We weren't fast enough and we missed our opportunity. Every year we book a cabin at Kettle Lakes Provincial Park in Ontario, but not this year.  So, we had to resort to finding a different one for this year. Finding a cabin is not as easy as you would think though. Too many hurdles. Too expensive, too far away, too much competition for the dates, too far away from a body of water, or too small for 4 people. So, looking beyond the Ontario border was a next step. That is where we happened to find some available cabins in Quebec's Parc National d'Aiguebelle. 

It was the four of us; Anika and Julie in one car and Penny and I in another car. We traveled north and it took some traveling down some gravel back roads to get there. We stopped for supplies in the town of Kirkland Lake. 

As we got closer to the park I noticed that the park signs were easy to find because they were all a bright orange colour.  After a couple hours of driving we arrived at the parking lot of the south gate of the park.  

Much of the signage was in French but most was easy enough to figure out.

The gate house looked like a large log cabin. The lady at the desk only knew  little bit of English, but our friend Julie was with us and she knows French so she did the talking. 

The lady at the desk shoed us on a map all the different things we could see and go to in the park. Unfortunately, the suspension bridge on one of the trails was closed for repairs so we wouldn't be able to go there. 

She got us booked in and gave us a code for the lock on the cabin door. She let us know that it would be about another 20 km or more  to get there.  We realized at that point that it might have been better if we had gone to the northern gate to book in because it would have been closer to the cabin. But you don't know what you don't know, right?  She warned us that the roads were narrow and to be very vigilant and keep a look out for any wildlife such as moose, or grouse or foxes that may pop out onto the road in front us.  

Before we left the gatehouse, we took a quick look around the souvenir shop there. There were plenty of nice T-shirts and things. However, we decided to get going and maybe buy something on our way out when we were set to leave in a couple days. 

We drove along for a little bit when we had our first encounter with wildlife on this trip.. It was a grouse crossing the road. I laughed because it's colouring made it look like it was wearing a little dark brown jacket. 

We arrived at the cabin without seeing any other wildlife along the way.  The cabin was a cute log cabin with a porch out front. 

The name of our cabin was "Le Longicorne" which basically is what they call a long horn pine beetle in French.  I admired the wood carved beetle that they had decorating the outside wall. 

There were board walk like ramps that led up to the door and picnic tables to sit at out front. 

We unlocked the lock on the big wood door using the code that the lady at the gatehouse had given us. Behind it was a screen door so we could keep the big door open and let some air flow through. 

The very first thing e noticed when we got inside was how cold it was. It was like walking into a giant walk-in fridge.  We were happy to see a wood stove off to one side and I knew that in no time we would have the place all warmed up and cozy. 

We looked around the rest of the cabin. There were two sets of bunk beds; one in each corner of the room. 

There were also two storage boxes with flat tops where we could store stuff. These two boxes could easily become two more beds if there were a couple of foam mattresses to put on them. But we didn't need any more beds. The bunk beds were enough for us. Instead we put our coolers full of food and drink on the one closest to the door. 

In the middle of the room was a great big dining table. It was really long. This would be perfect for the board games that we intended to play later in the evening.  There were two great big long benches on either side of it too. Plenty of room and plenty of seating. 

The only problem we started to realize and hadn't anticipated was that there was no electricity. The other cabin we always rented did have electricity so we hadn't prepared for this. Once the sun went down it was going to get very dark in here. We quickly took stock of all the lights and batteries that we had. Between us we had one battery powered lantern and 6 flashlights with plenty of extra batteries. That should be more than plenty for the 2 nights we would be here.  There was no cell service and no way to charge our phones though. I put mine into Airplane mode so that it didn't drain the battery. We decided that tomorrow we would go check out the north gatehouse to see if there was cell service there to let our families know we had arrived safe. 

Under the window was a little counter with a propane stove that was provided by the park. You are supposed to bring your own propane though, which we didn't know so we couldn't use it. We would just have to cook our meals on top of the wood stove instead.  There was also a tiny little sink under the window.. 

​There was no running water (nor drinkable water) available anywhere though. That was ok though because we had brought some bottles of frozen water that we were using as ice for the coolers, and I had also brought my water filter with me. I am glad we did or we would have had to drive back the 20 km to get water and then 20 km back here again for the return trip.

Beside the door was a little wood box filled with wood!  You didn't have to buy wood here. You get all the wood that you need with the price of the cabin. 

They also provided matches, fire starter and a lighter.  How convenient! 
​I set about getting the fire started and it didn't take long before the cabin started to warm up. 

I went outside to take a look around and to see what the other girls were up to.  They were relaxing at the picnic tables out front. But I couldn't sit still. So I walked around the cabin to explore a little.  To one side was a little wood shed. 

And inside there was a whole bunch of wood.  We were definitely all set for firewood for the duration of our stay. 

On the opposite side of the cabin were the bathrooms. They were like a little log cabin too. It was cute. 

They were not flush toilets. Only regular vault toilets. That of course makes sense considering there was no running water way out here in the bush.  We had brought hand sanitizer and wet wipes so we were all set there. 

The door handle on the bathroom was hand made out of wood. 

Across from the cabin was a firepit with benches and a picnic table. We decided that we would have dinner in the cabin tonight but tomorrow night we would cook hotdogs, s'mores, and other over-the-fire foods for supper right here. 

The firepit has a grill that could be raised or lowered and would be perfect for cooking on. 

