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Though we have enjoyed every trip this summer in its own way, I think it is fair to say, the further north in Ontario we go, the happier we are.
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M4IRD0J?tag=dradisplay-20&ascsubtag=54d73baec203eea5651afa6a7420dc20_CT&ref=dra_a_rv_bb_hn_xx_P3159_200
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
To kick things off, we headed to Oastler Lake provincial park. We arrived in the dark, so we could not really see what kind of view we had. As per usual, we leveled the trailer, and crawled in. Now, I must mention one of the downsides of this location. Trains. The park is located near a set of very regularly used train tracks. The tracks also cross nearby roads. That means train whistles. Put it all together, and you have loud noises, every 50 minutes or so, all night long. To be fair, we were warned by many Trip Advisor posts, as well as the park's website.
Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, I did not sleep that well the first night, but afternoon naps helped with that.
We were both very happy with what we saw in the morning though.
A few steps down to the lake, and we had our own little private piece of beach. It was extra nice, because the upper part of our campsite was not super private, and we did have some, uh, interesting neighbours to the left. We spent most of the weekend down there.
Since the park was fairly small, we decided to take kayaks instead of bicycles for this trip. Launching from our site was super convenient.
For the second night, we made sure to keep the T@b windows closed for a little extra noise insulation, and the fan running, for a little white noise. We slept better as a result, though I did still hear some train whistles.
The T@b is still doing well, but the kitchen faucet is leaking pretty significantly, so we will need to get that repaired, hopefully before our next trip.
They replaced the USB charging station that was not charging and the drippy faucet.
The faucet has a longer neck, to put the stream of water closer to the centre of the sink, but cheap looking clear plastic knobs. It does not seem to be leaking, and cost me nothing, so I'll take it. One day maybe we will replace it with a more valuable piece.
And as a nice bonus, they washed the trailer.
But anyways...
We spent the weekend at Killbear Provincial Park. We loved the quiet fall camping experience. Fewer kids, less noise, more empty sites. It just feels more relaxing in the fall, compared to the summer, when the parks are booked solid.
Our site was nice and large, perched up nice and high to give nice views. I had to kick the truck into 4x4 to pull the T@b over some roots, up to its resting place for the weekend. We got the trailer level without any fuss, and left it hitched to the truck.
The temperatures were fairly low, but the Alde kept our T@b super cozy all weekend.
Saturday morning was fairly cool, so sitting around our campsite outside was not a great option, so we chose to do something active. Since we left the truck hitched to the trailer, we used our bikes to get around the park. Killbear has a nice cycling path that runs parallel to the main park road. That helps keep the cyclists safe, and leaves the narrow road open for the cars. We of course wanted our dog to join us on the hike, and she did a great job on leash while we rode our bikes a few km at a slow pace to the trailhead.
The Lookout Point gave a nice view as promised.
There were lots of people at the lookout, but it did not take away from the experience.
After the hike, we crawled back into the trailer for a really great nap.
Some campgrounds in the park were closed for the season, and maybe that was part of the reason we saw so many deer.
Oh, and did I mention there was tons of great shoreline? Lots of nice rocky pieces, and lots of nice sandy beaches too. We also got to enjoy some nice sunrises and sunsets.
Next weekend, we will be using the T@b as an extra bedroom, as we pack our house with guests for Thanksgiving.
Can we sneak in one more trip before winterizing the trailer?
I guess it all kinda depends on whether or not you're using water in the trailer, or the campground facilities. I know there's folks here on the forum that use their T@Bs for hotel rooms when on skiing trips in the winter, so it's doable. Just a matter of making the appropriate accommodations for the weather.
TV: 2006 Chevy Avalanche LT Z71 aka: WhiteWolf, or 1972 Chevy Custom10 P/U aka: SnarlingWolf
Spokane, Wa.
Eric aka: Lone Wolf
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
2011 T@B
Rockingham, NC
Last night, I picked up a 14ft Scott Explorer canoe. It was pretty cheap, appears sea-worthy, and is pretty light. My kayak should be sold by the end of the night.
Next, I will have to come up with a rack for the rear of the pickup that meets the requirements I have in mind. I used a painter's step ladder to get the canoe home, but that is definitely not ideal.
None the less, we had a weekend at the Mew Lake Campground, and I was determined to make the most of it. Our site was very spacious, and right on the shore of the Mew Lake.
A tad bit of research helped me pick a place, among the many available, that I wanted to explore. I decided on a spot on the Centennial Ridges Trail, that overlooks Whitefish Lake.
The adventure Mutt was happy to take the opportunity to get her paws muddy along the way.
Though many leaves had already fallen, there was still some nice colour in the woods.
After a few km on the trail, we found the view I was looking for!
And just so you don't think we stole the picture from the internet, and skipped the hike; selfie!
As mentioned earlier, we picked up a new (to us) toy to play with as well, a Scott Explorer 14ft fibreglass canoe. After our first paddle, we were very happy. The boat is light enough for us to handle, stable, and tracks nice and straight.
We used it to view the ridge from the lake, instead of viewing the lake from the ridge, like we did earlier!
Adventure Mutt's approval is still pending, but its great to have her along, instead of leaving her in the T@b, while we have all the fun.
Oh, and I can't wrap up this post, without saying that the weather was absolutely awesome for late October. When we booked this trip, we thought we would have to winterize the trailer before the trip, but the overnight lows were plenty far from the freezing point.
While we have been camping in the T@b for a little while now, we are still learning. Learning things like when the temperatures drop, we do need to vent the trailer a bit to limit condensation, which we were getting a lot of.
