May28th

The Fourth Annual Grand Campment Bay to Latchford Hike

Posted at 11:54 pm | Filed Under Hikes 

Once again we were blessed with perfect weather, with only an hour and a half of rain as we neared Latchford.

Thanks to the efforts of Roger, Bryan, and Vicky the trail is cleared of the winters debris of fallen branches and wind fallen trees that could be cut by bow-saw. A special thanks to Gordon for dropping us off at the start, which involved getting up at five, to Pete who resupplied us with food (without homemade butter tarts) at the Matabitchuan River and to Bryan who picked us up in Latchford.

As far as I know Vicky is the youngest and the oldest woman to hike the entire trail. Roger is now the oldest man to walk the trail. This was Roger’s first backpacking trip and he flew over the trail in fine style. One thing we worry about with first time backpackers is that they take extra heavy packs and don’t enjoy themselves. Not only was Roger’s pack well under forty pounds but he pulled out an amazing quantity of items like a full length bath towel, full bar of soap and enough extra food to feed an army.

Bryan and Roger were great hikers and showed the enthusiasm and wonder we feel at the beauty spots like Guiding Spirit Lookout, the Matabitchuan River Falls, Fourbass Lookouts and the Rib Mountain crevasse.

Our dog Peg, at six months old, entertained us by falling off a log into Owl Creek, dragging sticks that we threw off the trail back onto the trail and by helping others wash their faces in the morning. She also frustrated us by disappearing after two moose and by parking in the middle of the trail, often.

We had a good lynx sighting, saw turkey vultures at Vulture’s View, saw one bald eagle and avoided carnivorous beavers while fording Lowdown Creek.

All of our camps were by lakes and we swam in Copper, Gorrie, Snort and Bryan Lakes. Copper Lake Camp was rated the best. With pine clad hills, comfortable tenting, serenading loons and a picnic table we had it made.

The forests are spouting wild flowers by the millions and the birds are trying to out-sing each other.

See you on the trails,

Murray


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