The other cabin that we had rented in the years past had a view of the lake right from the window and porch. This one did not. We were very disappointed by this. We knew there was a lake somewhere because the online pictures had shown one. Online it had seemed as though the lake was much closer than it actually was. But all we could see all around us were trees. Nothing but trees. 

So, we went for a walk on a search for the lake. We followed a wide trail leading into the bush in hopes that it would be just right there around the corner. 

It was not. There was a sign for the lake though, letting us know that we were at least headed in the right direction. The lake we were looking for was called Lac Lois.

Instead of opening up into a wide open space with a lake in it, quite the opposite happened.  The trail narrowed significantly and the trees got thicker and closer together.  We had to go through  the forest to get to the lake. 

Not far into the forest, the trail split into 2 different directions. We were not sure which one to take so we split up. Julie and Anika took the left trail and Penny and I took the right trail. 

We could still hear Anika and Julie as we went so we knew we weren't that far away from us.  The trail we were on led us down to the lake and to a dock. 

Off to the side was a green canoe.  The people who had been there before us had not put it away. It was on the ground and not on the storage rack  It looked to be in good condition and maybe we could go for a canoe ride at some point while we were here. 

There was not much wildlife around No major birds or animals. There was some Joe-Pye Weed growing off to the side though. 

The dock was oddly shaped but I liked it that way. We walked to the end of the dock and looked around. 

We could faintly hear other campers in the distance around the bend, singing and having a good time. Not loud enough to be annoying or anything. I suppose there is another cabin over in that direction somewhere.  The lake looked beautiful but there was no beach to swim from. 

It was mostly weeds and tall grass near the shore. The water was much too shallow here for a good swim.  Perhaps where Anika and Julie were, there might be a better swim spot.  We called out to them and they called back. They shouted out "we found a picnic table in the woods!"  And then they shouted "And there is another one!  And another one!" They told us to go down their trail to see what they were talking about. So, Penny and I headed over to meet them. 

Sure enough, as we went down the trail we kept seeing random picnic tables nestled into the woods along both the left and right sides of the trail. There were 5 in all.  It was kind of odd. But you can't say that there wasn't enough tables for everyone. 

The very last table was at the end of the trail where it opened up with a view of the lake. The last table was the best one and probably the only one that I would choose to sit at along the trail. 

It over looked the left side of the lake. You could see from here that there wasn't really any good place to swim on this side either. It was a beautiful view and I bet you could see moose from here if you were to get up really early i the morning and come sit quietly by the lake. But we never put that to the test while we were here. 

But the water was full of sludge and weeds and the only one that seemed to want to swim here was a little frog and perhaps the loon that we could hear calling in the distance. 

Looking across the lake, we spotted an old beaver lodge. We wondered if anything was currently living in it. We figured if we were ambitious enough to take out the canoe, we might paddle over there to see what we could see. But we had no energy for that right now. 

Instead we headed back to the cabin to start supper.  Along the way we heard the tapping of a woodpecker and looked up to see it searching for its own supper in thee tree above us. 

The fire was going nicely when we got back and the cabin was now cozy and warm. We cooked our supper in a pot on the top of the wood stove and sat down at the big table to eat. 

While we were sitting and eating we noticed a little plaque on the wall with a story of how the cabin came to be named Le Longicorne. It was all in French so we had Julie try to translate it for us. 

Also on the wall was a guest book that had entries from past cabin dwellers. Many were in French but some were in English and we read some out loud while we ate. 

After cleaning up our supper dishes we figured we would walk back down to the lake to see the sunset. We couldn't see the sunset from the cabin because of all the trees. Besides, it gets dark quickly in the cabin. So if we go outside to the lake we would be able to save a bit on our batteries if we didn't have to light the place up for quite as long. It was much brighter outside. 

The sunset was not vibrant or anything, but it was peaceful and it was still pretty. We stayed just long enough that we could still see the trail and wouldn't break a leg if we didn't use flashlights. 

We went back to the cabin and played board games by the light of the battery powered lamp and some hanging flashlights. 

As evening turned into night and it got later, it came time to put the games away. Julie and Anika went to bed but Penny and I wanted to walk down to the lake one more time. 

The moon was big and quite bright this night. We were able to turn off our flashlights and walk in the dark up until we got to the tree line. We turned them on to travel through the woods but once we got  tot he lake we turned them off again and just sat in the quiet stillness of the night. 

The stars were clear and beautiful in the inky sky. We didn't talk much in order to preserve the sanctity and the magic of the moment.  We would occasionally whisper something to each other once in awhile as we observed or heard things. "Did you see that shooting star?"  or " I hear a loon over there".  

After a time we headed back to the cabin. Mostly we travelled in the dark because our eyes had adjusted to the low light levels by then.  We had just passed the tree line when we heard a rustling in the bushes behind us from where we had just come,  It sounded fairly large. A raccoon maybe? Or perhaps a fox?   We turned on our flashlight to try to see what it was. 

It was a rabbit! A little brown bunny!  We scared it when we turned on our light and it quickly darted out of sight. As we turned back towards the cabin with our light still on, I caught a glimpse of more movement on our left. Looking down we saw one of the biggest toads I had ever seen. And his markings were dark and beautiful. We felt luck to have had the opportunity to see both of these animals tonight. 

