It's was a cool, grey morning. It's supposed to thunderstorm in the afternoon. Funny how every time I go camping with my dog, it rains. Hoping my tent doesn't leak. But for now, no rain, so I set about to enjoy my morning. 
I ate  breakfast and sat around leisurely reading a magazine for awhile. 

Since it wasn't very sunny, I eventually got cold just sitting around. I figured this would be a good time to walk around and explore the park a little. Moving around would warm me up and would keep Balto from getting too restless. 
One of the reasons I chose this park was because I knew there were no hiking trails here. With an old dog by my side I knew he couldn't handle a hiking trail. There are, however, some great hiking trails just outside the park. I might have to come back here one day just so that I can hike up to the Caribou Mountain Lookout that I hear is spectacular.
Instead of a hike, we just walked the roads of the park. We walked in the opposite direction that we had traveled in the previous day. From time to time little red squirrels would come out to take a look at us. Balto paid them no attention and set his mind to all the smells he could smell along the way.

We started off by going down to the mini boat launch to see if there were any ducks, turtles, or even frogs, But there was nothing. I didn't even see any minnows in the water. 

I did notice that the dock had permit posts for boats though. This is the first time I have ever seen that in a provincial park. This park really keeps the boaters and  fishermen in mind. 

Right next to the mini boat launch is the second beach. It looked almost identical to the first beach, except it had two benches to sit on instead of just one. The buoy lines were only about 7 feet out here too. Maybe a bit further, but not by much. 

It was at this site that I caught a glimpse of a little ovenbird. Sadly it wouldn't sit still for a clear picture. So I had to settle far a couple of blurry and behind the branches photos instead. 

The first signs of Autumn were beginning to show.

High up in a pine tree a raven watched as we walked by.

Most of the flowers here are common flowers like the "Devil's Paintbrush"otherwise known as  "fox-and-cubs", or "orange hawkweed" (although these ones were more red than orange).  

There was plenty of Crownvetch flowers.

And the Birdsfoot Trefoil was abundant in this area too.

Although the wild roses were done flowering for the season, there were plenty of rose hips hanging from the thorny branches. 

And I spotted an occasional mushroom here and there. However, I don't know my mushrooms so I couldn't tell you what kind these are. 

The road back was lined with lovely smelling cedar trees. We must have walked for about an hour. Maybe even an hour and a half. 

I was surprised that Balto lasted that long. I really didn't think I would get very far with him. He did remarkably well, however, he definitely went for a nap when we got back. 

It started lightly raining by 3:30 and by 4:30 it was raining harder. So, I retreated to the tent to watch a movie for the afternoon on my tablet. And what movie did I watch on my camping trip? "Back Country" of course. That reminds me... I should pick up some bear spray one of these days. 

Balto and I left the tent at around 7 to eat supper but it was still raining so we went right back in as soon as we were done. By 9:30 it was raining hard and every inch of my tent was leaking. The walls, the roof, the door, everything. I was sopping up little puddles off the floor with a dirty T-shirt. 

As I lay on my sleeping bag (which surprisingly, was not wet) and was looking at the ceiling with the beads of water running down it, I thought "maybe I should put my rain poncho over the roof of the tent. Wish I had brought a tarp". Then it dawned on me. I have something better than a tarp! I have a dining tent!

So I put my rain poncho on, went outside, and dragged the dining tent over top of the tent. Perfect! I was expecting thunderstorms at about 1 a.m. So, this should definitely help.  Maybe I can open my screen door open  my tent door and watch the lightning from inside my tent without getting wet. Or maybe that's pushing it a bit.  At any rate, other than my sleeves being soaked from moving the dining tent, this was keeping my tent dry. Well, at least as dry as it could be after it's already been soaked through and through. Wish I had thought of this sooner. I will definitely remember it for next time! 

