Training Log Archive: Funderstormin

Restoule has several trails, but they are all quite short, so I saved their "signature hike," the Fire Tower Loop, for Saturday morning. It was a beautiful trail with a nice bit of climbing and some beautiful views. The bugs were probably the worst I'd experienced the whole trip though. I finished that, took a break at a picnic table, then did the River Trail.

On my way back to the campsite, I stopped in at the office to see about the possibility of switching campsites, as there were lots of empty ones. I'd heard that parks are only operating at a X% capacity at the moment, but was hoping I could move away from my rowdy neighbours. I wasn't able too, which was a bit disappointing, but learned that the randomness of the empty campsites was a) due to pre-existing reservations, b) designed to spread out washroom usage, and c) certain campsites have just been designed as unavailable for a time period or the season, which explains why you'd be hard pressed to be able to make a booking right now as it shows everything as red. It all makes sense, but it was hard to pass by so many lovely unoccupied campsites!

C • Operating at X% capacity..... 4

Learned my lesson from the previous day and got out earlier to hike from my campsite to the Kag trail and back. This trail was equally beautiful but closer to the campground so didn't quite have the wild feeling I'd experienced the day before.

After leaving Samuel de Champlain, I drove into Mattawa to see if their LCBO had any local beers and to pick up a trail map at the information center. I was disappointed by the first errand finding nary a single IPA in their "craft beer" section, which had about 20 beers in total. I picked up couple of less hoppy options from the North Bay area and then made my way to Restoule, which was a lovely drive along secondary highways. This makes Earl happy as he really doesn't like to go much above 100 and when we are in an 80, I feel like we can pull it off comfortably.

As impressed I was with Samuel de Champlain, I was less so with Restoule. I think it would be a beautiful spot to visit on a Wednesday in September, but on a weekend in the summer, and after the ruggedness of Samuel de Champlain, this felt a bit like being at the Pinery. My site was nice enough, but I had some rowdy neighbours behind me, and some smokers across from me, so after going on a bike ride to ride a few of the trails, I spent most of the evening in the van.

When choosing parks to visit, I always check out the "Activities" feature to see if there are trails that sound intriguing. It was the description of the Etienne loops that primarily motivated me to check out Samuel de Champlain. I set out on the biggest loop a bit later than ideal, given the temperature, but I had all day and figured I'd take my time.

I was also SURE that I had salt pills in the front of my vest, but they must have slipped out of their pocket when I was rummaging around in there another time. I SURE could have used them by late morning when temps were around 32C and I was overheating, despite my best efforts to take my time.

Heat aside, this was one of the loveliest trails I've ever seen in Ontario. Most of it was up high on ridges overlooking the water. I never saw another person the whole time I was out, which added to the wild and rugged feel of it. When I reached the waterfall just past the halfway mark, I took a break and used my buff to douse myself in water. I'd carried a packtowel with me in case there was the opportunity to swim, but the bottom of the waterfall was too sketchy of a climb for me to want to try on my own.

The last hour was a bit rough as the heat was taking its toll, so as much as I enjoyed this, I was also pretty happy to see the end of it. The rest of the day was spent recovering in the water, in the hammock, and in the van, with plenty of cold drinks!

Getting my bearings around Samuel de Champlain Provincial Park after a long but smooth drive up. I was supposed to be leaving for VT for a MTB trip today, and since I had the days already booked off, I figured it was a good opportunity to check out some parks I'd never visited before!

Samuel de Champlain made an excellent first impression on me. I had a lovely large and relatively bug free corner campsite in among some pine trees with a view of the water, and easy access for cooling off!