July 19, 2021 – **THE BORDER IS OPENING** Finally, some good news!
Posted on July 19, 2021
Hi All,
Well, after almost a year and a half Trudeau has finally made a definitive statement regarding the border closure, and it is the one we have all been waiting for! As of August 9th, the border will be open to non-essential travel for any individuals that are fully vaccinated. So far this is about all we know:
- Proof of a completed negative test from the past 72 hours will be required
- It appears as though another test may need to be done at the border
- You must use the ArriveCAN app, and have your information and proof of vaccination uploaded within 72 hours prior to your entry
- You must have a 14 day quarantine plan in place in case the CBSA decides it is required in your particular case (We currently aren’t sure if just turning around and going home will suffice, but I imagine it will)
This information was taken directly from the Canadian Government website found here: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid
I would like to kindly remind everyone that we don’t have any insider or backdoor information about what is going on, or what to expect. If you have any questions regarding what will be required to cross the border please take a look at the link above or give the CBSA a call at 1-800-461-9999. We are receiving a ton of emails, and frankly I just don’t know anything yet. If you have any other questions or inquiries about booking please do not hesitate to give us an email or a call, and I will try to keep this blog updated with information as we learn anything new, or have some testimonials from individuals who have crossed.
I will be reaching out to all of the guests whose week was affected by this notice over the next day or so. In the meantime, we do have cabins available every week during the month of September, so if you missed your trip and can make it up, just give us a call and we would be happy to get you penciled in. The vacancies have been going quick though, so don’t wait too long.
As far as necessary Covid precautions at camp are concerned, things are still a little unclear. As of right now we are required to have guests sign some paperwork upon arrival, we are asking that you bring your own bedding (fitted sheet and pillow cases provided), and to wear a mask when in the main office. There are some smaller rules we are following as well but I am not going to go into too much detail yet, as I would like to learn more about what is required of us with this new update. Chances are the rules will change before August 9th anyway. I will be sure to post a list of precautions we have to follow on the blog before the border opens though, so everyone knows what to expect.
In other news, we have not gotten any rain all summer and things are DRY. The grass is mostly yellow in the yard and the lake is bordering on the lowest I have ever seen it, and about 6 weeks earlier then I have ever seen it get this low. It is getting very difficult to navigate the narrows on the North side of the big island, and I haven’t been up there, but have heard the rock gardens and rapids are extremely low and rocky. Fortunately, the narrows on the South side of the island are still plenty passable so the entire lake can still be accessed. Sadly, a large portion of North Western Ontario is on fire, but we have been extremely fortunate that none of the fires have been too close to us. Smoke can be seen over the lake daily, however.
Despite the heat and low water, the fishing has remained really good. The walleye have moved up onto the humps and can be found feeding pretty aggressively if you hit one of the active ones. I recommend “running and gunning” the humps, if you fish one for 10-15 minutes and it’s slow, just move on to the next. It seems they are either aggressively feeding or not at all, so don’t waste your time waiting on them to come around, just go looking for them. I even tend to do a loop between humps that are fairly close as the walleye can move on to one you have already fished in you hour or two absence.
Our renovation on cabin #3 is officially completed as of today! That makes two of our smaller cabins that now have new bathrooms off of the back of the cabin with, wait for it, FULL sized showers! We are hoping to be able to complete the same renovations on cabins 2 and 4 over the next two years. Here’s to hoping the price of lumber levels back out by then.
Well, I believe that is all for this update. As I mentioned above, I will be sure to post any relevant information and links on here before the border opens to try to make this process as easy as possible for everyone. Take care and we really look forward to seeing some of you soon!
Ryan