April 14, 2025 • 34 mins
Curtis LaFleche's life changed dramatically at age 16 when he was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis – a condition that causes spinal fusion and threatened his athletic pursuits. Rather than surrendering to limitations, this diagnosis sparked an unexpected journey into the wilderness that transformed his life.
"I just started walking down the ski trails," Curtis recalls, "and then I fell in love with hiking... seeing birds for the first time I didn't know existed and these plants." What began as rehabilitation became a profound connection with nature that would shape his future career in forestry and conservation, where he made conscious decisions to protect wildlife habitats and riparian zones while managing logging operations.
Now 46, Curtis embraces outdoor adventures with a wisdom born from decades managing chronic pain. His upcoming 15-day solo canoe expedition through Ontario's Temagami region represents both a physical challenge and a deeply meaningful journey. Beginning on Gamble Lake, where he planted trees 25 years ago, and ending at Emerald Lake, where his partner's family has scattered ashes of loved ones, the 160-kilometer route creates a perfect circle in his life story.
Curtis shares his meticulous planning process – from creating detailed spreadsheets tracking gear weight to dehydrating trail meals and calculating necessary daily calories. His "nothing but time" philosophy prioritizes enjoyment and safety over covering distance. "If I have to triple carry, I don't care," he explains. "I'm going to pull out my camera and watch birds and take three carries and spend two hours on the trail."
Beyond his personal adventures, Curtis finds joy in introducing his teenage daughters to the backcountry, carefully balancing challenge with comfort. "I think someday they're going to find solace in the forest," he reflects, recognizing how his own wilderness connection began during life's challenges.
Ready to embark on your own wilderness journey? Follow Curtis (@notsoepicdventurers) on Instagram and YouTube to witness his upcoming Temagami adventure and discover how nature can transform challenge into opportunity.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello and good day.
Welcome to this Super GoodCamping podcast.
My name is Pamela, I'm Tim.
And we are fromsupergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest is a gentlemanthat Tim has been following on
Instagram for a while now.
Unlike Tim, he also puts outvideo tripping content on his
YouTube channel, though he'sextremely passionate about being
(00:22):
out in nature and, like us,loves to bring the kids along.
He has worked in forestry andlogging related positions for
most of his life, among otherthings.
Today, he's going to tell usabout a 15-day, 160-kilometer
trip he has planned for Tomogamislash Lady Evelyn area this
spring, which, very coolly, heis starting on a lake that he
planted trees on 25 years ago.
Please welcome Curtis LaFleche,also known as the Not so Epic
(00:45):
Adventurer on YouTube andInstagram.
Welcome, curtis.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Thank you, that was an amazing intro.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
That's Tim's work.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I pull it out of my butt about 15 minutes before we
go live.
Nice, the pressure seems towork Right out of the gate.
I'm going to go off topic, butI think it's part of the story.
So, having done some chattingwith you, I understand you.
At 16, I think, you werediagnosed with AS immune
(01:16):
disorder.
Tell us a little bit about whatit is, tell us how it affects
your tripping and how you dealwith it.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, I mean I think I was about 16 years old, I was
big into hockey and I pulled mygroin and I just kind of felt
that sciatic pain for the firsttime and just being well, not
knowing what AS was, I justthought it was a pulled groin or
like hockey injuries and I justkind of dealt with it for about
two to three years and thenfinally got diagnosed with AS
(01:52):
ankylosing spondylitis whichessentially is your spine is
slowly fusing together.
So you know, at 18, 19 yearsold it was a pretty huge blow,
tough pill to swallow.
It was tough to maintainplaying sports, which was really
hard and you know, just tryingto heal and discover who I'm
going to become.
You know that was my identity.
So I just started walking andthen I still remember to this
(02:14):
day I walked off to the skitrails.
I'm just like, let me go downthese ski trails.
And then I just fell in lovewith hiking and then I was like
seeing birds for the first timeI didn't know existed and these
plants, like I still rememberthe first Solomon seal, the
false Solomon seal I saw and Iwas just like is this?
Like did someone plant thishere?
This doesn't seem like itbelongs in a forest, like, say,
(02:36):
when neo-tropical birds, I waslike, did someone lose their pet
?
Like what's going on?
So I just rushed down to thelibrary and start researching
and I just became passionateabout the outdoors after.
I just never looked back and Ijust, you know, looking back I
realized that's where I wasgoing to heal, where I was going
to, like, connect with natureand just process things, I guess
(02:57):
for mentally, yeah, so it waslooking back.
It was a huge transition of mylife, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So something crappy turned into something wonderful
One.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So you said it helped you heal, so has the disease.
You know, like you haven'tended up in a wheelchair,
obviously.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
You know a lot of people that have what I have are
slunched over like really badly, and I feel just being active
and mobile and pushing myselfhas allowed me to be straight as
I can be.
And I mean I've been trippingwith a lot of people and I can
hold my own.
I'm 46 years old.
So it's like at this point Idon't let it hold me back
(03:37):
because it's I'm 46.
It's been too long.
I've been fighting it so much.
I've learned how to pain manage.
So it's just become who I am.
And you know, talk about likeadjustments at camping.
Yeah, I have to bring pain meds.
I really have to watch how Isleep.
I have to try my best tostretch as much as possible and
more in the last five years, Iwould say, just because of a
(04:00):
tree planner.
Like production wise, I'vealways been working production
and maybe and that's my excuseanyway but I always want to get
to point a to b as fast andefficient as possible.
I'm really learning to likedrop my pack mid portage and
take a five minute break andit's like extra five minutes
doesn't make a difference at allon your trip but it makes a
(04:20):
massive difference on my healthand my back.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So just learning to slow down at my age, I guess,
yeah, I can't truly explain howmuch I hear myself echoed in in
literally in that story.
I've got some back issues.
I stopped doing trying to do,you know, single carries.
Anymore we don't move every day, we often do two days or do a
(04:45):
three-day base camp, move acouple of days, do two days,
because, yeah, I got you beat bya few years but it took me a
little little while to smartenup for some of the things.
But, yeah, cool, well, that'sgreat.
I mean I'm glad that, I'm gladthat it's one of those.
You just deal with it like yeah, I still want to get out there,
I want to do this stuff.
This is, this is how, 30 yearslater, I've I've figured out how
(05:10):
to, how to best manage it.
You should see my bag of medsas well.
Same same deal.
Man, anti-inflammatories at youknow, like advil the whole.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah uh okay, how awesome that, like
disease, I mean crappy to have adisease, especially at such a
young age, but that it ignitedsuch a wonderful thing for you a
passion for nature I tend toburn out once in a while, but it
pushes me to get out like Idon't take life for granted, I
don't take my body for granted.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I just like that's kind of why, like I got into dog
sledding and just like movedout west to like paddle with the
salmon, just like at that pointI was like worried that later
on in my life I wouldn't be ableto do those things.
So I pushed myself to just doeverything I could and lots of
it.
But now it's I'm at a pointwhere I can just ease back a
(05:58):
little bit and just enjoy itmore too.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, very cool.
Um so, getting out nature,plants, animals, all that sort
of jazz is I make the assumptionthat's.
That's what pointed you at,forestry type jobs and stuff,
right?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
yeah, I wanted to be part of the management side of
things and maybe back then I wasa little bit naive on how that
all worked and thought maybe youknow there is good management,
there is good management outthere, but I thought there was.
It was a bit different, alittle bit naive, but at the
same time I was making at somepoints making really big
decisions and it was nice toknow that you know I'm making
(06:39):
decisions that other peoplewouldn't make, tend to make,
based on my knowledge on birdsand like cavity trees and
riparian zones and things likethat.
Just having a heart, I guesswhere some people are like
pushing towards, like let's getas close to the river as we can
for the mill, like, but where Iwas, like let's go as far away
from the river as we can for themill because of habitat because
(07:01):
of whatever.
Yeah, yeah yeah, justrecognizing that habitat and
caring for it, not just seeingthe logs as money, I guess.
So yeah, I was really into theforest management side of things
.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Cool.
