September: Parry Sound to Peterborough

 

We left Parry Sound with wonderful weather. We decided to make the best of it and cruise as long as reasonable. It is a pleasure riding in the boat and enjoying the scenery. We made it back to Port Severn for the night.

 Fran was finally able to sample Tiger Tail ice cream. I had been telling her about it being a Canadian specialty but we couldn't find it. The Ice cream boat in Port Severn had it. It is orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream and licorice. Its not my favorite but Fran liked it.

Long term plan I thought about going all the way to Peterborough where there is an historic Lift Lock. But that meant going through 25 locks and long travel days. Fran and I decided we'd just keep on going if the weather allowed.

One concern was timing at Big Chute and another the Kirkfield Lift Lock. Both places were experiencing repairs and some boaters had gotten hung up for a day at both. We did well at Big Chute. We got through relatively quickly so we were able to make it back to Orillia. Orillia is one of my favorite places so we stayed two nights. Actually the weather was a little iffy to cross lake Simcoe, which can be a dangerous and/or very uncomfortable crossing if the waves are broadside.

The forecast called for the winds to pick up in the afternoon the next day. I said "We're good to go if we go early." I woke up thinking, "Let's go". Fran woke up thinking "Breakfast". Breakfast was usually fruit, tea and cookies or pastry for Fran. (Side note: After the second day on the boat Fran informed me that this was the longest time she could remember going a whole day without a cookie! She made certain it didn't happen again as soon as we hit the grocery store.) So I thought, won't take long and chose not to say we should go now.

We were about 90 minutes into a 2 hour cruise and the winds were picking up. Not terrible, but getting uncomfortable. I was definitely thinking, "I know better than to leave later then ideal when winds are forecast!" Fortunately, we made it to a point where we turned more favorably given the waves and although I had to slow down we made it to the entrance to the Trent.

Once in the Trent it's wonderful. No weather nor wave issues. We continued on after getting fuel. It is a long but pleasant cruise to the Kirkfield Lift Lock.  I knew Fran would be impressed with the Lift Lock. We arrived and found it would be a 2&1/2 hour wait due to ongoing repairs. But the good news was we were going to get through in time to get to Coboconk. Fran had no idea how quickly we usually would get through so she was not concerned in the least. In fact, she had ample time to walk around the Lift Lock and read all the information that I just take for granted now.

Kirkfield Lift Lock, one tub is up and the other down

Inside the Lift lock tub, almost at the top

I decided to take a little side trip to the Balsam Lake Fresh Water Summit, Coboconk, Ontario. Balsam Lake is Canada's highest body of fresh water. It is a fun little town up the very scenic Gull River. The town provides free docks and there is a grocery store in easy walking distance. If you zoom in on the graphic you'll find a lot of interesting information. This link shares the history. Coboconk

View from the top of the Lift lock

I thought about going all the way to Peterborough where there is an historic Lift Lock. But that meant going through 25 locks and long travel days. Fran and I decided we'd just keep on going as the weather allowed.

We left Coboconk with beautiful weather, once again, and cruised to Lakefield, Ontario. It has a wonderful town marina, stores and restaurants. Plus many biking trails which I said we could check out on our way back. There are 5 locks on the way to Peterborough. That means a lot of up and down and Fran grabbing cables going into the locks, etc. But all went well and we made it to the Peterborough Lift Lock. Fran was duly impressed! 

We rode our bikes all around Peterborough and enjoyed a lovely night at the Ashburnam Lock. It is a nice place to sty and just outside the city. There are nice bike trails, a butterfly garden and more but I failed to take many pictures. 

We rode to the bottom of the Lift Lock where I did get some pictures. I asked Fran to go ahead and stand at the bottom for a size perspective. She is dressed in black way far ahead.

The next morning we headed back. First stop was to go up in the Lift Lock.

We are in the tub and getting ready to go to the top.

We traveled back up the 5 locks to Lakefield where we wanted to stay. Fran LOVES to bike ride. I told her there was a nice trail that followed the river we just came up. She wanted to go for a long bike ride. I wished her well! Having gone on bike rides with Fran I knew I would just hold her back. She ended up riding roughly to Peterborough and back, roughly 20 miles!

This link gives a little history. Peterborough Lift Lock

We traveled back up the 5 locks to Lakefield where we wanted to stay. Fran LOVES to bike ride. I told her there was a nice trail that followed the river we just came up. She wanted to go for a long bike ride. I wished her well! Having gone on bike rides with Fran I knew I would just hold her back. She ended up riding roughly to Peterborough and back, roughly 20 miles! I enjoyed a little R &R.

Fran on her bike at Lakefield

Fran fishing off
the dam at Young's Point

Our next stop was Young's Point. It's a nice lock with a very large Canadian tourist clothes/gifts/souvenirs shop. We enjoyed looking but refrained from buying. Guppy is a small boat and we were both going to be flying home. We fished off the dam which is fun. But no catching!

Buckhorn Lock, Fran relaxing

We wanted to get some more kayaking in so I said we should stay at the Buckhorn Lock. It's a nice lock. I got the solar panels out because there wasn't shore power. We had a very good kayak ride.

We also had time for a nice bike ride to the Adam & Eve rocks. For whatever reason, the glacier decided to deposit these two big rocks along what was formerly who knows what! The size and placement of these giant rocks is quite unusual.

Fran between Adam and Eve rocks

Trudy's Bait shop

While staying at Buckhorn I told Fran she had to see Trudy's Bait shop. It is in the basement of a cottage and has been there for 60+ years. Any and all fishing lures can be found there.

Just outside the bait shop is a lovely waterfall.

Our next and last lock was Bobcaygeon. It was always one of our favorite stops. In particular, there was a bakery that made the best Chelsea Buns ever. I was skeptical we'd find any good ones because the original owner was long gone. But might as well try. And of course Fran was always looking for cookies, pastries, bread, etc. We went to the same bakery that used to make the Chelsea buns but I knew from past experience the new owner didn't put the effort into making them. But they had some that looked promising. They were quite disappointing!

We secured a great spot at the lock that had shore power available. Always nice to have shore power to run the induction burners, water heater, charge the batteries, etc. This was the end of our journey. We would take the boat to Birch Point Marina where they would store it for the winter.

Bobcaygeon, Guppy in the middle

The next day we arranged transportation to Toronto where Fran would fly back to Laguna Beach, California and I would fly to Burlington, VT to visit with my sister Terri's family again.