Aug 4-9: THE CABIN: Lake Mesomikenda, Northern Ontario

The two-family trek to the cabin was a great experience for all. The Mesomikenda Lake property was purchased 40 years ago by Carl Stelzle and a few of his buddies. The cabin was an arduous task to complete as the lake is a 10 hour drive north of the Buffalo area and can only be reached by boat. The original guys built the cabin using "borrowed" supplies. The guys mainly used it as a hunting and fishing cabin as the lake is full of Walleye, Northern Pike and Bass and the woods are full of moose and bear. The lake is just beautiful. The whole Stelzle family spent time every summer at the cabin from the time Sharon was a baby. It's incredible to think about Scott's mom, Carol, organizing the food and supplies and the three kids to go up there for weeks at a time. The cabin is now nicely equipped with a great kitchen, 2 bedrooms and even indoor plumbing for emergency use only, plus a perfectly nice outhouse. It has a wonderful screen porch for watching the lake and enjoying the rain showers. We arrived during an afternoon rain shower and that just made the whole event more exciting to have everything get wet! The Wolochuck's, Joe and Carmen, built their cabin 40 years ago as well and the Stelzle's always looked forward to the families spending time together. They picked us up at the landing on their pontoon boat and took us to the camp. They are the nicest people....real good Canadians, eh!! It was a fun reunion and many beers were immediately drank in celebration. We settled into the cabin, Scott taking on the duties his Dad used to of opening up camp. Water had to be pumped up from the lake, the stove started, etc. The boys were so excited!

We spent our days fishing, drinking beer, hiking, canoeing, building campfires, playing cards, hanging out with the Wolochucks drinking beer, listening to the loons on the lake, picking wild blueberries, watching the boys have a blast, and drinking another beer. Hey, we were in Canada, eh! Alan learned to filet the fish and Scott did the frying. We made nice big breakfasts, including wild blueberry pancakes. Clover had the best time! The boys all loved it. The lake was down a bit this year, so we had the bonus of a nice big beach they could spend all day playing, fishing, building fires, frog collecting, and canoeing from. Two boat trips were made into the town of Gogama for supplies (mostly ice to keep the beer cold). Sharon and Scott enjoyed reading the journal entries in the books in the cabin from their past trips and not believing we were using the same plates, supplies, etc they used to so long ago. Carmen and Joe brought out some old photos of the Wolochuck and Stelzle kids from the 70's which were classic. This reunion at the cabin was very special for all, indeed. We all wished we had a few more days. We hope to make it back again.

The traditional picnic stop on the way to the cabin at the French River. Grandma sent $10 for the boys to pick out a souvenir from the trading post.

The Cabin

Andrew, Ryan and Jake on the beach....Jake in "Comandrew's" hat. Andrew had all the cool fishing gear so he earned this new nickname.

More vintage motors. Scott was given the old Johnson he remembers as a kid from Joe.

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The Hidden Lake behind the cabin

Some keepers! Alan is the new filet master

Note the big MOOSE JAW BONE! A very exciting find on the trail!

Picking wild blueberries

We had sausages (with Webers mustard, of course), Jiffy Pop and S'Mores on the beach

A mighty fine outhouse! It's even a two-seater!

Bobbi's Bass (yummy!)

Dinner with the Wolochucks, Joe, Carmen and son Joey

Joe Wolochuck "There's nothing like an ice cold beer after a nice cold beer."

The traditional family photo taken by the fireplace in front of the Wolochuck cabin.

One last traditional photo. The final family photo taken at the Water Shed about 5 miles south of the lake.