Wow, so training huskies too,that sounds pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, I was just adopting Siberian huskies and
just I didn't have a clue.
I bought a kick sled and Ibought a dog sled and then
bought all the ropes.
Have a clue, I bought a kicksled and I bought a dog sled and
then bought all the ropes, andthen I just YouTube, kind of
reading books and YouTube andtrial and error, lots of
accidents, and yeah, it was alot of hard work, that's for
sure.
And do you?
Speaker 1 (07:35):
still have dogs.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
No, I just have one Husky, but he's just a bonehead
that I love.
He doesn't pull sleds, hedoesn't like going out in the
rain too much, yeah, but uh,yeah, we all adopted them away
to um actual dog rate, like dogteams.
So one of the females actuallywent on to like win a bunch of
races, which was kind of cooland what didn't?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
the dude that did that won this year's iditarod.
I think he did it with allrescues.
Pretty sure that was the.
That was the deal.
So he was determined he wasn'tgonna be once.
He trained for a bazillionyears.
He was gonna be all rescues.
He was gonna train them for ayear or something like that.
I don't don't know all thedetails, but it was like holy
crap, I thought, because that'sserious stuff, man yeah, it's a
(08:19):
a lot of hard work for you getlike three, four.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Well out there I was getting more but three, four
months of winters that you getto actually use them on the
sleds and that the amount ofwork it takes all year to get
there is just incredible.
Even I only had I had five dogsat one point, but the the team
is mostly four and that was hardwork.
Just four dogs, yeah, it's alot of dog.
(08:43):
We had a lot of good friendsthat dropped off a lot of moose
scraps and helped feed them cool.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So before we get to your big trip, where do you,
where do you normally trip, what?
What are your normal outdooradventure pursuits?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I know you like to fish you're also a way better
fisherman than I am I don't knowabout that, but yeah, yeah, I
don't really have spots I loveto go.
I'm not too big on parks.
It's not nothing against parks,I don't have any reasons.
I tend to like going placeswhere no one's gone before, so I
(09:17):
usually just kind of look onAvenza or maps and just find
rivers and like go exploring byfoot.
As far as like canoeing,tomogamy is definitely a place
I've traveled over the years,and then just local areas around
here in mattawa river um, wehave highway 533.
That's all full of small brookum splake mostly, but also brook
(09:39):
trout lakes and rivers, sothat's a great place to to go
and explore and then yeah,you're west, you're North Bay,
right.
Yeah, I'm in North Bay area,sorry, yeah.
So coming from out west it waskind of hard like paddling some
of those rivers and the salmonand the eagles and the mountains
.
I'm like, what am I going to doin Ontario?
And I was kind of bummed out.
(10:00):
But then I got here and I wasjust like it didn't take long to
be reminded why, how beautifulit is up here, you know, and
it's not much different really.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
yeah I mean there's a you know you're, you're into,
you're into granite, you're into, you know, windswept pines,
it's that sort of a deal.
But there's, I don't know, Idon't know, I never can quite
figure it out.
There's something about it likelike look at how, so, so, so,
from, certainly from ourperspective, because we've been
asked a number of times like why, why do you just do Ontario
(10:29):
people?
Cause there's so many of themand because they're so awesome,
like as far as guests go, right,we don't we're.
We have been trying to branchout a little bit more.
The community here is extremelystrong, extremely supportive,
because there's so much coolstuff to do, so much amazing
things to see.
You know, I, until my, oureldest and I were paddling
(10:53):
through I want to say it wasAlgonquin at some point and I
looked up and went I thinkthat's a bald eagle man.
Do we have bald eagles up there?
Well, I don't know.
So then we came home, weresearched, I think we looked it
up on the internet as opposedto youtube or going to the
library.
But uh, yeah, I was like cool,and then, and then we saw a
bunch down on the french.
(11:13):
You know, it's like that'sawesome, that's a massive bird
of prey.
I had no idea.
So getting out there and doingstuff with, yeah, the community
it's, it's a.
It's a weird thing.
We we, um, had a had an amazingchat with a dude from
saskatchewan recently and Ithink it was probably pushing
three hours of just yakking likewe did it.
You know, yeah, it was, I'msure it was a 40 minute segment,
(11:35):
but we, we ended up yakking forhours like and it's like yeah,
it's, there's not so many peoplehere, there's not so much, it's
not there, there are some, butit's a.
It's a slightly different deal,whereas here, you know, you go
to the whatever outdooradventure show and it's like hey
, hey, hey, you know, you seeall your, your, your cool
youtubers and stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, it's a very welcoming community, that's for
sure.
Yeah, cool.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Well, so let's unveil the big prize.
Tell me about, tell me aboutwhat.
What went into planning 15 days, 160 kilometers, that's like
that's a.
That's a pretty epic trip.
That's much as it's not.
So.
Epic adventurers yeah, that'san epic trip.
Like I don't see how.
That's not what.
(12:22):
How long did it take you?
Where do you start?
What resources do you use?
Give us the.
Give us the spiel man.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, I uh.
So I started working forShopify and they had this thing
where after five years you get amonth off free, like paid.
So I was just like right awaywhen I got closer to five years,
I was like I know what I'musing my time for, because when
else will I have an opportunityto have that much time off?
I guess.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Certainly in a block.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, because they never go in a block like that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You can maybe take two weeks, that's it.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Yeah, exactly, and it could be any time of the year
for me, so I can pick when I cango.
I decided on spring because Ididn't want to wait till fall,
decided on spring because Ididn't want to wait till fall
just never know what happenswith work, I guess and uh, so I
wanted to do it in spring, um,and then I was just trying to
think of places.
Wabakimi was up there.
What other places?
Uh, yeah, I was just thinkingof all these different places.
(13:15):
I guess I had out west in mindat one point with one of my
friends and, um, I was justlooking at the logistics of all
that.
I was losing too many daystraveling and the cost.
And I've traveled all overTamagami.
I've done a lot of the north,east and south, but not so much
northwest, and there'sdefinitely parts that I haven't
(13:36):
touched.
And I was just looking at it.
I'm like you know what I'llhave if I just go an hour and a
half away.
I reduce all the travel, allthat cost, and I can get on more
time on the water and in theforest.
So I decided on Tamagami.
So that was step one, and thenI just had the backcountry map
and I just sat there for dayslike daydreaming.
That's like my favorite thingto do.
(13:57):
I just I planned about maybe 10different trips, started
watching YouTube, startedresearching blogs, looking at
different aspects, and then itjust kind of came to me.
I think the tree planting, likeGamble Lake, the Beauty Lake
Road is where I planted for likeprobably three years I was on
that lake all in Elk Lake andGolgonda area Shining Tree.
(14:18):
So I was like that seems like abit of a calling like start at
Gamble Lake and then Backroads.
Bill I'm not sure if you heardof him.
He's a podcaster, he owns theecology, he's a director at the
Canadian Ecology Center here inMattawa.
He's on CBC Radio often and hedid a piece on Florence Lake
which has those petroglyphs andI was like, okay, that's
(14:42):
something I'd like to explore.
It seems like a hard lake toget into.
So I went from Gamble down toFlorence and now I just started
looking at Lady Evelyn, which Idid a couple years ago, so I
want to incorporate that in thetrip.
So I decided to go north ofLady Evelyn and then head
towards Diamond Lake, which iskind of the center of Tomogami,
and then I'm paddling downtowards um Diamond.
(15:05):
Always mix it up.
It's not Wabakimi, it's umWabimaka Lake River which
connects Obabaca and then downto Emerald.
So it's just a kind of like adead center, like down to
Florence, up down the center ofTomogami and all the way to the
south and I'm ending ending onEmerald, which is also a special
place, like I'm starting in aspecial place and I'm ending in
(15:28):
a place where my partner'sfamily there's a lot of ashes
that have been spread there inManitou and Emerald area because
they're from Bear Island sotheir old trap lines used to run
kind of in that area back inthe day.
So they have an aunt and anuncle and a grandmother that
they have their ashes there.
So it's very.
