Returning Home from Chutes

Today we are leaving Chutes Provincial Park to return home.

After breakfast and before we left, we wanted to go and see a full view of Big Chute Falls.

We followed the trail beyond the observation deck and went down a long flight of steep, wooden stairs.

This put us half way below the falls and above another set of rapids. 

It was soon time for us to make our way back to the campsite pack up our things and prepare the trailer for us to go home.

It wasn't long, before we were on the road and soon back on the Trans Canada Highway.

The return home was fairly uneventful, with only two slow downs for construction.
















About halfway home we stopped for fuel, took the time to stretch our legs and have lunch.

It wasn't long before we were back on the road again.















A couple of hours away from home we stopped to have supper, before continuing on our journey.

It was nice to finally make it home, but I wasn't impressed to see by flower beds had become overgrown with weeds.

Chutes Provincial Park

Today was our first full day at Chutes Provincial Park and after breakfast were are going to go hiking on the trails.

We started at the beginning of the trail at the observation deck by Big Chute Falls.

I of course, took many photographs of the water coming over the falls but I will find a place where I can get pictures of the entire falls from a distance.

From there we walked along the trail beside the River aux Sables and at a section of the trail by the rapids one of the soles of my hiking boot came off. Fortunately, we were not far from our campsite.
















Ron told me to stay and take my pictures and he would go back to the campsite and get a pair of my running shoes and return.

While I was waiting, I thought what are the odds of me loosing another sole off another pair of fairly new shoes? Two days ago, while Ron was tying down the canoe after fishing at the inlet at White Lake, I walked up the gravel road taking photographs and realized that I had lost the sole off of my loafer.

When Ron returned, he not only brought in my running shoes, he brought along a roll of duct tape and asked if I wanted him to patch up my hiking boot. I thought why not? Especially, since there was less than 30 miles (48km) of wear on them.

We continued following the trail, past the Seven Sister Rapids and stopped at the observation area before we crossed both of the Twin Bridges and started back down the River Aux Sables on the opposite side of the river.
















We managed to make it as far as just past the last of the Seven Sisters Rapids, to the next observation area when the other sole came off my pair of hiking boots. I had enough of this nonsense and took both boots off, put my running shoes on and at this point we turned around to go back to the campsite.

I placed my hiking boots where they belonged, in one of the trash containers for garbage since they did not even survive our two mile (3.2km) hike.

After lunch we decided that we would go back out on the trail again to go through the forest and see what kinds of birds and wildlife we could find. We also brought along my last pair of running shoes and the duct tape, just in case.

We went back up the River Aux Sables, across the Twin Bridges and this time took the trail to the left away from the river.


When we came to the fork in the trail we decided to continue going away from the river.

At the next fork in the road we went toward the river which took us to a beach and the rapids above Big Chute Falls.

We retraced our steps and continued on our path going back up the river and we again bypassed the trail leading back into the forest.

We continued along the river, back over the Twin Bridges and back to our campsite completing our afternoon walk of 3.2 miles (5.2km).

After supper we relaxed with a cup of tea or coffee and enjoyed the peace and quiet of the campgrounds.

Tomorrow, there is one more small trail that we will take in the morning before we head back home.

Leaving White Lake and going to Chutes

Today we are leaving White Lake Provincial Park and heading back to Chutes Provincial Park for a couple of days so I can see the falls and walk the trails.

We decided to leave after breakfast because we were not sure how long we would be tied up in traffic due to construction.















On the way out of the Park we stopped and I got this photograph of the entrance sign for White Lake Provincial Park which is just off the highway.

We were pleasantly surprised that the traffic wasn't as bad and the delays were not as long as they had been on the way to White Lake.















Fortunately, we were early enough that they were drilling the holes in the rocks instead of preparing them with the blasting caps.

Although, where we were held up for almost an hour on the way to White Lake, once again gave us the longest wait time.















The company that is doing the work on this section of the highway is extremely slow. The fact they have barely moved beyond the set of traffic lights they were paving tells the story.

It took us a little over seven hours to get to Chutes Provincial Park and I was very happy to finally see the Park's sign.















We were in our campsite and set up by 4:00p.m. which gave us some time to walk around the park before it was time to make supper.

Our new campsite is right beside our original campsite, the difference is that this one has power so I can use my microwave and toaster.















After supper we spent the evening enjoying the peace and quiet.

Tomorrow I am looking forward to going hiking on the Twin Bridges Trail.

