| oldraven |
There is a lake on Crown land behind my parents farm that we have been using since I was in my teens. When Stora (a lumbering company) got approval from the province to cut on that Crown land (no, it doesn't actually belong to the Queen. ;) And they must stay some 100M from any waterway) the company asked if my father would let them use our own road for access. On the conditions that they put up a steel gate and give us full access to the road, he agreed and they ended up building a road a couple of miles longer than Dad's farm road.
Well it's about a 15min drive (the growth in the decade since they finished cutting is insane) in the Jeep, and another 5-8min walk through a trail we cut to get there. We have a canoe out there, and starting in my senior year I set sights on this island in the middle. I'm an avid camper, and that challenge is one I hadn't taken up before. The island is covered in trees and thick green moss. We got an electric trawling motor (Minn Kota) and a marine battery hooked up and over three days 15 people and all their gear made land fall. It was a full on hippie weekend, and we'll just leave it at that. ;)
I have been back a few times, with friends or family, but it has been about seven years since I last was on 'my island'. I have never found any evidence that any other people have camped here, or even made the trip. This lake is where I proposed to Ange (in the canoe on the way over) and we stayed the night there. It was her first time camping. At one time we built a rock man on the beach (just the rocky shore we land the canoe on) and named the island after him. Brock Island. This is our own name for the place, of course. We gave our own names (my sister and I) to other islands out there, like Blueberry and Grass islands. It is an incredibly personal place, and the one place on earth I consider to be my own private Avalon, if you get what I mean.
Well, this summer I vowed to go back. When I booked last week off I made a plan to reblaze the trail and get my family out there. Of course, being the horrid summer of ot seven, it rained for the first two days, but I went out on Tuesday morning to cut the trail. Ivy (my 'little' sister) and a friend of hers helped and we were done in two hours, using an axe, two bow saws (one of which I broke by using it to cut ferns like a machette), and three pairs of snips. Pretty good, really. The city boy got lost once, but no bears got him. :p I sped home to pack the Jeep with gear, dogs, and the Wife and Daughter. The skies opened up and it poured.
So Wednesday it is. We got there and were on the island by 12:30. Ange is over six months pregnant right now, so she couldn't carry anything but Coira, who walked a third of it. After five trips and two broken paddles, we were there for the next couple of days. It rained Wednesday night, but all day Thursday was beautiful, and somehow we had no bugs. Freaking twilight zone, that. Took a canoe trip around the island and scouted the other side to find some nice hills. Friday morning (4:00a.m.) we had a severe thunder and lightning storm though. Ange is petrified of lightning, and Ivy was in a new camp (about 60' away) that we had discovered the day before. By that, I went for a piss and saw a beautifully flat moss covered area. Friday we ended up packing what we could carry on our back and headed home. I'm going back on Saturday (a week on) to get the rest of our gear home.
I have never stayed on that island when it didn't rain when we tried to leave (Brock must have a lonely spirit). I have even been caught in the middle of the lake in the aluminium canoe with lightning coming down before. That was a hairy trip. In spite of it all, it was easilly the best vacation I've taken in years. Coira loved it, the dogs loved it, Ange and Ivy enjoyed it, and I can't wait for next year. Maybe next time we'll beat the odds and stay dry. ;)
Wow, buy my book!
The home side of the lake, from the island.
The mainland shore near the island, and part of the beach.
Coira on Brock beach.
From up on the hill on the far side.
The new camp, that we dubbed 'Paddle Camp' in memoriam of the fourth trip across.
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| TrevorK |
| I have to say - the whole private island is really neat. A nice retreat away from everything! |
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| Bad Egg |
Wow, a thoughtful and sensitive essay, complete with beautiful photographs.
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Are you sure you are in the right place?
Coira is a sweet looking little girl, she looks a lot like my daughter did at that age when I took her camping, especially the curls. Good to see that you are wise enough to make some family memories while you can. |
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| oldraven |
quote:
Originally posted by Bad Egg
Wow, a thoughtful and sensitive essay, complete with beautiful photographs.