We thought this might be our last trip for a while, but that thought made us pretty sad. We'll see...
TV: 2006 Chevy Avalanche LT Z71 aka: WhiteWolf, or 1972 Chevy Custom10 P/U aka: SnarlingWolf
Spokane, Wa.
Eric aka: Lone Wolf
TV: 2006 Chevy Avalanche LT Z71 aka: WhiteWolf, or 1972 Chevy Custom10 P/U aka: SnarlingWolf
Spokane, Wa.
Eric aka: Lone Wolf
Thanks. The canoe rack was a pretty low budget affair. The Yakima bar over the cab was bought used for $25, and the rear is a simple 2x4 construction, with metal brackets in the corners, and some horizontal pieces, that I use c-clamps to hold in the rails for my roll up tonneau cover. My truck has no stake pockets, and I did not want to remove the rails for the tonneau cover, so I had to do a little thinking. It held pretty steady.
I stiffened up the mid horizontal pieces a bit more after this picture was taken, but you get the idea.
I used the blow out method, using my Viair 300P compressor, and 45psi regulator. It worked very well. You certainly don't need a big fancy compressor to get the job done.
I bought way too much antifreeze, but that's fine. You really don't need much!
The one thing I learned was that ear plugs are a good idea. It got real loud in that little bathroom when blowing out the toilet flush.
(first, it took 4 times before I wrestled my autocorrect to the ground and it let me type your username).
I like your canoe. We had an large aluminum Grumman years ago and it weighed 80 pounds. Took it up to the boundary waters. Lots of fun, lots of portaging, lots of bugs. We carried it on top of a 1977 chevette (new then). I think it stuck out 4 feet on front and back. Right now I wished we hadn’t sold it, but we weren’t using it. How heavy is yours. My mate is small and doesn’t have the strength for a big carry. We tried a tandem kayak, but she thought it was too unstable..
i like your canoe rack. I did something similar for the bed of our truck. We can carry two bikes or our tandem, and pack stuff around the bikes. I looked into all kinds of bike carry ideas, but settled on this.
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
I tried to sell my wife on kayaking too, but she was not buying it. She and I are able to handle the canoe well. It's not well suited to backcountry / portaging trips, but great for shorter paddles.
One day I might pick up some of those fork mounts, to save a little time instead of using nothing but straps to hold the bikes.
Those carry handles on your rack are a nice touch!
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
But, it was in the 70+ LB weight class, and there was no way that would work easily for my wife and I. I'm not sure how my dad pulled it off...
Yakima and Thule, eat your heart out! :-)
2016 NuCamp 320 T@B Max S
T@bbey Road
Appleton, WI
I'm pretty sure I got the idea from this forum.
I bought the shortest rod I saw at the store, but it was about an inch too long, so I had to do some cutting, hammering and gluing to the rod.
I know what some of you may be thinking, technically, it's not winter yet. While that may be true, to call this trip simply "camping" does not seem to do it justice, when considering the fact that the overnight low was -10C (14F), and there was measurable snow accumulation.
Instead of departing Friday after work like we normally do, we decided to leave Saturday morning this time, and camp for only one night at Mew Lake (Algonquin), while we figured this winter camping thing out. Fortunately, the roads were in good condition for the drive. There was some rain and drizzle, which changed to snow, so I decided to um, take in some extra scenery on the way there, rather than rushing to our campsite. Some might say I missed a turn, by a lot, but neither of us wanted to setup in the rain, so the point is moot. LOL
We arrived at our site after our scenic drive, and found it partially snow covered, though the precipitation had stopped falling. For some reason, I had not really registered the thought that there would be snow on the ground, since we have not seen any accumulation where we live. This reminded me that packing a shovel would have been smart, as I used my boots to kick some snow over some of the mud behind the back of our trailer. We ended up listing about six or seven items that would be a good idea to have on hand. None were critically needed for this trip though.
We got started with a hike on the ever-popular "Lookout Trail," and found it far less crowded than when we drove by in October. This should have been a very easy hike, but the wet snow made the ascents and descents far more challenging.
The view was worth it though.
We returned to camp, and had a little rest, before we would start a fire, and roast some hot dogs.
I struggled to get the fire lit while it started to snow. Eventually, I got it going though. That's when Erica emerged from the coziness of the trailer.
If you were wondering, yes, we still like the outdoor kitchen.
When it was time to pack it in for the night, we made sure to keep the windows in the cracked open position, to avoid the condensation issues we had on our last trip. Things were much better as a result. The draft kept things cool, but not cold, fresh, and not damp. The overnight low as mentioned above, hit -10C, but with a nice pile of blankets, and a warm down duvet, we were comfortable.
This was our view in the morning:
Here's how things looked outside:
Some oatmeal and coffee (with Irish cream of course) got us fueled up for our day. We had a couple hikes planned for Sunday morning. I was really looking forward to our trek through the "Big Pines" trail. We were the only vehicle in the parking lot, and only foot prints in the fresh snow. It did not disappoint. The pines were big, and the forest was beautifully decorated with Saturday night's snow.
Big Pine, Little Dog
After the Big Pines, we did a quick loop on the Spruce Bog Trail, to make sure the Adveture Mutt was good and tired for the drive home. As a result we were tired too. A little lunch, and a little rest in the trailer, and before long, it was time to pack up.
I have to say, that we both had a wonderful weekend. If you had told me a year ago, that my wife and I would be camping together in a snowy Algonquin park, and completely enjoying it, I would have been shocked. What a wonderful blessing our little T@b has been.
Happy Camper.
I think there will definitely be more trips before spring!