Upon waking up I had the unwelcome task of tearing down camp. I ate a quick breakfast of oatmeal, saving my last eggs for the breakfast of the last day. My water supply is running low, so I took what was remaining in my big blue jug and filled up my canteen.. minus what I used for my morning coffee and a quick wipe down of my breakfast dishes, I have about 3 liters left. I should be able to fill up again at Chutes, and I would grab something at the Soo when I top up my gas tank to bide me over for the drive. I first packed up the tarp, and the tarp poles, then the picnic table cover and brought in my pants and shirts that were hanging to dry uselessly in the cold. The Raven who had been visiting me every morning sat and watched from his perch the whole while. All the breakfast dishes were packed in the kitchen sink dish which was something I borrowed from the cabin I usually stay at, as it just fits behind the passenger seat of my car when it is pulled forward all the way. My dirty clothes were put in a separate plastic bag for washing when I returned, and I prepared a fresh set of underwear and undershirt as I was going to have one final shower before I left the park. After that, the task of getting the trailer set up for travel. I removed the hitch lock, the rocks that I used the wedge the tires in place of proper wheel chocs, got the emergency jack out of my car and jacked up the left side and then the right side, removing the stabilizer jacks I'm using as leveling/stabilizer jacks on each side to to let the tires rest on the ground. While doing this, I noticed an ugly black stain around the air fill of the right wheel, so I got my portable inflater out and sure enough the tire had leaked about 10 LBS of pressure. I pulled the car up since this was on the opposite side of the trailer and I couldn't reach the cord around that far. With the engine running I filled the tire back up. I will have to check on that again when I leave Chutes, it is possible when they replaced the tire they didn't properly put the stem in the wheel, in that case, it is way too late to complain. I will either need to take it into the shop and get it fixed, which is a major PITA since these wheels are partially obscured by the trailer wall and they also have very old hubs, which in some cases have lost their threads so the studs were replaced by the 'farmer john' i bought it from with threaded rod or something else, and it requires a nut on both sides which are a major pain to remove. Yet another reason the next thing I need to do with this trailer is replace those hubs. Something I want to do before next year, because in my crazed mind, I'm thinking possibly of going all the way to Pukaskwa national park. Anyhow, after that, I panicked a little because I couldn't find the control cable for the lithium battery, but eventually found it right where I left it.. since the main power it shut off when I disconnect the battery, there are of course no lights.. so I had to use the flashlight on my keychain, and found it in the back of the battery box. I set the battery to shelf mode, then disconnected the cables and put it back into the car in its safe spot in the back. The solar panels were next, already disconnected (you should not run the MPPT charger without a battery attached). The panels were placed securely into their location under the bed, and then, one final check for loose things that might roll around and damage themselves or the trailers systems and then the window was locked, as was the roof vent, before the entrance door was locked. Getting myself ready to hopefully not be run over by my own trailer, I turned the trailer 90 degrees, so it was pointed hitch first down the slope of the hill and quickly set it down on its tongue jack before I wasn't able to stop it's forward momentum. I then backed my car up to it, hitched it up, attached the safety chains and noted that the locking mechanism would not engage. I carefully pulled the trailer down to the next campsite which was level and unused, and tried again.. after a few tries I was able to get it to engage. I will need to lubricate it when I return. Finally, the turn signals and brake lights were tested and confirmed, and then I was off to the comfort station, trailer in tow. As always, the shower rooms were.. adequate. Black mold on the walls, tiles broken by vandals.. at least there wasn't any graffiti. The stall is slightly larger than a closet, for those who have not experienced them. There is a small area with a half wall where the shower is, usually it is already wet. There's a small shelf at the back of the 'wet' side for soap or whatever you bring. plus hooks for.. clothing that you don't mind getting wet? There's a dry side with a small triangular seat to change and 3 hooks for 'dry' clothes and a shelf for whatever else you need. I had a quick shower, wondering if I should have worn my neoprene swim shoes, but someone once told me that athletes foot was actually stealing the athlete's power, who wouldn't want free athlete power? In all seriousness, I probably should have, nail fungus is probably worse to get but there's no bet that wearing the socks would have prevented either condition. I dried off, managed to somehow keep my clean clothes somewhat dry, and changed back into my dirty jeans and light hoodie before heading out again. 5c outside was a bit bracing after the shower, but I quickly went over to the toilet side of the building, brushed my teeth and then dealt with other requirements before leaving the campground. My mood was somewhat sour, If it were up to me, I would never leave this place. But, unfortunately, funds and food are not unlimited. If only I had a way to make visiting places like this break-even or earn income I would do it. With the looming July carbon tax increase I am afraid that soon I will not longer even be able to afford to go visit my parents, I will die if I have to live in the city and never leave.

