Well last weekend was amazing, short and sweet but very enjoyable. There's nothing like taking a breather from the every day hamster wheel of life. It was so worth driving for 2.5hrs, paddling for 3.5hrs and setting up camp in the back country of the beautiful Algonquin Park to sleep in a tent on the forest floor. I couldn't ask for better travelling companions either. My youngest grand puppy Ellie blew us away. We were super worried about all the firsts she was going to be experiencing such as: her first life jacket, her first long car ride, first time in a canoe, first time camping and first time swimming. She aced them all thanks to some guidance from her big sis Kiddo and parental supervision. There were a few time outs, not many (when she tore off down the beach of our campsite) but for the most part she curled up on the ground behind her mum and napped. Even during the torrential rain storm complete with thunder and lightening (which fortunately both dogs were not bothered by). <---previous sentence is a complete grammatical disaster.
Sadly the bull moose with the big antlers was not to be found foraging shoreside like I envision I'll see when I go there. Next year perhaps. We did converse with a fellow camper who was paddling along the shores. He had the sweetest setup for videoing whilst he paddled. I knew as soon as I got home, I was buying some new gear. So next paddle I will be installing my DJI Oslo Mobile 6 gimbal with a super sturdy clamp to take some proper stabilized videos through my phone. I have a $500 drawer full of crappy clamps, selfie sticks, etc, etc that I've bought over the years to help me video from my kayak that are useless. This SHOULD do the trick-fingers crossed. No more clenching the paddle in my armpits and trying to steer or steady in place whilst holding my phone up with shaky hands to video something you'll need to take Gravol for in order to watch it in between trying to shoot with my camera. That's the plan anyhow. Other than me wearing FLIP FLOPS on the portage (bonehead move), we all had a great time together.
About the photo, totally unrelated to the trip but it was taken during our paddle on the Moira River by our house. We always meet this guy/gal along this particular stretch of the river. It tells us off when we meet up with it and curses beneath it's breath whilst flying away from us when we have the audacity to paddle by it. It was cussing us out from the top of the tallest cedar tree I have ever seen. It perched like the Pope and proceeded to preach a sermon to us in Heron tongue and leapt to find a good place to grab some lunch.
Oh, to my Brantford peeps, I'll be in town this weekend for a couple of private events but may have a bit of spare time if you want to meet up for a coffee? Or not, you may choose to leave town knowing that lol.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Peace, love and kumbaya,
Heather
BTW-I accidentally deleted my entire wildlife image folder on my website yesterday (I couldn't find the "undo" button) so there's only a tiny album of pics now until I fix it. If anyone's wondering. It's not the end of the world but shit, dumb ass screwup by me.
**Tonight I will be shooting for the The Photo Roadies at the SOLDOUT @Jane Sibery show at Base31, anyone here going?