She's going to pick me up atthe end of the trip and we're
(15:48):
going to spend a couple of dayson that lake and we've been
going in the last couple ofyears just to like tobacco ties
and just kind of stare at thelake for a while and just relax
with the dog.
But it's a very special placefor her, so it's a great place
to end the trip.
Very special place for her, soit's a great place to end the
trip.
So, yeah, I got the.
That was the trip that and Ipart of me was like I have all
(16:08):
this time, am I?
Am I like bailing on myself andjust making it easier and like
skipping out on Waba Kini,should I?
I kept that in the back of myhead Like maybe I should switch
up plans and do something bigger.
But I once I decided on thistrip, that's when I got down to
the notes and started writinglike distances and safety, route
(16:29):
plans and just kind of likegoing into the major planning.
And then I got into like foodgear, yeah, just all the
logistics involved.
I mean I considered flying intoFlorence at one point.
All the logistics involved.
I mean I considered flying intoFlorence at one point.
The cost was a little too much.
(16:53):
There's shuttles to get fromTamagami to Gamble.
I'm hoping that it looks like Ihave a ride which is kind of
nice, so I'll just yeah, myfriend and girlfriend are going
to drive me down hopefully, sothat'll be nice to avoid those
costs.
So, yeah, I've just beenplanning.
I think the biggest thing nowhas just been what gear am I
going to bring?
And the food like I've alreadystarted dehydrating, just like
(17:14):
the berries, and I'll do cornand peppers, just so I can build
meals.
But yeah, I got about 10 daymenu planned.
I feel like I will buy somemeals.
I listened to your podcast withCamp Kitchen and you know I
actually didn't know aboutfreeze dried versus dehydrated,
so it's just like back to thedrawing board.
I'm going to, I feel like I'mgoing to support his business
(17:36):
and that's where I'm going toget the freeze dried portion
into my planning and then therest I'll just dehydrate my own
meals, which I love to do.
But even just like the calorieintake per day, you know I'm
usually not that big on thatstuff.
I just eat what I can and Idon't eat too much some days and
lots of the others.
But this, this is a big tripwhere I need to be, need to be,
(17:58):
have those calories in me,that's for sure.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You're going to stay on top of.
On top of that, your your yourburn rate.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
For lack of a better term, yeah, exactly yeah, so I
created this master spreadsheetwhere it's like everything I add
equipment, wise, gets added tothe master and then adds the
weight pack weight and then samewith my menu as I add food, um,
it'll add the weight to thefinal, the final tally.
I guess, just to be just tohave something that I can print
(18:24):
out and have a visible, likevisibility of what I'm bringing.
But yeah, it's a, it's a.
I've got like a journal herethat's got about 10 pages and
the spreadsheet and it takes alot, like you know, you just
want to plan, plan, plan Likethere's.
There's always bad luck, butyou can really reduce it by
really good preparation andplanning.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
People have told us that's part of the anticipation
of the whole trip is theplanning and trying to get the
details just right, Lookingforward to making sure that you
actually got the food on point.
You got the meals that youwanted to have done.
I think that's part of the fun.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
It has to be because it's such a big part of it and
everyone that does it loves.
They go camping afterwards.
That's the reward.
But I love the planning partand I love I call it mise en
place.
Like a chef, I love having allmy gear out on the room and just
looking at it and just preppingand then taking this gear out,
maybe adding something, or justlike what's that old bushcraft,
(19:26):
like everything should havethree uses almost.
So just coming up with ideas oflike, oh, if I bring this rope,
this will be my bear hang, thiswill be my canoe tie, this will
be this, and you know, multipleuse for everything.
So, yeah, I just I've beenpacking and repacking in my mind
already and it's fun.
It's a fun part of it for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
This is a solo trip, curtis right.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Sorry, I did solo.
That's a big part of it.
I know a lot of my especiallymy parents like why don't you go
with someone?
For the safety reasons?
But that's a big part of this.
It's like a.
It's a.
I'm challenging myself, that'sfor sure.
This is a big trip.
I've never done anything, let'ssee here.
I think like six, seven dayshas been the biggest trips I've
(20:09):
ever done.
So this is double that.
I have safety plans.
I know I can get out earlier,like through Sandy Inlet or the
airplane or call it Eco Lodge,you know, but at the same time I
don't want to bail Like I wantto push myself to be there that
long.
So it's gonna be challenging.
I'm gonna have some ups anddowns, that's for sure.
I'm already, as we get closerto the date, I can feel that
(20:33):
anxiety building of the trip andyeah, it's all part of it well,
yeah, this is it's late, late,late May into June, right?
yeah, I'm gonna go May 26 Iguess that's the week after long
weekend, yeah, I believe.
And then, yeah, I'm planning 15days.
I feel like my trip is aboutnine to 10 days.
(20:55):
I mean, you can make it a lotsmaller too if you're really
wanting to push and lightweight.
But with the double carries andmy, my unofficial motto for
this trip is nothing but time.
I just keep repeating that.
So it's like I get on thoseportages.
If I have to triple carry, Idon't care.
I'm going to pull out my cameraand watch birds and take three
carries and spend two hours onthe trail.
(21:16):
So that's kind of my motto.
I don't want to.
Last thing I want to do isinjure myself and and myself and
leave early, Aggravate a tendonor a ligament or something, or
twist an ankle or just fatigue.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Anything can happen.
So, as somebody who reallyhasn't done like, I'm on terror
parks all the time, that's me.
How do you do if you're in amore wilderness setting?
Wilderness setting, I keepbushwhacking is what keeps
coming to mind.
How do you, how do you plan,like when you're talking about
it was was it the back roads, uh, that you used for the maps?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
um, for the maps I used.
Yeah, the back country trippingmap, and then avenza.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, that was it so are there, do they lay out
campsites and that sort of jazz?
So you have a rough idea ofwhat you're, where you're going.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
You don't know how much clearing you're gonna have
to do or who's cleared it orwhat have you yeah, they're
unmanned parks but, um, I knowderrick, derrick outdoors and I
did the lady evelyn loop acouple years ago and there's
definitely portages that aren'tmarked clearly or that weren't
there and they're just like nextthing.
You know we're going downrapids and then we're waiting
for a or we're waiting forrapids and they never appear.
(22:34):
Just you know water levels andthen, yeah, campsites, you can
just never know.
I guess, like I've had one mapshow a site here and then the
main map showed another place.
It's like where is it actuallygoing to be, kind of thing.
So it's not as like asalgonquin.
You know, when you get there'sa designated site, it's there,
(22:55):
it's going to be there that's abig orange tag on the tree and
stuff.
Yeah, yeah, and that's the otherside of it too, is someone
could be there.
So you got to watch, like ifI'm pushing on a day, like I
just want to reach this campsiteby you know, by the sun down,
and then all of a sudden youpull up and someone's there.
It's like, oh no, you know, Ididn't book it.
It's not, you have to book topermit to camp, but you don't
(23:17):
book the actual campsitesthemselves.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, so it's first come, first serve yeah, a bit of
a bit of a crapshoot.
I mean I get, I get the, Ithink I get the allure of it.
I'm a bit anal, retentivemyself, so.
So, knowing that this is whereI'm going, like I don't, I
didn't, never minded booking alake, right, because there's six
(23:40):
sites on it or what, what haveyou.
And sure as all get out, I willpaddle past the first one.
There'll be somebody on it.
Second, one, third, fourth,fifth, so we're on the sixth
site, the farthest one away,whatever, but at least I know
I'm on this lake, I'm on a site.
So, if I can plan, we can getthere an hour before sundown, we
(24:01):
can get there two minutesbefore sundown, but we can still
get there before sundown.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
That's good too, too for safety as well, like if you
can't.
You know, tomogamy is prettylike.
In the heart of tomogamy youdon't really see a lot of people
, which at this point anyway, sothat's kind of comforting it's
coming man.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Everywhere else is insane.
Like, if you can book it.
Like if you can do that processthe five months and whatever.
The a, they're all gaming thesystem.
B it's booked.
Like it is booked man.
