Sat, Apr 7 2007 - Devil's Lake Section - Ganaraska Trail (Wilderness Section) (View Original Event Details)
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It was a lovely day for this hike, and it was great to meet some new faces and see some familiar ones! The drive was definitely a long one, but worth it - the Ganaraska Wilderness is in Queen Elizabeth II Wildlands Provincial Park, the largest park in Ontario outside of Algonquin, and the least developed (there are almost no roads aside from snowmobile trails, and no formal campsites - it is a natural environment class park). While we had some snow heading up north of Fenelon Falls towards Minden, everything was great for the hike and the way home.
Things started off on a cottage road and we quickly headed into the bush and towards the park. The trail was well-blazed, which was nice as there isn't really much of a path - you're following the blazes across shield rock and through scrubby forest and bush. We crossed two beaver dams, made several other stream crossings, and came a lake with a number of stashed boats.
At the top of the lake, we met up with snowmobile trail and followed it out to 'Petticoat Junction' where our access trail met up with the main Ganaraska trail. We ate lunch overlooking a lake, then headed down the main trail towards Moore Falls, exploring tracks and figuring out the best way to cross a river (Hong got that immediately, and started taking some great pics of icicles). We headed further down the trail, looking at tracks, before heading back towards the cars. We saw 2 river otters, and a variety of birds as we hiked along.
On the way back to Toronto, Hong suggested we detour and take a more scenic route, so that's what Hong, Dianne and I did - so Hong, who's family has a cottage nearby, finally got to stop at the Argyle General Store, where we had some yummy baked goods!
Thanks to everyone for coming - this was Dianne's first event! - and to Betsy and Dianne for driving. It was great to see you all!
Have some photos from this event that you'd like to share in our photo album? Please forward them to Erik Sonstenes at photos@torontooutdoorclub.com. Please note that we prefer to receive the photos in approximately 640x480 or 750x500 pixels - do NOT send original high-res photos. If you have a LOT of photos, please submit up to twenty of your favorites (only) for a day event, or up to forty of your favourites for a multi-day event. Thank you.