Thursday, January 31, 2008

David Usher Rocks The Horseshoe


At least I think it is the Horseshoe, it might have been the Mod Club or well somewhere. It was a bar in Toronto near to the old Maple Leaf Gardens. The Concert was awesome. Gabe took most of the pictures, but I thought this one could be mine because it looks like whoever took it was shorter than the people in front of them.. but I could by wrong... so credit possibly to Gabe because I'm not sure I took any that weren't blurry. This is part of my catching up on the last few months on things other than my trip to Thunder Bay.

And I'm really having trouble with English this morning... sorry about the discombobulated post. Good concert - we met up with Geoff and Erin... it was a blast.
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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Tobogganing Lives On


One of the best parts of my christmas break was rediscovering my love for tobogganing. With private access to better hills and snow that my childhood ever knew (save maybe Lowville - but it was always crowded) - I had a blast and proved (to myself anyways) that all the new fangled sledding devices really can't beat the original wooden toboggan for speed and manouverability. Riding single, double and triple we blazed a trail down the hill - at one point with headlamps and moonlight only to guide us. It was just awesome and probably the best excercise I got the entire break too... running up the hill for the next slide down.
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Monday, January 28, 2008

Skiing the Mulmer Hills in Mansfield


I needed to stop sitting behind my computer for a few hours so I drove up to Mansfield Outdoor Center and finally got some good cross country skiing in this year. Actually, noting the impending rain and above freezing temperatures forcast for most of the eastern half of Ontario.. I figured I'd better get out, because it could be weeks before there was skiing again. I did the 9.5 km blue trail - which starts off with a lot of hills... going up, coming down etc. However, a little ways in the terrain levels out and there are about 5 or 6 km of wonderful skiing in the woods. There was a nice couple who provided me some advice on good places to try skiing around here. I'd really like to go to Hardwood Hills, Wasage and Scenic Caves before the winter is out - truthfully... I'd really like to go to Algonquin Park, Silent Lake and the Gatineau and I wouldn't mind some skiing in Thunder Bay - but none of those are likely to happen - so I'll settle for the accomplishable. I finished up with an easy ski on the 2km orange loop that follows the edge of a river - but in the fading sun it was charming and I saw a doe, which was nice.

Its been years since I've skied much. Most of it came back - I'm sure my technique was never fabulous - but a lot of it is natural... the one thing I'm struggling with is hills which is funny - since I've done more down hill skiing in the last 10 years than cross country by a wide margin, but maybe that is the cause... I don't know how to ski down a narrow path on a hill with narrow skis. I was getting better by the end. I can snow plow okay, but I think my body purposely flops over when I get going to fast becuase I feel nervous about it. I think once I feel more confident about steering and turning and build up a few muscles I'll be okay. I will however stop skiing in jeans until I cut back on my falls significantly. They get wet and cold.
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Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Last Trip Post

 

 

 

 


I guess like the hike, I'm just going nuts with the photo - I can't believe I'm actually all the way through my trip (in a posting sense). I was shocked at how busy Arrowhead was on the long weekend. I guess a lot of people come up from TO. Coincidently - they are holding the Muskoka Loppet there this weekend - although I won't be there yet. I've hardly been skiing yet, so I figured it would be persumptuous to make my first major ski trip to be a race. This weekend, I'm sincerely hoping to get out and do some skiing now that there is some snow and also to add some ski links to the blog.

For upcoming stories - well, I do have some back logged stuff - like the snowstorm in TO when our original trip to the Vinyl Cafe was in vain and some pretty wintery pics of the credit. I guess I'm going to have to get my butt in gear and take some new pictures.

