C.W. Outdoor Ed will be hosting a Halloween Orienteering Meet as a fundraiser Sunday, Oct. 31
Where: Hornet's Nest soccer fields on Bearbrook Road.
Time: Registration at 10:00 am.
What: Orienteering meet for all levels, no experience necessary.
Come and support C.W. Outdoor Ed and try the great sport of orienteering.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Frontenac Hiking Trip
The grade 10 Outdoor Ed class headed to Frontenac Provincial Park for their backpacking trip. We spent 3 days hiking through this gorgeous park, with its beautiful lakes, lots of signs of its rich history, really nice campsites and the tranquility of the fall season.
The weather welcomed us with open arms. The sun was out, the sky blue and the temperatures had us taking off layers right from the start. It was the perfect way to start of this trip. The colours on the trees were also still in great shape, with lots of yellows, oranges and reds still visible. We started at the end of the road and made our way to campsite #6 on Little Salmon Lake. This was a very light day, which took us an hour and a half. Probably a good thing as some people's packs were quite heavy and for most, it was the first time doing a backpacking trip.
The campsite was amazing, as we were at the end of the lake with a wonderful view in front of us. The tents were set up, we looked for wood for the fires and spent some time relaxing. A couple of people dared to go for a swim, some were stumped by a few brain teasers provided by Stephanie, while others spent some extra energy in a game of capture the bottle. The weather was beautiful until about supper time and just as the groups were finishing their meals, it started to rain a little. This did not deter the entire group from starting a game of manhunt, with people hiding along logs, some in trees and many little stumbles as people tried to stay away from their captors. With the noise of a light rain, we went to sleep to prepare for the next day, a long one.
The rain stopped just as we got up, which was really nice as we wanted to take the opportunity to lighten the load for the day with a big breakfast. This was our longest day and any weight that we could shed before we began was a bonus. The hike from campsite #6 to #4 was expected to take 4 hours plus our stops. We started off strong with most of the group going the wrong way down the hill, then a couple of backpack repairs, but once we got going, we made really good time. We passed old homestead ruins and abandoned trucks from the logging days around the turn of the century. Then at the end of Big Salmon Lake, the terrain became more hilly as we made our way to an amazing lookout. This gave a great view of the entire Park, with all its wonderful fall colours. Right around the corner was also campsite #5, our lunch spot.
We took a nice break for lunch to ensure everyone had a good rest and had a chance to eat. There were grilled cheese sandwiches, beans and hot dogs, spider dogs, soups and chocolate, lots of chocolate. After lunch, we headed out for our last campsite, which was about an hour down the trail. This is also when the rain slowly began to fall again. The lead pack managed to scare away a young buck, which ran straight for the students at the back of the pack. It is always nice to see wildlife on a school trip, as the wildlife can generally hear us coming from a mile away. We made it into camp just before the heavy rains arrived. We managed to get the tents up, tarps up and to collect some firewood before we spent the rest of the evening huddled under the tarps trying to stay warm by the fire. A good time for a game of 'lick the stick'.
The heavy rains continued for the rest of the night, really testing the quality of the tents. Needless to say that some people were happy to get up and have breakfast by a fire in the morning. This along with the thoughts of having a shower later in the day gave enough motivations to pack everything up and head down the trail for the last two and a half hours of our trip. The rains never let up on this final day, but neither did the spirit of the group. All in all, a great trip.
The weather welcomed us with open arms. The sun was out, the sky blue and the temperatures had us taking off layers right from the start. It was the perfect way to start of this trip. The colours on the trees were also still in great shape, with lots of yellows, oranges and reds still visible. We started at the end of the road and made our way to campsite #6 on Little Salmon Lake. This was a very light day, which took us an hour and a half. Probably a good thing as some people's packs were quite heavy and for most, it was the first time doing a backpacking trip.
The campsite was amazing, as we were at the end of the lake with a wonderful view in front of us. The tents were set up, we looked for wood for the fires and spent some time relaxing. A couple of people dared to go for a swim, some were stumped by a few brain teasers provided by Stephanie, while others spent some extra energy in a game of capture the bottle. The weather was beautiful until about supper time and just as the groups were finishing their meals, it started to rain a little. This did not deter the entire group from starting a game of manhunt, with people hiding along logs, some in trees and many little stumbles as people tried to stay away from their captors. With the noise of a light rain, we went to sleep to prepare for the next day, a long one.
