Arcly and Elo 2022

Oh yeah, I still have a blog! I recently read through some old "adventure" posts, and really appreciated having a record of the experience. They are still happening (although shorter and less extreme than before.. growing up sucks). 

Temagami 2022

Its been a few years and there have been quite a few changes. Leo has long since boycotted google and now uses fringe email providers which ensures all of her emails go straight to your spam filter. So she will not be providing the glut of posts that she used to do (eye roll)..There has been a pandemic, some career changes, I've moved back to Ontario, have a few kids... etc etc. 

In 2022 Leo came to Ontario for our annual camping trip. We originally booked Algonquin, but after reading about the 100 million portages and the can ban, I decided to go to the lawless and seemingly easier (but farther) Temagami. We drove up north to Temagami for a four day, three night trip. Its.. 4 years later, so I'll do my best rehash. 

Lake loop: Temagami - Olier - Denedus - Wasaksina - Driftwood - IceLand - Temagami

Day 1: We drove from Toronto to Lake Temagami where we lanched the Langford. We took the long Lake Temagami access road off highway 11. I was a little worried about being so remote (I had had car troubles earlier that year) but when we got to the lake, there were a ton of cars... and people..... it did not feel remote. 

We made our way out of the large lake over through Olier to Denedus Lake, where we found our own personal island to camp on. This was probably the best camp site of our trip. I belive it was along the portage between Olier to Denedus that Elo found the lobster mushrooms (see image below). Almost certain they were not poison, she cooked them up and I watched her eat them. The following morning I observed that she was still alive, so I also had some lobster mushrooms with my potatoes and eggs. They were great.

An enthusiastic Elo, excited about finding lobster mushrooms

Lobster mushrooms for breakfast

Day 2: This was a short paddle day, we found another great campsite, and set up and waited out the mid-day rain. We were on a larger lake (Wasaksina Lake) which meant some nice deep clear swimming, but we also saw powerboats as well, which was very annoying after two days of paddling. This was a common theme in Temagami (at least where we were). Some local outfitter clearly stocks little portage-in only lakes with boats. Then I imaging the anglers get dropped at a portage point, and hike in with a little motor and then off they go. That meant out tranquil evenings were often accompanied by middle aged men yelling "wooooo" as they pose for a picture with a fish in the quintessential man-with-fish pose. 

An Arcly. Thrilled about her new light kevlar canoe

Day 3. After a little crummy weather, and a lake a little too large, we headed up to Iceland lake for our final night. We found a lovely site with a great view of the setting sun. This was a smaller lake and we didn't see anyone on it the entire day/night. It was this evening that we caught some bass to eat for dinner.  It was not challenging at all.... cast and catch. We cooked up the bass over the fire with what we had on hand. Our meal really gave me an appreciation for deep fried bass (the way it should be eaten). bleh. One slight downside of this lake is that you could hear a distant hummmm from the highway in the distance. But there was also cell service (pro or con?). 

Some easy fishing on Iceland Lake, Temagami

Day 4: We started this day with a little portage over the long service road that we took into the park. portaging over a road, which was close to our car, we a little demotivating. Hitchhicking back to our car felt very tempting. however, we continued on back to our car via the Northeast Arm. I remember it was a long paddle and very windy. One of those multi hour paddle days where no one does much talking and you just getter done. 

Overall, I was surprised by the number of motor boats on the back lakes. I would do Temagami again, but I'd go deeper in and try to find areas more remote. 

Mini Toasts

First off, not sure Im liking this new blogger update. Ill see how it goes though. Change is hard and I know Ill have to relearn everything multiple times before it sticks.

Alright, we are weeks into this pandemic lockdown and Ive finally spent some time making minis. I'm lucky that Im in California. The weather has been great and Alex and I have been able to spend a lot of time outside. BUT, it is getting a little boring. So I figured, whats not boring is sitting silently for about 10 hours alone squinting at a scalpel and clay. 

This is my first go at mini toasts and Im pretty happy with them. Of course there is always room for improvement. But also who cares, these just make it onto my fridge and my friends get them as gifts whether they want them or not. Making toast is very similar to making pizza.  I even used some left over "salmon", "lemon" and "orange" from other mini projects. So all in all, I have no idea why these took so long. 

