ol17

[ol17]

Semester Finale

Thank you, to my classmates, and to the teacher that not only made all this possible- but made all this worthwhile. This life gives us pages and what their content consists of is dependent upon the risks we take and decisions we make. I’m more than happy to have filled some pages with my OL experience. These are excerpts I will always re tell- again and again and it burdens me I’ll never be ever to re fabricate these moments again, but I hope for the classes to come, they leave OL knowing it was a beautiful experience. The people I made memories with were absent in my time up until this course, and in these short months I would never consider any of them any less than family. Before this semester, I was in a bad place- and now I’m here. Having a teacher that cares is such a dramatic change in ones high school career- that is if they even experience it. I’m very thankful for Dougall’s toughness, the constructive pressure allowed so many students to grow. It’s a bitter moment to leave the people you have been so close to- there’s nothing sweet about it. Thank you OL17. 

[ol17]

Canoe Trip

I’ll be honest, I hated the first day of the canoe trip. Maybe because I wasn’t a “happy camper” or what have you- but I wanted to go home. I’m glad that this changed for me, because became one of the best experiences of my life so far. The second day was hell because of the bugs. Everyone was uncomfortable and my canoe partner definitely earned the rights to a legal name change of “douche canoe”. Despite the rough start, I loved every moment. I’d like to think that if it wasn’t for the people out weighing the circumstances, I wouldn’t have been there. This was a challenging trip, you and your partner are committed to work together to keep everything afloat, it was especially challenging because you never know exactly how the cards will play out while running a rapid. The feeling of success and triumph when you DON’T flip is probably the best wave of relief. I liked this trip the most because of the time everyone spent together.  The Madawaska river was lively with beautiful sights (and paddle boats???). This was a trip of a life time and I’m more than pleased to have spent it with people I’ve grown to adore.

[ol17]

H2O

Ferry-

Movement across strong currents with minimal drift. Keeping the canoe as close to 12 (or upstream) as possible to eliminate the pull of the current. Keeping the Canoe as close to 12 will prevent the canoe to open up to much thus allowing the current to push and turn the canoe

Eddy-

Eddies are created by objects or obstructions in the water, the current disperses around the object and the facing-upstream side of the object will have no current or an “Eddy”.

Pillow-

When water flows over an object and the water over the object appears very smooth often creating hydraulics.

Hydraulic-

When water flows over and recirculates over itself creating a pull moving which flows in a constant circular motion.

Standing Wave-

Waves that stay stationary due to directional conflict of moving water (one direction of flow meets another) creating  waves which vary in size.

[ol17]

Different Strokes

Draw-

A sideways pull of the water, then a pull forward (creating an upside down L). This stroke is used during ferries, s turns, and right turns.

Cross Draw-

On the left side of the canoe, without switching hand position and turning your shoulders to the left, pull water towards your canoe to turn left during ferries, s turns.

Front-

A motion pulling water away from your canoe to gain movement and momentum. 

Back-

A motion pulling water towards the canoe to either stop it or move backwards.

Sweep-

Placing your paddle out more, and in a semi circle “sweeping” water away from the canoe to turn it towards the opposite side of the paddle.

[ol17]

Canoe Diagram

[ol17]

Canoe Equipment

After spending the last few weeks canoeing, I’ve been able to prepare myself better for each day. A typical day of white water and flat water canoeing usually requires the following:

Life Jacket

Helmet

Whistle

Good Shoes (that will stay on)

Lightweight Clothing

A Hat

Dry Bag (with warm dry clothes, a towel, sunscreen, and other personal gear)

[ol17]

May 12th photos

[ol17]

