Camping Between Seasons

The cusp of Summer and Fall always feels bittersweet to me. It’s the turning point between my two favourite seasons, so I always feel a bit wistful when one season ends, yet excited for the other to follow.

Freckled shoulders and tan lines showing signs of a summer well spent, start to fade just as the leaves begin to turn amber and the air gets a little crisper. 

With a new seasonal chapter beginning, I reflect on the summer that just resumed. Although we’ve managed to partake in a lot of urbanite leisure, the main event that we were looking forward to the most actually involved us leaving the city, at the end of the summer.

Heading out camping (or cottaging) at the end of August/early September has been our ritual since the first summer we spent together. It’s our way of soaking up the last bit of sunshine weather just after the long weekend crowds have vacated.

It’s where we trade our air conditioned condo for a cozy tent in the woods.

Our Netflix marathons for campfires and starlit skies.

And our Uber Eats deliveries for fire roasted meals.

Campground Comfort

The vintage orange tent that we borrow from my boyfriend’s parents has become a un unintentional staple for our camping trips. We could just get our own tent, but there’s something extra cozy about this retro little abode.

Balsam Lake Camping

Sunny Beach

The campground we go to has an active marina and beautiful beach to spend the day. In previous years, my boyfriend would bring up his family boat and we’d cruise along the scenic lake, but this year we opted to laze around beach instead.

Balsam Lake Beach
Balsam Lake Beach
Quiet beach

Hiking

On the days we felt like stretching our legs and breaking a sweat, we traded blue waters for green trails. We’ve been to this campground numerous times but never actually hiked there (since we’d normally hang out on the boat).

This year we decided to venture off and explore the serene sights of the diverse flora of the region. The moss-filled wetland was my favourite because it felt like we were walking into a magical woodland governed by forest fairies.

Balsam Lake Hiking
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Balsam Lake Hiking
Balsam Lake Trail
Balsam Lake Trail
Balsam Lake Lookout Point

As we watched another early September day come to an end, we knew it would only be a matter of time before that sun would set sooner, that warm air would turn crisper, and we’d sleep just a little bit closer to each other under the cooler stars.

Balsam Lake sunset

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