ATVenture wrote:

I would also like everyone to know that I left with a few battle scars, known to most as mosquito bites. The bugs were out in small numbers but not biting... although a few did manage a nibble.

Damn, just when I was feeling confident about my no-mosquito-netting sleep system, you had to go and spoil it with that. 

​Love how AT is so determined to get us to 400 posts on this thread! Keep 'em coming!

Peek, I gotta say, every time I've looked at one of your WIAs it's the same story: I swear I've stood in that exact spot but I just can't place it. And then usually it turns out I'm entirely wrong and it's somewhere I've never been lol. This time is no exception. So I'm sure this is far too mainstream a lake for your taste, but that far shore looks for all the world like the south side of North Tea.

Looks to me like Cedar is the worst of the holdouts at this point. Opeongo is going very quickly!

 

Hmm, not many takers so far. Would it help if I told you that what was behind the camera would no doubt be considered more memorable than the scene in front of it . . . . at least to some? 

ATVenture wrote:

Just got back from Kiosk.
I bet the majority of the lake will be open by Monday, 100% open on Tuesday. There have already been canoes in the water.
New Modis Image out now, you can see things are changing very rapidly. Bye bye ice.

Sure are!! Like I say, ice-out Wednesday at the latest. Thanks for the great updates ATV. Almost wishing I had kept my original reservation to start from Kiosk next week. Been a few years since I was up there--this summer for sure!

I realize this may seem to be more about my boat than the scene but . . . can't help showing her off  Anyway, if you've been here, you'll remember it. Sorry for the washed out sky--clearly my photography skills have a long way to go.

Late-comer to this discussion but can't resist posting as it's such a great topic and very close to home for me right now as I prep for my 9-day solo starting next Friday (THE ICE WILL BE OUT BY THEN!!). Here's what I'm doing for this trip, some of which will change by summer (i.e., tent over tarp).

Purges:
- Tent (specifically my 1999 "2-person" Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight CD. Absolutely love this tent but it weighs 3.5 lbs more than my MEC Silicone Scout tarp and I am DETERMINED to single carry this time. To date I have yet to do this successfully in a solo tripping situation, despite many purges. I'm throwing in one of those SOL tarps as a groundsheet. Hmm. does that belong on the splurge list?
- Fuel stove and canisters. Will go with the Solo Stove -- sorry, I feel like a criminal for having one of these instead of a Bush Buddy but when I bought it I couldn't wait 6 months or however it was going to take to get the latter off the site.
- Like Uppa, all pots and pans save one--my Primus Litetech pot with fry pan lid. It's not titanium but it's as light as I really want to pay for right now.
- Pretty much every other piece of kitchen kit: extra spoon, fork, knife, bowl, serving implements -- gone in favour of a titanium spork and possibly a stainless steel mug. Done.
- Large canoe pack. I now make do with a 70L model, specifically the MEC Slogg 70 Dry Pack. Love the compactness, so much easier to hoist around and carry, both on its and with a canoe.
- Hard 1L nalgene water bottle and Platypus large Gravityworks filter. Have purchased the Katadyn BeFree 0.6L and a secondary Platypus 1L softbottle. Not sure total weight difference but it's a decent purge in both weight and bulk.
- Never did take a chair, so likely this doesn't count as a purge.
- Lastly, but probably most important, I finally got my solo packboat with combi seat last summer--Keewaydin 15. Time for a shoutout to ShawnD for all his great info and feedback--probably saved me about $600 or more on t

Yeah, I thought Kiosk straight off but it seemed too obvious, what with ATVenture's strong connection to this lake. Can't quite place the perspective though--perhaps looking west from inside one of the bays north of the Maple Creek inlet?