Canoe camping, Massasauga Provincial Park

Approaching site 17

Current Status:

The Tally Sheet (http://www.meetup.com/KW-Backcountry/messages/boards/thread/23399142/0#74332262) has current canoe and car sharing details.

Itinerary:

Saturday, June 2, 7 am. Caravan leaves Tim Horton's, Northfield and Weber, Waterloo. There is a place to park leftover vehicles close by. Drive four hours to Oastler Provincial Park (the check in office for Massasauga). Proceed to Three Legged Lake access point, 11:30 am, then to site 17, the highest rated site on Spider Lake, or sites 16 and 12.

Return Sunday.

Note: As of May 8, 25 campers are signed up. Since park policy only allows nine campers per site, we've added two more sites (#16 and #12) to accommodate our numbers. The maximum is now 27 campers. Keep signing up.

By park design, these sites aren't side by each. Consequently, our little meetup is now spilt into three groups for the night, for better or worse. Nothing prevents us from having a big pow wow prior to paddling back for the night. Full moon is June 4, leave a candle lantern on the shore.

Cost:

backcountry permit ($11.75 per person) + shared gas ($35) + canoe rental ($42) = $88.75 (canoe rental assumes two paddlers, two days)

Note: Due to transporting canoes, one canoe per car, numerous cars are required adding to the cost of gas.

Difficulty:

First time canoeist welcome. 8 km paddle to the site including a 370m portage. No motorboats on Spider Lake, yeah!

Canoe rental:

Oastler Provincial Park, 705-378-2401, $42/day. They don't deliver to our access point but provide straps to carry rentals on car roofs. Their rental day goes from 2 pm to 2 pm. If a canoe is available on Saturday before 2 pm fine, however, if it is brought back after 2 pm Sunday, late fees apply, plus the office is only open until 4 pm Sunday. These are Kevlar canoes, approximately 50 lbs. It takes a credit card to reserve, no charge is made at the time. No cancelation fee if cancelled 48 hours in advance.

Swift Canoes, Waubaushene, 705-538-0881, $35/day, $10 for kit to strap to car roof. http://swiftoutside.com/stores/rentals.php Hours of operation could be an issue.

Adventure Guide, Waterloo, 519-886-3121, $40/day, pickup Friday, return Monday for weekend rentals. They also sell Massasauga Park maps, $10.

Sojourn Outdoors (http://sojournoutdoors.com/Rentals.htm), Barrie, (705) 739-9694, from $30/day, tie downs and foam blocks included. Hours of operation could be an issue.

Inspiration:

A beautiful series of photos on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/zelcam/347618870/in/set-72157594234988366/)

Photos from last year's Massasauga trip (http://www.meetup.com/KW-Backcountry/photos/1773561/) at this time of year

Cliff jumping (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qwf0_qU5rrM) (99% sure this is the back of site 17)

Footnotes:

Site ratings (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&t=h&oe=UTF8&msa=0&msid=111722455438984723797.0004848d28a848ba557a2)

reservations 1-888-ONT-PARK (668-7275)

reference number 133312901