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3/15/2021 10:55 am  #1


TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Hello again members of the Algonquin Adventures community!
 
A little something to make it feel less like a Monday, and more like a camping trip.

T105: Moccasin – Misty

This trip report details a 4-night (cut down to 3) solo trip on the west side of Algonquin Park back in October. It follows the same format as T102 (less words, more photos) so I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and on night one a tree tried to kill me. That part wasn’t as fun as the rest of the trip.

Last edited by Peek (3/18/2021 2:55 pm)

 

3/15/2021 11:42 am  #2


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Another awesome trip report Peek!  I love the abundance of photo's you share.  Man that must have been scary hearing that tree snap and fall eh?  Had something similar happen to us last fall on Basin Lake...super windy night and several trees crashing down in the bush around us all throughout the night.  Totally terrifying eh?  Glad you made it out ok.  That's actually a trip I thought of doing last summer with my son but ended up going to Chibiabos instead.  Gonna have to get out to Moccasin/Bandit sometime soon...I even like the idea of Casey's lake for a few nights....

Once again, thanks for sharing!

 

3/15/2021 11:50 am  #3


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Love the pictures!!!

Thanks

 

3/16/2021 12:57 pm  #4


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Good stuff! I had a tree fall on a campsite on Merchant two summers ago. Not terribly close to my tent, but it could easily have killed my friend if it had fallen in a different direction.

But any tree falling you can walk away from is a good tree falling!

 

3/16/2021 5:20 pm  #5


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

@ Steve - thanks man, glad you are enjoying the content. I've heard plenty of trees fall, but never near me - usually the other side of the lake or off in the distance. Has happened probably a half dozen times. BUT this one was just too much, pitch black and I didnt know where it was going to fall, cause I didnt know which tree was falling. I took a video immediately after it happened, but there was so much '*** just happened???' in it, I decided to keep that one to myself lol.

@OBS - thank you, again, glad people her on AAF are enjoying the new content and format.

@Uppa - been a while man! Hope you good. If I remember correctly, you have a video report from that trip. And yeah, scary stuff.

     Thread Starter
 

3/17/2021 9:07 am  #6


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Nice trip report. Glad you weren't hurt. Of all the potential dangers of back country camping it's honestly wind that scares me the most. Luckily I've never had a tree fall on me (..or that close to me) but there have been times when I've pitched and set up my tent only to look up and notice it was in the path of a huge widow maker. Crap!

 

Last edited by RCSpartan (3/17/2021 9:08 am)

 

3/17/2021 9:30 am  #7


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Thanks RC. Glad you enjoyed it!

Regarding falling trees - same here, in fact, the first thing I was taught when looking for a tent pad was to LOOK UP. Always do. The odd thing is, this was the tree with the campsite sign on it, not that that truly means anything, but it definitely didnt have any signs of being ready to fall. And again, it wasn't even that windy. It really caught me off guard, as if this was going to happen no matter what - that tree's time was up, and I just happened to be there for it. Had it fallen the other way, it was tall enough to have hit me sitting gin my chair. A freaky thought.
 

     Thread Starter
 

3/17/2021 10:54 am  #8


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Back in 2006, we were camped on an island on Islet Lake. The big wind (tornado) that nailed Combermere's trailerpark that year, started over us. It was ripping wind, pounding rain and dark as night.

Fortunately we had set-up our tents downwind of the mid-island rise. At one point, we heard what sounded like a plane restart its engine directly right over us, followed later by cracking branches. The storm carried on through the night.

The next morning we found a small live tree down right across our canoe. Thankfully it wasn't a large tree and had come down on the canoe's re-enforced bow, and had probably been slowed-down by its own branches.

But the experience brought to mind the image of having to cut-up the downed tree to make a raft to ferry over to the hiking trail. And, one of the larger trees could have just as easily come down on one of our tents!

 

3/17/2021 6:52 pm  #9


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Last summer we came onto Big Trout Lake from Merchant Lake and encountered a strong wind out of the west.   The two campsites we were able to get to without having to paddle out into unprotected waters were both occupied so we had a hair raising paddle to get to an island campsite that fortuitously was not occupied.  It was quite windy all evening so we set our tents as far back into the campsite as possible instead in the open area that was totally exposed to the wind out of the west.  It was calm the next day but shortly after going to bed we heard a very loud crashing sound.  The next morning we found a large, rotted birch tree had fallen over.  If it had fallen in the opposite direction it would have hit our friends tent.  It was hard to understand why it waited for calm wind conditions to fall!
 

 

3/18/2021 1:11 pm  #10


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

Scary stuff Peek!

I was on Maple during the 2018 Ottawa tornado's.  We left Biggar lake around 9am and although the wind was strong, it was a sunny, warm day and we thought nothing of it.  By the time we got into Rat Trap we were cruising through 2 foot swells and starting to realize something wasn't right.  We b-lined it across maple to the closest site on an island (should have just hung it up on Rat Trap) and got there just in time.  Canoes were tossed through the air, trees coming down between our tents, water spouts coming across the lake flinging rocks and gravel into the site.  The wind picked up as the evening went on and I've never been more paranoid to sleep in a tent.  Woke up the next morning to a cool and calm autumn day.  We didn't know Ottawa had been hit by two tornado's until 3 days later when we were back in South River. 

 

3/18/2021 2:55 pm  #11


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

@Barry - I've camped on that island and I have to say, it's probably one of the last places I'd want to be during an intense storm.. let alone a tornado. Crazy situation - glad you guys were okay and glad your canoe wasn't destroyed.

@Yellowcanoe - crazy stuff man. And your final line is exactly how I felt.. with nothing more than a breeze, this tree came crashing down - as if no matter what, at that time in this universe that tree was going to fall - and it did. Glad things worked out well for you guys (and me).

@TripperMike - I remember that tornado perfectly - a buddy and I we supposed to do a quick two-nighter on Crown Lake (Fri to Sun, storm was on a Friday). We cancelled it last minute due to the storm, and went up the next weekend instead. 'Flinging rocks and gravel into the site' & 'Canoes tossed through the air' are not statements I ever want to be able to make. I bet that was the worst night sleep you've ever had in Algonquin.

     Thread Starter
 

3/22/2021 8:39 am  #12


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

"Beware", said the trees. There are no "accidents".  The killings will continue until the logging stops.

Hiking on a trail one time on a day that was windy enough I knew better than to hike but did it anyway. When I heard a little "tick" sound right over my head and well off the ground.  I took off. Never heard that sound before but knew exactly what it was. 

Dead branch hit the ground where I had been.  It wasn't big. Not even as wide as my wrist but it came from a pretty good height and fell cleanly.  It woulda de Ted my head for sure.

 

3/31/2021 2:45 pm  #13


Re: TR105: Moccasin - Misty

MooseWhizzer Dave wrote:

I took off.

Good call. lol I just sat still hoping for the best.. but to be fair it was pitch black.

     Thread Starter
 

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