By the time I found my headlamp it was too late; the damage was already done. Luckily he picked a spot close to the side wall of the tent by my feet which was clear of my sleeping bag and any gear. I sure was happy at this point that my tent was setup on a nice flat section of the campsite!
I groggily crawled out of my sleeping bag and opened my tent, at least it wasn’t raining any more! I grabbed an extra roll of toilet paper from my pack and cleaned up the mess in my tent while Zeus ran around the campsite trying to find any patch of grass he could to munch on. After I finished cleaning out the inside of my tent we both crawled back inside to try and get a little bit more rest before the sun comes up…
It’s now close to 5am, I’m just starting to doze off when I hear and feel Zeus stand up again by my feet, then I heard it, he’s going to be sick again! This time instead of finding my headlamp I opened the tent as fast as I could and got him outside so he could do his business out there. No mess this time!
I decided it was now time to start my day, it would be pointless to crawl back into my sleeping bag for an hour. I quietly harvested a bit of firewood so I could ease the chill with a small fire.
Early morning campfire
While I was waiting for Tyler to wake up I decided to do some exploring around the campsite and take some pictures.
Beautiful morning on Opalescent Lake. Tyler is still sleeping away in his tent!
We didn’t get a very early start this morning, we got on the water around 10:30am. We made quick work of the 750m portage separating us from the Barron River. On this portage Tyler noticed very fresh wolf tracks in the snow on a boardwalk, which got Zeus (who is feeling much better now) very excited. It was a bit surprising to see how close they were to our camp the previous night, we heard them for a brief period before bed and wondered how far away they were. When we reached the end of the portage we were surprised to notice a few canoes on the far shore at a campsite. Turns out it was a small group of teens on a short trip as well.
We continued down the river so we could paddle through the impressive Barron Canyon. I have canoed this river a few times now, but it was a first for Tyler, who I think was pretty impressed with the size of the cliffs at the waters edge.
The Barron Canyon
Once we paddled to the far end of the canyon we had to backtrack down the river to reach the car. It was 3 portages totaling just over 800m but it didn’t take us long for since we were single carrying at this point. When reached the parking lot there was no more snow on the road, making the drive out much easier than the drive in. On our way out of the park we hiked the Barron Canyon Trail which takes you to the edge of the highest cliffs.
Taking in the view on the Barron Canyon Hiking Trail
It’s neat to see the river from two completely different vantage points in 1 day, I recommend both paddling and hiking the canyon to anyone in the area!
When we finished our hike we were back on the road and at home in North Bay before supper time.
Thanks for reading!