UNMARKED TERRITORY

As close as he will get

Fred told me not to stand too
close to the edge.

On a beautiful summer day we drove down highway 400 to hike a trail through McCrae Lake Conservation Reserve.  It was a typical hike through the woods northwest of Port Severn with not much variation from other walks in the woods.  A sign “Eagles Nest” led us to towering cliffs high above the sparkling waters of the lake.  It was such a stunning surprise and we sat on the rocks just taking in the magnificent scenery.

We saw people below sitting in lawn chairs but didn't see a way down.

The only signs were yellow arrows

I usually excitedly anticipate what is ahead but had an unfamiliar feeling in my solar plexus.  It was then that I took out my smart phone and went on google maps to locate where we were exactly.  I saw lots of water so I suggested to Fred where there is water there are cottages, lots of them up here, that we bushwack through the dense brush and ask a cottager if they would drive us to our car.  We felt a spark of hope when we came across a young man on a dock; then we explained our predicament and request to which he replied, “there are no roads here, all cottages are water access only”.  My heart sank but he led us into the cottage to meet his grandmother who immediately offered us water as she noticed ours was running low.  She told her grandson to take us in her boat to Honey Harbour.  What???  Seems that her cottage was not on a lake but on one of the hundreds of bays on Georgian Bay.  She told us we were certainly not the first hikers to arrive at her cottage as just recently 2 had spent the night.  I must admit we thoroughly enjoyed the 30 minute boat ride and never realized there are so many cottages with water access only. The young man would not take the money we tried to force upon him.

In Honey Harbour I called a taxi in Coldwater who could come in an hour, I told them thanks but no thanks and called another one that no longer existed.  Meanwhile Fred had spotted a young man on a Bobcat so he offered him cash to drive us to our car.  He was happy to help us out and delivered us safely to our car within 30 minutes.  We were beyond grateful so gave him more than the agreed upon amount of money.  We were so blessed to come upon such wonderful people.

I have always loved adventure and excitedly related this one to a son who just happened to call as soon as we got in the car.  His response, “I can see the headlines now, two seniors lost in the woods overnight”.  Well, that part of the trek I can do without.

I did notify Ontario trails regarding the lack of signage on this trail.  I don't like an overabundance of signs but seeing that many hikers end up bushwacking through the woods tells me that some signage is needed.