By Siena Blier, M.Sc. student at Concordia University; on behalf of the Ziter Urban Landscape Ecology Lab

“I’m learning about camping. I’m learning about gear. I’m learning about the importance of gear when camping.” – Siena (said while hanging soaking socks over a wood stove)

When the Ziter Urban Landscape Ecology (ZULE) lab received a Champion Grant to do a BioBlitz as part of Blitz the Gap, the team was giddy with excitement at the prospect of a lab camping trip. We chose to head to Forêt Ouareau, a gorgeous regional park just south of Mont-Tremblant national park. Trekking through the lush greens and browns of the trails, letting worries of defences and manuscripts slip off our shoulders and onto the rich soil of the forest floor beneath our hiking boots. Splashing into the glittering waters of a secluded lake, snapping pictures of salamanders (and maybe even a bear, or so hoped fearless M.Sc. student Mackenzie). Eating s’mores made over the cabin’s wood stove [there was a fire ban at the time] and falling into the kind of deep sleep only a day spent outdoors can produce. Although I shared this excitement, I was also a little worried that the family vacations I spent in our pop-up camper [I am embarrassed to admit this camper had a microwave, TV, and shower. I believe “glamping” is the appropriate term here.] had not prepared me for a stay in a cabin without access to electricity or running water. I went to sleep the night before our departure thinking maybe I’d learn a thing or two, and here I relay my hard-earned lessons.

1. Wearing a raincoat on a rainy camping trip is not “overdressing” 

Research assistant and (thank God) camping expert Ashley pulled into the Pont Suspendu parking lot as a light rain began to fall on Lenny, Ashley’s mom’s Toyota Corolla. At this point, Ph.D. candidate Nicole and spider-identifier David revealed that they had not packed raincoats, despite the decidedly rainy forecast for the weekend. David felt this may be “overdressing”. Having some time before the rest of our crew arrived, Nicole and David fashioned raincoats out of garbage bags. The result was “roughing-it chic” (and rather reminiscent of a tight-budgeted cult).

2. Invest in an appropriate sleeping bag and hiking footwear.

The rest of our crew arrived, and under steady rain, we began splitting up gear for the three-kilometer hike up to the cabin. At this point I started noticing that each of my labmates had a small, cylindrical waterproof bag, similar in size and shape to a rolled-up hoodie. Sleeping bags. I, too, had diligently followed the packing list and brought a “sleeping bag” for the trip – a gorgeous turquoise, warm and soft, which had perfectly fulfilled its function on previous glamping trips. Trips where the sleeping bag only needed to be carried a few steps from the car to the tent. It turns out hiking three kilometers with your arms wrapped tightly around your mammoth of a sleeping bag, such that you can’t see where to place your feet, and having to re-adjust your grip every five seconds because your arms are slipping on the waterproof bag your supervisor mercifully gave you to cover your (did I mention?) mammoth of a sleeping bag is not the ideal way to start a camping trip. During this hike, I also realized that wearing my beautiful new running shoes was poor decision-making on my part [I had rationalized this by telling myself my flat feet would need as much support as possible during our hikes. I was, however, doing better than David, who chose to wear sneakers with holes in the soles]. At the start of our journey they were a flamboyant orange. By the end, they were a muddy brown.

3. In a pinch, tzatziki can serve as a hot dog topping!

Thousands of footsteps and millions of raindrops later, we made it to our cabin. Hot dogs were on the menu, and to Mackenzie’s horror she had forgotten to pack the condiments – and thus the tzatziki-dog was born! 

Bellies full, we decided to go out for some nighttime sampling. This earned us a salamander sighting– the first amphibian observation on iNaturalist for this region and a highlight of the camping trip for many. 

4. Beware the powers of the woodstove! 

We returned from our nighttime blitzing starry-eyed [thanks to the reduced light pollution far from the city…] and sleepy, ready to dream of adorable salamanders and friendly toads. Here, I must give some context regarding our cabin. It consisted of two floors (so spacious!) with two bunk beds, a woodstove and dining table on the first floor, and additional beds on the second floor. I was happy to be top bunk over Ashley (our camping expert, whom I was confident could chase away any nocturnal predators attacking our cabin). M.Sc. students Johanna, Emma, Nicole and Mackenzie set up in the loft. We added a few extra logs to the woodstove so we could stay toasty warm through the night – after all, we had spent most of our day soaked in rain. And with my newly acquired camping knowledge, I cleverly laid my wet socks on top of the woodstove so they would be perfectly dry in the morning. Snug like a bug in my massive sleeping bag (the one perk of the hell it put me through, I suppose), I breathed in deeply – oh, how I had missed the smell of a campfire!

Huh.

I didn’t remember the smell of smoke being this intense when I would fall asleep in our pop-up camper, but the fire had been outside, so this must be normal. I opened my eyes. The haze was surely just the effect of the campfire glow on the dust in the cabin, right? And was it just me, or was the delicious smokey smell getting a little… suffocating? It must just be me – I was still a novice, after all.

Shifting in the bed below me. Ashley padded across the floor. Fiddled with something by the woodstove. Came back to bed. I had no clue what she had done, but a feeling of safety wrapped around me like a weighted blanket. Our Katniss Everdeen had taken care of it. Now I could dream of adorable salamanders… 

Shifting above me. The sound of something heavy being dragged on the floor, and then thump-thump-thump down the stairs. Oh, I see the shapes of Johanna and Mackenzie placing their mattresses on the floor by the fire. Interesting. And now back to the friendly toads…

Discussions at the breakfast table clarified the events of the night:

First, Ashley had gotten up to take my socks off the woodstove and stomped out the embers that had formed on them. They had literally cooked until they were crunchy and coal-black (when they were once soft and pristine white). Thanks Ashley! My bad!

Second, the heat produced by the extra logs added to the fire had turned the loft itself into an oven, cooking Johanna and Mackenzie in their sleeping bags like little pizza pockets! 

So – no socks on the stove and no logs in the stove before bedtime.

5. Be wary of lacustrine parkour.

The morning of our second day, the sun peeked out long enough for us to hike to Lac Corbeau, where David saw a beautiful wolf spider and soon-to-be M.Sc. graduate Emma saw her life flash before her eyes as she fell into the water in the middle of skipping rocks (as in, jumping from rock to rock for the sake of data collection, or possibly for street cred – she hasn’t confirmed, but I’ll admit the scar on her knee is quite cool). 

The rest of our stay at Forêt Ouareau ran smoothly, except for a brief separation of the group on the way back down (some people hike faster than others!). Many cool iNaturalist observations were made, even more lessons were learned, and I greatly look forward to our next lab camping trip, where I can only be better prepared than I was this year. 

6. Equal parts vinegar and water, a splash of dish soap, a toothbrush and sheer determination will get mud stains out of your beautiful new running shoes.