Capsized Canoe 2007...our plan is set!

With the 2007 trip being over ten months away, it may seem a little funny to some that we are planning it already, but we enjoy the planning almost as much as the trips themselves. In fact , the only reason we had not decided on the route while on C.C 2006 was for a lack of time (and energy) after our long travel days.

So with no further delay, here is the route and itinerary for Capsized Canoe 2007!

Capsized Canoe 2007: Thursday Aug 2nd - Tuesday Aug 7th

Day 1 (Thursday): Gerry and I depart Newcastle at 2 pm and arrive at the Voyageur Hotel in Mattawa by 6:30 pm. After checking in we will drive to the Ontario Parks Ranger Station at Brent and pick up our park passes (as we will be here before they open the next morning) and then return to the Mattawa for another entertaining evening at McCools.

Day 2 (Friday): Plan to be on the dock at Brent for 7:30 am (this means being being up, fed and at park entrance by 6:40 am...hope McCools was less fun then last year or this could hurt..but we will manage).
This is a travel day and we will be going even further on this leg then we did last year , all the way to Robinson Lake. It will be a very long day, (10-11 hours of paddling/portage), but this will allow us to have the next 2 days for relaxing...something that was absent from last year. The 06 trip was great, but we were so tired that we did not have much time for some of the little things that make the trips fun...like photography, the journal, watching the sunset or laving a few laughs.

Days 3 and 4(Saturday, Sunday): Rest days! Unlike last year, we want to be able to have some non-travel days and these will be spent on this beautiful spot we passed on last years trip, it is an island site that has great views in all directions and because it is off the beaten track it feels far more isolated. I would guess that the fishing will be good as well. ( I have included some pics we took when we stopped to check out the site last year, note the pic of my taking in the view while using the facilities...thanks for that one Gerry!)

Day 5 (Monday): We leave today and travel double back the way we came in until we reach upper Catfish. There we break off to the left and make our way north to Lucckless Lake where we will make camp for our last night in the park.

Day 6 (Tuesday): Plan to break camp early and be on the water by 7:30 am, our biggest challenge today is the massive 2835 P from Luckless Lake too the Nippising River. After that we have a few more smallish P's and we are back in Brent. After we stop and have our annual traditional luch at Dixie Lee we head home for another year.


NOTES:

1. Are we doing almost the same trip?- Yes, we know the trip is very similar to the one we did last year, but although we enjoyed last years trip we both agree that it was harder then we thought it would be and so we want another shot at it knowing (hoping?) that it will be a little easier now that we have our 2006 experience to draw from...plus we did enjoy the route.
2. Same work, but more fun: Last year I was so focused on getting from point to point in "good time" that it distrated from the real reasons we do the trip. This year I still want to work hard, but we will stop to enjoy ourselves more and worry about the pace less.
3. I may be yella' but eI still want the Yoke...pad: We will be getting these bolt on yoke pads. The portage distance was never the problem last year, it was the weight of the canoe on the back of my neck that made it much harder then it had to be....this should make it much more tolerable.
4. Staying on Robinson Lake: We are both looking forward to spending 2 days on this site. It is almost perfect and is the best combination of Interior Camping and our "Car Camping" island site.
5. Bring Less Food: Last year we brought way too much food ( enough for 2 weeks?). I guess I thought we would eat more due to the the increased activity, but in fact we ate less. So this time we will bring what we need, plus one extra days supply (in case we get wind bound). We will also be bringing food that requires less prep work, like the Oatmeal/protein powder combination that we had for our daily breakfast.
6. Water Filter Problems: The MSR Mini Works water filter worked great, but the constant cleaning of thefilter was a pain. This year we will add a pre-filter ( Fuel Filter from Canadian Tire) to the system. This should cut our filter cleaning in half. We will bring 2-3 of them.
7. Hotel Change: We will be changing hotels this year to the Voyageur Hotel located in Mattawa. Last years hotel was good, but it was a 10 minute drive outside of town and this meant Gerry could not drink much, as he is the driver. The Voyageur is across the road from McCools, so I am sure we could manage that trip...even if we had to crawl.
8. Other Gear List Changes: We have made many other changes to the gear list we posted last year and it will be available by CLICKING HERE! (NOTE: When I post the new list I will change the updated date on the file and as last year, it is available for download in M.S Word format)