It was the long weekend and I was ready to head up north for Barrhead. When I arrived there wasn't as much family as I expected. But we settled down, roasted hot dogs and jumped on the trampoline. However it was spoiled by the high populations of mosquitoes (and I'm glad they don't carry malaria.) My mother was literally eaten alive. The nearby ponds and creek served as a nesting ground for (literally) bloodthirsty insects. And my Mom (despite the warnings) forgot bug repellent!! (thankfully Grandma had her own spray.) The next day after a delicious breakfast I was reading magazines in the living room. Three magazines i've gotten into are The Economist, Macleans and Consumer Reports. After I was done I decided to look for frogs. I was searching the pond but only found tadpoles. Then I searched the area by the canoe and guess what caught my eye?! Just lying in the hot sun was a toad!But I wasn't prepared to let cook in sun; so put him in the pond (not without informing my siblings and cousins of my find) and believe it or not they swim pretty well (sadly mom could not get a picture.) After that I rode around on the quad for a while until I got stuck over ankle deep in mud.
I tried reverse forward, motor power, muscle power (oh wait I'm skinny) but nothing worked. It wasn't until my frustrated dad arrived when he got the quad out of the grime and I was covered in it (due to failed attempts to get it out myself.) But pretty soon I got stuck, AGAIN!
Dad got it out and kicked me off the quad until further notice; and I kept reciting the quote: 'those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.' After being on the quad for probably half and hour, I went on another frog hunt that ended without a single find.
The next morning I still couldn't find one amphibian. After some quad driving we hiked around thunder lake; and I found my favourite worm. The Leech. The day after that when we were driving from church mom promised another trek through the field on the quad trails. While walking, my cousin spotted a frog in the grass and I caught it but I had to get my hands dirty (literally.) After we sighted the creek (inconveniently blocked by barbed wire) we walked to the edge of the creek. But even though we heard the frogs but couldn't see them, what we found was shocking! Hundreds, no, thousands of mosquito larvae. The next morning I found another frog (and mom got a picture.)
But then we had to leave.
All in all my time in The ol' Wild boreal forest was great.
I tried reverse forward, motor power, muscle power (oh wait I'm skinny) but nothing worked. It wasn't until my frustrated dad arrived when he got the quad out of the grime and I was covered in it (due to failed attempts to get it out myself.) But pretty soon I got stuck, AGAIN!
Dad got it out and kicked me off the quad until further notice; and I kept reciting the quote: 'those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.' After being on the quad for probably half and hour, I went on another frog hunt that ended without a single find.
The next morning I still couldn't find one amphibian. After some quad driving we hiked around thunder lake; and I found my favourite worm. The Leech. The day after that when we were driving from church mom promised another trek through the field on the quad trails. While walking, my cousin spotted a frog in the grass and I caught it but I had to get my hands dirty (literally.) After we sighted the creek (inconveniently blocked by barbed wire) we walked to the edge of the creek. But even though we heard the frogs but couldn't see them, what we found was shocking! Hundreds, no, thousands of mosquito larvae. The next morning I found another frog (and mom got a picture.)
But then we had to leave.
All in all my time in The ol' Wild boreal forest was great.
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