Thanks for sharing my journey with my - I don't think I expected to still be posting so many months later... but it was a fantastic trip full of great moments, good lookouts for contemplation and some decent challanges...and back to my current challange for me.
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Natural Beauty






I think I took as many pictures at Arrowhead as I had in the preceding day - there was a definate feeling of it being the last chance. I actually almost didn't stop, but I'm glad I did. Although the trail I did was only about 3 km, it was good get out and walk and enjoy the grade A colours.
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Arrowhead Hike



My last breath of fall colours before heading back to the city on a calm, cool and overcast day.
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Sunday, January 20, 2008

The Beautiful Blue Yonder

View from the Tower

 


Here is the distant shoreline, visible from the tower. It was breathtaking - and just plain beautiful
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Where the road leads and we follow

 


An afternoon ski, turned into a quick spontaneous trip (the kind where you end up somewhere with no change of clothes or toothpaste). Here we are up the tower near the Bruce Peninsula park tower
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Friday, January 18, 2008

Final Stop Before Home

 


At some point I decided that I needed to be home before dark - that I'd had a lovely trip, but another night of camping and more driving just really wasn't in me - so home I went, but to compensate for not making it to Algonquin - I stopped at Arrowhead Park for one last short hike up and down the river - and for the first time in days I was somewhere crowded with people - which left me feeling grateful to the Park Warden for convincing me to stop and stay at Restoule where there were far fewer people. Still there were lots of beautiful natural things to take pictures of at Arrowhead.

I'm stopping my tale here for today - I'll leave shuffling through my 100 or so Arrowhead photos for later. But I wanted to make a few unrelated comments.

First - you will note that I broke the 10,000 hits barrier in my stats below (at least for one of the 2 counters). Secondly, you'll note that I added 2 new links - one to the vinyl cafe (which I was lucky enough to see at convocation hall last weekend and one to Dala - who was one of two musical guests on the vinyl cafe. There is some back story here as we were supposed to go the Sunday before we left for NB - but a snow storm whomped Toronto leaving it eerily quiet and the vinyl cafe cancelled. I do have some pictures of that which perhaps I'll get to post in a week as I start catching up to January.

Finally, you'll knote a knew knitting lynx section - I'm still working on this, but it'll take me a while to fully develop it.

I think that is all for now.

Cheers,

Jennith
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Another Gratuitous picture of the Doe Lake Shoreline

The Glorious Doe Lake Birch Tree

 


Drapped in robes of gold this Doe Lake Icon never fails to tug at my heart-strings. I couldn't find the director, so my visit here was short - but I've rarely seen Doe in the fall.
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Highway 11 Gas Station South of Burk's Falls

 


There is a restaurant/gas station where we used to get milk shakes at camp. (the name eluding me) - and it was also the place where I saw some of the best fall colours.
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Mikisew Provincial Park

 

 


I think my intention was to park on the road and explore more, but I was definately ready for home at this point... so I took a couple of pictures of the enterance way and headed on to Burk's Falls and Doe Lake.
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Thursday, January 17, 2008

The road goes on

 



My mishap with the not so continous Rye Road ended me up on highway 11. I visited a little store in Trout Creek - asking after Thelma - but perhaps I have the wrong town. There was a huge dog show going on in the arena and dogs everywhere. I think in Sundridge (but possibly before) I ended up back on back roads and travelled around Eagle Lake - on roads that were a single lane of dirt in places... but again.. beautiful country
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Quiet Lands and Yesterdays Farm

 


I suspect actually that this barn is still in use - but it made a great picture nestled in the back roads between highways 69 and 11. I did some good getting turned about - or rather finding that the roads on my map were not the same as the ones on the ground requiring me to adjust my route accordingly. I was heading through the back roads toward Doe Lake and Mikisew Provincial Park. It was quiet and peaceful and beautiful. I love backroads.
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River in Restoule Park

 

 


My last day on my fantastic road trip was gloomy and foggy. Had it been sunny I would have redone the hike from the day before and take some pictures, but it wasn't so I opted for a short and easy little jaunt through the woods along this river between Stormy and Restoule Lakes.

I was up early enough that it was nearly deserted and I enjoyed the fall colours.
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Restoule Lake


I'm on shaky ground with the name of the lake - there are actually 2 there are 2 lakes and this actually may be stormy lake. Here is the map - the little lake to the north is Stormy Lake and the larger lake to the south is Restoule Lake.