The rain stopped just as we got up, which was really nice as we wanted to take the opportunity to lighten the load for the day with a big breakfast. This was our longest day and any weight that we could shed before we began was a bonus. The hike from campsite #6 to #4 was expected to take 4 hours plus our stops. We started off strong with most of the group going the wrong way down the hill, then a couple of backpack repairs, but once we got going, we made really good time. We passed old homestead ruins and abandoned trucks from the logging days around the turn of the century. Then at the end of Big Salmon Lake, the terrain became more hilly as we made our way to an amazing lookout. This gave a great view of the entire Park, with all its wonderful fall colours. Right around the corner was also campsite #5, our lunch spot.
We took a nice break for lunch to ensure everyone had a good rest and had a chance to eat. There were grilled cheese sandwiches, beans and hot dogs, spider dogs, soups and chocolate, lots of chocolate. After lunch, we headed out for our last campsite, which was about an hour down the trail. This is also when the rain slowly began to fall again. The lead pack managed to scare away a young buck, which ran straight for the students at the back of the pack. It is always nice to see wildlife on a school trip, as the wildlife can generally hear us coming from a mile away. We made it into camp just before the heavy rains arrived. We managed to get the tents up, tarps up and to collect some firewood before we spent the rest of the evening huddled under the tarps trying to stay warm by the fire. A good time for a game of 'lick the stick'.
The heavy rains continued for the rest of the night, really testing the quality of the tents. Needless to say that some people were happy to get up and have breakfast by a fire in the morning. This along with the thoughts of having a shower later in the day gave enough motivations to pack everything up and head down the trail for the last two and a half hours of our trip. The rains never let up on this final day, but neither did the spirit of the group. All in all, a great trip.
Monday, October 11, 2010
Moving Water at Palmer's Rapids
What a great 3 days! Moving water is an activity that I have been working hard at to be part of our program and this fall it has finally happened. The reason I wanted it to be part of our program is three-fold; first, when canoe tripping you often come across small sections of moving water and it is important that people understand what is going on when deciding to run it or not; second, similar to rock climbing, it is an activity that forces students well beyond their comfort zone, which is where the greatest learning happens; last, it is so much fun.
We picked the best week for our clinic. The weather was great, mostly sunny and warm, and the water level was at its highest all year. There were 12 students and we were joined by Mr. Witmer and our 2nd instructor Aussie Brad. We started our afternoon on Tuesday reviewing the moving water strokes and then worked our way to where the current was flowing. Here we practiced getting out of an eddy and into the current while keeping the boat upright. Which worked for most, although everyone did participate in a swim through at the end of the day. Just something that helps everyone be comfortable and not shocked when they do end up flipping a canoe.
The focus for the 2nd day was to start running sections of moving water. Palmer's Rapids is great for this, as it is comprised of two sections of moving water, the bottom which is gentler, but longer and the top which is more powerful. After a quick warm up and practice of the skills learned on Tuesday, we learned how to ferry across the river and how to exit the current into an eddy. Now we were ready to challenge the lower section. After a quick scout of the rapid, with hearts and adrenalin pumping, we went down ducky style and enjoyed our first run. Everyone was super excited and very keen to portage back up and do it again. After a quick lunch, this is exactly what we did and spent the entire afternoon running the lower set, each time challenging ourselves further by taking eddy's and different routes. Although we had some dumped canoes, some swamped canoes and a few forced swims, everyone came from the afternoon with great confidence. Some so confident that they swam the top rapid for kicks.
The last morning was short and we made the most of it by getting on the water early (and having camp packed up already). We started with a couple of runs of the bottom section to get the blood flowing and then we finished by everyone running the top rapid. The top rapid is just like a good ride at Wonderland, the water is fast, the waves are big and the chance of flipping for our students was about 50/50. That said, they all went for it with the saying of the week, "just keep paddling". Things started off great, with the 1st two canoes getting great air and running clean lines. After that, the canoes still got some great air, but this was followed with a bit of wetness, as some canoes flipped sideways, others got swallowed by waves and still others just took on too much water and began to sink. It was at the bottom of this rapid that I saw why I wanted to have moving water as part of our program, everyone was smiling and super excited about their run.
It is amazing when you have fun, how much you can learn. It was also a real pleasure to work with such a wonderful group.
We picked the best week for our clinic. The weather was great, mostly sunny and warm, and the water level was at its highest all year. There were 12 students and we were joined by Mr. Witmer and our 2nd instructor Aussie Brad. We started our afternoon on Tuesday reviewing the moving water strokes and then worked our way to where the current was flowing. Here we practiced getting out of an eddy and into the current while keeping the boat upright. Which worked for most, although everyone did participate in a swim through at the end of the day. Just something that helps everyone be comfortable and not shocked when they do end up flipping a canoe.
