The 1998 Systemware/Halcyon Winter Camping Trip. Feb 21-22, 1998. Algonquin Park. Cast of Fools: Don, Dave, Mary Lou, Pookie & John.

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1 We are about to depart. You can see that Don is all ready to go.	2 And a few hours later ... time to eat (what else!)	3 After getting lost a few times, we ended up at our camp site ... but not the one we were supposed to stay at! And of course ... Don's batteries in his GPS were getting low. Not that it mattered - he left the user's manual at home! Hehehehe.	4 Our first chore was to build our bedrooms - the quinzees. One for Dave and Don and one for Mary Lou, Pookie and myself. We used our snowshoes as shovels and piled the snow up into snowpiles which we later dug out. Just like you did when you were a kid. That's why these trips are so much fun!	5 Here's Dave digging a hole in the lake. I think he is wondering if there are any fish down there "...If I could just wack one with this hachet..."
6 Don, once again, has proven he is the strongest man around. And with a smile too!	7 This year it was much warmer than the two previous years. Here Dave has found time to sit back, relax and take in the sky.	8 It was amazing that the ice was a foot thick. When we walked across the lakes there was a layer of slush just under the top snow layer. This made for some interesting lake crossings!	9 Here's Dave and Don at the crack of dawn. I surprised them with my camera. I think Dave's head was stuck frozen to the roof of the quinzee all night. :-)	10 One of the best things for breakfeast is hot oranges. Just throw them in 'yer boiling water and minutes later you can dream about being on the beach in Florida.
11 Here's Mary Lou, John & Pookie's quinzee. We went for the large size this year 'cuz it wasn't too cold (smaller=warmer) and also Pookie takes up lots of space! She woke up in the middle of the night to howl at something outside our door (turned out to be a fox ... based on the tracks in the morning). She also chased out a mouse or a mole first thing in the morning. Most of the night she was great ... even though she hogged all the space! You can see the two air holes we made to let out all the smelly air. Mostly mine. :-)	12 And this is Don and Dave showing off how strong their quinzee is in the morning. Don't try this just after digging it out!	13 The finish. We had a beautiful day for snowshoeing back to our cars.	14 And this is the real meaning of "dog tired."