Camping Esker Lakes
After two and a half years of staying home for the most part, we decided to go on vacation as a family. Camping up north with no big groups anywhere but with new surroundings.
We packed up our trailer, and all the camping gear, and after a week of pre-prep, we were on our way.
First stop Friday night, a dinner outdoors at Webers where we met up with Shaye for burgers and Kwartha Dairy ice-cream enjoying the outdoor park area behind the restaurant.
From here we went to Arrowhead to camp for the night. In the morning we ventured around the park to the falls before the long afternoon drive including a small stop in New Liskeard to see the giant cow and then we eventually made our way to our campsite at Esker Lakes where we would stay for the week.
That night after setting up the trailer, we ventured around the park to get our bearings. A stop to the closed visitor centre had at least some outdoor things to see (still closed due to Covid), then we wandered by the playground, and the lake before getting some campfire wood that Easton would chop up (supervised by Brian) for a lovely campfire.
The next day we decided to go into Kirkland Lake to fill up the gas tank and wander around the Toburn mine. Which again was an outdoor exhibit and closed to indoor viewing. The town was eerily quiet but it was Sunday so most shops were closed. When we got back to the campsite, we figured out how to rent a canoe and we took it out that night on what was probably the nicest canoeing lake ever. So calm and lovely with the sound of two loons and their baby calling into the night. We stayed on the lake until dusk and mist rolled over the water and then had an early night as we knew we would be getting up early to fully enjoy the 24 hour canoe rental. The morning was equally as lovely. This time we took out the two fishing rods we owned, and the two loaner poles and tackle that were free from the park to use while we camped there. No luck with the fish but it was still nice to sit on the lake and just take in the fresh air. The week included hours of board games, bike riding, and reading and fishing by and on the lake. The trailer was so nice to have especially on rainy days where we were able to enjoy the table for games, and beds that were not directly on the ground. Brian's dad surprised us with a visit. Just a 14 hour round trip drive without us knowing anything. He brought a mattress for the back of his van and stayed a few days enjoying the beach, hikes and campfires with us. After he left we took another drive into town to go to Crystal Beach which is a beach that Lisa and Brian's dad told us about. Apparently it is the first beach that Lisa and Brian swam at when they were kids. It was $10 to get into the private beach but we stayed for hours and Easton LOVED it. He was in the water almost the entire time. We had basically the entire beach to ourselves.
On the way home we went to Cobalt where there is silver mining. Apparently we missed the tour by one hour. We did see the museum, but in my opinion this was a bust. I would not recommend this stop. The people at the museum were all there playing on their phones, and when I asked who did the tours they said the three of them are the only ones, so it wasn't like we couldn't take the tour because the tour operator wasn't there, they just wouldn't take us to the mine even though they weren't doing anything. They would not budge from the time it was posted on the door even though the town was a ghost town and we were likely the only visitors that day. So we took in all we could from the museum.
From here we did the long drive home only stopping for pizza along the way. It was a long drive and we got home late so we didn't unpack until the next day.
It was nice to spend some time as a family away. with different surroundings. :)