The next morning I could hear Sarah and Daniel and their dad packing up to leave. When I emerged from my tent they were gone, but they had left me a little present. They left me the left over wood that they hadn't used. It was sweet of them, but the thing was, I was going home today and didn't need it. So I took it to the next camp site over and gave it to the couple who were staying on site 35. They were happy to get it and I chatted with them for awhile before going back to my site to pack up. 

Once the car was packed up and Balto was comfortably tucked into the back seat, I figured I would take a quick look around at parts of the park I couldn't walk to with Balto by my side. I drove down to the main boat launch to see what it was like down there. There was a playground and a volleyball net, but no one was playing there at the moment. The ground was a little flooded from so much rain the night before. 

Off to the side, and nestled in between some trees was a cute little picnic shelter. 

The main boat launch had many more docks and opened up to the waters of Lake Temagami. 

Up a little bit of a hill was a fish cleaning station. I can only think of one other park that I have seen a fish cleaning station at. I think it was Fushimi Park if I recall correctly. 

I stopped by the waste management site to drop off my garbage on the way out. They had a neat set up to deter bears and other animals from getting into the garbage. The garbage bin has a door on the top and you have to climb up some stairs to get to the door. The bin itself, hooks up to a truck by a trailer hitch so that they can tow it away,

The last stop on my way out was to check out the dog beach. This area is way too far away from the rest of the park, which is why I left it for last. 

Sadly there wasn't much to look at. There was no sandy beach area. It was just a picnic table pulled up to the waters edge. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised considering the human beaches are extremely tiny here. I guess it's nice that they had anything at all for dogs when you take that into consideration.  

Finlayson Point park is not the best park for swimming, but it is a pretty good park if you are a fisherman or a boater. If you are looking for something small and quiet, this is the place to go. 

I planned this trip in order to get some alone time and to spend some time with my aging dog, Balto. He turned 17 this month and I want to spend as much time with him as I can while he is still around. His back legs betray him now and again but he is still a puppy at heart. So I bundled him into the car and we went to Finlayson Point Provincial Park which is only about an hour away from where I live. 

​As I drove down the lane towards the office I could smell the fragrant scent of something like lilacs through the open car windows. I am sure it was something else because lilac flowers have long since been spent for the season, but whatever it was, it smelled good. Maybe it was just the smell of freedom!

The office had ice and a pay phone outside. 

Apparently you can rent bicycles at the office too. 

The sign outside the door indicated that there was to be a kids program going on that night having to do with frogs and amphibians. 

I went in and registered and while I was there I bought a T-shirt. When I went to pay for it the lady at the desk said it was called the "Goose Lady" shirt in her computer. We both chuckled at that because it made it sound like I was a goose lady with a farm full of geese or something. 

I was just about to head out the door when I stopped and realized that, in my haste to get on the road, I had forgotten to bring a sweater or jacket with me and there was a possibility of rain this weekend. I don't normally buy more than one shirt at a park but in this instance I figured I had better get myself a hoodie to have on hand.  I was happy to hear that the fire ban had been lifted this morning so if I got really cold I could always start a fire as well. 

I got site number 36. It was one that I had picked out on the website while I was researching this park. 

The site is a little small. I had to park my car on an angle and it was sitting closer to the road than I would have liked, but I made it work. Putting up the dining tent by myself was a bit tricky but luckily I didn't have too much trouble since I had a little help from the picnic table by standing on top of it. 

Everything fit and it was all kind of cozy. Balto seemed pretty happy to be here. 

The site is almost directly across the road from the second of two beaches. 

When the tents were up I took a quick jaunt down to the beach to check it out. there are no dogs allowed on the beach so I tied Balto up at the picnic table because I could see him from there. Or more importantly he could see me. Ever since he went deaf he can't stand to be alone and gets upset if he thinks no one is around. 

Both beaches are tiny. They are sandy and clean with a bench to sit on, but they are small and have no picnic area. 