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Are you sure you are in the right place?
Yeah, I knew it would be lost on a lot of people here, but I've got to be me, right. :thumbup:
quote:
Coira is a sweet looking little girl, she looks a lot like my daughter did at that age when I took her camping, especially the curls. Good to see that you are wise enough to make some family memories while you can.
Thanks, man. And that's exactly why I persisted when the rain came and I had everyone but myself saying it couldn't be done 'this year'. Coira is going on two and a half, and she'd never been out there. Other than the canoe rides, I'm positive her favorite part of it all was sleeping in the tent with Mum and Dad and the puppies.
TrevorK, I just wish I could really say that it's my island. It's Canada's, but I feel like I've got a bigger stake in it than anyone. |
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| Turb0.ed.v6 |
WOW that is beautiful my friend... I wish I had a place like that to camp out..
EDIT: oops so It really isnt "yours" still beautiful regardless. |
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| b18c5crx |
| Can i rent your island? |
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| NisHo |
| Can I get the Cliffsnotes on your post? :asshole: |
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| oldraven |
quote:
Originally posted by NisHo
Can I get the Cliffsnotes on your post? :asshole:
There's this island near my parent's farm. It's my favorite place on earth and no one else uses it. We went there on my vacation and it was awesome. :) |
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| oldraven |
quote:
Originally posted by b18c5crx
Can i rent your island?
It's not mine, but if you want to pay me a handsome fee I'll show you how to get to it................ and watch you like a hawk to make sure you leave it like you found it. ;) |
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| halend |
Nova Scotia?????? or Alberta? I have an island like that... Use my 12' aluminum with 8hp and min kota to get there.... planted lots of shit and all I do is go there.. camp and eat the shit I planted.. lol.
I intend to track your lake. I will check any walk in lake in alberta, that only allows electric motors.. I will then meticulously study the depth chart for an island about 500 feet from a very shallow section (the weedy area) and about 200feet from shore or so. After that I will look for a loggin road that leads to within 100m or so of shore (maybe a bit farther) If that fails, I will call the company, ask for records of loggin rods they have made on crown land in an attempt to find this lake.
One second thought.. I dont care. lol. |
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| EK9Hatch |
oldraven - Its nice to see you have a place you can "get away" from it all. I'm from Saint John, New Brunswick and I used to have a place like that myself. It wasn't an island, it was a cliff with an opening to the Saint John River...but its the same idea. It was completely private and nice and quite.
I love the big city life and all that, but going somewhere like that makes me appreciate the peace and quite than much more.
Jamie |
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| oldraven |
quote:
Originally posted by halend
Nova Scotia?????? or Alberta? I have an island like that... Use my 12' aluminum with 8hp and min kota to get there.... planted lots of shit and all I do is go there.. camp and eat the shit I planted.. lol.
I intend to track your lake. I will check any walk in lake in alberta, that only allows electric motors.. I will then meticulously study the depth chart for an island about 500 feet from a very shallow section (the weedy area) and about 200feet from shore or so. After that I will look for a loggin road that leads to within 100m or so of shore (maybe a bit farther) If that fails, I will call the company, ask for records of loggin rods they have made on crown land in an attempt to find this lake.
One second thought.. I dont care. lol.
Thanks guys.
Well, good luck with that. You'll be searching the wrong end of the country. ;)
Like I said, I have no problem sharing this place, so long as people leave it like they found it. :)
Jamie, that's cool. These places are what set us straight, right? You can wind yourself up in the daily grind all year and five minutes on the water washes it all out. Believe it or not, I've never been to St. John, thought I've been wanting to see the area. I've heard great things. |
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| EK9Hatch |
Yea there are lots of great places to check out in Saint John and its surrounding areas. The thing I think I miss the most is the tons of beaches down there. I didn't have to drive more than 5 mins to get to one of the many.
Jamie |
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