Making mini toppings, including avocado. 

I did make avocado for the first time. I found a tutorial online that I followed. I made this without a pasta roller (Im not accumulating more crap for this weird hobby!) and it worked out okay. It took a few tries to get the right avocado shape. I ended up trashing the ones in the above pic. They were not quite pear shaped enough or thin enough. 

I also made a banana cane for the first time. After watching a few tutorials online, all by baby voiced women with inexplicably long fake nails, I decided just to make my own cane design up (see below). I mixed in a bit of translucent clay with some banana colors and huzzah a cane! Looks crappy big, but when you roll it super thin, it looks great. 

Mini toast components

I think Ill give toasts another go. Im still trying to figure out the texture of the toast. I textured them like cake, it took forever, I ended up covering up most of the texturing, and Im not super happy with the results...sigh. And like usual I made the toasty bits and crust with colored chalk (see previous post about bread). 

mini toasts

 I really like the nutella toasts, and they were the easiest to make. So I will make more of those in the near future. Also I want to make a few toasts with eggs on them. 

Miniature polymer clay toasts

Arcly and Elo 2019

Arcly and Elo 2019 - Nuchatlitz and Nootka Island

Year 8! This is the eighth annual Arcly and Elo trip since we met in Kelowna BC in 2010. Ahh yes,  2010, when we were young and pretty. Now we are old and haggard. This trip was originally scheduled for June, but I came down with tonsillitis a few days before the trip and had to cancel last minute. Fun fact about air travel, airlines do not like reimbursing you for missed flights! This has become even more evident since COVID19 disrupted all of my March travel. Gurrrr.

This was Leo's year to host, so I flew up to Vancouver BC in early September. This year we kayaked the western side of Vancouver Island, near the small town of Zeballos (yes you are probably pronouncing it wrong). We took the ferry to Nanaimo and drove north until we needed gas, slept in the truck until morning, gassed up and continue another few hours to Zeballos.

Our first day was long and we started a little later than we had wanted, around 10am. If you know anything about us, it might be that we are incapable of packing light. This trip was no exception. Since there is no portaging on a kayak trip, we took everything! When we launched the tide was low and we had to haul the kayaks 50feet along the "beach" (crushed sharp rocks and shells) which was a real pain in the ass!! Lesson learned. Next time we will bring the kayak wheels/cart.

Map of our trip.

This was my (Arcly) first kayak trip. I'd like to think Im in okay shape, but I am terribly inflexible. I never sit upright with my legs extended. Who sits like that beside Barbie! Sitting like that is SO uncomfortable! WELLLLL kayaking is hours upon hours in this position!!! ahhhhh. I cramped up pretty badly and every time we debating stopping for a break or lunch Elo (who had no leg cramping) would see something cool like humpback whales or otters and we would have to keep going. We ended up doing around 20km that day before we found our own personal island and beach to make camp on.

humpback whales 

Well, it was a tad foggy. And by a tad I mean you could not see more than 50 feet in front of you. Also lots of rain. So I would say typical Vancouver Island weather.



One of the trip highlights was building a sauna. This was my first DIY sauna experience and I will be repeating it on future camping trips. We dug a pit, reinforced it with sticks, then rolled some large logs over for benches. Then we fiddled around for a half hour building up the walls with plastic tarps and sticks. Once we had a tight seal, we took some large piping hot rocks out of the fire, dumped them in the pit, sat on the benches (clothing optional ;) ) and poured water on the rocks. It worked SO WELL! We did this a few times, jumping in the cold ocean after. I cant wait to try this in Ontario and jump into some fresh clean lake water after. I love the ocean, but you sure don't feel clean after a swim. More like a salty deli pickle.

Elo and the DIY Sauna

On our last kayaking day we were still buried deep in fog, so we paddled as close to the shore as possible to avoid getting lost in the open ocean. Only problem was, except for the lack of visibility, it was low tide and we got stuck in some mud. Elo made the mistake of taking her foot out of kayak and stepping down, only to have her foot suctioned into the mud. The suction was so strong that she lost her shoe. Pretty much it was a near death experience, or so she tells me. I watched from the safety of my kayak as she struggles to pull her foot up sans shoe.

