Planning a romantic Couples getaway in the beautiful and twisty Ontario Winter Wonderland is not something I have done recently. But given the recent heat wave in Ontario, I could see why it would be worth our while to get out of the house, get our romance on the road and have a bit of fun on the weekend away.
We arrived up to Whitney at 8:00 on Saturday morning. The site was not fully booked, but we were quickly able to get a site next to the hot spring. It was not fully booked, but we were soon able to get a site next to the hot spring.
We had a beautiful looking site at Forest Lake. It was a little after a Canadian heritage incase you are interested. We set it up next to the hot spring, which we rarely get to use, but it was nicely sized and sheltered by a tree. The hot spring water was very relaxing, especially after a 4 plus hour, 15 minute walk to the site. We were able to borrow iron chairs from the visitor’s center. They had just a few chairs and there were a lot of people there. We were able to find a real private one that was about $150. It was definitely worth it.
Some of us in the group decided to make a little extra effort to see what all the fuss was about. We loaded up some water, our own food and a couple of packaged items and headed over to the geothermal pond. There was a small fee to do so, but it seemed like it was for the services we were seeking.
The pond itself is about 2 acres in size and is pretty deep. Imagine your spa filled with water, but this time it’s active! You can poke your head into the pond and get a bit of a look at the steam and mud puddles. It is not like the pond at home where you can sit out on the deck and read in the sun.
This time we were prepared and used our small camping stove to cook up a few hamburgers and hotdogs. We also cooked up some potatoes and onions to add to the hamburgers and hotdogs. Then we cleaned up some hamburger buns and hamburger patties from the grill and tossed them on the grill. flipping them over when they needed a little for some extra dipping. This went on for a good 30 minutes or so and was great fun for the kids.
We then all got together for a bit of paddle boarding. I used to own both an 18 X 10 wall tent and a west coast filterters for water, but you can really get by with just a 10 man tent for camping. The water is pretty clear at this point anyway. We made our way up to some sand bars and spent a couple of hours getting some real work of it. I used to go in and out of the tent during the night because of the creepy way it made the entrance. It made it real dark and we couldn’t see a thing, especially in the dark.
As much fun as it was to turn off the lights and have us both gazing in the dark, it was more fun to play light now that the lights were off and just have fun jumping in and playing boat like the tide would take it.
After a while we decided to turn off the lights and just have a campfire. Our foolproof plan worked and we had the best time we could have had. This is what camping is all about. The beauty of it is you can pick a location of your choice and figure out what kind of campfire to build. A 10 man tent would have to be carried by each member of the tour for the entire week. Still, it wasn’t as bad as having lights to bother them, so they didn’t miss a thing.
The fog didn’t last long, and once again the marshadow was our plaything. Most of the time we were just sitting back and enjoying the quiet of the preserve. My friend and my two Labrador retrievers, were swimming in the marshadow one day. My friend said “Agent, this is not a very good time to be swimming”. I tried to explain the reason for our quick trip to the washrooms, but she was already upset at the time.
Another time my friend and I went to have a barbeque near the park. A few days later she was gone. I found her hiking in the woods a few hours later, collapsed and wearing her swimsuit.
succumbed to death in the warm waters of the bog.
I don’t think I will ever forget what happened.
