Thanksgiving, 2013
Oct 16, 2013 • Limited, anyone with the link
Photo: This year's Thanksgiving will be remembered for the most beautiful fall weather that we've ever experienced. Clear blue skies, temperatures of 16-20 degrees, cool nights and brillant colours.
Photo: My first expedition is always to the dam to check out the water level, seen here at 1205 feet above sea level. This is about a foot higher than the normal winter target level. However it cannot be changed now in order to protect the trout spawn that will be occurring soon - usually around the full moon in October.
Photo: Not much water going over but at least the lake is below its summer highs.
Photo: We walked to the Spanish River along Big Pog Creek ...
Photo: and saw a freight train of tank cars no doubt carrying bitumen, similar to what caused the disaster at Lac Megantic in Quebec.
Photo: It reminds me of the Stralak de-railment of a few years ago and hope it never happens ever again, especially with this toxic load.
Photo: But the fall colours brought me back to an appreciation of the present.
Photo: Later in the week, after we had seen a helicopter, I returned to the dam to see if a stop had been removed. Sunken saw logs can be seen along the shoreline ...
Photo: The morning mist was still lifting ...
Photo: but I found no change.
Photo: The poplars looked resplendent beside the pines.
Photo: We spotted a few saw logs and I noticed my grandfather's timber stamp. It was a bit different than most I have seen on the lake as it had an oval surrounding the letters 'WXP' (White and Plaunt).
Photo: Although most poplar fall leaves were yellow we spot a few groves than display an orangish tinge.
Photo: Another timber stamp, this one of John Charlton (JC), was cut over 110 years ago but failed to get to its saw mill destination.
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Photo: Two new paddles have been beautifully carved by our son Fraser for each of us. They get their first work-out for several outings around the lake.
Photo: This one to the dam area in Little Pog Creek ...
Photo: Below this maple bush we noticed a few logs of the former floom.
Photo: The creek flow was much reduced since the summer, but it was easier to walk around ...
Photo: where remnants of the former dam can still be seen.
Photo: The dam opening, now dormant for over 70 years, is now a pile of rotting logs.
Photo: As we paddle back to camp the stillness creates a mirror of the shoreline ...
Photo: and as we head south Mandy spotted a lynx on McGinnis' Island that was too quick for me to photograph.
Photo: We paddle to the former tote road, and now a snowmobile trail to Little Pog where we noticed the surface was covered with bluish, small flies. Although the blackflies aren't bad here, there were places they were plentiful.