Hiking trip to Frontenac Provincial Park (Part 1: Prep Work)

Where do I begin?

I have been following numerous bloggers and outdoor enthusiasts on social media, and it got me thinking about blogging again.  I have done this in the past, but not really to my best potential.  This takes time, which there are days I have very little.... but something sparked in me, and here we are. 

For the last month I have been looking through the Ontario Parks reservation site pursuing through all campgrounds, within a reasonable driving time, looking for a spot to camp.  I was starting to feel a little like the Canoe Collector where I was posting and discussing about where I was going to go camping, canoeing, whatever, and plans got cancelled last minute.  We even had a site booked at Kawartha Highlands Provincial Park for a night, and the sky opened up and it rained for the entire weekend.  We cancelled, boo!!!  I then thought of going to Killbear for the May Long weekend. Again, was able to get a site, checked the weather, RAIN again! Didn't book.  The other weekends where the weather was beautiful, warm, sunny, awesome, you get the idea... we had plans where we just couldn't go anywhere.  I was feeling defeated. What was I going to do? I wanted to go camping, and BAD!

I finally decided on the idea of taking my son on our first overnight hiking and camping trip to Frontenac Provincial Park. I can park at the Kingsford Dam, and with just a short 15-20 minute walk, we can reach the cluster 11 sites.

Kingsford Dam to Cluster 11

I waited, and waited, and waited... I watched the weather for almost a week. Mother Nature played with my emotions as I watched it change from rain, to sun, to rain, to sun again.  Finally on Thursday morning I decided I had enough.  The weather was still not 100% awesome, but with very little rain on Friday night, and sunshine on Saturday I booked site 11A, for 2 people.  This is it! This would be my FIRST time taking my son, Hayden, on a camping trip alone.  This would be his FIRST time hiking into a campsite as well.  You have to start somewhere right?  My hubby was for sure a little jealous of this, since he wouldn't be going, but he had commitments on Saturday that would make it not possible.  With this booking, it meant that I had a LOT of planning and organizing to do that night.  I guess I work better under pressure, because once I got off work, I made it home and packed, organised, and prepped all our meals before I headed to bed. 

It was interesting to get Hayden to try on his backpack before our trip, just so that he could get used to the weight.  He was very lucky to receive this backpack as a coworker was clearing out their things and was just going to throw this away.  Asked if I would be interested, and of course I took it.  He had the following items to carry:

1. His clothes (all in a dry bag because you never know)
2. Sleeping bag (rated to 2 degrees Celsius)
3. Sleeping pad (summer MEC one we got on clearance one year)
4. Stuffy for his pillow (I know, the little bit of luxury)
5. Shoes for around camp
6. His mug and water bottle
7. plus I may have thrown in my pillow LOL

He was a fit fidgety when he first put it on, but then I showed him my backpack. I was carrying EVERYTHING else I told him.  The list was long, and he just replied with "wow".

My bag on the right, his on the left.

It was time for bed, and we both needed a good night sleep, since we both had school the next day.  I decided to keep this trip quiet, and didn't even mention it to my students.  I have a lot of repeat students in my current math class who have taken the outdoor education class I teach the prior year.  They always enjoy hearing about our adventures.  I really didn't want to jinx my luck with this trip.  So as the afternoon slowly crept on, I was watching the clock way too much.  I had to wait until 4 pm to even think about hitting the road, as that's when Hayden gets home from school. 

Thank you for reading part 1: the prep work.  Part 2 coming soon with the tales of the trip itself. :)