So when they don't have theopportunity to go to the
provincial parks, guess wherethey're going?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
uh yeah, I was just gonna ask bug season, because
it's april may may.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah, it's right, at the arrival of bugs, I'll start
when, when they're just well, itdepends on the weather, I guess
.
But when those leaves start toopen up, I'll be out there and
that's when the bugs come out.
So I've just worked with bugsmy whole life.
They don't really bother me.
I don't even wear bug jackets.
If they're in the peak of theseason, if I'm fishing, I'll
(25:06):
wear a bug thing over my head,but I usually lift it up so I
can just cover my ears, cause Idon't like them chewing on my
ears as long as they're notbiting the tops of my feet.
I don't really, they don't bugme.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
But black flies.
I don't mind mosquitoes so much, I mean I I hate the noise when
you're, especially when you'recarrying a canoe and you can't
do anything about it.
I hate the noise in my earswhen you're walking through that
marshy bit of business.
But they don't.
Their bites don't really annoyme that much.
Black flies, on the other hand,because they love to just chew
behind my ears, to the back ofmy neck and stuff.
That makes me a little bitinsane yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'm like one of those lucky guys I found that out
tree planning where, like I, uh,they bother me more, just like
bothering me.
Like you know, like the peak ofBlack Fleet, we were wearing
like ski goggles and likeT-shirts over our face and but
some people just like get eatenand swollen and I would just
like I wouldn't even get itchy,like knock on wood, I'm prepared
(26:01):
.
I brought bug spray and a bugnet for sure.
Just, you know, you want theport when your hands are busy.
That's when I, that's when theyreally start to bite.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
So if I have two hands on a canoe, I better have
some bug spray, yeah yeah, Ihear you, but thomas and I
thomas and I actually bought oneof the original bug shirts
because we were doing planningan earlier trip, a end of may
trip, and uh, it turned out weit didn't play out and and I was
kind of mixed feelings abouthaving to cancel the trips, like
(26:33):
later into June or early July.
Not so bad, I could probablydeal with that fact, you know.
So I lost whatever 150 bucks.
That's probably a small priceto pay here at this point.
So what other, I don't know,share, share, share a trip, one
of your, one of your six orseven day solos, or share a trip
.
I know I'd see you take, uh,your daughters out with you,
(26:53):
just like I don't know how muchyou muck about with them.
Um, if they do, if they do, youknow, a long weekend trip with
you or something like that,what's?
Are they digging it or are youdragging them kicking and
screaming?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Well, they're teenagers so they don't dig
anything.
But yeah, when they wereyounger it was definitely easier
, for sure, because I justforced them.
Now they're teenagers, they'relike ugh.
But we do go to parks everyyear, like Martin River Park or
Tomogami.
They like that, they like thetoilets, they like the beaches
(27:30):
and stuff, and I know it's notfor everybody.
So I don't want to push them toa point where I want them in
bug season and getting rained onand suffering Just because I
enjoy that.
But I've taken them on the lastfew years.
I've taken them on backcountrytrips.
We went on the Mattawa Riverwhich we got rained on and
bugged out, but they weretroopers, which was awesome, and
(27:51):
they still talk about thatmemory.
So it's like, even though itwas a bit of a sketchy memory,
they still talk about it, whichmakes me happy.
Um, and then the next, but youknow, sorry, the next day after
the bugs and rain, we paddled upto the waterfalls on the
Mattawell River and it was justlike incredible and I think they
saw that balance of like okay,like sometimes there's rewards,
(28:13):
you know, like, push yourselfand get out of your comfort zone
and it's just so special to seethem on their own paddling near
the water, like pushingthemselves to get closer to the
falls, and I can tell they wereenjoying their time.
I always kind of remind themthat after too.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Was that you enjoying your time?
No, just checking, just checking.
Last year I was really proud wedid a two night back country
trip.
So like I got a bug tent.
When did we go?
Because there was no bug.
It must've been early spring, Iguess, because there wasn't
very much bugs.
Go because there was no bug.
It must have been early spring,I guess, because there wasn't
very much bugs.
So that was okay and I wasproud of them.
(28:50):
Like they didn't really want togo, I did all the planning, all
the packing and forced them togo.
But once they were out there,they were giggling and singing
in the canoe and laughing andjust like I really let them know
that time was like just want tostop here for a moment and
reflect on what's happeningright now.
And they and they acknowledgedthat, which was nice and I was a
(29:13):
very.
I think that was a goodtransition for us.
I think they they liked it,they had fun and I have video
proof so I can show it to thembefore the next trip too.
But yeah, they don't like toadmit it, but they're not,
they're not big, I don't thinkthey're gonna you know who knows
in the future, but I think they, once they're out there, they
do appreciate it and enjoythemselves.
(29:34):
So I want to give them thatopportunity.
Like I, I think they'll changein the future just the way they
were raised.
I think someday they're to findsolace or whatever in the
forest.
They're going to find that.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Well, I, I, totally, totally agree.
I mean, look at so you in yourmid to late teens kind of get
forces the wrong term but getpushed towards, you know,
getting out in nature, doing,doing those things, and look how
it has played out for you.
The amount of people that wetalked to that were, you know,
(30:18):
uh, the only time I got to spendsome time with my dad was out
fishing in a canoe or scouts, oryou know, it's the, it's the
it's in those, those formativeyears.
Get out, get some enjoyment outof it.
At some point down the road itwill come back to you like you
will.
You will go, yeah, you knowwhat I want to get out and do
that stuff.
I you know.
For me personally, I had aninsanely busy life from early
20s into, I don't know, 40 ish,maybe something like that, and I
(30:46):
still managed to, like, I did alot of skiing on my very small
amount of time off, but I wouldstill go and even do just a
three, three day drive into somepiece of dirt campsite.
I don't care, man, I'm plunkingdown, I'm cooking stuff over an
open fire, I'm slapping at bugs.
I'm loving this stuff.
So nice.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm proud ofthem.
I'm slapping at bugs.
I'm loving this stuff.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Nice.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm proud ofthem.
I'm going to continue pushingthem and this year we'll go.
We'll plan another big trip andI think the back country is a
good like around here it's easyto to go not too far.
So for them for me, it's notthat fun.
Well, it's not back country,but for them it is backcountry.
(31:28):
Like we're paddling to a randomisland on a lake and in the
middle of nowhere and so, yeah,they, they enjoy it.
I'm gonna keep pushing them toget out at least once, like once
a year.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Talked about winter camping a little bit, that's out
of the question, but I'll justcontinue to do that solo and you
just keep suggesting so so oneof us didn't, didn't want to be
doing backcountry camping, uh,but but managed to say, okay,
we'll give it a shot, uh, lastyear.
So we did a three.
(32:01):
It ended up being a two nightstorm was coming in and we
needed to get the hell out ofthere.
We're doing, uh we're currentlyplanning a five day with some
friends, uh, through um pointgrandine down into philip edward
island on georgian bay.
Uh, it's like that would havebeen like three years ago.
(32:24):
That was a no.
Uh, none of that's happening.
Absolutely not Now.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Somebody's persuasive .
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Somebody pastors a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I was being nice.
I know you were.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I appreciate it sweetie, when it's nonstop, it's
like, oh my God come on.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh, all right, shut up Exactly.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
I just have to change change.
I call it glamping.
It's far from glamping, butwhen I go with my girlfriend
that's what we do.
Yeah, she likes to have certainthings and that's okay with me,
like if, as long as we're goingoutdoors, we um her connections
with tomogamy, with her family,so she likes to go there and
squirrel lake road, although ittends to get pretty busy.
(33:09):
There's times where you cankind of sneak out there in late
fall and just camp off the carcamp essentially.
And yeah, she likes, she likesto get out.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
She's not too big on the type two fun though but car
camping still, like you said,getting out there man like, okay
, it's fine, well, let's do aweekend, let's go do car camping
and I'll get my type two nextweekend.
Whatever, however, it needs toplay out for sure, yeah, yeah
all right, that's it for us fortoday.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Thank you so much to our special guests, curtis
laflesh, from the not so epicadventure on instagram and
youtube.
Please do check him out, checkus out while we're there, and if
you want to talk to us, we areat hi at supergoodcampaigncom.
