Campsgiving 2019

..was cold, windy, rainy, and SO MUCH FUN!

Hiking and fall colours and waterfalls - oh my!

While camping at Sauble Falls Provincial Park - with its one whole trail, that is less than 2.5km in length - might not seem like the most exciting destination for a trail junkie, its proximity to the Bruce Peninsula gave us amazing opportunities that I'll expand on further in future posts.

Teaser of one of our hikes

..and another.

We had beautiful - if somewhat chilly - weather for most of the ride up on Thanksgiving Monday, until we neared Sauble Beach.

Moments later, rain was sheeting down.

In a reversal of everything we've absorbed in the last few years about the Emerald Ash Borer, Asian Longhorn Beetle, and never transporting firewood, we checked into the park and inquired about wood only to discover they're the only park that doesn't sell their own. We'd have to try to find dry wood after 4:30pm on Thanksgiving Monday. The place just across the river to which they usually direct people was now closed for the season, and everyone who was selling wood out of their yard had neglected to tarp it. Not to mention, we had a car chock full of camping gear, with nowhere to really put a loose armload of stove lengths or branches. Hmm..

Fortunately, the Valu-Mart in Sauble Beach still had firewood and kindling. Unfortunately, they wanted $10.99 a bag for the wood! Still - it was going to be a chilly night (dropping to 2c), and would now be damp to boot, so we ponied up for a heat source.

There may have also been an unscheduled - but insanely beautiful - stop at the beach.

Lake Huron was angry but the light was amazing.

Off to our actual campsite in the East Campground, we got the tarp set up as a rain porch as it was predicted to be wet every single day of our stay. It got off to a great start by raining a bit as we put up our tent, but fortunately things stayed fairly dry inside.

Our enormous campsite, backing onto the Sauble River.

The Chowhouse and our rain porch, with the couch set up.

The intermittent rain didn't stop us from getting a fire lit, or enjoying it together on the couch.

This is my idea of heaven right here.

After a good dinner and relaxing by the fire, we tucked in for the night. Tuesday will be the subject of it's own eventual post, as it was an adventure all on its own!

During which I broke the strap of my fitness tracker, then fixed it with dental floss and Tear-Aid when we returned.

I awoke at 3:30am on Wednesday to a roaring in the distance, and powerful rumbling. Was I just hearing the wind blowing the sounds of Lake Huron up the river? Within minutes the roaring and rumbling increased, and I began to see flashes of light through the tent. A powerful thunderstorm was racing in toward us, driven by a howling wind off the lake. A particularly loud crack of thunder a few kilometers off woke Tanker, and we lay in our tent listening to the storm as it blew past, fortunately veering off about a kilometer north of us. We awoke to a very wet morning, but - other than mud spattered at least a foot high from ~25mm of pounding rain - everything still completely intact, if rather soggy.

Tanker brewed up coffee (there are so many reasons why I love that man!), and I suggested - since there was a break in the rain and the falls themselves were only a 2min walk from our site - that we go finally take our first look at Sauble Falls. He agreed, so we sauntered over with our coffees in hand.

Our first look from the bridge above - we lucked out with the fall colours being at their peak!

There's a path that runs right down alongside the falls on each side.
(Also: I'm not wearing pants)

Not as dramatic as some falls, but beautiful nonetheless.

As we hung out down near the bottom ledge of the falls, we started to notice something incredible - the salmon were running!

A fellow camper - who is obviously much more knowledgeable about salmon and their habits - told us that the overnight rain had stirred them up, as there hadn't been much action the previous day. I'd never seen a salmon run before, and was absolutely gobsmacked; I stood mesmerized, watching sleek bodies hurl themselves in impossible-looking leaps, driven by the overwhelming power of instinct for survival of their species.

Then we had brunch. I was almost as excited about the raisin bread French toast and sausages as the salmon run.

Almost.

Afterward, I figured if the salmon could jump more than twice their body length up a waterfall, the least I could do was head out for a run. I intended to follow Sauble Falls Road along the river to its mouth at the north end of Sauble Beach, then see how far I could get out to the point.

Amazing sugar maples along Sauble Falls Rd.

Of course, my plan was slightly derailed when I spotted some ATV trails beside the road.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Good thing I brought some shoes good for both road AND trail

Still quite a bit of green despite all the fallen leaves

The rain overnight had not improved trail conditions.

Emerging back out to the road, I headed for the river, following the road to the parking lot at the northern end of Sauble Beach.

Where Lake Huron was - if anything - even angrier than the day we arrived.

Anyone think water (and sand) levels might be just a tad high?

It was lovely to see the clouds beginning to part and the sun coming out as I turned to see how far I could get out on the point that forms the south side of the river's mouth.

Sand road past a bunch of cottages

Sandy singletrack

Turns out you can go all the way!

The very northern end of Sauble Beach

I might have got a bit wet.

Angry lake - happy dork.

I did follow my intended route back toward the park from the point, ducking in through an open gate I'd seen on my way out and into the West Campground.

They're clearly very concerned about trespassing.

Nice, but higher above the river & sites seemed less private than the East Campground 

I was looking for the entrance to the trail I'd seen along the south side of the river from our earlier vantage point - Tank was going to do some fishing there, and I'd told him I'd meet him when I finished my run so we could wander back to the site together and have some lunch. Just past the comfort station I found my access.

Sites in the West Campground are MUCH higher above the river.

I had to be a bit cautious on the slick, still-wet wooden steps, but when I reached the bottom (intact, I might add) I found my sweetheart at the river's edge.

I felt a bit bad that he hadn't had any luck, but he said he had fun anyway.

The falls were beautiful in the sun!

