would have been more tempting!
Upon our arrival, we quickly did our camp set up and noticed that the sun was really warm on the rocks at our site. We decided to spend some time just soaking up the good ol’ Vitamin D! Hayden was doing his thing making his rope swing, catching frogs, and just being his goofy self. He will help with some of the camp chores like gathering firewood, but sometimes it takes a little bit of encouragement.
Hayden playing 
No frogs were harmed 
Wish I brought my swim suit 
Site set up
Since it was a bit cool in the shade, we opted to have an afternoon fire which we kept going into the evening. Hayden loves to help with the actual fire and would just keep throwing pieces of wood on it, so we have to remind him that in order to keep it going all night we have to save the wood and not get too carried away.
This was actually my first trip after getting laser eyes (laser eye surgery), so I had NO MORE GLASSES!!! I was super happy not having to switch out from glasses to sunglasses every time we went from sun to shade. I may have taken a few selfies more than normal because of this LOL.
As the afternoon lead into the evening, we cooked supper over the fire and attempted to repeat cooking Jiffy Pop. If you read the last post, there was a little bit of an issue containing the popcorn, but this time was a huge success! No popcorn lost or mishaps.
Hello! 
NO Glasses 
Jiffy pop success
Evening came and we had the most beautiful sunset and moon rise. We all headed down to the water’s edge and out on the rocks to watch the daylight disappear. Of course, nothing says a good night like having the campfire roaring into the darkness before bedtime.
Beautiful Sunset 
Good night 
Seeing the moon rise 
Love my campfire
We all had a nice sleep and woke up to the mist covering the lake. We once again started a nice little fire to keep the chills away while we sat and had breakfast with tea and hot chocolate accompanied by some oatmeal to warm the body.
Good morning 
Morning views
As the sun rose, we broke down camp and made our way out with the lake providing us the most beautiful views as the water was like a mirror. We will definitely come back this way again next year, maybe when the weather is warmer to test out the swimming.
Wish I could stay 
MIRROR 
Mirror views