Day 5 (May 12th): With day 3 in second- this ride took first place for being a pain in the ass. The hills made me want to get off my bike and call someone to pick me up. Despite it’s physical stress, this ride had picture worthy locations, Sauble beach is one. If you’ve ever been to Cocoa Beach, Florida, You’ll see the comparison. Growing up I had a few trips South and it was refreshing to see this little beach town with ice cream shops, souvenir shops, and vintage looking bowling lanes. I’m very adamant on making a summer road trip here in the summer. We had some trail riding for the better part of this ride. At first it wasn't that enjoyable, most likely because I was tired but a few kilometers in and the ride became very enjoyable. I think the desire to go home made this ride much harder. We reached our destination; Inglis Falls after a series of leg cramping hills. The falls were quite spectacular and after sweating many litres of water out- the mist was fantastic too- and just like that- we were done. This was very bittersweet because biking was something I had grown to love and I loved biking with this class, but I was very relived I’d never unwillingly get an ass rash from biking long distances (and if i did, it’d be by choice). The bus ride home was quiet until I asked Brock if he wanted a poptart and suddenly it was the awakening of savages and EVERYBODY wanted a poptart (I only had one poptart:/) I think we all resurfaced when we stopped at an onRoute. With all sadness of our biking unit complete, I’m very happy I had the experiences I did and I’m very glad I made the last minute decision to join OL17.

[ol17]

May 11th photos

[ol17]

Day 4 (May 11th): I only have one photo- which is of Lionshead as it was not admirable to lug an extra 3 pounds (my camera), but I’ll explain without the benefit of photographic evidence. After biking down Dyers Bay road, we turned down East rd- the equivalent of Hell- well a bikers hell... so basically his road was full of hills, many hills. We stopped at a church, ate, then continue onto 40 Hills rd. There was only 5 uphills and it didn’t kill us. I was glad when we stopped at Lionshead Marina because I had to shit. We then went to foodland and trekked down County rd 6- which led us to the mother of all hills, After climbing many hills prior, once I saw this hill it was clear this was the hill that “overlooked the bay” according to Dougall. That was the most challenging part of my day- it was hot and there. It was on this hill both Ainsley and Ryleigh said they were getting on the truck at the next stop. I spent the rest of the ride enforcing that they can ride x amount of km until Sauble Falls. They did. Before that though we rode passed a new Urban Liquidation product: a fleshlight. At the truck, the “do or die” moment, most of us kept going. During this ride Cam flipped off an inpatient truck driver, a dog chased us for what seemed like at least 2km, and I almost pissed my pants. The last 7km or so was the hardest part. But we made it. Out of the whole semester this was my favourite ride. I’m a very self competition person. I won’t challenge against others but I will always challenge myself, and after many rides where I told myself “I can’t do this” it felt amazing to get on my bike, ride, and get off my bike 93km later knowing that I pushed myself far beyond what I thought were my limits. Everyone was cranky and bitchy after this ride, but everyone was happy to sit down, shower, and eat after a long day.

(Oatmeal for breakfast, burgers and over cooked kraft dinner)

[ol17]

May 10th photos

[ol17]

Day 3 (May 10): Out of all 4 rides- this was the hardest for all of us I think. It was worthy for sure- but everyone was done 1/2 way through the ride. We rode to Dyers Bay, which was beautiful. The water was crystal clear and so calm we could see straight down 15 ft in the water. The ride to the light house was the most unpleasant I’ve experienced. It was long and windy- giving you the false hope that around every corner we’d find our destination- which was untrue. When we finally reached the light house almost everyone was trying to nap. We made our way to a small bay and then returned to our bikes. Other than the dirt road ride to the lighthouse, I think the trek through out the Bruce Peninsula Park seemed the longest. This was an early night as the next day we’d be riding 92km.

(We had scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast, and stir fry for dinner) 

[ol17]

Photos for May 9th

[ol17]

Day 2 (May 9): We actually begin to bike. We embarked Hwy 6- which we learned it’s actually the Devils ride- as it seemingly is an uphill ride... both ways. We explored the small area of Tobermory including gift and sweet shops. We stopped at Big Tub Lighthouse where I smashed my shin off a rock and almost threw up- but the pictures I took made it worth it. This ride was really nice once we were in the community,  the harbor, homes, and shops create this really nice  coastal feel. After our ride we returned to the Grotto, this included a full exploration. I don’t if its something related to having short legs but long steps down make me  very nervous, so climbing down and out of the Grotto was the most nerve racking thing I’ve done in awhile. 