We made a quick stop at the bathroom before heading into the cabin. We talked about the bunny and we said that at least now if we have to go outside to the bathroom at night and we hear an animal in the woods, we can just say to ourselves "oh that is just the rabbit" and we will feel more at ease. Whether it is true or not, we can tell ourselves it is. 

In the doorway of the cabin we turned around and looked up at the star filled sky one more time before closing the door and heading off to bed and to sleep. 

I was awakened by the sound of bot motors from the boat launch at about 8 a.m. One of the downsides of being too close to a boat launch. It was too cold to get up yet, so I stayed in my sleeping bag until about 9 a.m.

When I felt it was warm enough, I got out of the tent and took the dog for a walk before breakfast.  There was no wind for the first time in days and the lake was relatively calm and smooth. The sun shone through the trees and I was enjoying this beautiful morning.

Out on the lake there was a group of five loons. They seemed to be enjoying the beautiful morning too. 

Along the shore line I found the cutest little tracks of some sort of animal. I don't know what made them. 

Perhaps a muskrat?  

By the time I got back from walking the dog, Penny was awake and we had breakfast before packing up to go. Today was our last day at Ivanhoe Lake Park. 

Sometimes when we take down our tents, especially if it has been cold, we find little critters hiding out under the tent. We didn't find anything taking shelter there this time. However, we did find a little toad hopping around near by. 

We finished packing up by 12:15  but we wanted to get one last hike in before we left. So, we drove over to the Saw Lake trail head and parked the car near the lake. 

There is a nice little boat launch here, with some canoes to rent if you wanted to go for a canoe ride. But we didn't have time for that. 

We headed over tot he Saw Lake Trail map to get some more information about the trail. 

When we got closer we realized that a blue Darner dragonfly was sitting right in the middle of the sign. 

It didn't stop us from reading that the trail was 2.8 km long and roughly an hour to hike.

We were going to hike the first loop, but then we came across some hikers who were on their way out who told us that part of the first loop was closed. So, instead we decided to just walk as far as we felt like it and then turn around and come back. 

We followed the shore line which, I suppose, is doing the trail backwards. But there really isn't a wrong way to do it.  

In some places the water looked had a beautiful green colour to it. 

​We could tell by the markings in the old logs and trees that there were plenty of woodpeckers in the area. 

There was almost no one else on the trail but us It was so quiet and peaceful.

We came to a section where light green hairy moss was growing above our heads in the tree branches. 

It was like the forest was covered in a summer version of Christmas tree tinsel. 

A little pine tree was sprouting out from an old trunk in the remains of a fallen tree. It was a tribute to how resilient nature can be. 

Up in the tree tops we spotted what was making all those holes in the trees. It was a yellow-bellied sapsucker. 

Also up in the tree tops was a little red squirrel watching our every move. It yelled as for awhile, warning everyone in the forest that we were there. Squirrels are one of the forests built in alarm systems. 

Of course the minute we got anywhere near him, he darted up to the tree tops and out of sight in no time flat. 

We spent only about an hour on the trail and all too soon it was time to leave the park. We bundled ourselves into the car and settled in for the long drive. We were talking about all the things we had enjoyed about our trip. 

We were just about out of the park when all of a sudden a huge bird swooped down in front of us as we were driving. It was flying down the road in front of us with our car following behind.  At first I thought it was a turkey vulture. But then, I realized it wasn't. It was a Bald Eagle! 

It flew in front of us for a fair distance before finally flying off to the left side of the road and into a tree. We slowed down and came to a stop beside where it landed in hopes of getting a better look than just it's tail feathers we had been seeing.  Sure enough, we got to get a pretty good look. It seemed to be a juvenile. Not quite fully grown, but almost. 

It had something in its talons and it began to eat whatever it had caught. It was exciting to see one so close and in its natural habitat. 

We sat and watched the eagle for a little bit before finally heading out . It was a wonderful last goodbye to the park. It may have been unseasonably cold for much of the trip, but we had some unforgettable experiences and adventures and that made it all worth it. I would definitely come back here again some time. 

We survived another cold night. Since we were prepared for it this time, it wasn't so bad.  We woke up to a nice sunny day and the birds were out.  Even the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker came to pay us a visit. 

The morning air was a bit chilly still, but basking in the sun helped with that. By mid-morning it was back to regular summer temperatures again. 

This meant that we could enjoy the hike that we had planned for the Teck Lake trail today. 

The Teck Lake trail starts off wide open with a pine needle covered path. 

This eventually turns into a more dense trail with lush vegetation. It is a beautiful trail. 

The orange Jewelweed flowers were eye catching and drew attention to themselves and their beauty. 

But other things on this trail were hidden gems that you had to really look closely to see.  A little brown White-Throated Sparrow was hidden quietly among the tree branches and watched us carefully as we walked by. 

We followed the blue arrows on the trees that marked the trail. 

But if we didn't look down once in awhile we would have missed the mushroom that was hiding and growing from inside a hole in an old tree stump. 

The sparrow may have hid well, but nothing beats the camouflage of a Grouse. If I didn't tell you there was a Grouse in this picture, I bet you never would have seen it.  Another hidden gem on this trail.  

We continued along the sun dappled trail and enjoyed the peace and tranquility here. 

The trail eventually brought us to the lake. On one side, you couldn't see the shoreline for the bushes and plants growing along the edge of the water. 

But to our left, there was a muddy shoreline. The mud was also hiding some hidden gems. 

