Winter Gathering '05 - Nitro Creek

Another paddling season had ended and talk of the next winter gathering began in the fall of 2004. Once the dates had been settled a new area was chosen for the gathering - the Nitro Creek watershed. This is an area north of Sudbury accessible by the Budd Car rail service. This area lay between Highway 144 and Halfway Provincial Park and the railway/Spanish river to the west. The area consists of typical pine/spruce/poplar and birch forest and several small lakes are connected by small creeks and drainages.

As in the past, folks opted for a trip of varying lengths - 3,5 or 8 nights in duration. There was the regulars who have been attending for the past 4 years, some folks who missed a trip and as usual some hardy new attendees, out for a new experieince. This year a total of 26 people attended with some late last minute cancellations. A new twist for this adventure was a sub zero "Hawaiian Night" under a tarp complete with a guitar and much singing and laughter - I wonder what anyone who had stumbled across this bunch of apparent lunatics in loud shirts and grass skirts would have thought!!

As usual the time was spent doing camp chores (firewood), exploring the surrounding areas and the drowning of minnows in the vain attempts to catch some speckled trout. The weather was clear and cold for the most part (several nights at the -30C range) with a couple of very light snowfalls over the 8 nights. All in all another enjoyable trip with a bunch of enjoyable folks in a beautiful setting. The upcoming winter gathering for 2006 was also discussed and hopefully we'll find a place to catch some fish for a change! We seem to get to a spot on even numbered years where folks actually catch fish and '06 hopefully will be similiar - maybe even Georgi can catch a fish bigger than his minnow!!!

Packing sleds the night before