Bear Essentials

My apologies in advance . . . this post has very little to do with the hobby of urban exploration. I promise to have something promising next week when I go exploring with one of my fav explorer-chicks 'Simmorill'. This explorer / blogger has been rather busy again this past week indulging in the dreaded activity called 'summer family vacation'. This particular vacation involved camping in the wilds of northern Ontario where only the bold or insane venture.

Let us just say that upon my return home from said vacation, I spent a rather long time in my bathroom admiring the modern convenience of a flush toilet and hot / cold running water. After this, I meandered over to the bed to take in the glorious feel of clean linen.

I would have spent some of my time exploring but the flying / biting / fire-breathing insects of northern Ontario decided that I would make a very lovely buffet. All that I can provide to you at this time is a short video taken at the nearby garbage dump of Dunchurch. In all, there were four bears, two raccoons, and a flock of dump-ducks . . . Enjoy !

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First things first . . .

The reason we had found ourselves at the dump - - - apparently there was no place to plug in the curiously-absent television set in our tent. My three kids require only one of two things . . . television or Novacaine®. The next best thing a good father could provide in this situation is taking the monsters, I mean children, on this time-honoured traditional activity of those poor souls who have no cabel . . . a trip to the dump to take in the sights and smells.

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the most horrible of stenches . . . it was sour, sickly-sweet, putrid, and acrid all at once. It was then I realised two things . . . that the van windows were shut tightly and that we were all in very dire need of a bath. We wandered over to the tipping face - a ledge with a eight-foot drop and immediately spotted black bears, specifically 'Ursus Americanus'. Even more specifically, Ursus Dumpus.

As we watched these graceful creatures claw through garabe bags and eat diaper burritos, I saw a curious creature unkown to me. It was completely round, fur-covered, had a waddling gait, and moved about on unseen appendages. Only when the critter lifted its head to clear its gullet of rancid fat did I realise what this animal was . . . the world's largest raccoon.

It's proper name, Procyon lotor, roughly translates from the latin as 'one who washes'. This is due to the raccoon's habit of 'washing' their food in water. As I watched in morbid curiosity this raccoon eat a variety of unsanitary sanitary products and anything else that may have been in those garbage bags, I did not note any washing of food whatsovever. Anywho . . . this beast, the size of small dalmation, most likely weighed in just over 45 kilos (100 pounds) and the dump bears steered a wide berth of this municipal monster.

The point I try to make here is that some parts of northern Ontario is no fit place for an "Urban" explorer to wander around . . .

Summer Camp Memories

Here is the Scout Stalag, er . . I mean Oba-Sa-Teeka Scout Reserve, located in Essa Township. This facility operated as a Scouting Camp from about 1965 and closed in 2004.


There were 25 separate capsites located on 215 acres of land. Camp Oba-Sa-Teeka featured an Obstacle Course and an Olympic-sized pool. One of the highlights of the camp was the Railway Caboose, which has three authentic railway cars - two for sleeping, one for dining, which was moved to another scout camp when Oba-Sa-Teeka closed.

The property now is owned and operated as the Ontario Vipassana Centre which offers a venue and instruction in in this branch of Buddhist Meditation.

Scouts Canada sold 14 camps in Ontario after a two-year review which reviewed all camps against 11 criteria. General opinion indicates that low enrollment (membership now half of the 1970's level), coupled with required upgrades to provide potable water in a post-Walkerton environment sounded the death-knell for many of these camps.

The property had 3 'villages' named after indigenous aboriginal tibes. The Huron, Iroquois, and Cree villages consisted of small bunkhouses, and a covered dining shelter. Certainly an upgrade to camping in a field.

Campers often registered their troop names and the year of visit to available surfaces of these structure. One may be able to track the same troop's visit over the years to the site.

This is 'The Pen' where unruly Scouts were caged in . . . Or perhaps just an equipment lock-up.

Most of the obstacle course's structures are well on its way to become compost.

Not quite the 'de rigeur' Urb Ex Money $hot, many of our regular readers have come to enjoy, but we were in a bit of a bind here.
After feasting on dry cereal and under-cooked hot dogs in stale buns, the campers were afforded the luxury of a seated commode.