Sitting in the mud, in the shadow of a log was an amber coloured dragonfly. 

The mud itself was host to many different footprints of animals that had walked through here in the not so distant past. 

I am no tracker and can only guess what animal left these prints behind. Perhaps a fox or an otter or a racoon. 

In another section of the mud there were tracks that looked like they could have been deer tracks. 

Close to the waters edge, almost out of sight, we noticed some Northern Purple Pitcher Plants growing. 

Another plant with bright red tipped leaves was the Bush Honeysuckle that ran along the edge of the trail in places. 

A little Green frog was trying to blend in but we spotted him anyway. Hopefully the predators didn't spot it. 

Near this tree we also noticed some mesh netting sticking out from under the moss and dirt in the ground. We are assuming that this was being used to help fight against soil erosion and to help keep the trail looking nice. 

We finished our hike all too soon and were headed  to the trail exit.  

But not before stopping to watch a Bumble Bee fly around from flower to flower among the purple Asters. 

We may have finished our hike, but we were not ready to go back to camp just yet. Instead we decided to walk down the narrow road to see what the Group campsite looked like. 

Site number 200 is the Group campsite. We were hoping that no one was on it so that we could explore a little. We were in luck. No one was there. 

The Group site was nice and large as a Group site should be.  There were plenty of picnic tables all around a fire pit. 

There was plenty of open space for setting up tents or for playing outdoor games and sports. 

It was a really nice site with a view and access to the lake. 

However, it was not the best for swimming because it was much too weedy. 

The site did have it's own private bathroom though. 

And it's own water tap too. However, you can't drink from this water tap unless you boil it first. 

After exploring the Group site, we still weren't ready to go back to camp yet.  We looked at the park map and saw a long winding back road with no campsites on it. It did show a picnic area though. It seemed odd to have a picnic area so far away from absolutely everything in the park. We were curious so we jumped in the car and drove to it.  

When we got there, we parked the car and got out to look around. Right away we could see the beauty in this spot and why it would be made into a picnic area.  There was a large welcoming sign letting people know that this section was maintained and cared for by the Friends Of Ivanhoe Lake group. 

We left Sylvie in the car for a few minutes while we did a quick look around. We were thinking that perhaps we would have lunch here since we had all of our food with us in the truck of the car.  We just had to figure out if it was a suitable place to stop to eat or not. 

Ahead of us was a cute little wooden footbridge that seemed to lead to what looked like an island. 

We stopped in the middle of the bridge to admire the water. It was crystal clear and you could see the bottom . The lake bottom made it look like the water was a green-blue colour. Very pretty.

The view on both sides of the bridge was beautiful. There was no one else around and it was so quiet.  We stood there in the tranquil silence, just soaking in the peacefulness of the place for a moment or two. Nothing was said between us because we didn't want to break that silence. 

I began to walk closer to the island and looked down to see beautiful pink flowers of some Water Smartweed.

The island had some large open areas but still enough trees to give a good balance of shade and sun. The longer I stood here the more I wanted to stay. This was truly one of the park's hidden gems. 

We found a couple of picnic tables and knew straight away that this was where we were going to have lunch. 

I headed ack to the car to get Sylvie and our cooler full of food. We had a bag of Beef Jerky with us so we let Sylvie have a little snack while we ate lunch. 

As we were eating a gentleman on a bike stopped by and we chatted for a bit. Apparently he lives in a town about an hour and a half away from Ivanhoe Lake Park. And he had gone to see the Polar Bears yesterday too. We talked about the weather and how it had been so cold lately. He informed us that there was a frost warning out for tonight. 

When the guy on the bike left, it became very quiet again. After eating we explored the island a bit more. The opposite side of the island opened up onto the lake. It looked like it would be a great place to swim. 

Nestled among the trees was a bench. If I wasn't paying attention, I could almost have missed it. 

The bench had been placed there in memory of a lady named Kathy Robichaud Weir. 

Soon we had packed up and were headed back to the car. We stopped to take one last look at the stunningly green colour of the crystal clear water. 

We continued to drive down the back road and that eventually brought us to the gatehouse, which is also where the Park Store is located. 

We didn't stay too long in the store. Just long enough to take a quick look around and to buy some ice and some firewood in case we decided to have a fire tonight. 

Penny also bought a Park blanket that had the names of all the Ontario Provincial Parks on it. 

I went outside to wait while Penny finished purchasing her new blanket. It was too small of a space to have too many people in there at once and some new campers were on their way in. 

As I waited I saw a boy fishing down at the lake and asked him what that was floating out in the water. I couldn't quite make it out. He informed me it was a duck. Sure enough when I got close enough I could see that it was a female Mallard duck. The reason why I couldn't make it out from a distance was because she had her head tucked into her body and it had looked like it had no head from where I had been standing. 

I got talking to the boy while I was waiting for Penny. He was having a tough time with his fishing rod because the rod kept falling apart into two pieces every time he cast his line. He told me it was a rental from the park store. 

Since we were driving full circle around the park and we were driving past the Day Use beach, I made a quick stop there to check it out.  Penny didn't feel like joining me so she stayed in the car with Sylvie.
It was big beach area with lots of picnic tables. 

There was a play structure for the kids at this beach. 

​It was pretty empty right now though because it was too chilly and a bit too windy. There were no lifeguards here (which is pretty standard for most beaches in the parks now a days). But there were also no buoy lines either. And that was unusual. 

