You are not logged in. Would you like to login or register?

5/16/2022 1:04 pm  #1


Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

Endless sun was in the forecast, the perfect time to spontaneously start my annual ice out solo trip. I kept asking my 4 ½ year old daughter if she wanted to come and to my surprise she kept saying YES!
 
We picked up an ultralight 16 foot Keewaydin at Algonquin Outfitters but everything else is our own gear, including my daughter’s life jacket, grey owl paddle, and osprey hydrajet 12 litre backpack which she lugged over the 2 short portages.

As part of single portaging I always strap the paddles in the front of the canoe and our life jackets in the back. The 12 litre backpack was filled with lots of heavy stuff so we could put it right in the front of the canoe to help balance out my fat ass in the rear.

Jeff’s Maps estimates about 4 ¼ hours to get to the island site in the south, where it peaceful and private. It’s a nice site with beech, rocks, fairly flat and kept my daughter entertained while I did most of the work to set up camp.

There was a nice firepit for roasting marshmallows and then off to bed for the little one while I stayed up for a bit of campfire whiskey. The days were warm and even hot in the full sun but the nights were dipping to 2 degrees or below. My daughter was toasty warm in the full-size -9 C down-filled MEC sleeping bag I bought her for her 3rd birthday plus her northface thermoball hoodie. I was a little envious because I forgot my warm sweater and was on the verge of being cold in my old zero degree bag.

There never seemed to be a shortage of either fun stuff or work to do. We spent some time on the beech and in the chilly water, before Mr. Leech spoiled the mood.
We has a real treat that morning paddling out as the lakes were mirror smooth giving the picture perfect pretty view of the shore. Finally, we stopped for obligatory “small” cones before heading home.

 

5/16/2022 1:34 pm  #2


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

Nice. Looks like a wonderful time. Great times always with the kids.

 

5/16/2022 2:17 pm  #3


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

The whole experience went surprisingly smoothly. I think more people should try going out with their kids, they are capable of so much.

     Thread Starter
 

5/16/2022 2:42 pm  #4


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

I thought it might have been a fellow AA'er that we saw. We were camped on the south east site on Pen as you were heading in and did our day trip around Clydegale on Saturday. 

I loved the spring trips with my kids, although I wasn't quite as ambitious, holding out until they were ~9 years old. Then again, it isn't too often you get a forecast like we had this year promising sunny and warm not just over the weekend but for multiple days beyond that. 
 

 

5/16/2022 2:50 pm  #5


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

Sounds like a great weekend and the perfect route / campsite to introduce her to the park. And that fire pit looks way more built up than the last time I was there!


Trip Reports & Campsite Pictures
algonquinbeyond.com
 

5/17/2022 8:22 am  #6


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

Fantastic!  Congratulations on such a great trip with your little cutie!  

I took my son on his first trip in 2016, when he was 11.  Late July.  Heat wave.  Deer flies.  It was my first trip in 16 years, and I thought I was choosing a simple loop trip of 5 days that included a base camp on Day 3.  Turned out I chose a trip that was too ambitious and we cut it to 3 days.  There were some very nice moments, but overall it soured him a bit on the whole thing.  He's been a couple of times since, and those trips went better, but I sure blew it that first time out.

 

5/17/2022 11:28 am  #7


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

RobW wrote:

I thought it might have been a fellow AA'er that we saw. We were camped on the south east site on Pen as you were heading in and did our day trip around Clydegale on Saturday.  

You kind of appeared out of nowhere when we were on our beech, I figured you were just fishing or something. Always nice seeing other AA'ers!
 

     Thread Starter
 

5/17/2022 11:31 am  #8


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

trippythings wrote:

... And that fire pit looks way more built up than the last time I was there!

Somebody put a lot of effort to build up the firepit walls nice and high but it wasn't very solid. It spontaneously started falling during our second night of marshmallow roasting and became a hot mess.
 

     Thread Starter
 

5/17/2022 11:36 am  #9


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

MooseWhizzer Dave wrote:

Fantastic!  Congratulations on such a great trip with your little cutie!  

I took my son on his first trip in 2016, when he was 11.  Late July.  Heat wave.  Deer flies...

I'm sure you made a powerful impression on your son. Later in life he will probably look back fondly on that experience. 
 

     Thread Starter
 

5/17/2022 8:29 pm  #10


Re: Father Daughter Ice Out – May 5 to 8 2022 – Clydegale Lake

fantastic report! Cant wait until I can bring the next gen into the park with me.

 

Board footera

LNT Canada is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting responsible outdoor recreation through education, research and partnerships.