Cans and bottles are not allowed in the back-country of Ontario Parks. First - here are four rookie mistakes we made so do not copy these, followed by some positive advice.
Mistake 1: Emptying cans of vegetables into a peanut butter jar.
There are several problems here.
- It's a heavy way to take vegetables because water is being carried.
- The peanut butter jars don't burn properly so they have to be brought back out.
- The jars leak, even though I expected them not to. This made the inside of the food pack smell.
- The jars are broken quite easily when shifting bags around on the rocks. Really.
 |
| Don't do this. It looks great, but it's NOT a good idea. |
Beer is lovely, but it is heavy and after several beers in an evening, finding the treasure chest in the middle of the night can be tricky. Especially if it's raining. Better to forgo the beer, and instead take hard liquor of some kind. If only beer will do, then transferring it to water bottles (see picture) is a practical approach, and keep it cool by dropping it in the lake inside some sort of bag to stop it floating away.
 |
| Not recommended, but delicious. |
The water should not be trusted straight from the lakes and streams. There's a high chance that it will be fine, but the back-country is no place to be throwing up or having a case of runny-bottom. So don't take the risk: filter it instead. Boiling uses too much fuel and too much time for it to cool, so a lot of fresh water needs to be carried. A filter means you are only 2 minutes from a good fresh drink.
Mistake 4: Taking ice in a Cool Box.
Instead of taking ice, take frozen items to keep each other cool.
How to do it 1: Food Advice
In a more positive vein, ways to make life easy are:
- It's easier and lighter to take dried vegetables (less weight) and ones that cook fast so fuel is conserved (peas, instant potato, instant rice, pasta).
- Either frozen meat (thaws on day 2 or 3) or plastic-sealed meat is easier to deal with than fresh meat.
- Boil-in-the-bag meals can be amazing, with no dirty pans!
- There are places on the internet with recipes for camp meals that are prepared at home. Back packers are more sensitive to weight than paddlers, so looking at backpacker sites can provide good information. One of the best is by Laurie Ann March - click on this link.
A water filter is a piece of essential equipment. Outdoor stores have lots of different kinds for different levels of pollution and with different levels of convenience. Furtunately, the relatively cheap ceramic cartridge type for about $70 is ideal for lakes in Ontario. The cartridges need to be scrubbed clean every couple of litres - the instructions say it's less often but as soon as the effort required becomes noticeable, it's time for a scrub.
