Please Break For Snakes

We encountered this eastern hognose snake struggling to cross a busy boating channel and provided it with a break on a paddle, before monitoring the rest of its journey to shore and safety.

Kitchi's Chair

We discovered that the only campground open this time of year was Cedar Spring and, expecting it to be busier, were pleasantly surprised to find that we shared it with only one other party for the duration of our stay. We camped at site 61, overlooking the water and the closest to Finger Point and Kitchi's Chair, where we spent every morning enjoying our breakfast and the view.

Rattler Roundup

I was excited to participate in a special event arranged for the Parry Sound Nature Club. Joining Kenton Otterbien, park naturalist, and his team of researchers, we spent the afternoon searching for rattlesnakes. We spotted two dozen in two hours, a record number, of which fifteen were collected and processed for research purposes before being released.

The First

This was the first time visiting the bay this year and we were also hoping to be the first ones in but we met them at the portage on their way out. We had to negotiate through an ice sheet on McDonald Lake and at the outlet into and out of McCrae Lake, the water levels were high and swift moving.

Kicksledding

I tried kicksledding for my first time and was impressed by both the speed and distance one can accomplish with the right conditions. It is a Scandinavian invention that is slowly gaining popularity here for a variety of applications, and can be operated in the traditional manner, by propeling yourself forward by kicking off with one foot, or harnessing a dog to it.

Fat Biking And Burning

From Franklin Island we had to deviate from a convenient snowmobile trail and continue on our own, adamant about completing our original plan on fat biking to Red Rock. It was quite a workout, a mix of fat biking and burning. We were able to bike for short stretches over frozen snowdrifts before becoming mired down in soft spots however we pressed and pushed on, and finally arrived at our destination.

Fat Bike To Red Rock

We were excited at the prospect of fat biking to Red Rock but our excitement turned to disappointment when we arrived at Snug Harbour and learned how much conditions had changed from our previous visit a week earlier. The ice over the bay, formerly exposed, was now covered with snow deep enough to make biking a struggle however we vowed to press on. We were grateful to the snowmobilers who left us with a compact trail to follow to Franklin Island.

Red Rock Walk

After a long snowshoe trek across the uneven frozen surface of Georgian Bay I reached Red Rock, both the island and the prevailing wind and wave side of the light tower sheathed with ice.