If you have a question, acomment, if you have even
somebody you would like us tointerview, we would love to hear
from you.
So it's hi atsupergoodcampaigncom, that's hi
(34:02):
at supergoodcampaigncom, andwe'll talk to you again soon.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Bye.
Hello and good day.
Welcome to this Super GoodCamping podcast.
My name is Pamela, I'm Tim.
And we are fromsupergoodcampingcom.
We're here because we're on amission to inspire other people
to get outside and enjoy campingadventures such as we have as a
family.
Today's guest is a gentlemanthat Tim has been following on
Instagram for a while now.
Unlike Tim, he also puts outvideo tripping content on his
YouTube channel, though he'sextremely passionate about being
(00:22):
out in nature and, like us,loves to bring the kids along.
He has worked in forestry andlogging related positions for
most of his life, among otherthings.
Today, he's going to tell usabout a 15-day, 160-kilometer
trip he has planned for Tomogamislash Lady Evelyn area this
spring, which, very coolly, heis starting on a lake that he
planted trees on 25 years ago.
Please welcome Curtis LaFleche,also known as the Not so Epic
(00:45):
Adventurer on YouTube andInstagram.
Welcome, curtis.
Speaker 3 (00:49):
Thank you, that was an amazing intro.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
That's Tim's work.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
I pull it out of my butt about 15 minutes before we
go live.
Nice, the pressure seems towork Right out of the gate.
I'm going to go off topic, butI think it's part of the story.
So, having done some chattingwith you, I understand you.
At 16, I think, you werediagnosed with AS immune
(01:16):
disorder.
Tell us a little bit about whatit is, tell us how it affects
your tripping and how you dealwith it.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yeah, I mean I think I was about 16 years old, I was
big into hockey and I pulled mygroin and I just kind of felt
that sciatic pain for the firsttime and just being well, not
knowing what AS was, I justthought it was a pulled groin or
like hockey injuries and I justkind of dealt with it for about
two to three years and thenfinally got diagnosed with AS
(01:52):
ankylosing spondylitis whichessentially is your spine is
slowly fusing together.
So you know, at 18, 19 yearsold it was a pretty huge blow,
tough pill to swallow.
It was tough to maintainplaying sports, which was really
hard and you know, just tryingto heal and discover who I'm
going to become.
You know that was my identity.
So I just started walking andthen I still remember to this
(02:14):
day I walked off to the skitrails.
I'm just like, let me go downthese ski trails.
And then I just fell in lovewith hiking and then I was like
seeing birds for the first timeI didn't know existed and these
plants, like I still rememberthe first Solomon seal, the
false Solomon seal I saw and Iwas just like is this?
Like did someone plant thishere?
This doesn't seem like itbelongs in a forest, like, say,
(02:36):
when neo-tropical birds, I waslike, did someone lose their pet
?
Like what's going on?
So I just rushed down to thelibrary and start researching
and I just became passionateabout the outdoors after.
I just never looked back and Ijust, you know, looking back I
realized that's where I wasgoing to heal, where I was going
to, like, connect with natureand just process things, I guess
(02:57):
for mentally, yeah, so it waslooking back.
It was a huge transition of mylife, that's for sure.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So something crappy turned into something wonderful
One.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
So you said it helped you heal, so has the disease.
You know, like you haven'tended up in a wheelchair,
obviously.
Speaker 3 (03:16):
You know a lot of people that have what I have are
slunched over like really badly, and I feel just being active
and mobile and pushing myselfhas allowed me to be straight as
I can be.
And I mean I've been trippingwith a lot of people and I can
hold my own.
I'm 46 years old.
So it's like at this point Idon't let it hold me back
(03:37):
because it's I'm 46.
It's been too long.
I've been fighting it so much.
I've learned how to pain manage.
So it's just become who I am.
And you know, talk about likeadjustments at camping.
Yeah, I have to bring pain meds.
I really have to watch how Isleep.
I have to try my best tostretch as much as possible and
more in the last five years, Iwould say, just because of a
(04:00):
tree planner.
Like production wise, I'vealways been working production
and maybe and that's my excuseanyway but I always want to get
to point a to b as fast andefficient as possible.
I'm really learning to likedrop my pack mid portage and
take a five minute break andit's like extra five minutes
doesn't make a difference at allon your trip but it makes a
(04:20):
massive difference on my healthand my back.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So just learning to slow down at my age, I guess,
yeah, I can't truly explain howmuch I hear myself echoed in in
literally in that story.
I've got some back issues.
I stopped doing trying to do,you know, single carries.
Anymore we don't move every day, we often do two days or do a
(04:45):
three-day base camp, move acouple of days, do two days,
because, yeah, I got you beat bya few years but it took me a
little little while to smartenup for some of the things.
But, yeah, cool, well, that'sgreat.
I mean I'm glad that, I'm gladthat it's one of those.
You just deal with it like yeah, I still want to get out there,
I want to do this stuff.
This is, this is how, 30 yearslater, I've I've figured out how
(05:10):
to, how to best manage it.
You should see my bag of medsas well.
Same same deal.
Man, anti-inflammatories at youknow, like advil the whole.
Speaker 1 (05:19):
Yeah, yeah, yeah uh okay, how awesome that, like
disease, I mean crappy to have adisease, especially at such a
young age, but that it ignitedsuch a wonderful thing for you a
passion for nature I tend toburn out once in a while, but it
pushes me to get out like Idon't take life for granted, I
don't take my body for granted.
Speaker 3 (05:37):
I just like that's kind of why, like I got into dog
sledding and just like movedout west to like paddle with the
salmon, just like at that pointI was like worried that later
on in my life I wouldn't be ableto do those things.
So I pushed myself to just doeverything I could and lots of
it.
But now it's I'm at a pointwhere I can just ease back a
(05:58):
little bit and just enjoy itmore too.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, very cool.
Um so, getting out nature,plants, animals, all that sort
of jazz is I make the assumptionthat's.
That's what pointed you at,forestry type jobs and stuff,
right?
Speaker 3 (06:18):
yeah, I wanted to be part of the management side of
things and maybe back then I wasa little bit naive on how that
all worked and thought maybe youknow there is good management,
there is good management outthere, but I thought there was.
It was a bit different, alittle bit naive, but at the
same time I was making at somepoints making really big
decisions and it was nice toknow that you know I'm making
(06:39):
decisions that other peoplewouldn't make, tend to make,
based on my knowledge on birdsand like cavity trees and
riparian zones and things likethat.
Just having a heart, I guesswhere some people are like
pushing towards, like let's getas close to the river as we can
for the mill, like, but where Iwas, like let's go as far away
from the river as we can for themill because of habitat because
(07:01):
of whatever.
Yeah, yeah yeah, justrecognizing that habitat and
caring for it, not just seeingthe logs as money, I guess.
So yeah, I was really into theforest management side of things
.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Cool.
Wow, so training huskies too,that sounds pretty cool.
Speaker 3 (07:16):
Yeah, I was just adopting Siberian huskies and
just I didn't have a clue.
I bought a kick sled and Ibought a dog sled and then
bought all the ropes.
Have a clue, I bought a kicksled and I bought a dog sled and
then bought all the ropes, andthen I just YouTube, kind of
reading books and YouTube andtrial and error, lots of
accidents, and yeah, it was alot of hard work, that's for
sure.
And do you?
Speaker 1 (07:35):
still have dogs.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
No, I just have one Husky, but he's just a bonehead
that I love.
He doesn't pull sleds, hedoesn't like going out in the
rain too much, yeah, but uh,yeah, we all adopted them away
to um actual dog rate, like dogteams.
So one of the females actuallywent on to like win a bunch of
races, which was kind of cooland what didn't?
Speaker 2 (07:57):
the dude that did that won this year's iditarod.
I think he did it with allrescues.
Pretty sure that was the.
That was the deal.
So he was determined he wasn'tgonna be once.
He trained for a bazillionyears.
He was gonna be all rescues.
He was gonna train them for ayear or something like that.