Not only is the sandy part of the beach small but the roped in area of the water was tiny too. It only went out about 5 to 7 feet at most. It was almost laughable. Bathtubs are deeper than this. You might be able to get your ankles wet before you reached the buoy lines. 

Directly across from the beach, the site beside mine, (I think it was number 38) the site looked more like a driveway than a campsite. I wonder how anyone ever gets a tent set up there. I was glad I didn't pick that site. 

There is a lot of boat traffic on this lake. There was everything from motor boats, kayaks, and house boats. My mom had told me that this park was geared towards fishermen and I was beginning to see that she was right. 

And from the beach you can see (and hear) the highway. 

And to top it all off there was a plane that would go back and forth about 10 to 12 times a day. I am guessing that there is some sort of business that takes fishermen out by plane to the nearby lakes or something. I couldn't see why else  someone would take their plane out that many times a day. 

Despite all the noise form the cars and transports on the  highway, the boats and the plane, there was a solitary loon that would call out both during the day and the night that you could hear above all of this. 

​I am making it seem like the park was really loud. It actually wasn't all that bad. It was just not the peaceful serenity that you look for in a campground when you are just there to relax. Eventually I got used to the background noise and I didn't notice it so much after awhile. 

I decided to go and find the bathrooms and the water tap. I figured it was a good opportunity to take Balto for a bit of a walk. A little Nuthatch flew down to say hello as we were starting our walk. 

It's not too often Balto gets to go swimming these days; if you can even call it swimming. It's more like just sitting in the water. Since dogs aren't allowed on the beach, these little paths to the water seemed to be the perfect thing for him. 

We went down the path that had the least obstacles for him since he has troubles getting up and over anything more than 5 or 6 inches tall. It opened up into this cute little sandy beach area with a bunch of rocks that I could sit on. The water was very clear and clean and cool on this hot day. This mini beach was the perfect size for a dog. 

And Balto thought so too. He loved it! This would be a great place to sit and watch the sunset. You can't really see the sunset from my campsite.

Our destination, the bathrooms, was not much further up the road from Balto's private swimming hole. They are located on a bit of a hill, but nothing too steep. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were flush toilets! I was not expecting that at all. The bathrooms were spotless. Not even the usual spiders or bugs in there. And it even smelled nice.  For a campground bathroom, I was impressed. 

On the way back we went to the water tap and filled up the water jug that I had with me. The water faucet is not where it is shown to be on the campground map. It's close, but not quite. But it wasn't difficult to find. It was a twist faucet and not one of those ones that you have to push down and hold, so, that was nice. 

By the time we got back it was about supper time. Balto was worn out by even that short walk and he went into the tent and took a nap. 
I had thought ahead about food for this trip. I didn't know if the fire ban would still be on or not so I only brought food with me that didn't need to be cooked. Before I left town I bought 2 submarine sandwiches. I had one for supper tonight and one for supper the next night. 
 
After supper, Balto had gotten his second wind and was restless so I took him for another walk. We went past the mini boat launch area (there is a bigger one at the other end of the park) and saw one of the park staff sitting at a table with a blue table cloth. She was hosting the kids event about frogs and amphibians. I caught her at the very end of it because there were no kids to be seen at that point. I talked to her for a few minutes and she said that there had been about 5 kids there earlier and they had all tried their hand at catching frogs. She said that the park is much busier on long weekends and that most of the rest of the time it is pretty quiet around the park. 

I was going to go check out the second beach but the sun was staring to go down so I decided to do that tomorrow instead. 

I could make out a tiny bit of a sunset through the trees but the colours were not very vibrant this evening. I did see a bat fly by over head though. 

I decided not to start a campfire tonight. I didn't feel like sitting around to babysit it. Instead I went into the tent to enjoy a peaceful evening of reading a book. I could hear the loon again and except for the sounds of the transports going by down the highway every so often, it is actually be pretty peaceful here. 

We woke up to a beautiful day and the birds were singing. The park was pretty quiet with no major noise coming from the other campers. And we were happy to find that we had no major leaks from the tent over the course of the night so our sleeping bags were dry.

