I also felt good. Someone found my page and emailed how much they enjoyed it. I wish I was more graphically able to enhance this site but this was a nice thing for someone to do.
High thin clouds abound this pre-dawn, the moon a filtered light barely visible. No stars can be seen, no Orion, no Big Dipper. The van was loaded last night. I packed my lunch, plugged in the phone, laid out the directions (which, for the next seven hours, would just be "north") and visited the ATM. I couldn't be more ready.
Paying my toll I crossed the 1000 Island Bridge, slowly because of the semi in front of me. Last fall, pre-dawn, it was dark when I crossed. The truck forced a slow go, and being just two lanes I was wary. I looked right...I looked left. It was pretty. Starting the downside, I saw a lighthouse to the left. I had no mention of this one. I had no directions, either. I DID have time. I checked it out.
Two rights brought me under the bridge, a road paralleling the river. A few more miles afforded a clear view of ROCK ISLAND LIGHT. I didn't have notes because Penrose said it could be viewed only from the river. Obviously not! Closer than Crossover Island, it was a tapered white tower with a black lantern. Boat traffic was everywhere.
"Inserez le Carte" So read the ATM at the rest area along the QEW. I recognized the "CIRRUS" logo and swiped my card for $40.00 Canadian. Back in the van I changed from my sunglasses. They were no longer necessary.
For the first, and not the last time, book directions were not accurate. With help from a local market keeper I found my way to Mariner's Park. The FALSE DUCK ISLAND LIGHT is short, the outside covered in brown stones, the lantern red. Not the original location, the plaque said relocation occurred in 1967, and it reminded me of a smaller version of Windmill Point.
Travel to the second light brought the second error in Penrose. I had to decide to trust the picture of the map rather than the directions. I did, and except for the route number (it was CR13, not CR9), the directions brought me to PRINCE EDWARD POINT LIGHTHOUSE.
Though missing a lantern, the lighthouse was pretty. Made of wood, the tower was four sided tapering slightly to a walkway. A shelter was attached, the paint peeling. Unable to get close, I shot over a cove.
In my notes I was told to look out to my left, that I would see the current tower on Duck Island. I did and I could.
A light rain was now falling. POINT PETRE LIGHTHOUSE proved a unique structure. A tall cylinder, it was striped red and white, a little wider at the top to support a room topped with a beacon. Fenced in and on private property, it was a Canadian Coast Guard Station. Though I heard it at PRINCE EDWARD POINT, I noticed the loud sound of a surf that was expecting a storm.
I didn't see it on the way, but travelling back, I thought I saw a sign for an ostrich farm. I drove past, thought I might never see such a place again, then backed up to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. The South Bay Ostrich Ranch housed many birds in pens, gray and dirty. The sign said they were exporters of fine ostrich meat. I took a few pictures, gagged at the thought, and continued on.
I needed to make a decision. SALMON POINT LIGHTHOUSE...Penrose said for a fee you could enter private campgounds to view this light. When the Carters were there, the answer was no, you couldn't. On this trip, the Carters were right.
My original plans called to shoot these four lights tomorrow, starting at sunrise, alloting an hour for the task. It took almost two hours and I shot just three. I am a day ahead of myself and would accomplish still more today. I gassed up, taking on 40 litres, spending $30.00. My credit card company assured me the conversion in US dollars would show on my statement. I was also introduced to the two dollar coin at McDOnald's. It would appear there are no one dollar bills in Canada.
Looking for PRESQUI'LE POINT LIGHT had the familiar feel of locating PRESQUE ISLE(PA) LIGHT. Located deep inside a provincial park, several misreads, a few wrong forks, and a helpful pair of hikers got me to the light. Cold and windy, the rain was horizontal. Octagonal and white, windowed up one side, the tower tapered to a lanternless top, a flashing beacon working this day. A renovated keeper's quarters was now a museum. I walked the stoney beach and shot through the trees. I stayed out longer than I should have, considering the weather.
