Well, today could not be missed! No rain, beautiful sun but not too hot! John and I took advantage of the day and decided to go for a hike. We headed out to the historic log chute between Hall's Lake and Hawk Lake (see winter photos in a previous blog), and had lunch at a picnic table. The water levels in the area this year are astoundingly low, and the Kennisis River between the lakes - which is usually fast moving, loud and beautiful, was rocks and mud in a lot of places. It was truly quite sad - no kids are tubing into Hall's Lake this year! After lunch we crossed the dam and headed along the "Crests of Kennisis Trail" - a 5km trail (up hill both ways - or so it seemed!) that leads you up and along a ridge high above the Kennisis River. As it was our first hike of the season, and we are not seasoned hikers, we didn't make it all the way, but we did make it to the first viewing point, past the beaver pond. It was spectacular and took about 45 minutes to get there. We then swung our exhausted bodies around and headed back. Lots of mosquitoes, lots of sunshine and an incredibly peaceful, beautiful forest. Sometimes we had to just stop and listen to the silence - an extraordinary day! I wonder what trail we shall try next????
I'm glad you enjoyed your stay. I live about 2 km down from the log chute. We moved here about 5 years ago from Toronto. We have owned the lot for over 10 years. We are fortunate enough to have literally the best tubing spot right out in our backyard on the river. The river is always lowered in late winter or early spring depending on snowfall we received and spring run off. Unfortunately, at the date you visited, the river was still "down". Water levels are also determined by the Trent Severn Waterway Management. This year, the river was down for a particularly long time and the water was not raised to those primo tubing levels until shortly after Canada Day on July 1st. I feel like this area is truly my neighbourhood. We often walk up to the log chute for an after dinner walk and finally, this past summer, I felt my son who had just turned 7 was old enough to to the Crests of Kennisis trail. We had an awesome day. We are so influenced by the region that when we got are first dog 3 years ago, we named her "River". As she so loves the river, we often look for her and see that "River is in the river". If you ever go tubing, she's the gorgeous german shepherd (big baby, tough bark) who'll bark "hello" as you tube by,
ReplyDelete