The focus for the 2nd day was to start running sections of moving water. Palmer's Rapids is great for this, as it is comprised of two sections of moving water, the bottom which is gentler, but longer and the top which is more powerful. After a quick warm up and practice of the skills learned on Tuesday, we learned how to ferry across the river and how to exit the current into an eddy. Now we were ready to challenge the lower section. After a quick scout of the rapid, with hearts and adrenalin pumping, we went down ducky style and enjoyed our first run. Everyone was super excited and very keen to portage back up and do it again. After a quick lunch, this is exactly what we did and spent the entire afternoon running the lower set, each time challenging ourselves further by taking eddy's and different routes. Although we had some dumped canoes, some swamped canoes and a few forced swims, everyone came from the afternoon with great confidence. Some so confident that they swam the top rapid for kicks.
The last morning was short and we made the most of it by getting on the water early (and having camp packed up already). We started with a couple of runs of the bottom section to get the blood flowing and then we finished by everyone running the top rapid. The top rapid is just like a good ride at Wonderland, the water is fast, the waves are big and the chance of flipping for our students was about 50/50. That said, they all went for it with the saying of the week, "just keep paddling". Things started off great, with the 1st two canoes getting great air and running clean lines. After that, the canoes still got some great air, but this was followed with a bit of wetness, as some canoes flipped sideways, others got swallowed by waves and still others just took on too much water and began to sink. It was at the bottom of this rapid that I saw why I wanted to have moving water as part of our program, everyone was smiling and super excited about their run.
It is amazing when you have fun, how much you can learn. It was also a real pleasure to work with such a wonderful group.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Ottawa River Day Trip
On Wednesday, Sept. 29th, the grade 10 class canoed from downtown Ottawa back to the school. The day started with a ride on the OC Transpo, which for some was a new experience, to the War Museum. From there we walked to Victoria Island just below Parliament Hill, where we got into the canoes and started our trip downstream on the Ottawa River.
There has been a lot of rain in recent weeks, which meant that there was a good flow. This along with sunshine and the wind in our back, promised to be a fairly quick trip. The 1st hour saw us paddle below Parliament, Rideau Falls and the Prime Minister's residence. In the 2nd hour, we entered a section of the river where the Gatineau River joins the Ottawa River and the wind is funneled to give us an even greater push. This is where we pulled out the lunches and the sails, and we managed to cover quite a few kilometers without a lot effort.
The last hour we paddled past a number of islands in the middle of the Ottawa River. On one of these islands Matt & Aaron found small sailboat and desperately tried to tow it back to school. Quite the sight, especially when Matt got in the sailboat, leaving Aaron in the bow of the canoe doing circles. Once they caught back up to the rest of the group, we had some Halloween chocolate and began the last part of the paddle to our take out just below the St. Louis Retirement Residence. After a quick portage back to school, our trip was complete.
This was the 1st time one of our outdoor ed classes completed this trip and what a great experience. It is really cool seeing some of Ottawa's great landmarks from a canoe, something not a lot of people can say that they have done.
There has been a lot of rain in recent weeks, which meant that there was a good flow. This along with sunshine and the wind in our back, promised to be a fairly quick trip. The 1st hour saw us paddle below Parliament, Rideau Falls and the Prime Minister's residence. In the 2nd hour, we entered a section of the river where the Gatineau River joins the Ottawa River and the wind is funneled to give us an even greater push. This is where we pulled out the lunches and the sails, and we managed to cover quite a few kilometers without a lot effort.
The last hour we paddled past a number of islands in the middle of the Ottawa River. On one of these islands Matt & Aaron found small sailboat and desperately tried to tow it back to school. Quite the sight, especially when Matt got in the sailboat, leaving Aaron in the bow of the canoe doing circles. Once they caught back up to the rest of the group, we had some Halloween chocolate and began the last part of the paddle to our take out just below the St. Louis Retirement Residence. After a quick portage back to school, our trip was complete.
This was the 1st time one of our outdoor ed classes completed this trip and what a great experience. It is really cool seeing some of Ottawa's great landmarks from a canoe, something not a lot of people can say that they have done.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Algonquin Park Canoe Trip
On September 23, the grade 11's, headed to Algonquin Park for a 4-day canoe trip. It was a trip where we really didn't know what to expect, especially when it came to the weather. When we started at Achray on Thursday afternoon, the predictions were that it should start raining at any moment and that we would get 30 - 50 mm in the next 48 hours. All we could do was hope that it wouldn't be as bad as it sounded.
