Coopers Falls Trail - Solo hiking trip

This was a bit of a last minute trip, the first hiking trip I had done, and also the first time going solo. A couple friends and I had been planning a canoe trip in Killarney for a week, so I had booked the whole week off. After several changes of plans, we ended up only going to Killarney from Thursday to Sunday, which left me the option of either going in to work for the first several days of the week, or doing something with the time off. I had wanted to try a camping trip on my own, but was a bit hesitant and didn't have a good opportunity...well, this provided me with the opportunity so I decided to go for it. I looked on the Ontario Crown Land Use Policy Atlas (CLUPA) for some crown land that was nearby and found this section of the Trans-Canada Trail called the Coopers Falls Trail, which lies on crown land just outside the hamlet of Coopers Falls, southeast of Gravenhurst. I planned to hike north and east up the trail, camp for one night, continue until the trail met Houseys Rapids Road, and then hike back along the roads.

Driving in to the trail head, I was thankful for my new vehicle, a Subaru Forester, since it was a pretty steep and rough entrance. Once I found a good spot to park, I realized that getting changed into my hiking clothes would need to be done inside my vehicle - hordes of mosquitoes had already surrounded me, and I was not about to expose any skin to them if possible! Fortunately, I had a long sleeve shirt, pants, and a bug net for my head. All dressed and packed, I started hiking the trail. The area is not really flat, but there are no real extremes - hills are small and not very steep. The landscape is all built upon rock. After hiking a little while, I also discovered that this area has a lot of beaver activity; I saw several beavers and many lodges and dams. The variety of ponds and streams made for many interesting and wonderful views.

As evening neared, I was having difficulty for several reasons deciding on the best place to make camp. I like best a site near water, preferrably a pond or lake. I wanted to find an existing location that would make a good site, to minimize my impact on the area. There were no spots that stood out as an obvious choice in terms of the view they offered. As well, I didn't want to spend too long hiking back and forth trying to pick the best one. The spot I settled on straddled the trail, with a small, moss-filled hollow on one side for my tent, and a shallow, rocky slope down to a beaver pond on the other. This rocky slope was perfect for sitting and having a small campfire over which to cook dinner.

 Another first for this trip: I was able to test a collapsible campfire grill I had created. It worked out wonderfully, though I realized that I would want to make a smaller, lighter version for solo trips. The noises of the wild were so enjoyable while sitting at the fire - there was a constant, indiscernible background track of crickets, frogs, and other insects, as well as the incessant call of the whippoorwill. Some time after darkness, a slight rain started, making it a good time to head to the tent for the night. Those enjoyable sounds by the campfire did start to get tiring...especially the whippoorwill, which I've discovered doesn't really stop!

After having breakfast and packing up the next morning, I started off toward the road. I had hiked about 75% or more of the trail, but the last portion turned out to be the most difficult. There were several marshy or swampy sections, one with a "boardwalk" which sagged when walked upon, but the last which had none. The marking of the trail was not excellent from the start, but in this last swamp it was even more poorly marked. I ended up losing the trail in the swamp while trying to follow the markers while also trying to stay out of the water and mud by jumping between the hummocks. At this point I knew the road was due east, so I just followed my compass and pressed through the forest. It wasn't too difficult and I found the road with little problem.

The hike back on the road was not very exciting, but the scenery was still interesting. The second road, heading back to the west, paralleled the Black River. This river is aptly named as the water is slow moving and very dark. In fact much of the water in this area seems to have a darkish tint to it, somewhat brown.

I returned to my car with a little more time than I expected, so I thought I'd explore to see if I could find the water feature for which I presumed Coopers Falls was named. Having studied several maps before the trip, I was quite sure I had seen a marking for a waterfall, and while I could hear what sounded like the noise of falls, I was not able to get a view of them. I did however get to share the road with a good size (16-18" long shell) snapping turtle !

On a later trip with my nephew, we tried again to find the falls, this time with success. There is one small window through the forest while driving through which you can glimpse the falls.

The trip was a good trip of firsts, though not without some learning:

• I needed to get some proper shoes or boots for hiking.
• My 3-person, Canadian Tire tent, though actually a fairly nice tent which I still like, is definitely too heavy and large for a solo trip.
• Lightening up my pack in other areas would need to be something to work on.
• Bugs are bad in the beginning of June. A lighter weight, long-sleeve shirt would be good, and also making sure that the back of my shirt doesn't ride up from my pack, exposing my lower back to hungry black flies.