Reports and Pictures

Lost Children on the Canal - Feb. 11

We had some action for a change - several lost children and lost parents. We had fun and the beavertails were yummy.

Cottage Camp - January 8-9

At Bowmans' cottage. We had a fun time. Got exhausted playing hockey. Crockinole and pool were also enjoyed. The skiing was not so hot due to lack of fresh snow. Ruined the bacon again.

Camp Ice Cube - December 3-5

We did it again! Thanks to Alex, Dan & Marc, we took home most of the prizes. First prize in the cooking contest - nobody could beat our pecan pie plus our millenium theme, music, tuxedos & suits, candles and tablecloth. First prize in night time orienteering - the only team with guts to finish after wading through knee-deep swamp. Second prize in pioneering - our bunk beds would have taken first, but we ran out of time and didn't finish the lower bunk. Our prizes - NOLS cookery cook book, fleece hats, and $10 gift certficate for Canadian Tire. Great job guys!

RoVent 99 October 22-24, 1999

We had a pretty good time. Our catapult was great in practice, but cracked on the first real test. So we just pitched the bombs like everyone else. We won the games, but 1st Kanata lost our score card and gave the award to another company - Evan was pissed! Christy carved another great pumpkin, but did not win as there were other super entries too. The quest was a joke, which annoyed Dave and Christiaan who worked hard on it. Our guys worked up a great skit, but never had a chance to put it on. Christy had a chance to see her old friends from 3rd Petawawa, and Pam was stalked all weekend by a big guy from the 28th.

NEWS FLASH: 1st Kanata presented us with a plaque for the Fayre in December!!!

Coulonge Canoe Trip - Oct. 2-3

We nearly froze on Saturday, but got the good campsite at Bear Falls and got warmed up after Paul made a good fire. We laughed at some drunks flipping at Poplar Rapids and getting all of their gear wet, even their sleeping bags. Sunday brought a much nicer day. At Rapides Guénette, Kirk and Dave ran it loaded and swamped. Another group rescued most of their gear, but the canoe (borrowed from Bill's friend, John) was trashed (seats, gunnels, yoke plus a dent) and they lost 2 paddles, one belonging to Manotick.

Dave went back and ran it again in the solo boat and rescued the canoe which was stuck on a rock.

The rest of us lined the first drop and ran the rest - a great rapids. Then followed the royal ride through kms of fast water, some with very large haystacks.

Courtney and Alex got caught off guard and flipped on a large rock in a relatively easy rapids. Courtney was out of dry clothes, so she borrowed stuff from Bill and spent the rest of the trip looking like an overstuffed fleece ball.

We got off the river at the same time as the drunks, who got Dave to take their picture with huge grins as they passed a joint around!

National Library Job - Sept. 29 and Sept. 30.

We contracted to do a job loading cases of books on a truck at the National Library, and then unloading them the next night at Carlingwood for a book sale. Everyone helped; Stevie, Grace & Dorothy gave us a hand at Carlingwood. Bill lost the pay cheque, but a replacement is on the way.

VenClimb - Sept 17-19, 1999

More photos courtesy of Rod Wilson, 1st Manotick. The Level 1 course, given by Christiaan & Dave was good, but there were some problems with the Level 2 (fist-time logistics). Our girls were very popular. Great photos of Pam

Sailing - Sept. 4

John, Marc & Dave went with Barbara and Bill to Dave's cottage at Gananoque. Unfortunately, it was very still. The guys tried sailing, but half way to Wolfe Island, the wind died completely and they had to get a tow back with the Zodiac. The same fate awaited the wind surfer. So they went swimming and succeeded in flipping the raft; then they had a hard time to flip it back!

Ganaraska Trail Hike - August 20-22

At the last minute, all of the Venturers dropped out. Since the Rovers had already booked off work, Bill, Christiaan and Paul decided to go ahead.

Most of the Ganaraska Trail is through fields and back roads as it traces an arc between Port Hope on Lake Ontario and the Bruce Trail at the foot of the Bruce Peninsula. But there is one part, the Wilderness Section, which is east and north of Lake Simcoe, which is wild indeed. This is where we went.

It took 5 to 6 hours to reach the trailhead at Victoria Bridge on the Black River. We left at noon on Friday, stopped in Lindsay for supper, and arrived between 6 and 7 in a teeming rain. We went for a walk to check out the start of the trail and Bill slipped and fell in the mud - a good start. After cleaning up as best as possible, we set up Christiaan’s tent and squeezed in.

The next day dawned clear, but the vegetation was very wet on the trail. Speaking of the trail, there wasn’t one. Oh yes, there were markers on trees, but no visible path. At times we were in grasses and ferns over our heads. Christiaan wore shorts and gaiters, but soon his legs were all scratched due to the unseen brambles. Paul and Bill fared better in Rad pants. We made good time until we came to a beaver dam which was the trail, but there was no marker, Later we came to a tyrolean traverse over a creek. It wasn’t necessary with the low water, but it was still fun to try it. By lunch time, it was very hot.

We took a good break and ate, but after lunch Bill became very fatigued due to dehydration, even though he had 1.5 L of water. It was a long 1.5h until we finally crossed a little stream where he could pump more water. When we again reached the Black River, he threw off his pack and jumped in to cool off. Paul and Christiaan lounged in the shade. After a good break, we set off on the second stage of our day’s hike - another 4 km to our campsite and 16 km in all. We were all bushed and had sore feet. We had a beautiful site on top of a cliff.

The next day was hot again. We only had 12km to do, but, again, after lunch, dehydration took its toll - this time it was Christiaan. We took it easy and rested often. When we got to the end, we all plunged into the Black, which was remarkably cool.

We felt that we had had a hike. There was very little steep terrain, but the footing was not really that good - lots of loose rock and swamp. We used the GPS, but didn’t really need it. The markers were there, but hard to spot at times. We feel it would be worth doing the whole Wilderness Section another time.

Algonquin Park Trip - June 23-27, 1999

Bill, Evan, Courtney, Christy, Dan, Alex & Colin went to Whitefish Lake for 5 days. Bill had to go home and back on the 25th, so Bob and Graham Garrett came up to take his place. Christy's boyfriend, Steve, and his family also dropped in for a visit on Saturday afternoon and evening. The first day we checked out the beach and biked around the campsite. Courtney scoped out the comfort stations at Pog Lake for us. It seems that everyone was up half the night talking. The second day we went mountain biking on the Minsing Ski & Mountain Bike Trail. It was great. We saw two moose close up. Bill and the girls took the medium loop, Colin and Dan went on the long loop, and Evan and Alex took the really long loop. We all met at a lake where we hoped to go swimming, but it was too yucky. We spent the time catchng tadpoles (salamanders?). Alex and Evan had some mechanical breakdowns, and Evan had a major trashing of Christiaan's bike, popping the tire and breaking the fork. Colin also popped a tire, but we fixed it the next day.

The third day, they went on the old railroad track bike trail, completing the whole thing and back.

The fourth day, we hiked on the Centennial Ridges trail - awesome lookouts. Evan had an allergy of some kind, and could not go, so he spent the day in the hammock. When we got back, Dan tried kayaking and really liked it. Colin fooled around with the canoe, getting under it upside down. Dan and Colin tried the swinging rope. Steve came up, and he, Courtney and Colin swam across the lake. We had Steve's family for supper, and then went to the show at the Amphitheatre - it was a talk on bears and a Bill Mason canoeing film.

The last day, we went to the swinging rope again. Alex and Evan really got into it. We reluctantly struck camp and stopped at the Visitor Centre for a few minutes. Then off to the dairy for ice cream, and homeward bound. A great camp.