Onward to Pukaskwa
Ok, seems to be bad karma maybe with the sleep issues. I was looking forward to a similar night as the previous night because I had no parties next to me. I struggled to get to sleep but finally did at around midnight. It had been raining off and on since we packed it in, as was forecasted. Sometimes super hard which is very loud in the tent. At around 1am I was awoken by the biggest crack of thunder ever, almost jumping out of my skin. I’ve always been a little afraid of thunder storms because of that kind of nonsense. I don’t mind the rumblies but it’s the surprise-the-crap-out-of-you-scary-ones that I don’t like at all. That’s what woke me up. Poor Jubs was a trembling mess, more afraid than me. Just as the storm felt like it was wrapping up, I was able to settle Jubs and thought we’d be able to get back to sleep. Nope, the storm went on for a couple hours in and out. Jubs was a mess trying desperately to find a way to crawl into my skin for safety. Neither of us got any sleep, mostly because Jubs was on top of me and wouldn’t move. I finally put her back to her bed and covered her head with her blanket and she stopped trembling and with time finally fell asleep. There were low rumbles for the rest of the night and I too somehow drifted off.
We woke up at 7am, as usual, and I decided to just pack up the rest of the stuff and get going. I’d packed up pretty much everything the day before so just had to do the tent and odds and ends. We were on the road by 8am - excited for Pukaskwa.
I stayed on site 11 last year and I really liked it. I wondered if it would be available and kept hoping the campsite gods were on my side. Having endured a number of sleepless nights I hoped they would be kind to me.
As I was packing up the car, the fog started to roll in. It was warm and muggy and uncomfortable. I wondered if the weather would be better at Pukaskwa. I don’t much like not being connected. Sleeping Giant and much of the peninsula doesn’t have cell service. I’ve become so used to having all and any information available to me and now I get frustrated when I have questions that I can’t answer - such as the weather.
As we got on the road the fog grew thicker and thicker. At times it was so thick that only a couple car lengths ahead was visible. It stuck around all the way to Pukaskwa!
When I reached the park I saw that they didn’t have the “Park Full” sign out - so far so good. Rolled up to the gatehouse and asked or a spot. The worker said no problem and go have a look at the available sites and come back when I found the one I like. I said “my favourite is 11, do you know if it’s available?”. She looked it up and said yes! So I scurried down there and staked my claim and then went back to finish the registration. It’s a funny system, but it works.
Pulled everything that was wet out of the car and hung it up to try to dry before assembling camp. While waiting for stuff to dry, I went into Marathon to do some groceries and get gas. That way I could settle in at camp and not move for a while.
Remarkably stuff had dried enough and so up went all the camp stuff then I sat in my chair for 20 minutes before deciding to have a shower (serious ick but it had to be done). Then just as I was walking into my site, the skies opened up. So here we are in the tent, lazing about. Jubs is exhausted, after last night. All she wanted to do was go to bed. She’s just been snoozing. So we’ll just hang out and move slowly and with luck finally get a good nights rest.
I think there’s more rain in store tomorrow and then the sun arrives!
Are you a friend or a family? Want to know exactly where I am? Use this link: share.garmin.com/andthisjusthappened
