Work Week Overnight

While perusing other outdoor enthusiasts pages, I came across a video done early this year from Northern Scavengers‘, Noah, about his quick overnight trip during the work week. I had messaged him to comment how great it was to be able to do a quick turnaround trip and that got me wondering if I could do such a thing myself…

In order to make this trip work, I needed a place to go that was nearby, has a short paddle to the sites, and ideally, to go on a night when I didn’t have to be at work at the regular time in the morning – I am not a morning person. Lucky for me, there is a non operational park about an hour drive away that has a choice of multiple sites within a 20 min paddle from the put in, and since it was exam week and I didn’t have to be at school early for classes, the timing was perfect.

Thursday Evening

I left the house around supper on the Thursday night and headed to the park. I was in luck as there were no cars in the parking lot, so I could have had my choice of sites – there are no reservations – but I aimed for one of the closer ones to make my morning paddle out quicker. Within about 10 minutes of paddling against the wind, I was at my site, which happened to be the same one we camped on at the beginning of May as a family. I was amazed at how overgrown the site had become since the last time I was there.

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I set up my tent, went to find a small amount of firewood (I wasn’t planning on a big fire), and then sat to eat the sub sandwich I picked up along the way for supper. After eating I finished my chores around camp and set up my bear hang – normally a mundane task, but with all the tall grass in area I managed to pick up not one, but two ticks on my socks! ACK!!! This was NOT something I wanted to see while camping! Yes, I know they are everywhere these days, but this was the first time I’ve picked one up. Luckily I found them before they bit me!

After my scare with the ticks, I decided to spend as little time as possible up in the back section of the site where all the tall grass and shrubs were located. Instead, I stayed by the fire wearing my long pants (tucked into my socks) and my sweater. The wind hitting the site was actually keeping most of the mosquitos away, and I sat by the fire for the remainder of the evening listening to the sounds of the lake.

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Once I tucked in for the night, it seemed like the lake came alive! There were sounds of coyotes in the distance howling after catching a meal, the black birds singing in the brush on the water, and then the two loons that occupied the lake decided to call all night. I guess this is what I should have expected.

Friday Morning

I managed to get a little bit of sleep, however, at 5:30 in the morning I was up and packing my gear. I knew that I had to get up and head back home early in the morning as I was expected to stop by the school and pick up any outstanding exams to finish marking, then start my report cards.

I didn’t spend too much time at camp, but enjoyed a tea before heading on my way. The wind was a little in my favour this morning as I paddled across the lake. I saw those two loons on the water as well as a deer. I wish I had my camera ready, but alas it ran into the woods before I could get a picture.

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I arrived back at the put in quickly, packed the car and headed home where I had to drop the canoe off before I made my way to work. At work I bumped into a couple coworkers and they were surprised that I had just come back from an overnight trip. It was possible!

If you have ever thought about going on a quick overnight during the work week, I would highly recommend it. Leave a comment below if you have completed a trip like this or are thinking about doing one. Thanks for reading.