The return trip was uneventful, other than a close call with a food truck that passed me uncomfortably close, even though I was traveling at the speed limit and sticking to the right lane. I had missed the montreal river crossing on my way up, but saw it on the way back, but there was construction there and I wasn't able to get to places to get up on the bridge as they were working on it. I stopped at Batchewana Bay again for a rest, and to use the facilities, fueled up in the soo at the same gas station as I used on the way up and this time grabbed a ham sandwitch and a bottle of water with a penut butter oh-henry. Since I was ahead of schedule I would take a break at snake river, eat lunch, and then fish for a while. When I arrived at snake river, there were quite a few people there, and some latinos fishing as well. There wasn't really a safe place for me to stand, and I almost slipped into the river on two occasions. After losing a #2 mepps after 30 minutes of terrible casts and nearly falling in, I decided I'd tried enough and headed onward. I arrived at Chutes shortly after 2pm the same gate guy recognised me, and we had a short chat about where I'd been, he'd be going to tobermory next week to man the park up that way. I told him I wanted to go there some day, but it is a very busy park. I could go there without my trailer in the edge season maybe on a weekend, but I'd need to book far ahead, which is difficult to do with my current job role. Anyhow, I set up very basically at my site and am endeavouring to take it easily as I'm pretty damn tired, and recently just found that this park has no water taps. I'm going to edit my photos and check the weather for tomorrow.

Unfortunately I forgot that Chutes on friday, and weekends during the summer, chutes becomes the 'party park' being so close to Massey, locals come in as well as people from the nearby towns and villages to enjoy the river. I was very tired, and tried to sleep around 8PM but there were constantly kids and young adults talking loudly and carrying on boisterously, with loud music blaring until the 11:00PM cutoff and a bit longer if they can get away with it. The result is I only had around two hours of uninterupted sleep. The next morning, I was so ticked off I was considering opening all my windows and blasting the most obnoxious death metal I could find on Bandcamp, but considering how unique my trailer and car are I didn't want to be 'that guy' at least while I was driving around so conspicuously. I did not have breakfast, my head was in such a bad place that I just got everything piled in the car, go the trailer packed up minimally and locked down, and was on the road by 5:30AM. I wasn't even hungry, the meal from the previous night not even properly digested. While my adrenaline was still up, I made a break for the open road. I was rewarded by a nice sun rise, but no thing good to frame it with, so no photos today. After about two hours on the road I was starting to feel the effects of drowsiness and after four my eyes would cross or sometimes roll back causing me to breeze the edge of the rumble strip on the shoulder or centre of the road before coming back to my senses. I needed fuel, and stopped by Sturgeon Creek for that, plus a couple of sugery cafeene infused drinks. I found a small place to pull over after filling up and downed both along with some of my unused trail bars and had a short walk to get myself back awake before pushing on. The man at the gas station saw my PPC member card as I was producing my credit card and we had a short talk about the useless reusable bags that we're forced to use now, and how most of them will still eventually end up in the land fill and take even longer to break down than the usual plastic bags we've been using that break down pretty quickly after being exposed to UV rays for even a few weeks. It seems like our current incumbants are all about doing things that seem to be 'good' on the surface, but they're basically pandering and not long-term viable. I should have also discussed the current forest fires, which appear to be a great measure of arson, and the recent satelite footage that shows several tens of fires starting at the same time, vigorously in quebec on a clear day.

The remainder of the trip to home base was me basically fighting my sleepiness and weariness on auto pilot, and when I did finally return home, I dropped the trailer and went back to the cabin where I stay, where I was greeted by a hissing black furball and then I went to bed. Cola, finally realised who I was and immediately jumped up on my chest and completely groomed my head. I would like to eventually take her with me on these trips but I don't think it would be fair to her, because she'd be stuck in the car for several hours for days on end, and then stuck in the trailer for the remainder of the time alone while I ventured out. If I had a camper van things would be different, but I do not, and as I said earlier, even though that is the eventual plan, with a certain sock monster's 'clean fuel standard' and other companies converting those types of vehicles to absolutely ludicrous EVs the future of long trips into the back country is looking rather bleak. Even a decade old sprinter van with hundreds of thousands of kilometers on it and no modifications for camping will set you back 60k. You would be hard pressed even further to get a good reliable diesel for less than that, and if you try to buy new the cost is roughly the same and you cannot get a diesel version anymore. My plans are evolving as the madness continues up here in Canada. I'm starting to look at flat bed pickup trucks as an option, which means I'd have to learn welding to build a metal frame to attach to such a truck, perhaps temporarily like those pickup back campers you see except far nicer. Anyhow, with this I'll call and end to this particular adventure. Plans are to visit Killarney in the fall for the interesting contrast between the fall colours and white rocks, perhaps even challenging silver peak, which will require either renting or otherwise acquiring a canoe to reach the trailhead. I've been on the lookout for a good used canoe, or a reasonably priced new one. Perhaps even something as simple as a fishing kayak, or at worse borrowing my parent's old one.. though that is a 17 footer and would be very hard for me to manage solo. My Canoe skills haven't been tested for over two decades after all, but I understand it is like riding a bicycle, however the muscles required to canoe are hardly used in normal circumstances so that must also be a consideration.