Back to the Wilderness

"It's not a tent. There's a proper bed with four solid walls, just as you've requested."

I balked. "We're still cooking and cleaning dishes outdoors."

"This has a kitchen with running water."

It's my fault. I had told DW that I didn't like sleeping on the ground, in a tent. I didn't like having to wash up dishes in a bin, at a picnic table. I didn't like having to worry that my food would attract creatures—particularly, bears—even though we devised a great pully system on our last camping trip.

That was supposed to be my last camping trip.

DW is determined. She knows that, several years ago, I enjoyed camping when we rented a medium-sized camper van and took it to Sandbanks Provincial Park and to Boucherville Islands National Park, just outside of Montreal. We had double-sized bunkbeds, a kitchen and dining area, and best of all, a fully-working bathroom with a shower.

Many of the home comforts, out in nature.

My mistake was saying that I could rent a camper again, that we could even have something smaller if it was just DW and myself (our kids came with us to Sandbanks). We had an outstanding deal on that camper van, one that I was sure we'd never see again, and I've never seen a smaller vehicle for camping other than a pop-up trailer, which I told her I wasn't interested in.

This wasn't a pop-up trailer.

DW found a deal on a mini camping trailer that she just couldn't resist. And because we've discussed a future, cross-Canada road trip, she said that using one of these would be necessary to save on hotel expenses.

"Let's do a test getaway."

We were back in Algonquin Park this weekend. We weren't doing any interior camping but rather in a campground that had electrical hookups so that we could power up the small camper.

The biggest challenge was backing the trailer into our site. I haven't had much experience towing trailers and I've usually lucked out when it came to not needing to back up into a tight spot. It took me a couple of attempts to line up the trailer to where we wanted it, but as soon as we were in our site, I never had to back up again.

Until we returned the trailer, that is, and I actually managed to put the trailer exactly where it needed to be on the first try.

I have to admit, the camper was much better than a tent. The bed was queen-sized and though it could have used another inch thickness it wasn't too bad (it was about two inches thick and I could feel the floor underneath). The cabin had lights, big windows (including a sky light), and it had both air conditioning and a heater, though on both nights, the ceiling fan was enough to keep us cool on this hot weekend.

Though the trailer had a kitchen area with a two-burner gas stove, a microwave oven, and a sink with running water (cold only), it didn't have a refrigerator: rather, it had a heavy-duty cooler bag that actually kept our food cold for the two days (six meals) that we were there. Still, we were washing dishes outside, where the mosquitos and deer flies were ferocious.

Because we wanted the full effect of this camper, we picked a site with electrical hookups. The problem with these sites, especially at Rock Lake Campsite, was that it's more like a parking lot with a few trees than a wooded camp ground. There's no privacy from neighbours. There's no peace and quiet.

It's just camp trailer after camp trailer, with noisy neighbours who blare there shitty music all day long.

No thanks.

Of course, our time away from the campsite was what I enjoy the most. We spent a few hours in our kayaks, exploring the pictographs on high-rising rock faces. We hiked to a waterfall and up to a high lookout.

And we saw moose. On four separate occasions. I'll share more of that later this week.

Did I like sleeping in a camper? Sure, it was cozy and was much better than sleeping in a tent. Did it enhance the overall camping experience? Beyond sleeping, not really. It did save us time having to walk to a water station to fill a bucket every time we wanted to wash our dishes but we still had to cook and clean outside. There was a water-boil advisory for Rock Lake, so by filling the water reservoir before we reached the campsite, we didn't have to worry about running out of water or having to boil anything.

Would I ever camp with a trailer in a site with electric hookups again? No. Never. It's not for me. It's not even for DW.

So I told DW that this was a good attempt to keep me interested in camping, but I would only use one of these trailers if we were doing a cross-country road trip and we passed through some irresistible national or provincial parks, where this was the only way to stop and take them in.

I'd also need hotels or motels. And we'd need to pick a time of year when the bugs were gone.

Also, we'd need a vehicle with better towing capacity. Our CR-V was at its maximum and sometimes struggled to get up some of the hills in the Highway 60 corridor of Algonquin Park. We went through a lot of gas getting to the park and back home.

That was our weekend adventure with a camping trailer. I'll share the better parts of the trip, starting tomorrow.

Stay tuned.