Back Country Camping at Frontenac Provincial Park

Day three and my final day at Frontenac Provincial Park would end up being one of the most challenging days since I was in the military, and I left the Army in 1996.   

I have worked out with professional bodybuilders, I have put my body through the extreme dieting that goes along with bodybuilding on a competitive level, I’ve done a police services physical fitness test (just because), I’ve climbed the CN Tower three times and other ways to test my mental will and physical fitness.

My day started slow, I woke up, took in the morning, the sights, sounds and smells.  I put on water for coffee and oatmeal and took my time.  I didn’t have to check out until 2pm but I figured I’ll just leave when I’m ready because I have no idea how long it will take me to get to my car.

As I did the day before, I layed out all of my gear, carefully and meticulously packing my bag ensuring even weight distribution and making sure the items that I need are close by and easy to access.

My camel pack was filled with 2 liters of purified water and my Life Straw water bottle was also full. In my top pack was a bag of trail mix. I left my camera in the bag, I knew it would be a hassle to carry and I was more in the zone to get out than to stop and take any pictures.

At 11:45am I was packed and ready to go, I took one self portrait with my gear on and I headed off to the trails.

After 2.5 days of this, I was beat and my bag felt just as heavy despite having less food and a little bit less water…in-fact it felt heavier.

My stops were more frequent on the way out, random stops to simply lean over and take the weight off of my shoulders and then back out again.

As I did on the route in, I stopped every hour to remove the pack, stretch, eat, drink and rest.  The route out was a bit of backtracking back towards the way I came in the day before and then followed by a route through the park ultimately to Little Salmon Road, the parking lot and then out.

The terrain on the way out was brutal, there were so many steep declines followed by the corresponding incline, and the inclines felt so much longer and steeper than the much welcomed declines.

Long stretches out in the open under the scorching sun followed by long narrow paths of mud due to all of the rain and inadequate natural drainage.  I tried to control how much water I drank so as to preserve the water in my pack, I was able to fill my Life Straw Bottle once along the way.

At one point, possibly at the halfway mark, following one of the worst inclines of the whole trip I simply dropped in front of a log, left my pack on and layed there, I would say this was the lowest point in the trip for me….I was DONE!

Eventually, I squirmed out of the pack, refueled on water and trail mix, gathered myself and shook it off.  It seemed all I needed was that break because once I got back on the trail it was simply one foot in front of the other knowing I’ll be there soon!

I had one moment of slight panic as the direction of the trail split and my map wasn’t making sense.  Do I keep going straight or do I go left, the wrong turn would surely cost me valuable time and energy so I had to be 100% sure on my situation and the choice I made at this moment.

I was about 98% certain that I was to continue straight…thank Baby Jesus I was right, it was still a very long haul but it seemed that the hills and valleys, mud and rocks were gone and as heavy as the pack was and as tired and sore as I was, it was simply walking at this point….really…heavy…..walking.

Finally I started hearing the sound of cars on gravel, the trees were opening up and I was getting closer to the main road in the park…about 20 minutes later there it was, Salmon Road!

At long last, I came to the road and exited the trail but again there was confusion, the sign on the road said go left for Big Salmon Lake Parking lot and go right for the main entrance….but what about Arab Lake Parking lot?

It was roughly 4:15 in the afternoon, I had just hiked for 4.5 hours from Birch Lake.

The spot that I was standing at was not 100% clear on my map and everything told me to go left and I would come to Arab Lake Parking lot before the Big Salmon Lake parking lot.

Walking under the blazing sun, having just taken my last sip of water, every curve of the gravel road led to another curve in the road with zero signs of any parking lot(s).  15 minutes into this walk I pulled out my phone to see my location on GPS, this was something that I had refused to do for the whole trip, I wanted to rely on my maps.

I was closer to Big Salmon Lake parking lot than I was to Arab lake, had I gone right at the trails end the Arab Lake parking lot was 5 minutes away………this REALLY sucks!

I dropped my pack, removed my vest and my tilley hat, tucked them into the forest off the road and turned back around 20 minutes in the direction that I just came from to finally get to my car.

As you can imagine, this was extremely frustrating and I was so mad at the park for not marking the sign that Arab Lake Parking Lot is to the right – why would they not do that?

Passing the trail end that I had emerged from 30 minutes earlier, and a 5 minute stroll beyond and there was my car!!  I jumped in, cranked the air conditioning and headed back to gather my gear.  

This was the end of my three day adventure backcountry camping at Frontenac Provincial Park, I was in my car, I was tired, sunburnt, I was hungry…..and I still had about a 3.5 hour drive to home.

I drove for an hour from the park to the 401 highway in Odessa, Ontario and there was NOT ONE RESTAURANT IN SIGHT!  How can this be possible?  Not one greasy spoon, not one dining establishment (I did NOT want fast food)

As I approached Napanee, Ontario I saw a sign for Chuck’s Road House, that was it STEAK – A big fat NY Strip Steak and a Diet Coke, that’s what I want right now.

I walked in the door of the Napanee steak house looking like death, this was apparent on the face of the pretty young girl who greeted me. She quickly glanced up and down and tried to hide the fact that she had just seen a real life swamp thing!!

I made my order, explained to the waitress where I just came from and I apologized for my appearance, then my body consumed a NY Strip Steak, sending every ounce of protein, carbs, fats and iron into my sore, aching and bulging muscles.

This is no joke, I felt my arms and my shoulders and they were hard as a rock, fully engorged with blood from the 4.5 hour workout that I just put them through, every muscle in my body had been engaged to support that pack, my weight and the walk up, down, in and out.

At this point I realized that I can’t drive 3 hours like this, I’m far too tired, so I called my wife and told her I’m checking into the Napanee Comfort Inn.  But 1st I have to run to Walmart for soap and clean clothes – I DO NOT want to dig through my pack for my clean clothes.

My room at the Comfort Inn was ready and it was glorious. I checked in, dropped my clothes on the floor instantly, had a shower (and a tick check – no ticks) and then fell asleep hard from approximately 6:10pm until 10:00pm.

I woke up, watched some TV and then fell asleep again, waking up, well rested in the morning and after a good hearty breakfast I started my drive home at 9:30am to arrive home by noon.

Just when you think this story is over, it’s not.

My wife and I were going to head to a patio for lunch and a cold beer, but 1st I needed a quick shower. I stripped down and as I went to step in the shower I noticed something on my leg.

I grabbed my phone and took a picture of my upper thigh, much to my confusion there was a tick embedded into my leg with his prickly back legs sticking out of my reddened skin.

What the hell?  He wasn’t there last night and I sure didn’t see him this morning, he must have jumped on me either when I put my dirty clothes in a bag from the floor, or he was in my car and jumped on me during the drive.  That would have given him 3 hours to dig in that deep.

Off to the walk-in clinic I went to have him inspected, properly removed, inspected again and to get a prescription for an antibiotic to prevent lyme disease.

With the tick plucked out, a healthy dose of meds and peace of mind I picked up my wife for cold beers and dinner on a patio…all the while wondering when I can go out and do that all again!!

Thanks for reading!