I have a large backlog of stuff, that I can’t possibly create individual blog posts for so, here’s what I’m going to do. The map above, shows my most recent outings. There are two tracks on that map, one a paddling adventure and, the other, a hiking adventure. I did both of these outings on the same day, paddling in the morning and, hiking in the afternoon. These outings will be the main subject, for this blog post. But, I am going to put snippets of all the other stuff I have, at the end of this blog post. Got it? 🙂
The temperatures and, humidity, are finally giving way, to more tolerable weather so, I’m getting out there a lot and, it’s only going to get busier for me, in the foreseeable future. I may end up doing this type of a blog post more often, if time doesn’t allow for individual posts, for every outing.
Anyway, let’s get right to it, shall we? The first outing, for this day, was going to be a paddle and, I also had some worms with me too. Of course, that means fishing!! I haven’t been fishing this year yet so, I wanted to see what the fishing might be like in this new lake, that I just discovered recently. At the time that I first found my way in to this lake, I wasn’t aware that it had a name. However, while consulting the Ontario ‘Fish Online’ website, I saw that the MNR lists the unofficial name of this lake as Maybe Lake. Thus, the title for this blog post. 🙂
So, the intention for this outing was, to first explore this lake and, see if I can get into any other lakes from this one. After that, I was going to break out the fishing rod and, try my luck. But, even the best intentions, are never guaranteed, out in the wild. My first job was, to get the kayak through the bush and, into the water of Maybe Lake. Let’s take a look at how that went.
Most people will have no idea of the work that is involved in getting my kayak into some of these out of the way places. Not many people do it because, it’s just too difficult. But, that’s what I live for. Sure, I will complain about this and, about that but, when all is said and done, this is who I am.
So, as you can tell, things aren’t going quite as smoothly as I would have preferred. But, it happens so, I just have to deal with it.
I really love getting into new lakes like this so, even if the conditions are not perfect, I still enjoy it very much.
Once I was in the kayak and, paddling, the bugs really weren’t all that bad. I was more pissed off about the strong breeze because, the forecast had called for a fairly light breeze and, that’s why I decided that I would attempt some fishing.
Like I said, I haven’t been fishing all year so, that wind was a real unexpected disappointment.
I was starting my paddle around the perimeter of the lake, which is something that I always do, when I get into a new lake.
There’s no way to do this kind of thing, by just looking at the satellite shots. You have to actually go to the location, in order to see it first hand.
As you can tell, the longer I was on this lake, the more the winds started to pick up.
I’m putting mostly videos first because, I’m paddling into the sun. I’ll take more pictures, when I’m paddling away from the sun.
I don’t think that the river behind this beaver dam would take me anywhere interesting anyway.
Exploring a bay, in Maybe Lake.
The MNR does list this lake as having brook/speckled trout in it so, I intend to test that fact very soon.
I think that I made the right decision in calling it quits, for today, but, I’ve already got my eye on a day that’s supposed to be calmer, in just a couple of days. I intend to come back to this lake shortly and, do what I came to do today.
This is the kind of stuff that keeps me alive and, still enjoying life.
Anyway, as I said, the wind was just too much, for me to get anything more done in the kayak so, I got the yak back up to the truck and, took off towards home. I did stop at Timmies, on the way back, to get a coffee and, after that, I went to the grocery store, to pick up a few things. Then, I went home for lunch. But, that wasn’t going to be the end of my adventures, for today.
After lunch, I could not resist getting back out there. Even though the weather was not favorable for kayaking, it was very favorable for hiking and, I didn’t want to waste any nice weather to get out in. I was checking the satellite shot, of this area, when I was at home and, I saw an interesting spot, that I wanted to do some exploring in. It just happened to be very close to the location of this lake so, it was easy to include the GPS track on the same map. Let’s take a look at how that hike went.
I parked my truck part way in on the logging road, to start this hike.
It was clear that the bears were taking full advantage of the nice berry crop we are having this year.
A lot of cloud cover had moved in, from when I was paddling, this morning.
There are a lot of flowering weeds around right now.
I like taking pictures of all the different types of weed flowers.
I’ve hiked this section of road before. The new area, that I will be exploring today, is at the end of this road.
You can see how dense the bush is now and, I can’t see two feet into it so, this is why I have my little music player going. The bears can usually hear that, before I get too close and, clear out in time. Once you get within a bear’s safety zone, the bear might feel that it’s too late to run. There’s only one option then, as far as the bear is concerned…..attack!! So, how far is a bear’s ‘safety zone’. It can be different for each and every bear. Like people, bears have individual personalities. What works for one bear, will not necessarily work for the next. Most of the time, when I encounter a bear, I will freeze. Never, ever shows signs of retreating. The bear may get up on it’s hind legs and, have a look at you. It’s ears will be pointed straight up, as it scans the situation. Now is when you make yourself look as big as possible. If you have a hiking stick, raise it above your head and, talk to the bear in a deep loud voice. The bear may take a few seconds, which can feel like minutes, to assess the situation, and then, it will usually run away or, just slowly walk away.
But, I’ve had occasions where the bear did not run or, walk, away. In those instances, it will be up to you to assess the situation and, take the appropriate action. Most of the time, that action will be to slowly back away, still facing the bear. Have your path of retreat already figured out, so that, you don’t trip over anything. The last thing you want to do is, fall on the ground. You might as well just tell the bear that, ‘Dinner’s Ready’. This has always gotten me out of, even the toughest encounters with bears and, I’ve been within ten feet of some of the biggest bears you’ve ever seen, sometimes more than one. It doesn’t happen all that often so, there’s no reason to stay out of the wilderness, just because you’re worried about bears.
I’m still on a logging road that I hiked previously but, at the end of this road, there are some skidder trails and, I will be using a skidder trail to reach the area of interest.
Here’s what I mean by skidder trail. These machines are the most radical off-road vehicle available. They can go through nearly any type of terrain. They use them to go into the rugged bush and, haul out the logs and, as you can see, they leave a lot of mess behind. These skidder trails are not the easiest to hike on, as you can well imagine.
But, when I set my mind to getting in somewhere, this kind of thing is not going to stop me.
The area that I’m headed for is fairly open, according the the satellite shots but, it’s difficult to tell if it is a high place or, if it’s swamp so, that’s part of the reason that I’m going there, to find out for myself.
I use this line quite often “It ain’t easy being me” but, no truer words have ever been spoken. 🙂
It’s like following the path of a tornado.
It reminds me of something my son used to say to me, all the time. “Are we there yet Dad? Well, it’s kinda hard to tell. 🙂
Yep, I think we are. This is probably the sort of open area that I saw, on the satellite shot but, it looked a lot more open on that shot, than it does in person. Still, I came all the way in here so, let’s have a look around.
It was just curiosity that brought me in here and, I really didn’t have any expectations for this area, I just wanted to see it. At first, I thought that it might be a high area, giving me a nice view of the surrounding bush, rivers and lakes but, it was low.
So, there ya go. Another exploring adventure in the books.
I know that I said I was going to put up snippets of other outings now but, facts are facts and, the fact is that, I simply do not have the time to do that. I just did another hike the day after these two outings, and now, I have material for another blog post. So, I can’t be stuck in ‘trying to catch up mode’ so, I guess I just have to let some stuff go by the wayside. That’s just the way it is. When the weather is favorable, I’m a very busy man. 🙂