March 7th: Ice Fishing with the Petersons in Ontario, Canada

 

One of the wonderful things about traveling/living on a boat for ten years, is the people you meet. Randy and Cindy Peterson, and their kids, Nick, Niki and grand kids, Mea 12years old and Liam 14 years old, are a perfect example. They have become family to me. I have been deemed the 3rd Grandpa.

4 years ago, Nick and Niki bought a rustic island property on Lake Temagami Lake Temagami history for a summer getaway place. I have enjoyed helping with upgrades to the property for 3 summers, as documented in previous blogs. Here are some summer time pictures.

Main Cabin

Kitchen area

Boat house dock

Living room area

View of the sunset

Guest House

 

Randy and Cindy above the garages,
the Andrews kids and grand kids on the left

Nick, a wonderful, very rugged, very strong, hockey playing Canadian who likes to fish, encouraged Fran and me to come to his island cottage to ice fish in the winter. Fran likes to fish maybe even more than I do, and often talked about missing the snow she grew up with in Syracuse N.Y. So we flew to Toronto where Randy and Cindy picked us up, and drove us the 3 hours to their home in Huntsville, Ontario. The Peterson family all live in the same, newly built residence. It is beautiful and has a wonderful view from the top of a mountain.  

Kitchen and dining area

Living room

Fran was hoping for snow and boy did we get it! She had four things on her list. Catch a fish through the ice, sledding, make a snow man and see a moose. Record breaking amounts had fallen during the previous weeks. The day we arrived it was 9 degrees below zero Fahrenheit! It was too cold to pack the snow to make a snow man. It slowly warmed a little each day.

Barbecue grills on the deck

Nick snow blowing the front area

Snow shoes

Fortunately, these Canadians have all the gear needed for winter. Snow shoes, gloves, snowmobile suits, boots, hats, bourbon, wine, etc.

Mea, Steve, Fran & Liam

We started the first morning with snow shoeing. Turned out more difficult than I thought. Some places the snow was 3 feet deep and I became stuck, because I sank to the bottom a couple times. 

Mea and Liam to the rescue

Thankfully, Liam and Mea came to my rescue! Someone, who shall go unnamed, was kind enough to capture it on film! It was pretty funny. I never knew how hard it would be to pull a snowshoe out from three feet of snow!

 

The next day, it was still well below zero. A good day for an indoor activity. We drove to a race boat museum that Anne, one of our Mexico friends, manages. The museum wasn't open but she gave us a private tour. The boats are amazing and really show the progression of race boat creativity. All the boats were involved as race boats.

Leggo model

Next we went to Lake Arrow Head, a Provincial Park. There is a 2 mile hiking trail through the woods that was incredibly beautiful with all the snow.

Woodpecker

Nick, Niki, Liam, Randy, Mea, Cindy, Fran, Steve

Our entire group returned to Lake Arrow Head that evening. 

There is a large ice skating/walking track through the woods. It is lit with torches at night, very enchanting. Randy, Cindy, Niki, Fran and I chose to err on the side of safety and walk. Liam, Mea and Nick, excellent skaters, lapped us at least three times.

There is a nice area to put on/off skates, with torches for lighting and toasty fires.

As we were driving to Liam's hockey practice the next day we saw this sign. Canadians have a great sense of humor!

Two of the couples whom we met in Mexico came to join us for dinner one evening. It warmed up just enough for Randy to cook steaks on the grill. The people are a lot of fun and it was good to see them again. 

One couple has a horse farm and invited us to visit. It is a lovely place and the horses were friendly. The small one is a miniature, fully grown.

Sunday we went to watch Mea's hockey game. Her team won and moves on to the playoffs. Nick is the coach. They are very good. I couldn't really get any good pictures.

