Without much fanfare, I woke up early around 4 AM and by the not so subtle or gentle rasping of Cola's claws across the edge of my eyelid. She has learned that this is the most effective way to wake me, and has especially learned that this is what to do when there is not food available at the appointed time.

This morning, however, it did not go without need - as this morning was the dawn of my 5-6 hour drive to a place I had not visited in well over a decade. Not since my 17'th year, had I visited Killarney provincial park. This park is so popular that if you do not book a site well in advance you will be left with not but a day trip, and a day trip which requires a 5 hour drive is no day trip at all. The campsite I picked out on the frigid 30'th of December 2021, well in the throws of a global fear mongering pandemic, was site 49. I chose it because it appeared well sheltered from the road and far away as possible from the other sites. The picture showed a rock ridge directly behind it, and a 90 degree bend in the entrance hiding the camping area from prying eyes. Perfect for someone who shies from human contact as much as possible, such as myself.

Back at the cabin I stay at on my parent's homestead, I went through and organized my camera gear (the most important), water (Pretty important), Food (Not quite as important) and clothing (Optional). And then packed my car. The previous day I had gone through all the systems of the trailer and confirmed everything was in good repair and operational and thus, after sharing breakfast with my parents around 6:30am I waved goodbye and was on my way.

I did not fancy the cost of the fuel required now, standing at $2.00 a liter if one was lucky, and several cents more if one was not. I had filled my tank with premium on the previous day at the price of $2.20 a liter as I found my vehicle behaved better especially when towing with this precious bronze fluid flowing through it's veins. I had intended, upon clearing 50% fuel to top it up with middle or regular grade fuel, as I had chosen a route that would take me along the old highways, and avoided the freeways as much as possible. Traveling over 90KPH was wasteful, and the old suspension and tires on my trailer were not intended for such speeds. As such, I chose to travel from home base, through Barry's Bay and Algonquin Park, to Huntsville, where I would head north-west until heading west. This would take me over the french river and by Grundy Lake. I stopped in Huntsville for a refuel at 50% as intended, and found that the only station on the highway was completely out of anything but premium fuel. Whether this was just profiteering by the owners, or shortage, it did not bode well. I considered heading into town to see if I could get regular, but felt that the extra time driving around with the trailer on in town would increase my chances of having issues, and waste the fuel I had. I begrudgingly paid the price at $2.23 a Liter and moved on.

The remainder of the drive to Killarney was fairly uneventful. There were hardly any vehicles outside dump trucks, log trucks and the odd motor home heading the opposite direction. Though every roadside stop I visited to take care of the knots and other biological needs associated with a long drive above average in challenge were filled with several cars and trailers. It was if people have just taken to using them as public parks instead of one stop rest stations. I noticed this behavior in the previous year as well. In my experience, generally, these stops are used only for a quick lunch and biological cleansing before most people move on, leaving them bereft of people. I wonder if I am witnessing a change in how people take their free time, and perhaps the time for large provincial parks with high fees for entry is beginning to pass.

The old highway down to the park was riddled with life ending potholes, some two to three car lengths long. Difficult to avoid, there were a few times when I thought I would lose a wheel from the trailer, but as luck would have it - where the Subaru wasn't quite wide enough to avoid the entirety of them, the trailer generally was and no such issues occurred. The entrance to the park appeared abruptly behind some trees and I was greeted with what looked like a high school outdoors club preparing, or perhaps just a group of youngsters on a paid canoe trip forming up. I hope they are going interior, the last thing I want or need is a bunch of young hooligans partying the night away. The registration counter serves as the park store as well, and I was able to pick up my park sticker, which is now proudly affixed to the back of the trailer. Unfortunately, There was no copy of the park tabloid for me. I will have to go back tomorrow as they said they should have more stock. I do already have Jeff's map, so hopefully that will suffice for my planning this evening for tomorrow's endeavors.

The drive to my site was short, and sweet. There is about a 20 meter walk to the nearest water tap, and about a 60 meter walk to the nearest outhouse. As I had seen in the picture, there is a long lane that turns 90 degrees at the bottom, in an 'L' shape. ending with some forest, and then the lake. There is the odd mosquito and a fair amount of black flies, but nothing too bad. Getting the trailer into position was a bit of an issue as there was not enough room to turn around and get the trailer to turn in the end I got it close and then used my own strength to lift it off the back of the hitch and turn it roughly 180 degrees while pushing it into the desired position. I used my new leveling jacks to reasonable effect, however, i was remis as they are designed to fit into a C channel on the bottom of a standard trailer - something mine of course does not have. They look a little precarious as they are, but I gave them a good shoving to test and I cannot reasonably get them to move without actually lifting the trailer in the air.

This is a fairly well shaded site, and it is overcast with sunny breaks now. I will have to conserve battery until tomorrow, which is supposed to be sunny and clear the entire day. As the ground was too firm where I placed my trailer, I used my tarp poles to set up a canopy over a picnic table which I moved closer to the forest's edge where there was less gravel or no gravel, and I was able to use trees as support along with a few well placed pegs attached to ropes and bungees. It will provide a nice shelter from the rain, and more importantly the sun and heat of tomorrow. The weather forecast yesterday was for 39 degrees Celsius 'feels like' so my hiking might end up being a quite brutal affair. Being able to escape to the shelter under the trees and tarp will be important. Worst case, I would have to dive into my car and sit there like a prisoner to air conditioning. I will fight that with everything I have.

It is 3:30PM now, and it is time to look into my plans for tomorrow. There might be quite a night sky show around Arcturus, and last I checked this should happen around 1AM I need to find a good place, as the sky should be starting to clear around then as well. I intend to eat well this evening, get to sleep early and wake around midnight to get to the location I pick today to set up and get some possible meteorite storm pictures. Else, star and sunrise would be acceptable. I had originally considered challenging the crack tomorrow, but if the weather is going to be daunting, some of the less challenging trails will be on the docket.