We go from heavily wooded to flat open farmland then back to forested hills. Today we head north to Kettle Lakes Provincial Park near Timmins.  The timber industry is still big here but mining is right up there too.  Around Timmins the greatest find has been gold.  They still pull lots out of the ground here.

We have been trudging a couple miles along a muddy, rock and root strewn trail.   It is through beautiful country along many beaver lakes and meadows.  But, the walk is exhausting.  We are relieved to find that it follows an old railbed for a couple miles and settle in on that easy section of the walk.

There is movement in the underbrush to the left of the trail along with some sort of muffled sound. We slow to check it out and suddenly she leaps out of the brush puffed up to as big as she can make herself and fiercely facing off with us on the trail. Kent plays it cool.  He doesn’t even reach for the bear spray.

Who is this tenacious critter? It is a mother grouse.  She is aggressively protecting her very tiny chicks.  She repeatedly charges then retreats all the while softly chucking until she is able to corral the chicks and move them out of harms way.  We move on and leave the little family in peace.

The trail takes us through a turtle study area. The lakesides and logs are dotted with shells marred by gaudy painted on numbers.  We see a few ducks and many impressive beaver dams.  We are on the Mizzy Lake Trail, the parks signature wildlife walk but today the most plentiful wildlife by far are the biting bugs.  Still, a great way to spend the morning.

It began in the early 1800s and continues today. The pines are what brought people to this part of the country and despite early over harvesting and careless practices it is still a major industry.  Rules and limitations protect about half the park but the remaining 50% is still actively lumbered.  Most of the effort is on the northern sections well away from the heavily traveled tourist corridor.  We have enjoyed our stay so I guess they have struck an acceptable balance between outdoor recreation vs the timber industry.

Floating horse powered winch for moving logs across lake

The friends of Algonquin run a pretty good logging museum. A trail wanders through a tall pine stand past exhibits of old logging camps and equipment.  Its worth the walk through.

There is rain in the forecast so we are taking several short trails….not looking for a repeat of the drenching we got on our last hike.

We learned all about spruce bogs, carnivorous plants, beaver dams and spruce grouse.  Ponds were clear and still in the cool morning air.  Frogs chirped and croaked.  As the sun rose higher in the sky, warblers and sparrows added their songs.

We caught a glimpse of a moose butt and got a good look at a spruce grouse that crossed our path.

Lookout trail lives true to its name and offers a fantastic panoramic view of this vast Provincial Park.

There are warning signs all along Rte 60 in Algonquin Provincial Park.  I even found this cool pair of socks!  Well, they are not kidding.  This is day one, actually just a few hours into day one, and we came across these two critters on the roadside.  They aren’t scared or aggressive they just go about their business completely unconcerned with cars and people and cameras.  It’s their world out there.  Nice!   We will be on the watch over the next couple days for more of their friends and some of the many black bears that also call this place home.  The more the merrier I say.

Here we are boogying up Rte. 11, in the middle of nowhere Ontario and we come across Santa’s Village.  What brought that on?  Well it seems we just crossed the 45^O latitude: half way to the North Pole.  Ingenious marketing trick….we didn’t stop though so maybe not so ingenious?  Entertaining.

Bells Falls Campground celebrates Christmas in July every year and we just happen to be here for the event.  Inflatable Santa.  Strobing icicle lights.  A decorated tree.  Reindeer.  The Grinch.  A real live Santa Claus.  Over one hundred gathered in the warm evening sun for roast turkey with all the trimmings plus a myriad of carry in dishes.  Kids of all ages sat on Santa’s lap.

Check out our holiday duds.

For real. At the Big Chute Marine Railroad along the Trent-Severn waterway, boats traverse about 100 vertical feet; not by a traditional lock system but via a cable driven carriage that runs on rails.

A powerful cable system lowers a huge steel framework down the bank on rails into the water. From somewhere on the structure comes the call for boats two and three on the blue line (the staging dock is painted blue), load first, side by side, the cabin cruiser you load last.  Boats make their way toward the frame and ease into position with the aide of lock staff that is swarming all over the steel framework.  Hydraulics whine and cables pull taught cradling the boats in wide canvas slings.  Smoothly and quietly the drive cables engage and the whole mechanism begins its ascent up the bank, a trek across level ground, then descent down the opposite bank.   Slings go slack and the boasts glide on their way.

We hang out and watch half a dozen passes. It is amazing.

Toffee Butter Tarts (delicious little heartburn morsels) and smoked goat cheese(I need some crackers so we can try this).