Well, it's official... I'm no longer a camper. I got the notice this morning, and called to find out that my tent is hanging, drying in the garage at Canadore College. I knew it was too good to last. It's nice of them to take my stuff down and save me the packing up and carrying it out of the woods, but they could've waited a day longer! Kidding... So anyway, I'm going to pick my stuff up after class, and I'll be sure to take a picture of my tent's final resting place!

The folks who collected my materials were quite friendly, and were more worried that I'd think kids from the houses behind the school had found and taken my stuff!

I swear I didn't intend to sleep inside as much as I have! Circumstances have gotten the best of me... I don't suppose anyone's interested in following my blog this June when I camp for the month? Never mind. Anyway, I've got another three nights to attempt to meet a lynx, and if I encounter any other species of wild cat, I will definitely run as fast as I can in snowshoes.

Last night was so warm that I slept in until 11:30! Woo hoo!

On to the lynx hunt... The first one I found is probably just a dog, but check out the second one!

I think it's almost an exact match, which is pretty cool. I walked up last night without snowshoes in order to be a bit quieter and hopefully see something interesting, but no such luck.

Also, here's a picture of my third and final home - notice the very small entrance. I feel like my tent is giving birth to me every time I crawl out!

Wow! Cool news tonight at my Outdoor Ed. class!

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Christy came to see my set up. On the way there, I was having fun pointing out interesting tracks along the way, when I managed to find a set that stumped/intrigued me. I kept meaning to look up the large, somewhat cat-like prints online, but never got around to it. So tonight, when the class started off with a wild story of a lynx sighting near the residence that I'm camped out behind, I decided it might be time to do that search! Sure enough, I found a picture of a paw print that looked almost identical to the one I saw, and here it is:

I'm going to see if I can find any more on my way down tomorrow morning, and I'll take pictures for comparison purposes. For now, off to bed (and don't worry, the lynx is a very shy and reclusive animal - I'm unlikely - to my chagrin - to see one, let alone get eaten by one!)

Ok, it's working again now - here's the moose and the bear I had to fight off last week. I swear.

Hello again! I apologize for not posting for a while, but first my blog was broken (and it still kind of is - I can't put pictures on it) and then now I'm down in Toronto and not exactly roughing it...

It's ok though, I deserve a rest. My last night out I had to fight off a moose and a bear, and I'd show you the pictures to prove it if I could.

As of right now, it looks like I've got five or six more nights in the tent. I'll set up again Monday after school, and be there until Friday or Saturday night. Sunday's the first game of playoffs in TO, and then Monday's my one and only exam, and then I'll kind of be a qualified teacher (AH!). Also, then I'll be heading to Gravenhurst to open my Grandma's cottage, and not in need of alternative accommodations any more... *sniff*

So I didn't exactly camp for an entire month like I said I was going to, but I console myself with this: I camped more than I have in any other March of my 27 years, and also more than almost any of my friends... I say almost any, just in case someone has been camping without my knowledge in some sort of "I'm better than Schwindt at camping in March challenge..."

So that's all for now. Happy Belated St. Paddy's Day!

Just so everyone knows, 4 hours sleep is not enough. I think I saw a beautiful sunrise this morning, but it may have actually been on my way up to my tent last night.

Another warm, dry night anyway; I'm quite impressed with how water, wind and snow-proof my current configuration is. It amazes me how much and how quickly I've learned. It's helped to regularly get advice from friends, but there's been lots of trial and error too. I'd like to apologize to school for all of the learning I haven't been doing there; my brain is too full of survival thinking. I've just proved (and shown where I am on) Maslow's Needs Hierarchy!

So apparently I slept through quite the storm last night! I woke up dry and rested, so it couldn't have been that bad, right? I woke up to a (greatly appreciated) winter wonderland this morning, and if I can figure out again how to get pictures off of my phone, I'll share it. Looks good to go cross-country skiing this afternoon!

The one concern I have at this point (aside from the number of times I've been warned that bears will be waking up soon) is that the parts of the trail which are somewhat washed away will be covered by a thin layer of snow, and my walk up will be a little treacherous tonight.

Altogether, things are going pretty well though, and tonight I should break my (rather sad) record for consecutive nights spent in the tent.