From the comfort of my home...

Jim and I discussed the possibility of altering our route for CC2007 to include a swing back on close to 6km of low maintenance portages. He had proposed it a while back and my initial reaction was 'No friggin' way". After a glass of wine and a few of Christmas Port, we have decided to give it a go with the option to change our mind at any time. :) I suggested that perhaps on day 2 when we're staying on Robinson Lake, we could make a little trip out to do the first of the low maintenance portages out of Robinson to see what it's like. We would have the luxury of leaving our packs at camp and just having our waistpacks and the canoe. Jim pointed out we could also try fishing in the next lake over (Junco Lake) as we both want to make sure we get some fishin' in and ideally have a meal of fish.
This year we had a little taste of what a low maintenance trail would be like 'cause there were some tornados and severe winds in the weeks before out trip which resulted in downed trees blocking many portages. I had the canoe on when we came across this blockage which resulted in me having to climb over one tree and leave the trail to go around the next. It wasn't as easy as walking the open trail but it wasn't impossible. Right now we've got all the courage you can have sittin' in the kitchen surfin' the internet lookin' at pictures but I'm pretty sure we're gonna do the low maintenance route Jim outlined on this map he posted to his blog.

We got talkin' about how we really like the historical site we've come across in the park like the logging alligator on the site of the Barnett Farm Depot on the southern shores of Burntroot Lake. Jim said he found that most people he showed the pictures to weren't grasping the significance of what they were lookin' at. A common response has been "soooo, it was used for logging?" A less common response (but also the one we identify with) is "Wow! That thing pulled itself over land? Can you imagine what that was like? It would have been cutting edge technology but it would have been hard work." There's also the raspberry patch at the Barnett farm that had grown wild and taken over the clearing where you can imagine there was some sort of work yard or area where the loggers loaded up their horses or piled all the supplies they would then haul down the slope to the water where their boat would be docked. Cool.

Jim also told me that he showed his Dad a picture that I took of the steam fittings in the alligator that showed the name of the company that manufactured them and he knew of the company from his days in mining as an explosives engineer. He said the company still existed in the 1960's... cool eh?





I just showed P* the pictures and talked to him about what an alligator was and he was totally into it. He wants to go up to Burntroot with Jim and I and perhaps he'll get his opportunity in the next 4 years. I want him to be stronger at swimming and build his stamina so he can handle the portages.

Well, I'm gonna head off and hold G* for a bit and enjoy the Christmas holiday.

Happy Christmas everyone!

g.