Being close to my mother, she had herd lots of my last trip, and decided to brave the elements and join us for the September 14th - 16th, 2007 weekend. As such, we stayed at Canisbay Campground in site number 227; one of the only lake access sites that also has electricity. With my mother along I felt "guaranteed warmth" was in order, for while very active for her age, she had expressed troubles sleeping cold, as she would "feel the pains" the next day. As it turned out the electricity came in handy as it dropped down to about 10 degrees in the evening, but inside the tent we were a toasty 25 degrees with the help of a small electric space heater.
That weekend we visited two Interpretive Walking Trails, the Lookout Walking Trail, as well as the Spruce Bog Boardwalk as well as the Algonquin Logging Museum & Trail. For this entry, I'll focus on the Lookout Trail, and in other Blog entries, discuss the others.
Lookout Walking Trail
Trail Name: Lookout
Length of Trail: 1.9 km
Theme: Geology
Features: Lookout atop major cliff
Rating: Difficult
Location on Hwy 60: km 39.7
Date Traveled: Sun. Sept. 16th, 2007
After arriving at camp late the night before, we decided to sleep in a bit that morning, and then enjoy a leisurely coffee in the woods, while chatting about the beauty of the fall colours that surrounded our campsite. We discovered that our site while offering "water access" did so with a bit of a hike, as it was well over a 200 meter walk to a "mini beach" that was shared by us and the adjoining site up the road. This was not a problem for us, as the walk was along a very colourful trail. It was a cloudy damp morning, but the skies looked like they would clear up within the next few hours.
Trail Name: Lookout
Length of Trail: 1.9 km
Theme: Geology
Features: Lookout atop major cliff
Rating: Difficult
Location on Hwy 60: km 39.7
Date Traveled: Sun. Sept. 16th, 2007
After arriving at camp late the night before, we decided to sleep in a bit that morning, and then enjoy a leisurely coffee in the woods, while chatting about the beauty of the fall colours that surrounded our campsite. We discovered that our site while offering "water access" did so with a bit of a hike, as it was well over a 200 meter walk to a "mini beach" that was shared by us and the adjoining site up the road. This was not a problem for us, as the walk was along a very colourful trail. It was a cloudy damp morning, but the skies looked like they would clear up within the next few hours.
After exploring "our beach" and explaining to the kids that it was probably too cold for a swim, we made our way back to camp, had a second cup of Java and walked to the campground office to pick up our permits, and officially sign in (remember we had arrived very late the night before, and the office, w hile expecting us, was closed for the night when we arrived just after midnight.) It's a good thing we had made our rese rvations two weeks earlier, as the park was full, with no sites anywhere along the highway 60 corridor. Having picked up our permits, we decided to head out for the rest of the morning and made our way to the Lookout Interpretive Walking Trail.
Upon arriving at the parking lot for Lookout, we knew that it would be good, but that privacy was not an option. The parking lot was overfilling, and cars were parked along the highway, but we scored a prime spot just by the entrance gates as another family was about to leave. They told us the colours were spectacular but that the trail was packed.We thanked them for the spot, and quickly made our way to the trail, paying our loonie each for our trail guide (my oldest chose the French version to show his teacher back home) and we were off into the forest.
The trail turned out to be no problem for us, even though it was described in the Algonquin Information Guide as difficult.
We took our time on the 1.9 km trail, so as to keep away form people as much as possible, and took about an hour or so to navigate. The trail took us past several incredibly large glacial erratics, as well as rugged carvings through the Canadian Shield.
The trail took us through a beautifully coloured coniferous forest in full color as well as several large hills and valleys where deciduous trees were more prevalent. We passed a few dry streams and crossed seveal foot bridges, and ended at the climax of the trail, which was atop an over two hundread foot tall cliff overlooking a magnificently coloured forest below.
At that moment I truly understood the reason so many people were on the trail this time of the year,
but was so aww struck, that the presence of anyone other then my family took a back seat to the view, making it feel like we were tho only ones who were present at all.
We were all taken back by the sheer beauty of nature as we sat on the rocks overlooking the cliff, especially as the sun had come out in full force, warming up no only the temperature, but our spirits and the colours that were our surroundings.