There was a set of bathrooms here that doubled as change rooms. 

There was plenty of room to swim but there wasn't really much of a sandy beach. What sand was there had weeds growing in it. Come to think of it, the pet beach had a better sandy shoreline than this beach did. 

I only looked around for about 5 minutes and then I headed back to the car. 

We were getting closer to camp now, but Penny wanted to stop off at a comfort station along the way.  This comfort station was not large but still had flush toilets. So, you can't really complain about that. 

It also had one of those cute little book lending libraries. 

Outside the comfort station was a park map that said "You Are Here". Looking at this map, I realized that there was another beach directly across the road from where we were parked right now.  I decided to go take a look and compare it to the one I had just come from. It gave me something to do while I waited for Penny, and I was curious.  

A little green cross walk sign saying "Slow" pointed me in the right direction. 

Now this beach was much more like what people expect from a typical beach. It was a large, beautiful, sandy beach.  There were sections of buoy lines and a rack of canoes for rent. 

No lifeguard here either, but there it did have a wheelchair accessible flotation device parked under the sign.

The sandy beach went on and on in both directions. The view was lovely since there were no people around. 

There were benches sprinkled here and there in case you wanted to come down tot he beach to watch the sunset or something. 

To top it all off they had a toy lending center for the kids!  It was filled with brand new beach toys that kids could use to play in the sand or the water with. I was very impressed by this little detail. Such care goes into this park. I have noticed that all the buildings are in great condition, clean, and with fresh coats ofpaint. Signs are made out of repurposed wood so as not to be wasteful. I just love this park! 

We hopped back in the car and started driving again. But we didn't get far before we decided to make yet another stop. Sylvie had been so good following us around from place to place that we thought she deserved to get out and have some fun of her own for a bit. So we took her back to the dog park that we had been to yesterday. Sylvie just loves it here. 

The pet beach was empty and we easily found a picnic table to ourselves. Well, maybe not quite to ourselves. We had to share it with a firefly. 

A Sawyer Beetle also wanted to share the table with us, but since they bite we decided to evict him. We took a stick and shooed him away. 

We found a dead Dragon Hunter dragonfly in the sand. 

I was sad that it was dead because it had been a beautiful dragonfly with gorgeous green eyes. 

We found various snail shells scattered along the shore line. 

We had fun playing with Sylvie for over an hour in the water. She loved running up and down the beach and chasing sticks. Then all of a sudden we had company. A family showed up with their big white dog. I was a little unsure about how this was going to go because Sylvie is afraid of bigger dogs. But the family asked if Sylvie could play with their dog and so I decided to give it a try.  

Since Sylvie is a rescue, she didn't really know how to play.  I had to show her how. I started running up and down the beach with the two dogs and throwing sticks and chasing them both around. It didn't take long before Sylvie caught on that this was how you play and that it was fun. I think that was the turning point that opened up the world of social dog play for her..  There were a few iffy moments where there was a growl or two,. But they were short lived and only warning growls, nothing serious.  By the time we were ready to go back to camp, Sylvie had made a new friend and she was all tired out. We had been at the pet beach for about 2 hours.  I knew she would sleep well tonight. 

I had been wading in the water in my bare feet this whole time. When I went to put my shoes on to go back to camp I discovered that I had 2 leeches on me. They weren't large nd they hadn't bitten yet. So I just threw some dry sand on them and flicked them off. I wasn't surprised by them. I had been wading around in the weeds and the muck.  

At about 5 pm we were back at camp and we we grabbed our chairs and just sat and relaxed in the sun for awhile. 

We started a fire at about 6:30 pm and cooked hot dogs for supper. 

It was not long after supper when we looked across the road and were surprised to see a Pileated Woodpecker.  I decided to try to get closer for a close up picture if I could possibly manage it.   So I crossed the road and ever so slowly started to follow it as I tried to stay behind trees so as not to scare it away.  I had to laugh at the first picture I took because it almost looks like the woodpecker has a trail of poop behind it instead of some pine cones that  coincidentally lined up in a row. 

The chase was on. It had its back to me so I was able to quickly get a bit closer. 

But then it stopped and turned to listen. I froze on the spoke and held my breath. 

I let it get a little further away as I still stayed frozen on the spot, not daring to move yet. 

I moved in a little closer. But then it turned around and seemed to be looking at me. I immediately froze again. Was I caught?  Did I lose my opportunity? 

Nope. It seems it didn't notice me yet. I still had some time to get closer. 

This game of Red Light Green Light went on for quite some time. Me getting a little closer each time and then freezing in place whenever it turned around. I was having fun with this game. 

I knew that I might actually be able to get some good pictures when I saw that the woodpecker seemed comfortable enough to put its head down to forage for food.  

I cautiously went up as close as I dared, still keeping some trees between me and him. 

From where I stood I was able to zoom in with my camera lens and take the shot that I had been hoping to get. 

And I was even able to take a few more. 

Of course I am no professional photographer and these are far from high quality pictures. But I was still thrilled with them and with just the whole experience of being able to get that close to a Pileated Woodpecker. 

The woodpecker never did fly away on me. I turned and left before it noticed me and I went back to camp to watch the sunset. 

Penny and I sat and listened to the waves and talked while we watched the sunset.

Soon enough the sun could no longer be seen. 