Before leaving this beautiful park we wanted to do the full hike of the F.I.T. trail. So, after breakfast we once again began to wander down the wide and well groomed paths of the trail.

There are plenty of birds in Bonnechere Park. A Robbin was the early bird on this morning; out to get his morning worm. 

We found more of the information signs hiding in the posts and we read up on the wildlife and interesting facts about the area.

There weren't too many other people on the trail. Only about 4 other couples and groups of people passed us along the way. 

I saw this mushroom that I thought was kind of different. I don't know what kind it is though. 

We came to a fence with arrows showing the direction to go in. Of course, rebels that we are, we went in the opposite direction and did this part of the trail backwards. Come to think of it, I am pretty sure that we often do trails backwards. 

There was a nice little foot bridge to walk over. 

Situated along the path are the cabins that you are able to rent from the park. Considering how close they are to the path and how many people would be traveling the trails and peeking in at you all the time, I am not sure that I would really want to rent one of these cabins. 

The trail follows along a river for a bit. There was a kayaker that passed by us. I would imagine that there are some beautiful places to see along the river from the kayak that you just can't see from the trail. 

Th reflections off the water made for some interesting scenery. It was like something out of a painting. 

There were plenty of grasshoppers to be found along the way. 

Every once in awhile there would be an opening along the side of the path where you could see the water really well. 

Some of those openings had animal and bird tracks in the mud along the shoreline. 

There were some beautiful, red, Columbine flowers lining the sides of the path in tome sections. 

And in among the Columbine were some spent  flowers of the Virgin's Bower (Clematis) plant. These two plants  made for a visually  interesting combination. 

There were also some Lily of the Valley plants with berries that were not ripe yet. 

This adorable little chipmunk peeked around a tree to say hello to us. 

The slight tinge of red on the maple leaves reminded us that whether we like it or not, it will soon be autumn. 

We finished up the trail and headed back to camp to pack up to go home. We could hear some very loud, shrill,  cries coming from the tree tops across the road from the waste management site. I could tell that there were two raptors of some sort calling to each other. In order to check it out I had to go through some thick underbrush and through some wet, muddy puddles and soggy leaves in an area that is not intended for campers to go traipsing through.  Heather was tired and didn't want to go through the water and brush. So she headed back to camp on her own and I stayed to see what kind of birds these were and to see if I could get a picture. 

I walked as quietly as I could to the base of the trees that I could see them in. As far as I can tell, they were two Red-tailed Hawks. 

They may have had a nest near by because I had heard them the day before too, so they were definitely sticking around for a reason. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to get pictures. By the time I got a couple of "not so good, but it will have to do" pictures, my shoes were wet and the mosquitoes were coming in to feast on me. But I was glad that I had gone out of my way to see them. 

At the campsite I was able to take pictures of a couple of crows yelling at each other. These two were much easier to photograph.

We packed up our tent and our gear and we headed for home. That concluded another wonderful camping and backpacking trip for us. There is nothing like getting away from it all. Can't wait to get back out there again soon! 

I woke up at 6:30 a.m. Way too early for my liking. Heather was awake too. We peeked outside the tent door hoping to see a moose across the lake. But no such luck. Heather got out of the tent and I tried to go back to sleep. But at 7:45 I was still awake so I got up too. It was over cast  and looked like it could rain at any time. So, it was probably best that we got the day started. 

We had a quick breakfast and then we got packed up. We spent a few extra minutes down by the water\s edge before we had to leave.

Momma loon and her baby were still swimming nearby. 

​ I was sad to have to say good-bye to the loons. It would have been nice to be able to stay a few more days to watch the progress of the baby loons diving and flying lessons. But we had places to go and things to see. 

We left the campsite at about 9:40. There was a bit of climbing and a bit of scrambling over rocks and water. But nothing too crazy. 

Despite the overcast skies, the flowers were out in full bloom looking for the sunshine.