Then came the main event! Ice fishing on Lake Temagami. Fran and I were very appreciative of the effort it took to make this happen. We were headed to an island with no provisions nor running water. There is propane for cooking and for the toilets which operate on propane. Heating was largely by a buck stove with wood we would bring. Plus, we needed to haul firewood, three snowmobiles, snowmobile suits, boots and helmets for everyone, in Nick's trailer. 

Fran and Cindy did the shopping for provisions and Niki prepared some meals for us. We always eat well in Canada! Liam, Randy and Nick have everything well rehearsed so I mostly watched. 

The driveway is steep and was quite icy. Nick was bringing the trailer up and it started sliding backward down the hill. Fortunately, he maneuvered it into the side of the drive before going into the road. A slight repair was needed but Nick and Randy are very handy with every tool imaginable. I was able to help at this point because some lifting was required.

The snowmobiles, (Or sleds as they seem to call them) were loaded, all of our gear, provisions, wood, water and of course beer, wine and cocktail supplies. All supplies would need to be carried by the snowmobiles and 1 sled. Plus Randy and me on one snowmobile, Nick and Fran on the second, and Cindy, Liam and Mea on the third. We knew it would take two trips across the lake with one of the snowmobiles to transport the firewood.

It was well below zero going across the lake but the gear we wore kept us warm. Given it was well below zero, the lake house was quite cold. It took a while for the buck stove to get it warmed up, but after a while it was toasty warm. We did not transport ice for drinks. Seemed rather silly when temps were below zero. Fran decided snow would work great.

The fishing shack was somewhat buried in snow and getting it out onto the ice took some doing, but we prevailed. Then the fishing began!

Nick used an auger to drill holes in the ice. The first day he just drilled one hole inside the fishing shack because the auger had issues. We fished during the day and had no luck. But, we were told the fish bite better at night. Sure enough, at dusk, Fran caught a nice Walleye. It was amazing to see it brought up through the hole. Nick grabbed it with pliers and we had plenty for surf and turf! Fish and steak on the grill. 

Fran was very proud of her fish! Rightly so.

We played cards at night with the kids. Much more fun than watching television. 

Niki had prepared two egg casseroles for us to warm up for breakfasts. Also, our friend Sue gave us a homemade loaf of sourdough bread she made that was delicious. As I said, we eat well in Canada.

The next day, Nick and Randy fixed the auger and Nick drilled more holes. 3 outside and one more inside. The weather became warmer so being outside wasn't unpleasant. We fished in the morning until after lunch. 

No luck, but we made spider dogs for lunch. You cut four slits in each end of a hot dog and cook it over the fire. The hot dog spreads out like a spider! The buck stove also worked great for smores.

We came back in the afternoon and Mea decided to build a little snowman for Fran and put it on the window sill.

 
Then the snow warmed up enough to build a real snowman. Everyone pitched in and it was created quickly. Another thing off Fran's list. It was a great snow woman! 

 

We took a break and thought maybe at dusk again. Sure enough. Mea had two on the line but they escaped and the same for Fran. But we were sitting in the fishing shack to stay warm and Randy saw a pole outside shaking. He ran out and was successful. A very nice lake trout. 

Lake trout

That night it snowed a lot. And because it was warming quickly, it coated the trees making everything a winter wonderland. Rain was forecast later in the day so Nick and Liam retrieved the fishing shack early in the morning. The lake would remain frozen, but the snow acts as insulation so a layer of slush can build up above the ice. Snowmobiles do not like slush! The solutions is to go as fast as possible to avoid getting stuck. Given there was very deep snow in some spots, it was a challenge, but we all made it back to the car and trailer safely.

We arrived back at the house early enough to enjoy the evening. Fran and Gloria, the cat, relaxed on the couch. Gloria loves attention.

Randy and Cindy were driving to Harrisburg to see Tom, Erica, Eve and 6 month old Peter. That worked well for Fran and me. They dropped us at the Toronto airport. We had a very tight connection in Dallas Fort Worth, but we made it and all went well. I got back to my place at 11:45pm. A long but good day and a wonderful trip.