And a loon flew by, calling out as it went from one end of the lake to the other. 

Even though the big fireball of the sun was no longer visible, the colours it left behind were still very visible and very beautiful. 

The birds and the gulls all started to fly by on their way to their nests for the night. 

Penny and I talked until the fire went out. Then we went into the tent to play board games for a bit before settling in to sleep for the night. As predicted, Sylvie was fast asleep long before we were; tired out from a full day of fun and excitement. It had been a fantastic day and we loved every minute of it. 

I woke up at 5:20 in the morning to go to the bathroom and it was so cold!  It was dark and I was not ready to get up that early so I went back to sleep in my nice warm sleeping bag for a few more hours. 
However, it was not much warmer when I got up at 10. There was a light drizzle and the lake was covered in mist.

I took Sylvie for a walk and we headed over to the boat launch that was not far from the camp site.  I chuckled to myself as I spotted the boat launch sign. I recalled yesterdays adventure of almost getting stuck in the beach sand at a different boat launch. 

This boat launch had a proper road and a place to park. There was less danger of getting stuck in the sand here. However, I wouldn't call it impossible. 

There were plenty of boats all lined up along the shore. 

Despite the cold, a loon was comfortably at home in the water. 

After breakfast, Penny and I thought that a good way to warmup would be to take a hot shower. So we drove up to the nearest comfort station.  When we got there the staff was cleaning the bathrooms and shower so we waited in the car. We left it running with the heat on high. 

There seemed to be only one shower so Penny went first while Sylvie and I waited in the car. Then I had to use the facilities so I left Sylvie in the car and went into the bathroom. The bathroom was clean and in good repair. 

I noticed that there was a door at the end of the room just past the toilets. 

I was surprised to find that it was another shower. We had thought the one with the separate entrance outside was the only one. I assume there is probably another shower in the men's bathroom too. So that would make three in total. 

This meant that I didn't have to wait for Penny to finish and I was able to take a shower right away. The water was hot and the water pressure was good. And the hot showers did help to raise our body temperature up.

Now that we were warmed up we were ready to go for a hike. The drizzle of rain had stopped but it was still grey and chilly. Going for a hike would keep us warm.

​The trail we chose was the Quaking Bog trail. 

I had read up about the Quaking Bog trail before arriving to the park.  A Quaking Bog is a form of floating bog occurring in wetter parts of valley bogs and raised bogs and sometimes around the edges of acidic lakes. The bog vegetation, mostly sphagnum moss anchored by sedges forms a floating mat approximately half a meter thick on the surface of water or above very wet peat. Walking on the surface causes it to move – larger movements may cause visible ripples on the surface, or they may even make trees sway. 

We were excited to step onto the quaking bog and to see and feel it move beneath our feet.  The nice thing was that this trail was less than a kilometer long. So we didn't have far to go. 

We came to a blue arrow marker that showed us which direction to go in. 

While Sylvie was busy exploring the different smells, Penny and I were interested in the wide variety of mushrooms we were finding. 

We came across this really odd one that looked like it was oozing or crying. We had never seen anything like it before. 

And this one was shaped a bit different. Normally the under side doesn't show as much as this one does. It looked almost like a nose on the tree. 

As we were hunched down near the ground looking at mushrooms, Penny happened to turn her head to the left and came eye to eye with a Darner dragonfly. We were both amazed because we did not expect to see a dragonfly so low tot he ground. And it blended in with the tree bark very well. If we hadn't been down low looking at the mushrooms we would never have seen it. 

As we continued along the trail, the sun started to come out. It didn't get any warmer though.

The very beginnings of autumn were starting to show in the leaves. 

Eventually we could see the quaking bog through the trees. We wondered if this was as close as we were going to get to it. I would be disappointed if that were the case. 

We came to a wooden bridge. I thought maybe we could get a better look at the bog from there. But we couldn't. 

It wasn't long before we could see a little look out platform through the trees. 

This was it! The Quaking Bog!  From the platform it looked just like any other marsh or bog, You would never guess the secret it held. 

Penny and I wondered if we should dare to go and walk out into it. There was a small trail though the marsh grasses where we noted that some other people has done just that. I was conscious of the fact that if too many people went stomping through the bog, that it could ruin the habitat. But at the same time the urge to stand on the quaking bog was great.

I decided to venture out, making sure to only stay on the same spots where others had stood so as to limit any damage that might be done. 

Sure enough, the floating ground beneath my feet moved with every step I took. It was not quite what I expected though. The movement wasn't as extreme as I thought it would be. It was much more subtle. But it was unmistakable. I jumped up and down to get an even better effect. Penny came up behind me and together we were jumping and laughing as the ground moved under us. 

We didn't stay out in the quaking bog for too long. Just long enough to enjoy the experience. Soon enough we were following the blue arrow out to the exit. 

When we reached the end of the trail we had a good chuckle as we realized that if we had traveled the trail backwards, we would have immediately arrived at the quaking bog without hiking any of the other part of the trail. But we were glad that we took the long way. Otherwise we would have missed out on seeing the dragonfly and the mushrooms and all the other sights. 

We got into the car and started to drive back to our campsite. Looking at the map we saw that the pet beach was along the way.  Since we had a pet in the car with us, we figured we would go check it out. 

As we pulled into the parking lot we immediately saw a great big Puppy Lending Library.  We thought this was an amazing idea. We laughed as we noticed that most of the toys that were on display for lending were sticks. 

