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Day Two/ The next day's paddling involved running some very gradual chutes and some with more volume with empty canoes. A total of four runs were made in the following pairings:
The next day bought forth some of the most beautiful sections of the French River as we "sneaked" through a narrow channel to get to a different branch of the French river. Generally, less trees and more rock with a larger amount of the orange/reddish tinge. We ended up setting up camp on flat slabs of rocks with tents anchored by heavy rocks on the tent pegs...they held through a very windy/noisy night.
Day Three/ The next day was relaxed featuring freshly picked blueberries with our pancake breakfast. This was followed by a long lunch on rock island followed by swimming. Michael caught a healthy Smallmouth Bass and released it. We paddle upstream pass some small rapids followed by some excitement as we ferried back forth to eddies to make our way upstream. The last rapid was too large to paddle and we emptied out boats to portage what we thought would be a short 180 yards...it turned out to be steep, windy and not at all obvious as to the path to the top of the rapid.
The last campsite was cramped with tents about a yard apart. Here we met a nice couple with Golden Retriever that just whimpered with joy at the sight of strangers. It was here that we noted a garbage bag with what appeared to be fishing rods sticking out of it. There was a pair of nice leather sandals, two fishing reels, a set of enamel cookware and miscellaneous garbage. The theory was that the group had gotten disgruntled with the weather, bugs, and perhaps some heavy lifting at a portage. Later, we met our neighbouring campers and they happened to inherit a nice cooking pan and a tent!
Once Heather had removed some of the fishing line that wrapped around the takeup spool, she found herself a new hobby. As we packed up to leave the next morning, Jim found some Bear scat full of blueberries and a new theory as to why the campers ahead of us may have left early/quickly with a few missing items, emerged.
Exit/ The last day was a cool paddle out with a strong tailwind that made for an interesting sailing project powering three boats shacked up together.
The Hartley Bay pier was full of a large group of young paddlers setting forth on a trip. We quickly unloaded and got out of there way and the valet retrieved our cars. Three nights worth of parking came to a grand total of about $45....somewhat expensive when mixed in with the similar amount for park usage/camping. The last order of business was the pickup of a second hand boat for Heather in Barrie. As the photos will bear, Heather seems to be very happy with the item.