I could see then how Lookout got it's name, and we sat for about half an hour taking in the beauty of our surroundings. The only point of note other then the beauty was my sons lack of fear about the height, leaving me and my mother holding their
hands tightly. We learned after a time though that they were not afraid because they had no intention of going near the edge, and so we let them to play in the pine woods directly behind the Lookout spot while we took in he warmth of the sun on our skin, and the delight of the view on our sole.
I could see then how Lookout got it's name, and we sat for about half an hour taking in the beauty of our surroundings. The only point of note other then the beauty was my sons lack of fear about the height, leaving me and my mother holding their hands tightly. We learned after a time though that they were not afraid because they had no intention of going near the edge, and so we let them to play in the pine woods directly behind the
Lookout spot while we took in he warmth of the sun on our skin, and the delight of the view on our sole.The walk back to the parking lot turned out to be relatively short, as the lookout post is at about 1.4 km into the hike.
It winded down a sloping hill that was probably the most challenging part of the walk, as parts of it are covered with loose gravel.
Returning to the car, I asked my Mom how she was feeling, and inquired as to what she would like to do.
She replied that she would like to get some lunch, but that after we should try another trail. We ended up at a restaurant by the Portage Store (a nice restaurant with a great view of access point at Canoe Lake) and then we were back off to another trail ......
Upon arriving at the parking lot for Lookout, we knew that it would be good, but that privacy was not an option. The parking lot was overfilling, and cars were parked along the highway, but we scored a prime spot just by the entrance gates as another family was about to leave. They told us the colours were spectacular but that the trail was packed.We thanked them for the spot, and quickly made our way to the trail, paying our loonie each for our trail guide (my oldest chose the French version to show his teacher back home) and we were off into the forest.
The trail turned out to be no problem for us, even though it was described in the Algonquin Information Guide as difficult.
We took our time on the 1.9 km trail, so as to keep away form people as much as possible, and took about an hour or so to navigate. The trail took us past several incredibly large glacial erratics, as well as rugged carvings through the Canadian Shield.
The trail took us through a beautifully coloured coniferous forest in full color as well as several large hills and valleys where deciduous trees were more prevalent. We passed a few dry streams and crossed seveal foot bridges, and ended at the climax of the trail, which was atop an over two hundread foot tall cliff overlooking a magnificently coloured forest below.
At that moment I truly understood the reason so many people were on the trail this time of the year,
but was so aww struck, that the presence of anyone other then my family took a back seat to the view, making it feel like we were tho only ones who were present at all.
We were all taken back by the sheer beauty of nature as we sat on the rocks overlooking the cliff, especially as the sun had come out in full force, warming up no only the temperature, but our spirits and the colours that were our surroundings.
I could see then how Lookout got it's name, and we sat for about half an hour taking in the beauty of our surroundings. The only point of note other then the beauty was my sons lack of fear about the height, leaving me and my mother holding their
hands tightly. We learned after a time though that they were not afraid because they had no intention of going near the edge, and so we let them to play in the pine woods directly behind the Lookout spot while we took in he warmth of the sun on our skin, and the delight of the view on our sole.
I could see then how Lookout got it's name, and we sat for about half an hour taking in the beauty of our surroundings. The only point of note other then the beauty was my sons lack of fear about the height, leaving me and my mother holding their hands tightly. We learned after a time though that they were not afraid because they had no intention of going near the edge, and so we let them to play in the pine woods directly behind the
Lookout spot while we took in he warmth of the sun on our skin, and the delight of the view on our sole.The walk back to the parking lot turned out to be relatively short, as the lookout post is at about 1.4 km into the hike.
It winded down a sloping hill that was probably the most challenging part of the walk, as parts of it are covered with loose gravel.
Returning to the car, I asked my Mom how she was feeling, and inquired as to what she would like to do.
She replied that she would like to get some lunch, but that after we should try another trail. We ended up at a restaurant by the Portage Store (a nice restaurant with a great view of access point at Canoe Lake) and then we were back off to another trail ......
1 comment:
Hello. Thank you very much for posting a review and actually indicating the camp site number. It is so hard to find such a detailed review. I was wondering if you could give me a hand. My friends and I are going to Canisbay this August and we are planning on booking the campsite 226 that is supposed to be located right in front of the camping site you stayed at, 227. Would you happen to remember anything about the site 226 (e.g. privacy, quality, proximity to the lake, etc.). I would really appreciate your help.
Thank you in advance.
Ivan
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