Things started out great, with little wind, we easily made our way across Grand Lake and Stratton Lake. With a few drops falling, we checked out a few campsites, before settling on a nice point on Stratton Lake. The rains held off until we had our tents set up, the cooking tarps in place and firewood collected. This allowed us to make our 1st dinner, Chicken Stir Fry, under a nice shelter protected from the rains, which did start to pick up as predicted. With the intensity of the rain and the fact that it lasted all night, we quickly found out which tents were made to endure and which were not. By morning, a number of tent groups were quite wet to say the least. A bit worrisome, considering the predictions were for an entire day of similar rains.
As so often happens when in the outdoors, the predictions are worse than reality. By 6 am the rain stopped and by 9 am we were hanging our wet gear in the sun to dry. With the luxury of time, we decided to stay put at our great campsite to dry out people's sleeping bags and clothes. The day was spent gathering enough firewood to last the winter, baking panzerotti's, learning about predicting weather without technology, and a trip to High Falls to enjoy the natural waterslide. With the sun providing a nice temperature, most students spent quite a bit of time enjoying themselves. The evening was topped off with spaghetti and chocolate cake.
The next day we travelled via St. Andrew's Lake, High Falls Lake and Ooze Lake to our last campsite on Opalescent Lake. It was our 1st real taste of portaging and the group didn't disappoint, although most found it quite challenging. This was especially true on the last portage, as we saved the longest for last. We also used this portage to collect plenty of firewood, which allowed us to relax on the beautiful benches on this great campsite. With the tarps providing a shelter from the wind and the odd sprinkle, we enjoyed soup with freshly baked croissants for lunch. Dinner also didn't disappoint, as we stuffed ourselves with taco's. This was followed by a wonderful display of stars, as the sky was completely clear when we headed to bed.
Expecting to have an amazing day to finish our trip, this was the only predicted sunny day, we woke up early in the rain. Altough it drizzled pretty much the entire time, the group made easy work of our biggest portage day of the trip. We were scheduled to meet the bus by noon and we managed to get there pretty close to the expected time, and this while still enjoying the 100-metre high cliffs of the Barron Canyon. All in all, a great trip, especially when it came to the weather..
Things started out great, with little wind, we easily made our way across Grand Lake and Stratton Lake. With a few drops falling, we checked out a few campsites, before settling on a nice point on Stratton Lake. The rains held off until we had our tents set up, the cooking tarps in place and firewood collected. This allowed us to make our 1st dinner, Chicken Stir Fry, under a nice shelter protected from the rains, which did start to pick up as predicted. With the intensity of the rain and the fact that it lasted all night, we quickly found out which tents were made to endure and which were not. By morning, a number of tent groups were quite wet to say the least. A bit worrisome, considering the predictions were for an entire day of similar rains.
As so often happens when in the outdoors, the predictions are worse than reality. By 6 am the rain stopped and by 9 am we were hanging our wet gear in the sun to dry. With the luxury of time, we decided to stay put at our great campsite to dry out people's sleeping bags and clothes. The day was spent gathering enough firewood to last the winter, baking panzerotti's, learning about predicting weather without technology, and a trip to High Falls to enjoy the natural waterslide. With the sun providing a nice temperature, most students spent quite a bit of time enjoying themselves. The evening was topped off with spaghetti and chocolate cake.
The next day we travelled via St. Andrew's Lake, High Falls Lake and Ooze Lake to our last campsite on Opalescent Lake. It was our 1st real taste of portaging and the group didn't disappoint, although most found it quite challenging. This was especially true on the last portage, as we saved the longest for last. We also used this portage to collect plenty of firewood, which allowed us to relax on the beautiful benches on this great campsite. With the tarps providing a shelter from the wind and the odd sprinkle, we enjoyed soup with freshly baked croissants for lunch. Dinner also didn't disappoint, as we stuffed ourselves with taco's. This was followed by a wonderful display of stars, as the sky was completely clear when we headed to bed.
Expecting to have an amazing day to finish our trip, this was the only predicted sunny day, we woke up early in the rain. Altough it drizzled pretty much the entire time, the group made easy work of our biggest portage day of the trip. We were scheduled to meet the bus by noon and we managed to get there pretty close to the expected time, and this while still enjoying the 100-metre high cliffs of the Barron Canyon. All in all, a great trip, especially when it came to the weather..
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