Leaving the park deer were feeding on the tall grass.
Leaving the area, passing the water, I thought I saw a light way out to the right. Looking in the book, at one time there were range lights guiding boats to Brighton. I pulled over, took a long shot of it, saw another to the left, a white cylinder with a green light on top. I would find many of this type beacon later in the trip. I photographed these because they were new to me.
Being this far ahead of schedule, I now had it in my head that I wanted to start fresh in Toronto first thing tomorrow. That meant one more light today.
The COBOURG EAST PIERHEAD LIGHT was the first of many pier lights. I don't know that I would count it as a lighthouse, but since Penrose did, I went. Now not raining, it was clear and cool. In a beautiful park, wider at the bottom, this was a four sided tower on top of a large rectangular base. At the end of a long angular pier, good pictures were shot. Birds and boat slips enhanced the photos. Not realizing I could park on the pier, I pulled into the lot, making for a long walk.
There's a secondary purpose of this trip. Zack's Pez collection numbers near 100. My charge was to find foreign Pez. On the way out of Cobourg there was a commercial area. There were no Pez to be found.
My home for the night was the Travelodge in Oshawa. The registrar said $109.00. I needed to remember that was Canadian. I would eat dinner across the hiway in a coffee shop that advertised homemade lasagna as a chalkboard special. I copied over my notes, found RAW IS WAR, left a wakeup call for 5:30, and fell asleep.
If I had realized I was still 35 miles from Toronto I would have gone further last night. I missed where the Gardiner Expressway split from the QEW. Finding the exit for Yonge Street, the ride to the waterfront was far longer than the two blocks it would have been from the Gardiner. Rush hour traffic slowed progress.
Prince's Gate and Coronation Park told me I was in an historic area. The Molson Brewery was landmark enough for me. The relocated QUEEN'S WHARF LIGHT is in a small triangular park. Unique to the lights I've seen, it's almost round, a two story dark wooden building, lantern and walkway rising from the center. I was ready to concede to clouds less than perfect pictures. Looking up I saw a patch of blue. I waited and shot a little more.
To get here I passed Skydome, one of the most massive structures I've ever seen, unlike any baseball stadium I've ever been near. Also, listening to the radio, I heard I could expect snow showers tomorrow.
Shipyard Park was where I parked to view the OAKVILLE LIGHT, located on the grounds of the Oakville Yacht Club. Hundreds of drydocked craft were stacked and stowed here. The light was fenced away from me, the gate locked, not allowing entrance to the area. Relocated to here, it was more your classic structure, six-sided, wood, and tapered to a red lantern, circled by a red-railed walkway.
Riding thru Oakville, I found CHUM 1050, a AM Oldie station that kept me company last trip. I learned that today was "Something on a Stick Day." Riding thru, I also found no Pez in Oakville.
It took too much time to go the 26 miles between lights. One reason was pathes of the thickest fog I can remember. A second was a traffic jam. The last three miles took 15 minutes to travel. Two lights were waiting for me.
The BURLINGTON MAIN LIGHTHOUSE was a round stone tower leading to a black lantern room. The narrowest of windows were slit into the brown stone lighthouse. Close by was a keeper's quarters of red brick. The location of the light was interesting. On one side was the new, the massive modern Skyway structure of the QEW crossing the canal. On the other was an old lift bridge, where the local road spans the canal.
I looked the wrong way first. I looked left and saw two cylinder lights, much as I saw at Brighton, and assumed one was the BURLINGTON CANAL RANGE LIGHT. Not worth the photograph I went back to the van. While making my notes I checked the book. I saw nothing that resembled the picture, then realized I should look the other way. A cement walkway parallelled the canal. I looked right and maybe a quarter mile away was the light. Having to walk under the lift bridge, this made me uncomfortable. The road above seemed inches from my head. I scrunched as I walked underneath. Approaching the beacon, it was similar to the Cobourg Pierhead Light, being a tapered (the book says metal) white structure sitting on a square white base. Again, I didn't think it much of a light...but the source did...and I shot it.
