Blueberry Lake, Temagami: Old Growth Trail 2

Continued from previous posts:

Mushrooms and fungi were in abundance. I can't identify them - I need a friend to teach me mushroomology.

This one was so bizarre...

Moose poop looks like giant rabbit poop.

Pileated Woodpecker holes in a red pine.

This is probably a Pink Ladyslipper orchid. I saw these orchids everywhere around Blueberry Lake. The wildflower display must be beautiful in May.

This tree was blasted by lightning. Can you imagine the incredible force?

And this is what remained of the top after the blast.

I would love to lead ecology trips to this area. But what would I call the tour - Tiptoe through the Twinflowers? Nibble your way through the Northwoods? This is what Northern Ontario looks like when people haven't altered the landscape. This is my genius loci.

Blueberry Lake, Temagami: Campsite

Continued from previous post...

We perched our tent on the most level spot of the campsite. (In Temagami, "level" is a relative term that means you probably won't actually slide into the lake.) Then we paddled across the lake to a place where there were several standing small dead trees. We needed the trees for firewood. After loading the canoe with wood, we paddled back to the campsite and I started a fire in the firepit.

I'm grilling steaks and a baked potato for dinner. These were accompanied by a nice Chilean Malbec. There's nothing like a glass of wine to go with your sizzling T-bone steak after a day of paddling!

This 120 year old Red Pine ridge was my view from the campfire. These trees grew here after a forest fire that blazed through in the 1880's.

This little garter snake was evicted from it's home in the firepit while the campfire was going. He curled up on the sunny rock until the fire was put out later that evening.

This is a tiny, gnarly white cedar growing from a crack in the bedrock at the end of our campsite. I can't even imagine how old it is.

And here is our Lily, plum tuckered out after a day of hiking and chasing chipmunks.

The next post will feature our hike on the Old Growth Trail.

Blueberry Lake, Temagami, Ontario

Sid and I just returned from a 3 day canoe and hiking trip to beautiful Blueberry Lake, near Temagami, Ontario. Blueberry Lake is an ecological wonder with old growth forests and pristine water, not to mention millions of blueberry bushes!

We printed the information from the Ancient Forest.org website, and headed off in our canoe with Sasha and Lily, our Golden Retrievers. We parked at the Cassels Lake landing and canoed for about 1 1/2 hours to the portage to Blueberry Lake. The portage is an easy 450 metres.

Wolf scat on the portage.

Bread Loaf Rock

This rock is located beside one of the campsites. The rock is splitting off in slices - doesn't it look like a huge loaf of bread?

Lichen patches above the high water mark. I love the patterns. This may become a stitchery some day!

Water Lily in the wetlands area

We had the lake to ourselves, so we chose a campsite and settled in. Tomorrow I'll show some photos from the campsite.