Elo eating cake for breakfast while wearing one shoes, having left the other in the mud. Why is it everywhere we go looks like a homeless encampment the minute we sit down?

Arcly in her borrowed kayak

We decided to leave a day early and camp on Vancouver Island in the back country. If you have a 4x4, there are endless logging roads to explore on the island.

Vancouver Island, back country logging road camp site.

Overall it was a great trip, even if the weather was crap. This year, 2020, is my year to host the trip. Who knows when and where that will be given the COVID19 pandemic. But we will make it happen!

Arcly and Alex do Donald Lake

Alex and Arcly after arriving back in Sudbury. 

In early July Alex and I went back to Ontario, Canada for a visit.  While there we set three days aside for a northern ON canoe trip in the Chiniguchi waterway. As you may recall, Elo and I were up there a few years ago. This trip was earlier in the summer and we did a smaller loop because we only had three days. However were were able to shave off some time by TAKING A FLOAT PLANE!!!

2019 route starting and ending in Donald lake. Two nights, three days.

DAY 1

We had planned on flying out of Sudbury Aviation at 9am Friday morning, but there was no visibility and we couldn't take off until closer to noon. That meant our first day on the water was rushed and long. The first day we paddled 7 lakes, which included 7 portages (120m, 150m, 230m, 60m, 340m, 170m, 180m).

The float plane dropped us off in Donald lake and we made our way clockwise to Rice lake. It took around 5-6 hours, and we did not stop for any breaks. I think this lag of the trip took Leo Elo and I twice as long. Canoeing with a proper portage pack and a big guy who survives the bombardment of mosquitoes by not talking and not stopping, makes you more efficient. Seriously, the mosquitoes were BAD!

Alex with the Langford enjoying the barrage of mosquitoes  

After passing through some nice rapids near Karl Lake (there is a really nice camp site here), we were pretty spent and just wanted to find camp. I knew the camp spot on Rice was really nice, Elo and I camped there three years ago. Luckily it was free and just as nice as I remember.  ahahahahah no one in their right mind would camp up north this early in the year. BUGS!!!!

Arcly hiding in a bug net on Rice Lake

At Rice lake we saw lots of poopy pellets. We thought it was bear poop, but after some googling we determined it was moose poop. .. which is maybe even more scary! 

Moose poop.

DAY 2

Breakfast, Day 2: leftover sausage from dinner, potatoes, garlic, spices and eggs!

After a lovely night on Rice Lake we had a big breakfast (sausage, eggs, potatoes), then made our way through Donald Creek. This part of the Chiniguchi Waterway was new to me and seemed to be a lot less traveled. The portages were tough to find and not well cleared at all (see Alex below). At one point the trail was flooded and we had to walk along a narrow ledge to access the lake. The ledge was so narrow we had to both one-hand carry the canoe.

Alex with the canoe somewhere along Donald creek. 

Just after Defile Lake we stopped at some rapids for a quick break and snack. There is a camp site here at the top of the rapids that I would highly recommend. It was a fairly bugless spot and the rapids were beautiful (see below).

Top of the rapids ("natural waterslide") Donald creek, Chiniguchi Waterway. 

Alex, Donald Creek rapids 

Once on Donald lake we went to a nearby campsite for some rock jumping. The water was really nice this time of year. I expected it to be colder. This first campsite was really nice, but overrun with ants. Otherwise we would have made camp. Instead we headed over to the campsite in the north west inlet. this spot was so hot! It faces the setting sun, which we thought would be nice, but it was unbearable. The days are LONG in Ontario in July and the sun sets really late. We didnt even make a fire (aka mosquito repellent) until around 7-8pm.  We killed time by swimming and fishing.... and eating.

Dinner: coconut rice with fried veg and tofu with coconut/peanut butter sauce. Soooo good!  

Day 3 

On day three we woke up early, made coffee, oatmeal and packed up. We wanted to make sure we were ready for the plane when it arrived. Sure enough it arrived exactly on time.

