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Post by igs on Aug 9, 2017 16:59:56 GMT
I love sleeping in tents, but if I did hear those wolves howling near-by I'd probably be too scared to sleep lol. We slept in a tent in some random place in Peru once with a friend of mine, there was no one anywhere which freaked me out (I'm one of those "stay where the people are" types and always pick the dorm with most beds in hostels) but at least we didn't hear any wildlife. If I venture into the wilderness, which I do love, I prefer to go in a group so as not to get spooked so easily.
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Post by roverpup on Aug 9, 2017 17:14:36 GMT
It wasn't for the faint hearted. We have done plenty of tenting - all in a pup tent that was so small you could roll it up and put it in an average size purse. A lot of the time we were in organized camp groups but we have also done wilderness camping where you just go out into the forests in northern Ontario and have to chop firewood to cook on and hang your food in trees least the bears and other wild life come and steal it in the night. You have to sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag with a thin foam pad between you and the ground. And the portaging!!! the leaches on your legs from going through stagnant water when going around beaver dams! We owned our own canoe - a real beauty... cedar strip red painted canvas, that we got really cheap. Dan taught me how to canoe. And one time we were crossing a lake and a storm came up and I had to bail out the water from the canoe while Dan fought three foot high waves. Scary! I asked him to sing to comfort me while we struggled and he started out sing Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"!!! LOL!! I told him to stuff it and I chose "Frère Jacques". One time Dan was wilderness camping with a bunch of guys from the paper and they went through a set of rapids and over a small waterfall! He lost all his clothes and provisions and had to borrow things from the other guys. But they kept on camping! One of the fellows was a photog and they got some amazing photos from that harrowing experience!!! glennogilvie.photoshelter.com/gallery/French-River-Ontario-Fall-2003/G00002a_J_J1kfw8/C0000fu4o30P2aq4Like I said - Good Times!!! :-))
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Post by roverpup on Aug 9, 2017 17:23:03 GMT
I was far more frightened by the black bears sniffing around our tent at night than by the wolves!!!! At least they were far off in the distance. The bears were only separated from us by a thin layer of nylon. And I kept hoping i had brushed out the tent so as not to have even a crumb to attract them into the tent.
One night we had to stay up the entire night long and tend a huge bonfire to make sure no animals got into our food. We hadn't found an adequate tree to store the food up in (you have to hang it out about 5 feet from the main trunk of the tree and about 10 feet up) so it was an all night vigil to make sure they didn't get it. The next day we were sooooo tired we could hardly think but we decided to push on to another spot - somewhere where we could find a better tree for the food storage.
Lots of memories!!
:-))
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Post by ellie on Aug 9, 2017 18:12:53 GMT
You're very intrepid Roverpup & IGS. I'm not good at being outdoorsy. I thought I was really roughing it when I had to use those non flushing toilets they refer to as "the long drop" In Alaska. The idea of camping in the wilderness is very not me! I wish it was.
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Post by igs on Aug 9, 2017 18:39:09 GMT
Haha, almost all summer houses in Finland have long-drop toilets. Growing up here you get used to them when you're a toddler.
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Post by mllemass on Aug 9, 2017 18:43:43 GMT
I'm not outdoorsy, either! When I travel, I want a hotel room with room service. It's actually too bad that I've never taken advantage of all there is to do outdoors in Canada. I don't mind the outdoors when it's sunny and warm, like it is right now, but I prefer being indoors in the winter.
Years ago, my workplace went on strike in January, the coldest time of year. We were required to picket in front of the building for several hours each day for the length of the strike - about two weeks. I discovered quickly that despite living in Canada all my life, I did not own the proper winter clothing for spending more than an hour outdoors. I had to go shopping for heavy wool socks (actually not very easy to find), and warm, waterproof gloves (I ended up buying men's hockey gloves!) to replace my pretty leather gloves. I still have my Strike Socks, and I keep those hockey gloves in my car to wear when clearing off the snow before driving.
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Post by roverpup on Aug 9, 2017 19:03:54 GMT
Haha, almost all summer houses in Finland have long-drop toilets. Growing up here you get used to them when you're a toddler. My Grandparents had a house in rural Ontario that had an "outhouse" that was the toilet from before they had indoor plumbing. they kept it after they installed the plumbing and only the adults were allowed to use the indoor toilet - we children had to use the outhouse. It was really COLD in the winter let me tell you! And in the summer there were bees (why is it when I type that word I hear Martin Crieff saying it in my head!!!) in the pear orchard right in front of the outhouse. That damn thing was terrifying in all seasons!!! :-))
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Post by igs on Aug 9, 2017 19:15:11 GMT
It was really COLD in the winter let me tell you! Well, as I've spent quite a few winter weekends at the summer houses (they're not really designed to be used during winter but we do anyways) here in Finland with those outdoor toilets, unfortunately I don't need much imagination. Most of these summer houses are either way inland where the lakes are, or in my area more likely on the islands in the archipelago so building plumbing would just be way too difficult and expensive. They all have a sauna (and often a wood-heated jaguzzi) of course and they have massive boilers with water that are heated up by the same stove-thingy (no clue what it's called in English) as the sauna is, so washing up isn't an issue, but I don't know any summer houses that would have a flushing toilet. Except vacation homes in Lapland cause they are designed to be used in winter too for skiing and such.
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Post by ellie on Aug 9, 2017 19:36:33 GMT
I guess I'm just a wimp😄. When I was in Alaska I used to "hold on" for ages in the hopes of reaching somewhere that had proper loos. I'm pathetic, I know!
I didn't know you were from Canada too Milemass. I ADORE Canada. I've been to Vancouver, Whitehorse and Dawson City in the Yukon, Quebec! Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal and would love to see more. I just think it's a fabulous place. Not been there in winter though!
By the way are either of you familiar with the writer Louise Penny? Detective fiction of the non gory variety is my comfort reading and I love her Inspector Gamache series which is set in the fictional village of "Three Pines" in Quebec Province.
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Post by ellie on Aug 9, 2017 19:39:12 GMT
IGS. I would like to visit Finland one day. I'm intrigued by the Scandanavian "summer house" thing. Do most families own one or do you rent them? Here we tend to just rent holiday cottages rather than buy them.
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