We got to the bridge at the Clutes loop and stopped for a rest. Once we got this far we knew there wasn't too much further to go.

We stayed here for about 20 minutes and enjoyed the view.

We finished the trail and got out of the bush at about 11:50 a.m.  Surprisingly, the last stretch of trail had more roots and stones on it than any other part of the entire trail. 

The last thing to do was to cross the road to the parking lot where our car was waiting. We were hoping to make it on time to the boat cruise that takes you to see to see the petroglyphs on the cliffs of Lake Mazinaw but we missed the boat by about 10 minutes. The next one wasn't for another hour and a half and we didn't want to wait. We figured we would come back here to go camping another year and we can do the boat cruise at that time. 

So we left the park store where they sell the tickets and we headed back to the car. Along the way we passed the area where the Art Exhibition had taken place a few days earlier before we began our backpacking trip. The space was so big and empty now.  I noticed a gentleman sitting at one of the picnic tables beside a yellow thing. 

Then I noticed that there was another yellow thing at another picnic table. So I went closer to see what it was. It was an electrical outlet where you can sit and charge your phone or other devices. What a great place to have these!  Trying to find a place at the comfort station can be tricky sometimes. These take all the frustration out of it. You can sit and read a book or talk with friends or eat lunch while you wait for your devices to charge. 

​Once we were in the car we headed off to Bonnechere Provincial Park. 

After eating we continued on our way. Here is a warning to anyone using the Google Maps app on your phone to go from Bon Echo Park to Bonnechere Park.....Don't trust Lady Google! She told us to turn right down some road but it turned out to be someone's laneway. We actually needed to travel one block further before turning right. (Can't remember where this was exactly but it was near "Old Barry Bay Road" or something like that).  

There were about 6 drops of rain on the windshield as we drove, but no real rain all day.  Everywhere we looked there were signs that said "Total Fire Ban". But the funniest signs were the ones we passed that said "Firewood for sale $10" and about 5 feet away was a big sign saying "Total Fire Ban".  I am guessing the people selling firewood didn't get many sales.

We got to Bonnechere Provincial Park at about 2:30 p.m.

As we drove in we noticed a sign saying "Active Bear in the Park". Heather was happy to see this and was hoping that she could see the bear while we were there.  We went inside to check in and Heather asked where the bear had been sighted. The staff said not to worry and that  it had only been sited a few times near the waste management site. I guess they misunderstood when Heather asked about it. I think that they thought we were afraid of running into it when it was quite the opposite. 

On the outside of the office was a big sign letting everyone know that there was a fire ban in effect. Even though Bon Echo and Bonnechere are only about an hour and 45 minutes away from each other, the Bon Echo ban had been lifted but the Bonnechere ban had not. 

Bonnechere had gone so far as to print out forms about the fire ban that you had to read and then you had to sign your campsite permit saying that you had read and agreed to the fire ban rules. 

We got site number 94. On the side of the permit post was a sign telling you how to manage waste and recycling. 

The site was, large, clean, and private.They even raked the ground around the fire pit. 

The only concern I had was that it was situated right next to a bog (many of the sites are). So I figured that the mosquitoes would be bad (I bet they are pretty bad in May and June). But I didn't have to worry because despite the bog being right  there, the bugs were not bad at all. 

In fact, the bog was kind of pretty. 

The first thing we did after setting up the tent was to head to the showers. Now Bonnechere is a beautiful park and has so many wonderful things about it, however, the showers are not one of them. The showers were dingy and wet (not a clean wet but an stale and stagnant wet).  The water only lasted about 2 minutes before you had to push the button to get the water to run again. The water started off nice but after the first push of the button, the water became freezing cold. It took about another 7 or 8 pushes of the button to get the water warm again. Heather said that her shower was about the same. The showers definitely need an upgrade. 

After taking our showers we went to the park store. I showed Heather the room where Thunder the turtle was staying. he wasn't walking around on the floor this time though; he was in his big metal tub. 

