I know that there has been a bit of a slow down in my blog posting and, that’s just what it is. I’ve been out there a lot but, I’m not feeling the urge to post a lot. Maybe it’s just a temporary thing, I don’t know. I never get tired of exploring in the bush but, maybe I’m getting a bit burnt out, with posting about it. Like I’ve said, many times before, creating these blog posts is very time consuming and, I’m not sure that I have the same dedication to posting, as I have for exploring the wilderness.
Anyway, that being said, I’ve done a couple of hikes that I feel like posting about, in the last little while so, lets see if I can get the posting ball rolling again. The map above, shows a hike that I did into another one of those network of old logging roads. I have been in this area before but, I did a more extensive exploration this time. And, I was met with a pleasant surprise, as I started this hike, as you will see. Let’s take a look at how things went.
As I mentioned, I was at this location once before and, there was a locked gate on this bush road. The locked gate didn’t stop me though, I went in and, did some exploring. After walking a short distance in, I discovered why there was a locked gate at the entrance. There is a garbage dump in here, for the local cottagers and, that’s why they were restricting access. However, as far as I was concerned, they didn’t have to close this entire area, just because of the relatively small area of the dump.
So, back then, I did contact the local MNR official to inquire about this situation. I suggested that they put the gate right at the dump location and, not out at the road, where it was. I could see no valid reason for closing off a very large area, which could be used by people like me, for hiking or, for hunting. I left that thought with him and, I haven’t been back here since.
This is what I encountered, when I arrived here today.
It appeared that, someone had taken the gate down. Wait for it grasshoppers!
When I got into the area of the dump, there was a new gate, right where I had suggested they put it!! 🙂 Well, a step in the right direction but, I’m not going to be handing out any accolades to anyone for doing what makes perfect sense. But, as things stand, we now have a very large open area, that can be accessed by vehicle, for any recreational users who would like to use it. The MNR is responsible for closing many bush roads, like this one, for either, no apparent reason or, for reasons that don’t make any sense. In this case, I guess they came to their senses.
Anyway, that was a nice start to the hike I was about to undertake. I continued on, shaking my head as I went.
It was supposed to be mainly sunny, with a high of 18 degrees Celsius today but, there were lots of clouds, throughout this hike, which made picture taking a bit difficult. Also, we never got anywhere near 18 degrees but, I was still quite warm at 15 degrees.
I don’t think that they’ve done any logging in this particular area for a long time. The roads tend to get overgrown, from lack of use.
I need a good workout so, the hills in here should provide that.
I’m starting to gain some altitude now and, I can see the rugged surrounding landscape, off to the right side of the bush road.
There are some nice colors around but, the overall color situation is just not there this year.
I’m hunting for colors and, as you will see, I did manage to find some on this hike.
There is a lot of green but, there are also a lot of evergreen trees. Having said that, many of the deciduous trees are still green too.
And, here is that panorama. Just beautiful and, soooooo quiet!!
I had to wait, in order to get some of these shots, because, a big cloud would get in front of the sun. I’m not very good at waiting. I like to keep on the move, as much as possible.
Sometimes, like with this shot, I couldn’t wait for the whole area to be sunny so, as you can see, the distance is in the shade.
I waited, for the shade to clear, in the distance but, it was taking too long. 🙂
I did find another road to follow.
This is the last decent shot I got, and then, I headed back out to the truck. I do have another blog post to put up now and, I’ll be working on that one, in the next day or two. 🙂