Every winter since 2002 a group of enthusiasts has been getting together in February somewhere north of Sudbury and having a good time indulging in one of our favourite pastimes – sleeping in the cold!
This coming February is the 14th year of this get together and this is an open invitation to anyone who thinks they might like to join in on the fun. The first “gathering” was held on the Vermillion River north of Sudbury with 8 participants. Beginning in 2003 we began using a combination of the “Budd Car” rail service and/or vehicle access via Hwy 144 from Sudbury to access different backcountry sites north of Cartier, Ontario in the Spanish River area. The 2nd year saw 20 participants in total and in subsequent years the average has been about 30 - 35 attendees yearly with a high of 45 one year. It’s a diverse group with folks coming and going depending on the year but we’ve had attendees from as far a field as Colorado, Tony (our honorary Canuck) and his family from New York state and a couple of Brits who were doing a work placement in Ontario one year!
WHEN: February 14 - 22/ 2015 (Sat – Sun, 9 days)
WHERE: Sideburn Lake
HOW: vehicle access from Hwy 144 north of Sudbury, Ont.
WHO: Interested? Join us, all are welcome!!
Sideburn Lake is northwest of Sudbury, west of Highway 144 just south of the Halfway Provincial Park southern boundary. The following link is to a map of the area at 1:50000 scale. The 1:50000 topographic sheet is - Pogamasing, 41-I/13.
topo of area
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/v ... directlink
Parking and access - The parking area shown on the Google photo is located 17.9 km north of the Cartier turnoff on Hwy 144 or 1 km north of the Onaping Lake Road on the west side of the highway. Its approx. an hours drive from Sudbury. The plan would be for folks to meet there at approx. 10:00 am on the 14th and head into Sideburn Lk. The parking area will be checked the previous weekend and arrangements made to plow it if necessary. The trail we use into Sideburn Lk is actually about another km north of the gravel pit parking area.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/2 ... directlink
Anyone interested in this trip doesn’t necessarily have to commit to the full 9 days and in fact many folks have attended for a portion of the time only. You can alter or shorten your dates of both arrival and departure according to whatever works for you!
This is a relaxed base camp style winter camping trip. There is lots of opportunity for hiking, ice fishing, socializing, camp chores etc. This area also lends itself to some nice cross-country skiing on connected lakes and trails in the area. All participants are responsible for their own arrangements; this is your trip if you choose to take it. Many will be there and folks are more than welcome to come. Bring your gear, be prepared and plan for it accordingly.
I spent a couple days at the site in mid Sept. and did a bit of relaxing along with stacking 6 or 7 piles of left over wood from last winter and storing it off the ground and visible for this coming year’s camp.
The following link will take you to trip reports from past Deep Freeze trips in the area - missing the 2012 trip, we did go!
http://canoedog-ca.blogspot.ca/p/winter-trips.html