I've come back to Port Dahloussie. After stopping for coffee and using the 2.00 coin, I got turned around and was disorientated in St. Catherines. I righted myself and found my way. Here in the fall on a cold windy morning, the pictures of the outer light were so terrible I felt the need to come back and shoot once more. Today wasn't cold. Today wasn't windy. Today was SO foggy you couldn't see either light from the parking lot, nor could you see the outer from the inner, just a few hundred feet away.
The PORT DAHLOUISSE INNER LIGHT is octagonal, made of wood, and tapers to a green walkway and lantern. The PORT DAHLOUISSE OUTER LIGHT, located at the end of the breakwater, is square, also green at the top. The fog made all the obvious shots moot. I tried to take "emerging" pictures, that is, several shots as I as getting closer to each light, to give an idea just how dense this fog was. The outer light was working, but it wasn't helping. The sounds of "invisible" geese and gulls only heightened an already eerie feel.
The PORT WELLER LIGHT was not to be seen. To quote the Carters again, it was "an ugly little light, anyhow." Last time thru I didn't know it was here. This time thru I found the correct turns, it was just too foggy. I took one picture of the fog then continued on.
My inability to read brought me back to Niagara-on-the-Lake to reshoot the NIAGARA RANGE LIGHTS. This time construction was pretty much finished, allowing me to walk a garden path to the OUTER LIGHT, about a block away along the water, making sure not to miss it this time. The INNER LIGHT, inside the yacht club, was in sunlight, the first sighting of the sun this morning. Both are square. Both are topped with a red lantern. I was 14 miles from Port Dahlouise...10 miles from Port Weller. There you couldn't see. Here the sun was out, though the fog banks were apparent across the river.
You can't get there from here. PORT ABINO LIGHT sits on private property. I remember a story from LIGHTHOUSE DIGEST detailing the struggle between lovers of the light and protectors of privacy. This light was to be observed from Crystal Beach Park, across the bay from the light. Standing on a jetty in an open, windswept area, remaining steady for the long distance shot was not easy.
Even from this distance the shape was uniique. A one story platform supported a foursided tower rising from one corner. A square walkway surrounded the lantern. The building and tower were white. I thought my notes told of being able to see the Buffalo lights from here. I was mistaken. They were visible from Fort Erie, a short distance East of here.
Port Colbourne is at the OTHER end of the Welland Canal, and as I arrived, there was a ship ready to enter. Two lights to be viewed here. Located just beyond Sugarloaf Harbor, HL Knoll Seaview Park was where the breakwaters were located. First thinking I could walk the breakwater for a closer look, I was wrong. Retracing my steps, I should have parked in the lot of the Upper Deck Restaurant, making for a much shorter walk.
The PORT COLBOURNE INNER LIGHT was on the left. It was a lighthouse on a platform, a long building extending from one end. It tapered slightly to a dark lantern. The PORT COLBOURNE OUTER LIGHT is a triple decker. On a cement base a sqaure white platform supports a smaller square structure which supports the lantern. Both lights, though a distance away, were easily seen and photographed. If the wharfs around the boat slips weren't gated, closer pictures could have been taken.
We struck PEZ!!! An A&P, a 7-11, and a chain drug store were at one intersection in town. The A&P? NO! The 7-11? NO! The SHOPPER'S DRUG MART? The mother lode!!! Seven dispensers with bilingual packaging were found, four in the Easter aisle, three in the candy aisle. I was excited. I called Mere from the van.
Though less than 20 miles apart, getting to MOHAWK ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE was a study in patience. I learned the difference between HIGHWAY 3 and COUNTY ROAD 3, avoiding a moron move. Speed limits being slow, it was like standing still. I was losing patience, wondering if lost, when I went past Pyle Road, the turnoff to the light. A good thing I was looking left, I retreated, turned, and was less than a mile away.