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Monday, January 14, 2008

Restoule Provincial Park




Restoule has been on my list of parks to visit for a long time. I arrived there about 2 hours before dark. I was tired, cold wet and trying to decide if I could make my last planned stop (Algonquin). The park's warden was a right con artist, and recommended that I try this lookout firetower hike (8 km return and on challanging terrain). He worked hard to conivince me to stay there rather than at Arrowhead and described the trail as 4 km. Of course, that was only one way. I read the little blurb before I started and realized that I was about to embark on an steep hike, 2 hours before dark on a rainy, miserable day that was twice as long as I'd bargained for. I sighed, though about it, inventoried by backpack to ensure that I had 2 flashlights (with batteries) and some food and water and decided to go for it. Actually, I speed walked it and finished all 8 km in just over an hour (as the guy at the desk suggested), but I felt that either he'd looked at me and figured I knew what I was about, or was crazy, because I wouldn't have sent most people on that trail at that time of day in that weather. I think the worst part is that I realized just as I got to the lookout that I wasn't going to be able to see anything because of the fog.... and so without even trying to take a picture until I was halfway back down (part of how I kept my time down) I turned around and headed downhill incredibly thankful for my hiking poles given the slippery rocks. Everyone should hike with poles. Its not only safer for your knees and ankles but it turns hiking into a whole body affair and certainly made a lot of things easier. By the time I got down, I was running out of steam and light. I was also the kind of damp that you can only get from vigourous exercise on a rediculously humid day, so I decided that I was convinced and headed back to the desk to pick my site. I took one suggested to me, but in the end I opted for a site accross from the bathroom, where I could take advantage of the light from a street lamp. Then I pulled out the wood that I'd been dragging from my first night in Lake Superior Park and decided to have a fire since it was my last night and began struggling to split it into kindling sized pieces. This quickly became frustrating until a kindly man appeared at my site with an armload of softwood saying little more than "you'll have a tough time getting that hardwood started, here is some night dry pine." The man made my evening with his act of kindness - saving me from a long and dangerous struggle with my questionably sharp axe and some insanely tough hardwood. I easily split the softwood (I'm actually okay at spliting normal wood) and built one of the best fires I've ever had and kept it going until 11 singing campfire songs. It was a nice last night. I can explain in words how I felt - kind of independent and triumphant and reminiscent. I sang all the campfire songs I could remember and parts of ones that I could only remember parts and then I sang some Depeche Mode songs and some songs from the days when I was in the Gr. 7/8 choir at Davis and here I shall stop for today... saving the last few stops of my trip for another posting, and then perhaps I'll get a chance to catch up to where things are today.

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Highway 522



This road definately left an impression on me. The day was misty and quiet and there was almost no traffic and few signs of people for the first stretch. It was beautiful in a wild sort of way. As I got closer to Restoule Park, my ultimate destination - there were a few villages and cottage towns nestled by lakes and a few more farms, but it remained pleasantly wild.
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Next Stop: Grundy Lake


My stop here was extremely short - about long enough to scramble the already scrambled contents of my car in a hunt for my cell phone. I had feared that it was left somewhere or lost on a trail. I can't remember where I found it, but I think I'd looked there and it was where I'd expected it to be, but somehow I hadn't been able to see it or some such nonsense.. it reappeared, I took a couple of pictures... checked the map, packed up the mess and headed down highway 522. Grundy Lake is another place I'll have to come back to and spend more time.
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French River Provincial Park




A lot of this trip had been about seeing as many provincial parks and natural wonders as I could. When I get to the end of my trip, I'll have to post a complete list of the ones I visited. The last 2 days though, I saw a total of 7 - although a lot of my stops were limited to stoping, hopping out of the car, taking a picture and hopping back in. At the French River, I stopped and checked out the new visitors centre as it had been under construction the last time I was out this way. They've done a great job of putting together a display highlight the local fur trade history in particular. Owing to the wet conditions, and the number of km and stops lefts ahead of me, I opted not to hike up to Recollet falls (although I hope to do this sometime). I have been on the other side of Recollet falls (I believe named after some missionaries who perished in its wrath. At the time we were looking forward to an easy portage as there was a kind of rail cart for canoes back then at the site, however when we paddled up the the falls (in early may) they were raging and unapproachable and the contraption to assist in portaging not to be seen. So, we pulled out at a resort downstream and 2 of our teachers hiked/hitch hiked back to the lot where our cars were parked and came to pick us up on the beach. I'd love to canoe the French River again too... perhaps one day.
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Wading in the Water