I don't don't know all thedetails, but it was like holy
crap, I thought, because that'sserious stuff, man yeah, it's a
(08:19):
a lot of hard work for you getlike three, four.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Well out there I was getting more but three, four
months of winters that you getto actually use them on the
sleds and that the amount ofwork it takes all year to get
there is just incredible.
Even I only had I had five dogsat one point, but the the team
is mostly four and that was hardwork.
Just four dogs, yeah, it's alot of dog.
(08:43):
We had a lot of good friendsthat dropped off a lot of moose
scraps and helped feed them cool.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
So before we get to your big trip, where do you,
where do you normally trip, what?
What are your normal outdooradventure pursuits?
Speaker 3 (08:56):
I know you like to fish you're also a way better
fisherman than I am I don't knowabout that, but yeah, yeah, I
don't really have spots I loveto go.
I'm not too big on parks.
It's not nothing against parks,I don't have any reasons.
I tend to like going placeswhere no one's gone before, so I
(09:17):
usually just kind of look onAvenza or maps and just find
rivers and like go exploring byfoot.
As far as like canoeing,tomogamy is definitely a place
I've traveled over the years,and then just local areas around
here in mattawa river um, wehave highway 533.
That's all full of small brookum splake mostly, but also brook
(09:39):
trout lakes and rivers, sothat's a great place to to go
and explore and then yeah,you're west, you're North Bay,
right.
Yeah, I'm in North Bay area,sorry, yeah.
So coming from out west it waskind of hard like paddling some
of those rivers and the salmonand the eagles and the mountains
.
I'm like, what am I going to doin Ontario?
And I was kind of bummed out.
(10:00):
But then I got here and I wasjust like it didn't take long to
be reminded why, how beautifulit is up here, you know, and
it's not much different really.
Speaker 2 (10:07):
yeah I mean there's a you know you're, you're into,
you're into granite, you're into, you know, windswept pines,
it's that sort of a deal.
But there's, I don't know, Idon't know, I never can quite
figure it out.
There's something about it likelike look at how, so, so, so,
from, certainly from ourperspective, because we've been
asked a number of times like why, why do you just do Ontario
(10:29):
people?
Cause there's so many of themand because they're so awesome,
like as far as guests go, right,we don't we're.
We have been trying to branchout a little bit more.
The community here is extremelystrong, extremely supportive,
because there's so much coolstuff to do, so much amazing
things to see.
You know, I, until my, oureldest and I were paddling
(10:53):
through I want to say it wasAlgonquin at some point and I
looked up and went I thinkthat's a bald eagle man.
Do we have bald eagles up there?
Well, I don't know.
So then we came home, weresearched, I think we looked it
up on the internet as opposedto youtube or going to the
library.
But uh, yeah, I was like cool,and then, and then we saw a
bunch down on the french.
(11:13):
You know, it's like that'sawesome, that's a massive bird
of prey.
I had no idea.
So getting out there and doingstuff with, yeah, the community
it's, it's a.
It's a weird thing.
We we, um, had a had an amazingchat with a dude from
saskatchewan recently and Ithink it was probably pushing
three hours of just yakking likewe did it.
You know, yeah, it was, I'msure it was a 40 minute segment,
(11:35):
but we, we ended up yakking forhours like and it's like yeah,
it's, there's not so many peoplehere, there's not so much, it's
not there, there are some, butit's a.
It's a slightly different deal,whereas here, you know, you go
to the whatever outdooradventure show and it's like hey
, hey, hey, you know, you seeall your, your, your cool
youtubers and stuff.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
Yeah, it's a very welcoming community, that's for
sure.
Yeah, cool.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
Well, so let's unveil the big prize.
Tell me about, tell me aboutwhat.
What went into planning 15 days, 160 kilometers, that's like
that's a.
That's a pretty epic trip.
That's much as it's not.
So.
Epic adventurers yeah, that'san epic trip.
Like I don't see how.
That's not what.
(12:22):
How long did it take you?
Where do you start?
What resources do you use?
Give us the.
Give us the spiel man.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, I uh.
So I started working forShopify and they had this thing
where after five years you get amonth off free, like paid.
So I was just like right awaywhen I got closer to five years,
I was like I know what I'musing my time for, because when
else will I have an opportunityto have that much time off?
I guess.
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Certainly in a block.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
Yeah, because they never go in a block like that.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
You can maybe take two weeks, that's it.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Yeah, exactly, and it could be any time of the year
for me, so I can pick when I cango.
I decided on spring because Ididn't want to wait till fall,
decided on spring because Ididn't want to wait till fall
just never know what happenswith work, I guess and uh, so I
wanted to do it in spring, um,and then I was just trying to
think of places.
Wabakimi was up there.
What other places?
Uh, yeah, I was just thinkingof all these different places.
(13:15):
I guess I had out west in mindat one point with one of my
friends and, um, I was justlooking at the logistics of all
that.
I was losing too many daystraveling and the cost.
And I've traveled all overTamagami.
I've done a lot of the north,east and south, but not so much
northwest, and there'sdefinitely parts that I haven't
(13:36):
touched.
And I was just looking at it.
I'm like you know what I'llhave if I just go an hour and a
half away.
I reduce all the travel, allthat cost, and I can get on more
time on the water and in theforest.
So I decided on Tamagami.
So that was step one, and thenI just had the backcountry map
and I just sat there for dayslike daydreaming.
That's like my favorite thingto do.
(13:57):
I just I planned about maybe 10different trips, started
watching YouTube, startedresearching blogs, looking at
different aspects, and then itjust kind of came to me.
I think the tree planting, likeGamble Lake, the Beauty Lake
Road is where I planted for likeprobably three years I was on
that lake all in Elk Lake andGolgonda area Shining Tree.
(14:18):
So I was like that seems like abit of a calling like start at
Gamble Lake and then Backroads.
Bill I'm not sure if you heardof him.
He's a podcaster, he owns theecology, he's a director at the
Canadian Ecology Center here inMattawa.
He's on CBC Radio often and hedid a piece on Florence Lake
which has those petroglyphs andI was like, okay, that's
(14:42):
something I'd like to explore.
It seems like a hard lake toget into.
So I went from Gamble down toFlorence and now I just started
looking at Lady Evelyn, which Idid a couple years ago, so I
want to incorporate that in thetrip.
So I decided to go north ofLady Evelyn and then head
towards Diamond Lake, which iskind of the center of Tomogami,
and then I'm paddling downtowards um Diamond.
(15:05):
Always mix it up.
It's not Wabakimi, it's umWabimaka Lake River which
connects Obabaca and then downto Emerald.
So it's just a kind of like adead center, like down to
Florence, up down the center ofTomogami and all the way to the
south and I'm ending ending onEmerald, which is also a special
place, like I'm starting in aspecial place and I'm ending in
(15:28):
a place where my partner'sfamily there's a lot of ashes
that have been spread there inManitou and Emerald area because
they're from Bear Island sotheir old trap lines used to run
kind of in that area back inthe day.
So they have an aunt and anuncle and a grandmother that
they have their ashes there.
So it's very.
She's going to pick me up atthe end of the trip and we're
(15:48):
going to spend a couple of dayson that lake and we've been
going in the last couple ofyears just to like tobacco ties
and just kind of stare at thelake for a while and just relax
with the dog.
But it's a very special placefor her, so it's a great place
to end the trip.
Very special place for her, soit's a great place to end the
trip.
So, yeah, I got the.
That was the trip that and Ipart of me was like I have all
(16:08):
this time, am I?
Am I like bailing on myself andjust making it easier and like
skipping out on Waba Kini,should I?
I kept that in the back of myhead Like maybe I should switch
up plans and do something bigger.
But I once I decided on thistrip, that's when I got down to
the notes and started writinglike distances and safety, route
(16:29):
plans and just kind of likegoing into the major planning.
And then I got into like foodgear, yeah, just all the
logistics involved.
I mean I considered flying intoFlorence at one point.
All the logistics involved.
I mean I considered flying intoFlorence at one point.
The cost was a little too much.
(16:53):
There's shuttles to get fromTamagami to Gamble.