We let Sylvie out of the car and she headed right over to it and picked out a toy to play with. 

This park really goes the mile for its pet owners.  There was even a a photo board of the various pets who had visited the park. 

To get a photo of your pet on the board all you have to do is send your puppy visitation pictures to the email address posted on the board. 

The pet beach was empty except for us. Not too surprising on this cold day. We chose one of the picnic tables to sit at while we watched Sylvie enjoy her time on the beach. 

And Sylvie loved every minute of it. She basked in the sun for awhile. 

And she went for a short dip in the lake. 

As we headed back to the car we noticed the fish cleaning station off to the side. 

Inside were some sinks and a place to clean the fish. It was a nice clean little shack. 

It even had an informational card on the wall that teaches people how to fillet a Pike. 

After the pet beach we headed back to camp and had a quick lunch before heading inside the tent to play some board games. We would have sat outside to play games but there was a cold wind and inside the tent was more comfortable. Plus then we didn't have to worry about the wind blowing over the pieces of the games we were playing. 

Or so we thought. But we were wrong. All of a sudden the wind picked up and it was so strong that it blew down a corner of the tent. It came crashing in on top of Penny and we both jumped up in surprise. 

I had to go outside and tie one of the guy lines to the picnic so that the corner of the tent would stay up. 

We played board games until supper time. It was too cold to sit out at the picnic table for supper. It was cold enough that we could see our breath. So we decided to eat supper in the car with the car running and the heat on. 

With supper finished, we were looking for something to do with what little daylight we had left. We decided to drive up the road to where the amphitheater was located. 

There was a building on the spot where the amphitheater was. Turns out it was the Visitor Center. 

Before going inside we took a quick look around outside at the amphitheater. It wasn't really what I would call an amphitheater really. It was some seating and a picnic table around a fire pit. 

The inside of the Visitor Center was more interesting than the outside. The door was unlocked and the lights were on so we went in. There was no one there but us. 

Just inside the door was a giant map of the park. 

Everywhere there were informational displays about birds and animals. 

There was a large birch bark canoe in the middle of the room. 

In one corner there was the remains of a cast iron cross from a cemetery. It was a very intricate and detailed cross. 

Apparently the cross belonged to the grave of a young 4 year old girl named Jessie Moore, daughter of James Moore who was a voyageur guide. 

On one of the walls we came to a poster of a white moose. This caught my attention and I went to get a closer look. 

It was this informational poster that made me realize that these white moose actually reside right here in this park. That explained the white moose on the park's emblem and stickers.  I doubted we would see one of these white moose while we were here, but it was interesting to know that they were in the park somewhere. 

Back at the camp we were visited by a Lake Darner Dragonfly. 

We walked down to the beach in hopes of catching the sunset. The colours weren't very colourful this evening. But it was beautiful just the same. 

Not long after, the moon and stars came out. But it was too cold to want to make a fire and sit out to look at them. Instead we once again went into the tent to hang out for the rest of the evening.  We knew it would be another cold night so we prepared for it by bundling up. We wished we had brought mitts with us. penny got creative and used a pair of socks to wear as mitts to bed.

I made sure I had socks on and a hoodie with the hood done up. I wrapped an extra blanket around me before I got into my sleeping bag so that it wouldn't fall off of me during the night. I even wrapped Sylvie up in an extra blanket. We were as prepared as we could be for the cold night ahead. We fell asleep all snug and warm; listening to the songs of the loons out on the lake. 

How do you get to see Polar Bears when you are supposed to be camping at a campground for a few days one might ask? 

Well, it is (and was) possible just by making a wrong turn on the drive to Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park.  Or more accurately, not making a turn when we should have. On the map it looked like a relatively straight shot down the highway to Timmins and then continue on to Ivanhoe Lake Park.  But apparently there is a turn at Matheson that we were supposed to take and I missed it.  I got too confident in my memory of the map and didn't use the GPS. 

Instead we ended up about an hour off course and found ourselves in the town of Cochrane. I had heard of the Polar Bear Habitat being located here since I had done some research on Tidewater Park in the past. So we figured that since we were here, we may as well make the best of it and go and see the Polar bears. My sister-in-law, Penny, loved the idea. 

We took a quick peek at their website and discovered that there were "no dogs allowed". This made sense but unfortunately I had my dog, "Sylvie" with us. But we were happy to find out that they did have kennels. So, problem solved! 

We parked in front of a large red building. We left Sylvie in the car for a few minutes while we went in to pay the entrance fee and find out where the kennels were. 

The admission fee was not overly expensive. Only $17.60 per person. 

As we entered the glass doors we saw a sign posted.  What!?  You can camp here for only $25 per night?  That sounded amazing! Sleeping with the Polar Bears!  But we already had a site reserved at Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park, so we wouldn't be staying here tonight. 

We got inside and we were impressed by how cute it was and by how much wonderful art work of polar bears were hanging on the walls. 

​There were large stuffed bears that were almost as tall as Penny guarding some of the doors. 

The gentleman at the desk was fantastic. We paid for the admission of two adults and then he took us to see the kennel. Apparently my idea of a kennel and their idea of a kennel were two different things. I had pictured a kennel such as you would see in the humane society. Maybe a big room with a cement floor and an opening to a fenced in area outside. Their idea of a kennel was a room with 2 dog crates in it.  I was not sure this was going to work out. The crates did not look big enough. But we had already paid the entrance fee and the gentleman was so nice that we decided to give it a try. I went to the car and got Sylvie and we put her in the crate. Sylvie is a medium sized dog and she just fit. Bigger dogs would not have fit. 