Remember that I hiked 13 km + the day before, so this felt good. The water was cool, but not icy and it allowed me to get a bit closer to the falls. You'll note that my sandals don't match. I managed to kill the left one of my old favourites (the brown Jack Wolfskin ones) and one of the newer wind river ones (that I bought on sale for $4.99) a couple of years ago. Unable to find a new pair that was either fantastic enough to pay a significant amount of money for or cheap enough to buy for the sake of having matching sandals at the end of the summer - I decided that I'd hold out and finish out the year in mismatched ones.
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2nd falls, Les Chutes Provincial Park


I didn't actually get that close to the falls... it was a fair hike to a place where I could zoom in and I decided I still had some serious ground to cover and I wasn't really dress (i.e. sandals) for a long hike.
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Here is teh view from the Viewing Platform at the falls.

Les Chutes, Massey


The rain was still driving down when I stopped to check out the round barn - a drafty, 12 sided, 78 year old barn that held a craft shop. I took a quick look, dashing from my car to the door in an attempt to minimize how soaked I got. Its a landmark - see the link for a picture and description. The building style dates back to early settlers in the area.

The Chutes Provincial was my next stop. I had a nice chat with the Parks Warden upon entering. The falls, although small compared to the roaring Kakabeka, Pidgeon River and Agaussabon falls. They had a picturesque charm. I was able to wade in the pool at the bottom. The Riviere Aux Sables - lived up to its name - and the pool was a sandy area used for swimming in warmer weather. I took some time to hike up river and check out the upper falls and it finally stopped raining long enough for me to dare take out my camera. I did hike in my sandals at the risk of getting Poison Ivy.

I'd definately camp out there sometime on route West or East. It may not have been huge, but it had a nice trail and the sites were wooded.
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Thursday, January 10, 2008

Carolyn Beach Motel


I've actually stayed here on dark and snowy December night when we rolled our station wagon just outside of Thesselon, ON. In fact, you can litterly probably see the point where we flipped in this picture... The quick version of that story was that the roads were somewhat bad, and the driver had mistakenly picked the wrong leg of a V - heading into Thesselon rather than Toronto. The front passanger had suddenly noticed this and called out and the driver had tried to switch legs - at which point I woke up in the middle of the back seat where I'd been dozing and seen snow flakes spinning in circles. Giving the driver credit she did manage to pull out of the spin and into a straight skid - until the car hit some slush and proceded to spin in the other direction until we came to a stop facing backwards on about a 45 degree angle on the edge of the road. It might have all ended well there - but as I declared "Thank God, we are going to roll" and ominous creak in the car top carrier as the drivers books shifted toward the downhill side and the car rolled over into the snow filled ditch. However, whatever diety was out there was watching out for us as the injuries were limited to me getting a fat lip (I was trying to help the driver out of the car - and her seat belt whipped me in the face when it was released) and the damage was limited to a cracked CD case that got crunched as we tryed to exit the car, the scattering of a 2 kg bag of worthers candies and both side view mirrors bent, a couple of litres of fluid lost and a small dent in the car.) This time I just stopped for a lovely cup of coffee and to read my map and then it was eastward ho.
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Pancake Bay Provincial Park - my second last night