At the end of Pyle where it turns left onto Villela, the light could be seen off shore. There were reflective signs indicating the turn...with good reason. I was on a 100 foot cliff overlooking the beach. Clouds that reminded me of Fairport Harbor were gathering, a terrible omen. There was a man with binoculars nearby, bird watching I would guess.
The abandoned light is a stone tower, lanternless, quarters attached. I would learn this was the only island in Eastern Lake Ontario, and this light was protection from it, as well as guidance to the original Welland Canal. I stood, as rain began, as close to the edge as I dared. It was eerie, with the clouds, the wind, the rain, and the desolation.
The PORT MAITLAND RANGE LIGHT is at the end of a cement breakwater. A small tower light, it sits atop a square platform. Foursided, angled slightly inward, it's topped by a lantern room surrounded by a square parapet. Here, the weather was the worst. Cold, horizontal, wind driven...it was a rain-sleet mix.
I sat in the van a few minutes, hoping it would ease. Waiting out the rain, I tried getting a handle on the rest of my day. I noticed an almost 50 mile trip between lights at Port Burwell and Port Stanley. It became my goal to get to Port Burwell today then drive the distance when dark to begin with Stanley in the morning.
No sign of easing, I put on my hoodie, put my coat on over that, pulled up the hood, tucked the camera under the sweatshirt, and head down, plodded onto the breakwater. I shot quickly but made sure I took all the shots and angles. Chances of ever returning here were slim so I had to make sure of my results. The water was angry and loud. There was a man fishing, and worse than that, he had his dog with him, the poor animal looking like he wanted to be anywhere but there. Back in the van I caught my breath, wiped down the camera, took off the sweatshirt, and continued west.
Port Dover is a summer resort closed for the season, the shops and food stands boarded shut. A surf shop was open but there were no bargains for Adam or Zack. My NJLHS friends told of their summer trip thru here, enjoying foot-long hot dogs and real french fries. I parked at a beach lot first, the light off to my left, but realized it was a tough walk. I found another lot, adjacent to the pier, and parked again.
The PORT DOVER FRONT RANGE LIGHT is at pier's end. Though still windy, the sun was now out. Tapered to a green lantern, a locked door guarding a front entrance, because the weather cleared I was able to walk the full distance and shoot all sides. Rows of benches lined the middle of the pier, and since I was alone, I tried to get creative with them.
A long, long drive...the OLD LONG POINT LIGHT looked different from the picture. Leaving the main road, the speed limit was "crawl" going thru residential areas. To the left of the entrance to Long Point Provincial Park was supposed to be an olive green shingled light tower and residence. I found a very different structure. In the process of renovation, or at least a residing, it was now all gray, angling towards a red lantern. I double checked the directions and it had to be this building. The rain did not start until I pulled in front and started to take pictures.
I passed the 1000 mile mark. The PORT BURWELL MAIN LIGHTHOUSE is the classic light I've been looking for all day. Tall, white, trimmed at each corner in red, it is on a hill overlooking the entrance to Otter Creek. The sun was breaking through, the winds died, a rainbow appeared in the far sky. Parked across the street, I attacked from every angle, though trees made it tough to get the sunny side. The museum across the street was closed. I found a lighthouse mural painted on the side of a building.
The PORT BURWELL APPROACH LIGHT is another one of those pierhead lights. I couldn't get out to the viewing spot on the other side of the creek, so I returned, drove past the Main Light and down to a parking area. I walked as far out as I could and took the pictures of a cement pyramid with a beacon on top. Hmmp!
More important, looking back up the hill, the sun was now shining on the tower light. Far to the right was the left end of the rainbow. I couldn't get it into the frame. This would be no Fairport Harbor. Following the arc out over the lake, I could see the rainbow disappear.
It is 6:27PM. I am done for the night. I am going to drive to Port Stanley, I'm going to look for a place to eat, and I'm going to look for a place to stay.
I am in for the night...
BACK & FORTH
COMPLETING THE CIRCLE (PAGE 2)
RETURN TO INTRODUCTION
