Friday, July 17, 2009

Cottaging on the Pickeral River

My plans for a big canoe or kayak trip were too ambitious- my friends were unable to join in them and I was too out of shape for prolonged paddling. Instead, we visited an uncle's cottage.
We rented a canoe at Grundy Lake Supply Post -they set us up well with a canoe and gear and are open until 8:00pm, which is much better than Swift Canoe rentals.
I want to also recommend the French River Visitor Area, which is between the French and Pickeral rivers on Highway 69. A lot of local history is described and displayed there but, it being built by the Ontario government, doesn't advertise much for fear of disrupting local businesses.

Anyway, we paddled for fifteen minutes to the cottage past lots of bare rock and bent-over pine. Some find it beautiful.

While there, my uncle taught his grand-nephew how to drive.
Near the cottage is a railroad and a tunnel was dug through a ridge of rock at some point. I have explored by flashlight the whole tunnel but on this day, we just peered into the opening.
Around my mother's house and in central Ontario generally, I have seen a lot of cormorants and no loons. I worried that the cormorants had out-competed the loons as both are fish-eaters. I was happy to see a pair of loons near the cottage.
Apparently, turtles are in decline. We saw eight of them in one day, so we were satisfied.
We also saw a small water snake that allowed us to get quite close.

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