I'm hoping that it looks like Ihave a ride which is kind of
nice, so I'll just yeah, myfriend and girlfriend are going
to drive me down hopefully, sothat'll be nice to avoid those
costs.
So, yeah, I've just beenplanning.
I think the biggest thing nowhas just been what gear am I
going to bring?
And the food like I've alreadystarted dehydrating, just like
(17:14):
the berries, and I'll do cornand peppers, just so I can build
meals.
But yeah, I got about 10 daymenu planned.
I feel like I will buy somemeals.
I listened to your podcast withCamp Kitchen and you know I
actually didn't know aboutfreeze dried versus dehydrated,
so it's just like back to thedrawing board.
I'm going to, I feel like I'mgoing to support his business
(17:36):
and that's where I'm going toget the freeze dried portion
into my planning and then therest I'll just dehydrate my own
meals, which I love to do.
But even just like the calorieintake per day, you know I'm
usually not that big on thatstuff.
I just eat what I can and Idon't eat too much some days and
lots of the others.
But this, this is a big tripwhere I need to be, need to be,
(17:58):
have those calories in me,that's for sure.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
You're going to stay on top of.
On top of that, your your yourburn rate.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
For lack of a better term, yeah, exactly yeah, so I
created this master spreadsheetwhere it's like everything I add
equipment, wise, gets added tothe master and then adds the
weight pack weight and then samewith my menu as I add food, um,
it'll add the weight to thefinal, the final tally.
I guess, just to be just tohave something that I can print
(18:24):
out and have a visible, likevisibility of what I'm bringing.
But yeah, it's a, it's a.
I've got like a journal herethat's got about 10 pages and
the spreadsheet and it takes alot, like you know, you just
want to plan, plan, plan Likethere's.
There's always bad luck, butyou can really reduce it by
really good preparation andplanning.
Speaker 1 (18:46):
People have told us that's part of the anticipation
of the whole trip is theplanning and trying to get the
details just right, Lookingforward to making sure that you
actually got the food on point.
You got the meals that youwanted to have done.
I think that's part of the fun.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
It has to be because it's such a big part of it and
everyone that does it loves.
They go camping afterwards.
That's the reward.
But I love the planning partand I love I call it mise en
place.
Like a chef, I love having allmy gear out on the room and just
looking at it and just preppingand then taking this gear out,
maybe adding something, or justlike what's that old bushcraft,
(19:26):
like everything should havethree uses almost.
So just coming up with ideas oflike, oh, if I bring this rope,
this will be my bear hang, thiswill be my canoe tie, this will
be this, and you know, multipleuse for everything.
So, yeah, I just I've beenpacking and repacking in my mind
already and it's fun.
It's a fun part of it for sure.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
This is a solo trip, curtis right.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Sorry, I did solo.
That's a big part of it.
I know a lot of my especiallymy parents like why don't you go
with someone?
For the safety reasons?
But that's a big part of this.
It's like a.
It's a.
I'm challenging myself, that'sfor sure.
This is a big trip.
I've never done anything, let'ssee here.
I think like six, seven dayshas been the biggest trips I've
(20:09):
ever done.
So this is double that.
I have safety plans.
I know I can get out earlier,like through Sandy Inlet or the
airplane or call it Eco Lodge,you know, but at the same time I
don't want to bail Like I wantto push myself to be there that
long.
So it's gonna be challenging.
I'm gonna have some ups anddowns, that's for sure.
I'm already, as we get closerto the date, I can feel that
(20:33):
anxiety building of the trip andyeah, it's all part of it well,
yeah, this is it's late, late,late May into June, right?
yeah, I'm gonna go May 26 Iguess that's the week after long
weekend, yeah, I believe.
And then, yeah, I'm planning 15days.
I feel like my trip is aboutnine to 10 days.
(20:55):
I mean, you can make it a lotsmaller too if you're really
wanting to push and lightweight.
But with the double carries andmy, my unofficial motto for
this trip is nothing but time.
I just keep repeating that.
So it's like I get on thoseportages.
If I have to triple carry, Idon't care.
I'm going to pull out my cameraand watch birds and take three
carries and spend two hours onthe trail.
(21:16):
So that's kind of my motto.
I don't want to.
Last thing I want to do isinjure myself and and myself and
leave early, Aggravate a tendonor a ligament or something, or
twist an ankle or just fatigue.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
Anything can happen.
So, as somebody who reallyhasn't done like, I'm on terror
parks all the time, that's me.
How do you do if you're in amore wilderness setting?
Wilderness setting, I keepbushwhacking is what keeps
coming to mind.
How do you, how do you plan,like when you're talking about
it was was it the back roads, uh, that you used for the maps?
Speaker 3 (21:56):
um, for the maps I used.
Yeah, the back country trippingmap, and then avenza.
Speaker 2 (22:00):
Yeah, that was it so are there, do they lay out
campsites and that sort of jazz?
So you have a rough idea ofwhat you're, where you're going.
Speaker 3 (22:11):
You don't know how much clearing you're gonna have
to do or who's cleared it orwhat have you yeah, they're
unmanned parks but, um, I knowderrick, derrick outdoors and I
did the lady evelyn loop acouple years ago and there's
definitely portages that aren'tmarked clearly or that weren't
there and they're just like nextthing.
You know we're going downrapids and then we're waiting
for a or we're waiting forrapids and they never appear.
(22:34):
Just you know water levels andthen, yeah, campsites, you can
just never know.
I guess, like I've had one mapshow a site here and then the
main map showed another place.
It's like where is it actuallygoing to be, kind of thing.
So it's not as like asalgonquin.
You know, when you get there'sa designated site, it's there,
(22:55):
it's going to be there that's abig orange tag on the tree and
stuff.
Yeah, yeah, and that's the otherside of it too, is someone
could be there.
So you got to watch, like ifI'm pushing on a day, like I
just want to reach this campsiteby you know, by the sun down,
and then all of a sudden youpull up and someone's there.
It's like, oh no, you know, Ididn't book it.
It's not, you have to book topermit to camp, but you don't
(23:17):
book the actual campsitesthemselves.
Speaker 2 (23:19):
Yeah, so it's first come, first serve yeah, a bit of
a bit of a crapshoot.
I mean I get, I get the, Ithink I get the allure of it.
I'm a bit anal, retentivemyself, so.
So, knowing that this is whereI'm going, like I don't, I
didn't, never minded booking alake, right, because there's six
(23:40):
sites on it or what, what haveyou.
And sure as all get out, I willpaddle past the first one.
There'll be somebody on it.
Second, one, third, fourth,fifth, so we're on the sixth
site, the farthest one away,whatever, but at least I know
I'm on this lake, I'm on a site.
So, if I can plan, we can getthere an hour before sundown, we
(24:01):
can get there two minutesbefore sundown, but we can still
get there before sundown.
Speaker 3 (24:08):
That's good too, too for safety as well, like if you
can't.
You know, tomogamy is prettylike.
In the heart of tomogamy youdon't really see a lot of people
, which at this point anyway, sothat's kind of comforting it's
coming man.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
Everywhere else is insane.
Like, if you can book it.
Like if you can do that processthe five months and whatever.
The a, they're all gaming thesystem.
B it's booked.
Like it is booked man.
So when they don't have theopportunity to go to the
provincial parks, guess wherethey're going?
Speaker 1 (24:35):
uh yeah, I was just gonna ask bug season, because
it's april may may.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
Yeah, it's right, at the arrival of bugs, I'll start
when, when they're just well, itdepends on the weather, I guess
.
But when those leaves start toopen up, I'll be out there and
that's when the bugs come out.
So I've just worked with bugsmy whole life.
They don't really bother me.
I don't even wear bug jackets.
If they're in the peak of theseason, if I'm fishing, I'll
(25:06):
wear a bug thing over my head,but I usually lift it up so I
can just cover my ears, cause Idon't like them chewing on my
ears as long as they're notbiting the tops of my feet.
I don't really, they don't bugme.
Speaker 2 (25:16):
But black flies.
