On the new long weekend in February we have in Ontario a bunch of friends and I are going on a Winter ice fishing trip up North to celebrate a Kitchen and Phil’s bachelor party. I think it’s going to be a pretty crazy weekend and will probably be like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I used to be in Cub Scouts when I was younger and we’d do the winter trips, but none of those trips has us going this far North. We are going to Larder Lake, which is easily the most North I’ve ever been in my life. I think the most North I’ve ever been in Ontario was either Pembroke or Petawawa back when I lived in the Ottawa area. All I know is that it is more then likely going to be friggin cold being up there in February. I’ve been checking the weather up at Larder recently and it hasn’t looked that bad, though I would bet the wind will be what makes it cold this time of year. From the 14 day forecast it doesn’t look too bad, though it’s still a couple days before it’s within the 14 day window.

Since I moved to South Western Ontario I haven’t really needed any winter gear, so I’m having to track a lot of it down. I’ve just never been a winter kind of person, but now that I have things like snowpants I might feel a little more inclined to actually partake in some more outdoor activities. I now own a decent pair of snowboarding pants, longjohns, some good heavy mitts and a crazy corduroy cap with ear-flaps. Corina saw it and had to buy it for me. I wasn’t sold initially on the idea, but once I tried it on it just worked. I like wearing baseball caps, so this is like a really warm baseball cap.

As you can see I’ve been growing a beard for awhile now. This isn’t without purpose actually. I think around Halloween when this trip up north was devised, but it had a stipulation for anyone going on the trip. You are required to be sporting a mustache. No exceptions. We made sure this stipulation well in advance, so those who have trouble growing facial hair would have months to grow some form of mustache. I decided to grow as big of a beard as I could in the 3 1/2 months since this was decided. I’m planning on going with the big handlebar mustache. I wish I had been growing it longer, or I’d have waxed it up Rollie Fingers style for the trip. I also wish I knew about this Whiskerino contest, since it would have been pretty easy for me to do since I’ve been growing a beard the whole time the contest has been going on.

The trip North is in the 8 hour range, so we’re hoping for good weather for the trip. We’re traveling at night so we can get there for morning, then we will snowshow across the lake to Rich’s cabin. I’m not sure how much fishing I’ll actually do, but I’m sure the weekend will be a good time one way or the other. I hope we do actually catch a fish, preferably a marlin, just for Kitchen. That’s been a running joke with him for years now. It doesn’t matter where in the world he might be fishing, Kitchen is angling for marlin. I’m really looking forward to the trip now after some initial reservations. It should be a good time.