John of the Jungle

All the preparations have been made, the time booked off from work and school, the proper permits have been purchased and canoe lessons have been given. Tia and I are going into the interior of Algonquin park this August for a week long canoe and camping trip. Not a drive to your site and drink beer trip, but a real, survive off the land in the middle of nowhere camping trip. We broke out the canoe route map of Algonquin and mapped out our trip. We are going to start off by launching from the launch site at Opeongo Lake and through out the week make our way from the south arm of the lake to the north arm where we will stay in a moose habitat near a swamp. Tia did surprisingly well for her first time canoing, but I should have known she would seeing she's pretty much the most best thing ever. Bears scare the hell out of me so I believe I'm going to buy bear spray. Statistics show that it's pretty much a fluke if you manage to see a bear because they can smell you and go out of their way to stay away from you; you could be just a few feet away from a bear and not even know it because its slipping off in the the bush quietly as to not attract your attention. In the area's history of being a national park, there have only ever been two incidences that resulted in death due to bear attack. Both these incidences were caused not because of the campers inappropriate reaction to the bear, but because they were attacked by a lone male with the intent to kill and consume. Bears vary rarely stock and kill humans for a source of food (especially black bears, which are the only species found in Algonquin Park) but it has happened on very rare occasion. So like I said, bears scare the hell out of me. Also, I seem to be a magnet for hoarse and deer flies. I don't know if anyone has come in contact with these terrible insects from the pits of hell, but they are not cool. Think of a house fly, but a few times bigger, and they bite, and when they do, that take two plugs of skin with them. Their bite is so deep and large it actually draws blood. When I was younger and would canoe with my father, I would return from our trips covered in little red dots and dried blood. As Tia and I are going in late August, the deer and hoarse flies we'll be gone and the mosquitoes will be at a minimum. With all the being said, I haven't yet delved into the issue that worries me the most. Going to the bathroom in the wild makes me a little worried. Only a few of these designated camp areas have privies (which is what the picture at the top is of) which is a little wooden box with a hole, righ there in the open, that you poop into... kinda scared of that. And you have a privy if your lucky, either then that, your poopin' in a bush getting you ass bit by rattle snakes. The excitement and fun of the trip definitely out-way my worries, but then again, I worry about everything. A few more canoe lessons and a shopping trip and we'll be ready to go. Cheers!