Outside the store we saw a white board that indicated we may be in for a thunderstorm that evening.
Inside the store were many souvenirs, treats, camping gear, etc.  We found it odd that they sold Mosquito Coils and Citronella candles but not for use in the park. Our guess was that this was because of the fire ban in place. 

Heather and I eyed up the display of fudge. Each one had an interesting name such as " Wolf Paw" or "Moose Tracks". The only problem with names like that is you are not quite sure what is in them, so you are not quite sure if you are going to like them.  But it's fudge, so really, it should all taste great!  :) 

I chose the Bear Claw fudge and Heather chose the Milky Way fudge. And yes, they did both taste great. 

We took our fudge and went to stroll along the beach. We found a picnic table down by the boat launch and sat and watched a momma duck with her brood of 4 ducklings swimming near by. 

Then, a little further off I saw what looked like someone had been skipping a rock across the surface of the water. But no one was around and no one was skipping rocks. No, it wasn't a rock at all. It was a frog! I have seen frogs jump and swim, but I had never seen one skip across the surface of the water like a stone before! I was quite surprised by this. Even more surprising was that I caught it on camera. 

I really like this park. It's like they have thought of everything here. They even have a special tap where you can wash the sand from your feet after you come up from the beach!

We went back to the campsite and Heather went for a nap. I tried to take some pictures of birds because there were a whole bunch near by, but all the pictures turned out blurry. It is not easy to take pictures of birds. 

When Heather got up from her nap we went to see if there were any bears at the waste management site. There weren't any, but there was a live bear trap. The waste management site was actually pretty busy compared to most other parks I have been to. I think other people also had the same idea to come to look for bears and to check out the bear trap.  The bear trap had yellow tape and a mini barricade around it to warn people away from it. We chuckled because it looked more like they were trying to warn the bear to stay away. 

Behind the waste management site runs part of a hiking trail. We decided to explore this trail for a bit. 

The trail is called the F.I.T. trail. You may think means it's for getting your exercise, (which it also does) but it actually stands for "Footprints In Time".

The trail is a beautiful, wide, pathway that is easy for anyone to travel down. I think that it is even wheelchair accessible. 

From time to time you will see information signs that you can stop to read. 

But what we thought were really neat were the signs that are hidden inside of logs all along the trail. You just push the wooden sign down on one end and the longer end pops up with information written on bvoth sides of the post. What a unique idea! 

Some of them have a little map on the back of them.

With a "you are here" dot indicated on the map. 

We got to one section where there were many of these posts all in a row. 

At the same section there were also a couple of cabins and some picnic tables to sit at. 

Inside one cabin was a display of how an old logging cabin looked like inside. there was a bed and a wooden chest.

And there was a little wood stove and wash basin and some tools. 

Outside that cabin we noticed a time capsule in the shape of a rock. I imagine they will be having some sort of opening ceremony in the year 2042. Could be interesting to attend and to see what is inside. 

Across the way was a second cabin. 

Inside this one it was set up to look like an old school room or something.  We didn't tour the whole trail because it was going to be dark soon and it was threatening to rain. We went back to the campsite and made ourselves some supper on the little propane stove that we had. 

At 8:50 p.m. it began to rain. We had just finished supper but we were still having coffee and hot chocolate. So undeterred, we grabbed our umbrellas from the car and sat at the picnic table under them in the rain. The rain itself didn't last too long, but the trees got wet enough that water was dripping from the leaves. So even though it had stopped raining we kept the umbrellas up just the same. 

One thing about having your campsite near a bog, when it rains all the frogs come out. There were frogs everywhere! And to top it off, it was getting pretty dark so we couldn't see them very well. We had to be careful not to step on them. 

After awhile it got dark enough and it was wet enough that we went into the tent to spend the rest of our evening. We heard a few planes go by that sounded like thunder, but we never did get the thunder storm that they were calling for.