Well, we've reached the final leg of my trip. After completing the 8 km Orphan Lake (and earlier in that day, the challanging 5 km trek up the Nokomis trail), I was exhausted. I drove down to the Trading Post (Agawa Indian Crafts) and bought some gifts for people. A neat carved face for my dad, little soapstone boxes for my mom and Gabe and probably something else I don't remember. I then went to Pancake Bay where I claimed my free 4th night at a provincial park and took a few pictures. I had canned spaggetti for supper and camped in a pretty site next to two college students up from Sault St. Marie - one of whom was a fabulous guitar player. Shortly before I had supper properly cleaned up, the sky opened up and poured a torrential ammount of rain everywhere punctuated by frequent and intense bursts of lightening. I grabbed everything I didn't want wet and chucked it in the trunk then ran for the comfort station where I made some short nervous calls home (lightening and phone calls don't mix and I crawled into my back seat and read for a while until the storm let up long enough for me to feel somewhat safe having a shower (the lightening was really intense) and make it back to my car just in time for the rain to resume. Meanwhile my neighbours came by and offered me some extra spaggetti they had, but I think they though I was nuts of hiding in my car. I slept poorly and it continued to rain unabated all night - until I gave up at 5 am and hit the road (in the pouring rain) and headed south to Sault Ste. Marie. I stopped in the Sault where I believe I had a yummy McDonalds Breakfast and bought gas at a petrocan on the highway strip. Both times I ended up talking to random people. In McDonalds I chatted with a table full of older folk about the weather and weather it was unusual and in PetroCanada I talked to the attendent about thankgiving and familes and stuff... Nice folk there... then I started heading east. I guess I should say something about driving in the rain. There was a lot of it. Rivers were swollen and at one point only the flashing lights of an attendent cop car warned me that there was water flowing over the road at one point (which I think later resulted in the closure of the road - so my early start might have worked out for me. I drove through the water slowly and carfully (it wasn't deep, just crazy). It was dark until well past Sault St. Marie and my wipers were in overdrive (my wipers are one of the suckier things on my car and even in overdrive there was a limit to what they can do with that much rain. There is a strange and comforting feeling to driving dark roads on rainy nights with Dave Matthews crooning and Tim Reynolds working miricals with a guitar - its one of those moments that you feel alive and centred. It was a good morning - although I was sad that I didn't get more of a chance to explore Pancake Bay - there were at least 2 trails that sounded great - but the rain looked to stay until later in the day.. and I had some serious ground to cover still.
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Monday, January 07, 2008

Snake just up from the lake

The second time I had a more cooperative snake and I managed to get 2 photographs of him before he slithered under a rock.
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View from Beaver Dam Across Orphan Lake


My watercolour paints would love to try this..... one day... one day...
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Dragonfly Dance


What a fantastic shade of red. I suspect that if my brain is pumping out the correct info these two critters are actually meadowflies (which I believe are damsel flies rather than dragonflies). They are busy on this log jutting out of a beaver dam at the outlet of Orphan Lake.
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Falls on Orphan Lake Trail

Orphan Lake trail is said to have something for everyone - lookouts, beaches, streams, woodland and a wonderful set of small waterfalls cascading over time-smoothed shieldrock.
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A chipmunk on the rocks, please!


This charmingly photogenic fellow accosted me (probably seeking handouts) just as I was leaving the beach and heading up a small stream in the general direction of my car...
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Orphan Lake Trail meets the Coastal Trail


For the span slightly longer than this beach, the Coastal and Orphan Lake trail share the same space. Another pebble strewn Lake Superior beach that was charmingly abandoned while I was there.
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High Lookout on Orphan Lake Trail, Lake Superior Park





I couldn't decide which to post, so I just put them all up in one post. A view well worth the hike up the ridge.
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Knitwit On the Road



One of the best parts of being a passanger on a long drive is time that can only be used for knitting, talking and listening to Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe. Not that there isn't anything esle you can do, but the there are things that you should do that can't be done so you can feel like you are making good use of your time. The top photo is a scarf in progress for a christmas pattern with a seed stitch. The big scary scarf at the bottom is the same deal, but different wool, the middle picture is my first dishcloth using a mix of basketweave and waspnest stitches and the pale green scarf at the bottom is a basketweave with bamboo yarn. Its curling around the edges, but its silky soft. Now that I don't have any future car rides coming up, I suspect that I won't get much knitting done. I'm aware that none of these are particulary challanging pieces (aside from finding time), but for me it inovled learning 2 new stitches (waspnest and basketweave) and working with different types of yarn. Should I have time - I have a pair of mittens that are nearly done and just need the top and thumb on one of them to complete, a half started pair of wool socks and 2 balls of kroy socks yarn in paintbox that would like to be a pair of socks and 3 or four projects started on round needles that should either become hats or neck warms evenutally. One day.... but not soon.
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Friday, January 04, 2008

Sunset at Denis Beach


Weird clouds... the sky is blue behind me - its all very atmospheric..
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Driftwood on Denis Beach

Here is one of my first views of Denis Beach
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New Year at the Old Favourites

Well, I was lucky enough to spend the first day of the new year visiting the prettier parts of NB. We skied in Fundy Park (breaking the trail in the pristine snow) then visited Alma. Our next stop - see photos above - was Denis Beach followed by a drive through Moncton and back to Sussex for dinner at the diner at the Fairway.... all in all a beautiful day!
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