I don't mind mosquitoes so much, I mean I I hate the noise when
you're, especially when you'recarrying a canoe and you can't
do anything about it.
I hate the noise in my earswhen you're walking through that
marshy bit of business.
But they don't.
Their bites don't really annoyme that much.
Black flies, on the other hand,because they love to just chew
behind my ears, to the back ofmy neck and stuff.
That makes me a little bitinsane yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
I'm like one of those lucky guys I found that out
tree planning where, like I, uh,they bother me more, just like
bothering me.
Like you know, like the peak ofBlack Fleet, we were wearing
like ski goggles and likeT-shirts over our face and but
some people just like get eatenand swollen and I would just
like I wouldn't even get itchy,like knock on wood, I'm prepared
(26:01):
.
I brought bug spray and a bugnet for sure.
Just, you know, you want theport when your hands are busy.
That's when I, that's when theyreally start to bite.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
So if I have two hands on a canoe, I better have
some bug spray, yeah yeah, Ihear you, but thomas and I
thomas and I actually bought oneof the original bug shirts
because we were doing planningan earlier trip, a end of may
trip, and uh, it turned out weit didn't play out and and I was
kind of mixed feelings abouthaving to cancel the trips, like
(26:33):
later into June or early July.
Not so bad, I could probablydeal with that fact, you know.
So I lost whatever 150 bucks.
That's probably a small priceto pay here at this point.
So what other, I don't know,share, share, share a trip, one
of your, one of your six orseven day solos, or share a trip
.
I know I'd see you take, uh,your daughters out with you,
(26:53):
just like I don't know how muchyou muck about with them.
Um, if they do, if they do, youknow, a long weekend trip with
you or something like that,what's?
Are they digging it or are youdragging them kicking and
screaming?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
Well, they're teenagers so they don't dig
anything.
But yeah, when they wereyounger it was definitely easier
, for sure, because I justforced them.
Now they're teenagers, they'relike ugh.
But we do go to parks everyyear, like Martin River Park or
Tomogami.
They like that, they like thetoilets, they like the beaches
(27:30):
and stuff, and I know it's notfor everybody.
So I don't want to push them toa point where I want them in
bug season and getting rained onand suffering Just because I
enjoy that.
But I've taken them on the lastfew years.
I've taken them on backcountrytrips.
We went on the Mattawa Riverwhich we got rained on and
bugged out, but they weretroopers, which was awesome, and
(27:51):
they still talk about thatmemory.
So it's like, even though itwas a bit of a sketchy memory,
they still talk about it, whichmakes me happy.
Um, and then the next, but youknow, sorry, the next day after
the bugs and rain, we paddled upto the waterfalls on the
Mattawell River and it was justlike incredible and I think they
saw that balance of like okay,like sometimes there's rewards,
(28:13):
you know, like, push yourselfand get out of your comfort zone
and it's just so special to seethem on their own paddling near
the water, like pushingthemselves to get closer to the
falls, and I can tell they wereenjoying their time.
I always kind of remind themthat after too.
Speaker 1 (28:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (28:29):
Was that you enjoying your time?
No, just checking, just checking.
Last year I was really proud wedid a two night back country
trip.
So like I got a bug tent.
When did we go?
Because there was no bug.
It must've been early spring, Iguess, because there wasn't
very much bugs.
Go because there was no bug.
It must have been early spring,I guess, because there wasn't
very much bugs.
So that was okay and I wasproud of them.
(28:50):
Like they didn't really want togo, I did all the planning, all
the packing and forced them togo.
But once they were out there,they were giggling and singing
in the canoe and laughing andjust like I really let them know
that time was like just want tostop here for a moment and
reflect on what's happeningright now.
And they and they acknowledgedthat, which was nice and I was a
(29:13):
very.
I think that was a goodtransition for us.
I think they they liked it,they had fun and I have video
proof so I can show it to thembefore the next trip too.
But yeah, they don't like toadmit it, but they're not,
they're not big, I don't thinkthey're gonna you know who knows
in the future, but I think they, once they're out there, they
do appreciate it and enjoythemselves.
(29:34):
So I want to give them thatopportunity.
Like I, I think they'll changein the future just the way they
were raised.
I think someday they're to findsolace or whatever in the
forest.
They're going to find that.
Speaker 2 (29:48):
Well, I, I, totally, totally agree.
I mean, look at so you in yourmid to late teens kind of get
forces the wrong term but getpushed towards, you know,
getting out in nature, doing,doing those things, and look how
it has played out for you.
The amount of people that wetalked to that were, you know,
(30:18):
uh, the only time I got to spendsome time with my dad was out
fishing in a canoe or scouts, oryou know, it's the, it's the
it's in those, those formativeyears.
Get out, get some enjoyment outof it.
At some point down the road itwill come back to you like you
will.
You will go, yeah, you knowwhat I want to get out and do
that stuff.
I you know.
For me personally, I had aninsanely busy life from early
20s into, I don't know, 40 ish,maybe something like that, and I
(30:46):
still managed to, like, I did alot of skiing on my very small
amount of time off, but I wouldstill go and even do just a
three, three day drive into somepiece of dirt campsite.
I don't care, man, I'm plunkingdown, I'm cooking stuff over an
open fire, I'm slapping at bugs.
I'm loving this stuff.
So nice.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm proud ofthem.
I'm slapping at bugs.
I'm loving this stuff.
Speaker 3 (31:06):
Nice.
Yeah, no, I'm, I'm proud ofthem.
I'm going to continue pushingthem and this year we'll go.
We'll plan another big trip andI think the back country is a
good like around here it's easyto to go not too far.
So for them for me, it's notthat fun.
Well, it's not back country,but for them it is backcountry.
(31:28):
Like we're paddling to a randomisland on a lake and in the
middle of nowhere and so, yeah,they, they enjoy it.
I'm gonna keep pushing them toget out at least once, like once
a year.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Talked about winter camping a little bit, that's out
of the question, but I'll justcontinue to do that solo and you
just keep suggesting so so oneof us didn't, didn't want to be
doing backcountry camping, uh,but but managed to say, okay,
we'll give it a shot, uh, lastyear.
So we did a three.
(32:01):
It ended up being a two nightstorm was coming in and we
needed to get the hell out ofthere.
We're doing, uh we're currentlyplanning a five day with some
friends, uh, through um pointgrandine down into philip edward
island on georgian bay.
Uh, it's like that would havebeen like three years ago.
(32:24):
That was a no.
Uh, none of that's happening.
Absolutely not Now.
Okay.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
Somebody's persuasive .
Speaker 2 (32:34):
Somebody pastors a lot.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
I was being nice.
I know you were.
Speaker 2 (32:38):
I appreciate it sweetie, when it's nonstop, it's
like, oh my God come on.
Speaker 1 (32:44):
Oh, all right, shut up Exactly.
Speaker 3 (32:49):
I just have to change change.
I call it glamping.
It's far from glamping, butwhen I go with my girlfriend
that's what we do.
Yeah, she likes to have certainthings and that's okay with me,
like if, as long as we're goingoutdoors, we um her connections
with tomogamy, with her family,so she likes to go there and
squirrel lake road, although ittends to get pretty busy.
(33:09):
There's times where you cankind of sneak out there in late
fall and just camp off the carcamp essentially.
And yeah, she likes, she likesto get out.
Speaker 2 (33:20):
She's not too big on the type two fun though but car
camping still, like you said,getting out there man like, okay
, it's fine, well, let's do aweekend, let's go do car camping
and I'll get my type two nextweekend.
Whatever, however, it needs toplay out for sure, yeah, yeah
all right, that's it for us fortoday.
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Thank you so much to our special guests, curtis
laflesh, from the not so epicadventure on instagram and
youtube.
Please do check him out, checkus out while we're there, and if
you want to talk to us, we areat hi at supergoodcampaigncom.
If you have a question, acomment, if you have even
somebody you would like us tointerview, we would love to hear
from you.
So it's hi atsupergoodcampaigncom, that's hi
(34:02):
at supergoodcampaigncom, andwe'll talk to you again soon.
Bye.
Speaker 2 (34:05):
Bye.
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