Off to Perth we go.

15.01.2009

We drove out of Ottawa at around 6 p.m.

I thought Rena was picking me up at 5 p.m., so I was rushing around at home trying to get everything ready. In my haste, my bedroll was not up to it's usual snuff. It's true that bundling up THREE sleeping bags and two Thermarests in a groundsheet is not normally that easy, but today, my bedroll was WAY bigger than it should've been. It was also heavier.

Anyway, Erin's parents came to drop Erin off, so that Rena could pick us both up at my house. Erin said that Rena wasn't coming until 5:30 and I was still freaking out, with a quickly made cheese sandwich in my hand. What? Oh...good, I guess...

Soon, Rena is here with her Matrix. Usually there is enough room in this car for all our gear and more, but winter camping requires a lot more preparation than the usual spring/summer/fall excursion. We have to pack sleds, snowshoes, skates, skis, lots of warm clothes, more stuff to sleep in, already prepared food in plastic milk bags (I'll explain later). Plus, we are picking Stephanie Wilson up on our way, and there is absolutely no room for anymore stuff in this car.

Erin's mom, Deb, just randomly blurts out, mostly joking: "Why don't you just take our van?"

....

Rena: "Really? Because you guys can drive my car for the weekend."

Deb: "...Yeah why not?"

Rena: "Great!"

So, out goes our stuff from Rena's car, and we pack it into the back of Erin's parents' van. It fits easily and we pick up Stephanie and drive out to Perth.

Our meeting point is the Wendy's. In my rush to go home and pack, I forgot my wallet on my desk at work, so Rena lets me borrow some monies for a chili and coffee. Thank you Rena. Everyone is waiting for us, but not very long, so that's cool.

Anyway, Camp Opemikon is not far away, so we all pile in our cars and head out.

Rena shows us all how to bundle up our gear on the sleds we have brought. Erin can't pull one because she has to carry a giant backpack, so I offer to pull the extra one. We attach it to the back of my sled and then go off into the night. The air is crisp and chilly and the stars are absolutely brilliant. I can't see anything in the pitch dark except the headlamps of the others, but every time I snap a picture, we are illuminated for a second, so I take quite a few.

Our cabin is only about 1 km into the woods, but traveling there lugging sleds and everything is not a simple feat! Normally it would take 20 minutes, but for us, it takes about 45. Going up the hills is the worst! My new snowshoes are pretty awesome, they dig into the snow very well but still, I slipped a couple of times, losing my grip on the powdery snow. Another thing that slows us down is our sleds. Every once in a while someone's would just topple right over, and we'd all stop and wait while she picks it up, recentres the gravity and continues on her way.

Eventually though, we made it. We have a celebratory drink (of water) and then go inside for some hot chocolate and a sleep.

Kathy notices I have a steel water bottle, so she offers to heat mine up on the stove. What a wonderful woman! I have never done this before, so it feels just like heaven when I hold it and warm my feet on it as I drift off to sleep.

Me vs. giant bedroll