Exploring the rail-bed
During the night it rained on and off, heavily at times too. I had set-up my tent on level ground, complete with a ground sheet and a tarp overhead covering two-thirds of my tent, I stayed very dry. Barry's set-up was essentially the same, except he had a tarp that wrapped over his tent, extending about 4 feet beyond his doorway. In this way Barry could step outside onto dry ground or sit in his tent with his door open.
I asked if having the tarp wrap over his tent walls was a good idea? Barry answered back that the tarp was rubberized, so transfer of moisture wasn't likely. A great set-up, one that I think I will try in the future. It certainly beats having to hide in a tent during a rainstorm.
I was up and out of my tent just shortly after 7:00 am, It was overcast and the day didn't look promising weather wise. By 7:15 am a hole appeared in the overcast and the sun emerged. The warm glow was brief but welcoming. After a few minutes the sun was once again swallowed up by the clouds and I settled down to a breakfast of oatmeal and hot coffee.
A brief glimmer of sunshine before breakfast
After breakfast Barry and I walked over to the neighbouring vacant campsite and explored the area more thoroughly. I found the remnants of a BBQ lighter tossed in the nearby bush along with more of the device sitting on a bench in front of the fire-pit. Sigh…easy access=easy trash.
After spending half an hour exploring the area, the wind had begun to pick-up, so we headed back to camp. Surprisingly, about an hour later the sky cleared, the sun shone clear and bright and the day held promise, yet a stiff wind remained. We decided to go for a paddle with Barry wanting to avoid the wind and waves and so suggested we paddle along our shoreline, where we would be shielded from the elements.
We paddled along the shoreline eventually reaching a sheltered bay in which we could land our canoe and scale the sandy slope of the old railway bed. With an empty canoe the winds on the open lake would've made for a blustery paddle, so it was decided to explore on land instead. We headed East walking along the railway bed with ease.
We walked to a point where we were parallel with another campsite that was on a point, approximately 2km East of our campsite. During the walk there and back we saw much evidence of turtle eggs, whether they had hatched or were dug up by a predator we could not tell. We also spotted some wolf scat, which might suggest possible feeding by wolves on the turtle hatchlings.
The area of the lake that had been cut off from the rest of the lake via the railway bed had culverts connecting the two and it was near one of these that we saw some old telephone wire. Many old railway ties were present as well.
Barry examines remnants of railway ties along the old railbed
A close-up of one of the old railway ties and fungus growing next to it
We spotted a canoe with two people in it, as they made their way West along the lake, that was it though, the lake was not busy at all. We walked back to our canoe and past it following the trail the other way. Many overgrown trees made it nearly impossible to pass, but finally we came out to the other side of the peninsula that our campsite was on. Here the shoreline was populated with a nice stand of red pine, I took a picture or two then we headed back to camp via our canoe.
By 3:00pm it had clouded up again, Barry went off into the bush to cut and gather wood to stock up on our wood supply. I felt greasy and went for a bath and swim. After about half an hour, I stepped out of the cool lake and changed into clean clothes. I felt like a million bucks! Shortly thereafter Barry returned with some fire wood and I went back to retrieve a second load a short distance beyond camp, that Barry has let for me. Barry had done well, cutting up six large logs from a fallen pine.
Walking along the sandy rail-bed on Galeairy Lake
By 4:00pm the sky had opened up and it was pouring rain…hard. Around 4:30 pm two canoes paddled down the lake, its occupants were soaked through and through. "Been there, done that", It thought to myself. Thankfully, we were each seated in our chairs that we had brought along and were high and dry under Barry's large tarp.
A late afternoon campfire to chase away the dampness
Barry had forgotten to bring along a book to read for just such an event and although I did bring one for myself, I felt bad about this and decided to keep Barry company; I introduced Barry to a game I used to play when I was a kid. A category was picked, usually geographical places and a place was named, then the next person had to think of a place that began with the last letter of the previous place that was named. So, I picked Algonquin Park, thus the next place had to begin with the letter "K", Barry selected Kingston, The next would start with a "N". I selected New York, and so on.
We quickly discovered that picking place names that ended with "E", "K" or "Y" was pretty severe and could quickly end the game. We decided that there really was no time limit, but when a reasonable time has passed, say ten minutes, it was up to the player admit that they were unable to come up with a corresponding name. If the other player couldn't come up with one either, then the game was considered won and another category was selected and the game started over again. Barry enjoyed the game as did I. It gets your brain working and helps pass the time as the raindrops continued to fall.
Under the safety of a large tarp we watched the afternoon downpour on the lake
By 5:00pm the rain had stopped and by 5:30pm the sky had begun to clear in the West as a partial pale looking rainbow appeared in the East. Ten minutes later Barry and I were out on the water, the lake was like glass! We paddled around for well over an hour with Barry catching a couple Rock Bass. I caught nothing as I fished half-heartedly, preferring just to paddle and watch Barry fish. As we paddled around the air grew more humid and a heavy mist began to rise in a few of the bays around the lake. As well, large cumulus clouds started to rise up from the South.
We paddled east as well, visiting another site on a point that we had spied the day before while walking the rail-bed. The site wasn't as nice as I had thought it would be, however it was surrounded by flat rock shoals and looked good for swimming in the summertime.
Barry casts his line as the early evening sky and water favoured a brief paddle
By 7:30pm, cloud to cloud lightning could be seen in the clouds that skirted just above the treetops along the Southern shoreline. Occasionally, thunder could be heard in the distance, it was quite far away though.
I had a diner of sausages over the fire and quickly returned to the shoreline along with Barry as we watched the sky light up with lightning in the evening sky. There seemed to be three distinct thunderstorm cells as they tracked in an Eastward direction. The whole time during the nighttime show, no thunder could be heard, just the flash of lightning could be seen. It was an enjoyable sight, that and the lack of bugs made the experience that much more pleasant. September was possibly THE best month to visit The Park.
Thunderheads threatened but passed us by
We finished the night with a few drinks and the word game again around the fire. By 10pm, Barry doused the fire and the camp was plunged into darkness. I suddenly remembered my tin cup was by the fire and moved forward to retrieve it, forgetting in the sudden darkness, the log bench right in front of me. My right shin struck the bench and my momentum carried me forward. I flipped forward over the bench and fell. I struck the ground heavily with both my hands outstretched. Barry had thought I had struck my head on a rock. But I was fine, but my shin was in agony. I rolled over to get up and nearly rolled into the water, as the ground was a rock slope down to the rock landing. All was well, I was just sore and a little embarrassed.
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