Vanilla cake with chocolate frosting and orange curd (mini)

Miniature vanilla cake with orange curd and chocolate frosting

This weekend I made two mini cakes. Its been a few years since I made a mini cake. I think these turned out okay though.  Here are my step by step photos.

Brushing chalk on the cake layers to give them a cooked look. Yeah, Im not sure this is a necessary step, unless you do a naked cake. 

1. miz translucent, white and a cream colour together. Then texture with a toothbrush and dust with brown chalk (to give the look of being cooked)

2. Cut out some thinner brown rounds of the same size and some even thinner orange+translucent rounds.

3. Stack them up, and put the cake in the fridge to firm it up. When you cut into it you want it to be cold and firm so that it does not mush together when you cut it.

4. Cut out a slice and be sure to cut directly down (not on a slant).

5. Texture the cake layers (not the chocolate or orange layers). This is the worst part of the whole process. I use the tip of my scalpel to do the fluffing, others use a pin.

6. Frost the cake. The frosting is made by combining brown clay with liquid translucent clay. It will take about 10min of stirring/mushing to blend the two together.

Making a cake board. Chocolate frosting (bottom left) and chocolate bars (bottom right)

7. Finish decorating the cake. I made some orange slices from an old cane (tutorial). Make sure to texture each orange slice. I use a pin and make small indents in each segments. This way it catches the light much better after its been glazed and it looks more real. I also made a few chocolate bars for the cake "board".

Miniature food fridge magnets on my fridge right now. 

Making Mini Sushi (octopus and avocado/salmon rolls)

Miniature polymer clay sushi

Okay so I am done with mini pizzas (for now) and I have moved onto a past favorite, mini sushi. I did not do anything too complicated. I made octopus and avocado/salmon rolls. This is the first time I have put "salmon" on top of a sushi roll cane, and I'm really liking how it turned out. Again, these took forever! I worked on them for three nights after work. Hopefully next time its a bit faster, otherwise its going to take me five years to make enough junk for the craft fair.

Okay, so, maying its a bit weird putting orange and lime on a sushi platter, but I ran out of ideas and has some laying around. What is sushi served with anyway?

To make the mini octopus I made a 'suckers' cane with white+translucent in the middle, translucent+ maroon+red middle + maroon+red outer. Then I rolled the cane really really thin. I cut off tiny pieces and stuck two rows on top of a white+translucent log that has a thin layer of maroon+red on top. Then, finally, I use a pin and I push in all of the "suckers" and cut off some sushi sized slices.

Making mini octopus

The sushi rolls were done the usual way (First Sushi Blog), but this time I really fluffed up the rice after I cut thee cane.

salmon roll canes in the making. 

mini sushi

The only think left to do is stick on a few magnets.

Next up is mini cakes. I think Ill make some citrus cake platters and maybe a confetti cake.

Mini Pizza Take Two (Slices)

Miniature polymer clay slices 

Okay, I think I'm back in the mini groove...whoot whoot. Some local hero suggested I make mini slices, and I LOVE the results. Again I was shocked by how long they took. I distributed labour by making a bunch of toppings first (night one), then on the second night I made the dough and sauce and topped the buggers.

Clay toppings and "sauce". On the bottom left we have the tomato sauce, bottom right the cheese. Above we have the peppers, olives, pepperonis and red onion.  

I changed a few things since my last post. I used an old pepperoni cane (its more red) I also changed up how I made the sauce. Now Im mixing red+brown clay in with the translucent liquid clay AND adding some red chalk dust. I left the sauce chunky, but blended the "cheese" well.

Green pepper cane. The cane is made up of a translucent+white inner, translucent + a tiny bit of green middle, and a green outer. After cutting a slice I cut out three holes in the middle, then shapes it into a pepper (cur out the middle and shaped the outside). 

Before and after toppings (pre baked)

After I bake the minis I glaze them. This time I used the Sculpey brand clay glaze and for the toasty cheese bits I used glaze + lots of light brown chalk dust.

Mini clay pepperoni pizza with slice 

Mini clay pizza slices