(We had pancakes for breakfast, terrible idea for propane stoves, and we had spaghetti for dinner, I manged to drop all my noodles on the ground, needless to say- this wasn’t my day.)

[ol17]

I didn't go on the bike trip to Sandbanks, but I did meet Gnash, hear amazing performances from amazing artists, & had the time of my life.

[ol17]

The day my trip got cancelled and Dougall ate a moth

We were heading for our first bike trip: a three day trip at Sandbanks. We had been preparing for several weeks and this was the ultimate test for us before our following trip to Tobermory. We were aware the weather was going to be wet, and as we got closer to the date, the weather worsened. We sucked it up and started our ride. 8km in, we made it to our first stop. That’s when the cold got the better of many people. It was miserable. The decision to return and rescheduled the trip was mutual and decided by everyone. I was very happy to return the school- as was everyone else, an despite our willingness to continue it’s agreeable that it was in our best interest to return to the school.

[ol17]

I’m not one for informal writing so bear with me while I attempt to string a few words together that will hopefully make you want to continue reading the remaining words that I still have yet to collect at this moment. Welcome to probably the longest and and most boring attempt of me try to interest you! Yesterday, OL17 trekked a small area of the Northumberland County- which bestowed ducks, pigs, and the smell of horse (or possibly dougall) ass.  So now hopefully I gained your attention at the stench of swamp ass lingering around let me introduce the ride.

We started the beginning of our ride at Trenton High School (home to the tigers, army squad, and VapeNation Corporation), we made a right onto Dundas, continuing to the merge of HWY 2, where we then turned left down McMaster Rd, down McMaster Rd, the first road on your right is “Powerline Rd”, we had our first stop at the silos, at this point we had traveled 4.62km and climbed a total of 8m of elevation. We turned right on Powerline and followed it until Bigford Rd, we turned left, followed then turned left on HWY 64. We stopped at the Murray Canal- which was a total of 7km from our previous stop and a decrease in elevation, bringing us to 4m. We turned right onto HWY 64nd continued until we approached the wastewater polishing wetland, created to refine the wastewater before it enters the water way. This wetland is very busy due to bird watchers as the area is very popular for migrating birds. At this stop we had traveled 6.5km and climbed a total of 10m. We hopped on HWY 64 and turned left on Harbour St, following until Presqu’ile Park gates. This was our 4th stop and the route only totaled 2km total and no elevation. Presqu’ile is a unique provincial park, as there are no natural predators for large mammals, which at one point caused to the park to see and high peak in deer population which was then controlled by aboriginals native to the area. We continued down Presqu’ile Pkwy until we were greeted with the “Campsite Amphitheater”, this was our final stop totaling 3.75km and 9m of elevation. We had our lunch a few metres away from the amphitheater where the water met a stone shoreline. Presqu’ile has sand beaches off lake Ontario, a marsh boardwalk, hiking trails for families, pets, and bikers. The area is very universal and how you explore is endless. Our departure followed the same directions in reverse as our arrival and our ride totaled 48.8km- making this our longest ride yet. 

This ride is ideal for low and high skill riders, the ride is relatively flat and great for mild weather. Riders struggling with 25-30km rides may find this a bit of a challenge. I recommend a 2L camelpak, with an extra bottle for replenishing if needed. A heavy breakfast and nutritious lunch will help prevent fatigue! Extra light layers may be useful when in the park as the water will make the area cooler. I highly recommend a camera to capture the great views the park has to offer! I personally really enjoyed the ride & the fact that the park offers amazing views & opportunities throughout your ride!