There were still some salmon jumping, but not nearly as many as there had been in the morning. Several fishermen - armed with hip waders and much fancier kit than Tank had with him - were on their way down to try their luck.

We just checked out some new views of the falls from the wooden platforms along the path.

Funny enough, none of the guys with the teched-out equipment (and bait, for that matter) seemed to have any more luck than Tank did. The salmon were jumping, but they weren't interested in biting.

We, on the other hand, were. So I made grilled cheese after changing out of my sweaty run kit, then we went for a bit of a drive to the parking lot at the north end of the beach so I could show Tank the point at the river's mouth and the angry, tumultuous lake.

Because it was really quite impressive. 

The sun had disappeared while we had lunch, and the wind had whipped up furiously - Lake Huron was even surlier than she'd been all week.

Tank did not seem 100% on our decision to come out on a tiny finger of land surrounded by wind and wave.

Within moments of our arrival it started to rain again, blowing right in our faces as we gazed out at the heaving water.

When added to the spray from the waves crashing on the rocks, we were getting rather soaked.

We couldn't believe what we saw next - 2 guys in full wetsuits actually trying to surf!

I'd never have believe it without witnessing it myself.

They didn't seem to be having a lot of luck, but they did look to be having a lot of fun. We, on the other hand, we're getting colder and wetter by the moment, so we left them to it and headed back to our campsite.

Where the rain increased, pounding down on the river behind our site.

We were in for a wet evening, breaking out the GoreTex jackets and once more electing to eat dinner in the warmth and comfort of the Chowhouse.

Yeah, those are indoor/outdoor colour-changing LED lights over the door that run off a powerbank. You can tell we really rough it for Campsgiving.

We were still able to get a fire going, though, and as the evening drew on the rain gave us enough of a break to pull the couch up to the fire ring and enjoy it's warmth before heading to bed.

We may have also eaten an entire pan of Jiffy Pop.
That is an irresponsible amount of popcorn for two people.

Our adventures on Thursday will also be the subject of their own eventual blog post, so I'll just tease a bit with the view we had for our late lunch of sandwiches afterward at the Colpoy Bay Lookout.

So stunning at the height of the fall colours.

The weather had been dry all day, and we were grateful for that as the wind had been vicious - gusting to 40+kph and keeping the temperature from getting into the double digits Celsius.

Even the falls looked colder when we stopped off on our way back from our side trip.

Tank tried fishing again, this time from the dock 2 sites down from ours, so well above the falls.

Unfortunately with no better success, but still quiet enjoyment.

I lit the fire just before dark again, then made us our sole turkey dinner of Thanksgiving on our final night in the park. The weather actually cooperated for us to be able to eat on the couch by the fire, at long last!

Definitely something to be thankful for!
(I never said it was a traditional turkey dinner)

We awoke on Friday to another chilly morning.

All snug in our down sleeping bags, and loath to leave their warmth. 

Emerging from our tent, we found the sky an unfamiliar colour..

WOW

Tanker made us a pot of coffee while I pan-toasted some raisin bread and chopped up an apple for a light breakfast. 

That muppet isn't wearing pants!

With bare minimum fueling to keep us warm, we finally walked to the far eastern end of the campground to explore the Sauble Trail.

More gorgeous fall colour

Neat stairs

The first half loosely follows the river, offering some lovely views.

We enjoyed it!

Massive, steep sand dune trailing down to a bend in the river.

The pamphlet we'd picked up at the trailhead offered information on the dunes, the river's history as a route for indigenous people and loggers, and the current forestry management practices.

The forest is managed by the Ministry of Natural Resources for the park

Lovely sunshine through the trees

My GPS puts the trail closer to 2km than its stated 2.5km length, so we weren't long in returning to our now sun-drenched campsite.

Where was this all week?

It was still very cold, though, so we pulled out the last of our firewood and built a small blaze for warmth while I cooked us up some enormous omelettes for a hearty brunch.

Which I got to eat by the fire, with another cup of Tank's awesome coffee.
Pure bliss, and I still hadn't put on pants.

With it now 1pm, it was time to hustle and get our site packed up - check out time is 2pm, and our site was reserved for someone else for that night!

POOF!
Ok it took a little more than a snap of our fingers..

We were 5 minutes tardy leaving our site, but fortunately no-one had arrived to occupy it yet. We then took advantage of day use facilities still being available to us until 10pm on the day of departure (true of all Ontario Parks!) by driving over to park by the falls and take one last look.

Such a lovely spot, even with barely a salmon in sight.

Happy punks!

Our trip wasn't quite at an end, though. We had set up a plan before we left to take a scenic route home...and I mean really scenic!

Yowza!

We had headed east toward Owen Sound and stopped in at Inglis Falls Conservation Area.

The falls themselves are stunning

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We did all of about a minute of walking on the Bruce Trail opposite the falls, but it was already in shadow and very chilly. Absolutely sick of being cold, we quickly headed back to the car, fired it up, and enjoyed its warmth all the way home. While I do love camping, I love my furnace, too! We'll have to come back another time to enjoy the trail network here, as there are some glacial potholes I'd love to check out.

As for Sauble Falls, we'll definitely have to go back sometime in summer when we can wade and swim in the river and at the beach. We'd love to paddle the river, too, though we knew the weather would not be kind enough on this trip to be worth bringing our canoe or my paddleboard. There's always next time!

So that was our delightful - if damn chilly - Campsgiving holiday for this year, which also ended up being my taper for Horror Trail tomorrow. It'll be my 10th consecutive 6-hour there - it was my first ultra all the way back in 2010 - and hopefully my legs still know what they're doing out there!