Chutes Provincial Park

Today we are starting our vacation and heading to Chutes Provincial Park for an overnight stay before leaving to go to White Lake Provincial Park for four days and then returning to Chutes for a couple of days before returning home.

Chutes is a small 268 acres (108.32 ha) park that was established in 1970 close to the town of Massey, Ontario.

We arrived in the late afternoon after six hours of playing in traffic, although it could have been worse if we would have been travelling on a Friday night.

It is a quiet campground located on the Aux Sables River and has a 3.7 mile (6km) hiking trail with great views of scenic waterfalls and river gorge, as well as a wide variety of birds which I will enjoy on our return trip from White Lake.















By the time we had the trailer set up for the night and took the dog out for a walk it was supper time.

After supper we settled down for the evening to enjoy a campfire before we turned in for the night.















We will be leaving early in the morning as we have a long drive ahead of us to get to White Lake Provincial Park.

Hay Bay I

Today we took the trailer for our last trip of the year and went to Pickerel Park Sun RV Resort and Campground in Napanee, Ontario.

It didn't take very long for us to get into our spot and have everything set up. This time we brought Kyora with us and she quickly learned not to charge out at the other dogs or bark at people as they walked along the road.














Then we went exploring. The Campground is located on 21 acres (8.5 hectares) and features over 700' (213.4m) of shoreline on Hay Bay. The boat docks are set in such a way as where the small sandy beach is located the central dock forms a large, rectangular protected swimming area, with the boats docking on the outside, or at other straight docks on either side of the protected section.

The heated pool, been drained for the season, but there was bingo in one of the buildings and craft/art activities, there were a number of horseshoe pitches and Ron couldn't wait to go fishing.















After lunch, we went back to the docks and Ron went fishing while I did this little pencil drawing of the shoreline on the other side of Hay Bay.

Kyora, caught up on her beauty sleep as she lay behind Ron's chair and occasionally lifted her head and looked around to be sure that we were safe.










Time seemed to pass quickly, and before long the sun was getting lower in the sky and we headed back to the trailer to have supper and relax for the evening with a campfire.

We left the next morning, early enough to beat the Thanksgiving weekend traffic as we headed back home.

Going Camping in Algonquin Provincial Park

Today we went up to Algonquin Provincial Park in Whitney, Ontario for the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

We stayed at the Lake of Two Rivers Campground which is of course, located on Lake of Two Rivers.

Algonquin Provincial Park, was established on 27 May 1893 and is the oldest provincial park in Ontario and the first provincial park in Canada.

Facilities include lodges, campgrounds, scenic drives, hiking and skiing trails and over 930 miles (1,500 km) of lake and river canoe routes.















The park lies across the southern edge of the Canadian shield and is located between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa River and has Highway 60 running through the south end of the park, while the Trans-Canada Highway bypasses it to the north.

Additions since it was first created have increased the park to its current size of approximately 2,955 square miles (7,653 square kilometres).

The rolling landscape was smoothed and gouged by the glaciers that receded 10,000 years go during the last ice age which also created the over 745 miles (1,200 km) of streams and rivers and over 2,400 lakes which provide access by boat to the interior of the park.















The park is considered to be an area of transition between the Northern Ontario coniferous forest and the Southern Ontario deciduous forest. Due to this unique mixture of the different forest types and also the wide variety of environments within the park, it allows the park to support a wide diversity of both plant and animal life.

The on land the park is famous for its wolves and a wide variety of other animal species are common and almost 250 bird species have been recorded throughout the park. The cold, deep, lakes are home to trout, small-mouthed bass, pike, muskellunge and walleye can also be found.

In 1992 Algonquin Provincial Park was named a National Historic Site of Canada in recognition of its many heritage values, a few of which are its role in the development of park management; it being an important site for wildlife research; its role in inspiring artists, which gave many Canadians an appreciation of their country; pioneering visitor interpretation programs many of which were later adopted by both national and provincial parks across the Canada.















A new visitor centre complete with bookstore, museum and restaurant was opened in 1993 to celebrate Algonquin's centennial.

Algonquin Provincial Park is the only designated park within the province of Ontario to allow industrial logging to take place within its borders. Logging began in the 19th century, especially for white pine and today over 70% of the park is still subject to controlled logging.

Recently park planning and land use pressures and have led to a lot of public debate regarding the appropriate use and designation of the park, which in my opinion doesn't bode well for the Park.

The last thing I want to see is a subdivision in the middle of the park or the lakes being ruined by having hundreds of cottages and motorboat traffic destroying the peace and tranquility of these pristine areas.