The day before Christmas we had headed down to Restoule Provincial Park to scout out the Stormy Lake look out. It was a fun day, and I'll describe it in detail later--when we go back. The bottom line was we needed snowshoes. So, armed with the right gear, we headed to the lower end of Duchesnay Creek. We were there yesterday and had a good hike. Today, with the snow shoes on we decided to explore further.
The "A" on the topo map shows our starting point. With permission, we parked at the convenience store across the highway. The day before we went down the trail and headed south-east towards Lake Nipissing. It was really cool to walk beneath the bridges and check-out the engineering that went into putting these structures up.
It was a short hike, but very scenic and there was a sense of adventure as we walked beneath the bridges to the lake.
Today we checked-out a satelite photo of the area and noticed another bridge farther up the creek. So the goal today was to explore the creek in the other direction and check-out the other bridge. You can see it in the north-west corner of the satelite photo.
The snow was about 1/2 metre deep and powdery. I have a 30" pair so I led initially, but once we got down from the highway to the level of the creek John led the way. Open water was flowing in some spots and the sound was sweet to hear.
The trail along the creek was level with a few logs to climb over. Eventually we came across a beaver lodge and a "sink hole" foreshadowing things to come.
A creak here and there as we walked reminded us of how far the level of the water has fallen since freeze-up. As we rounded the beaver lodge, the ice gave way and John fell through. It happed so quick that he had no time to be afraid. He was laughing as he hauled himself up. The water was flowing beneath his feet.
We continued our trek with me leading. As we approached a small water fall we noticed a huge pile of discoloured snow sitting on the ice. I can't explain it--see the photo.
To be safe near the fast moving water we decided to head-up a steep section of terrain. It was hard going. Steep and slippery. Fortunately our snowshoes have deep sharp cleets that help prevent sliding. Up and across we went. We spotted a beaver dam that we considered crossing, but decided to keep going across at a steep angle.
Just after the dam, with me leading we headed down to water level. I crashed through into knee deep fast-flowing water. Too cool--literally and figuritively. John was laughing.
I wasn't sure how the cold water in my boots was going to affect my enjoyment of the rest of the hike so to be safe, we back-tracked to the trail head. We'll head back another day to check out the other bridge and the rest of the trail.
This is a great trail only 6 minutes from home.
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