Sylvie tends to have attachment issues and I was concerned that once I left she would whine and howl and drive this poor man crazy. However, he seemed unconcerned and told me that he would turn out the lights to help keep her calm and that he would check on her once in awhile. I figured that we wouldn't be gone for a crazy amount of time so I trusted everything would be ok. And it was.  

The gentleman told us the Polar Bear Habitat was not a zoo but a sanctuary. So, the bears had 24 acres to roam and that we were not guaranteed to see one. But he said there was an old heritage village past the bear enclosures that we could go and see. 

We went out the back door and right away we noticed that there was an entire lake that the Polar Bears had for swimming in. 

As we approached the fist viewing pavilion we noticed that there was a little fenced in playground area on the outside of it. 

Actually, it appeared to be a wading pool area. But it seems it was closed. 

Which was too bad because if the wading pool had been open, you would be able to sit in the pool while looking through the glass in the wall at the polar bears swimming right beside you (well potentially). How cool would that be? 

We entered the building and found a small crowd of people gathered near the windows where you could see into the Polar Bear's swimming pool. 

They were all gathered there because there was a Polar Bear at the edge of the pool. Penny and I were excited that we actually got to see one after being told that there was a possibility that we might not.  This made the accidental trip to Cochrane and the Polar Bear Habitat even more special. 

The reason why the Polar Bear happened to be in this particular place at this particular time was because it was busy eating a watermelon. 

We learned that each bear got to eat one full watermelon every single day. All the local grocery stores will donate to the Polar Bear Habitat all the watermelons (and corn) that are bruised and will not likely be sold so that the bears can have a watermelon each day. 

Inside the pavilion were information boards telling a bit about the Polar Bears.

There were also kiosks where you could test your knowledge by taking quizzes. 

We left the viewing pavilion and started to walk towards the heritage village. As we followed the fence, we spotted another Polar bear coming out of a different enclosure. 

We had now seen two Polar Bears where some people don't get to see them at all. We felt lucky! 

It wasn't a long walk to the heritage village.  We thought it was a good idea to have this village here because if you were unfortunate enough to not see a Polar bear then at least you wouldn't have paid over $17 for no reason. 

One of the first stops in the village is an actual restaurant with a heritage village front. You could buy snacks and drinks here and the bathrooms were right beside it. 

Across the road from the restaurant was the train station. 

Inside were some seats from actual old trains as well as old uniforms and old luggage. 

There was a display containing various vintage train tickets. Ona T.V. screen a documentary was playing. It happened to mention the name of our hometown in the documentary just as we were entering the building so, it caught our attention right away. 

Next door to the train station was the carriage house where there were some beautiful old cars and tractors being housed. 

Penny and I decided to have a little fun riding some horses while we were there. 

The local clothing store had some vintage dresses and dolls and a parasol in the window. (None of these were for sale. They were for display purposes only). 

And in another window, a couple of bears were sitting down to tea together. 

Outside one of the buildings there was a beautiful engraved bell. I don't know if you can ring it or not. We didn't think to try. 

Another store had some vintage rocking horses all lined up in a row. 

On the counter was a price list for some of the groceries you could buy back in the day. Oh, if only you could buy a dozen eggs for nine cents today. 

Just down the road were the stables. 

We didn't see any horses, but we did see the buggy and carriage that the horses would have pulled. 

Near to last in the village was an old farm house. You were actually able to go inside to see what was there. 

The kitchen was bright and inviting. There was a guest book on the table that we signed. 

Up the stairs there were three bedrooms. There as a little girls bedroom with dolls and toys, an adults bedroom and a little boys bedroom. . 

One of the last buildings on the route was the little one room school house. 

It was very small and looked like it could only hold up to about 12 children at a time. 

On the wall outside the school door was an information board. We chuckled at the picture of a dog cart carrying children to school. 

The last building on the route was what looked to be an old hunting or trapping cabin. 

As we came full circle we ended up passing by the Polar Bear enclosure once more. The same bear we had seen on the way to the heritage village was still outside, but now it was much closer and we were bale to get a better look at it. 

But it didn't necessarily want to get a better look at us. (Actually, it was just scratching it's nose.... but it looked pretty cute doing it). 

Back at the entrance and the gift shop we checked in with the gentleman who was looking after Sylvie. He told us that Sylvie hadn't howled at all. He had been in to check on her a couple of times and had given her some water. He was super good with her. He said that he enjoyed being able to visit with the dogs when people brought them. We left Sylvie with him for just a few minutes longer while we looked around the gift shop and the ski-doo museum which also happened to be in the same building. 

Between the gift shop and the ski-doo museum was a display showing the three common bears we have in Canada and what their sizes are when they are standing up. 

The Polar Bear was twice Penny's size. 

I am not a snowmobile enthusiast by any means, but this collection at the snowmobile museum was pretty impressive. 

And it was interesting to see all the different shapes and sizes of the various snow machines throughout the years. 

We bought a couple T-shirts and a hoodie from the gift shop and then went to get Sylvie.  We were happy that we had stopped here and had gotten the opportunity to see the Polar Bears. 

On the way out I noticed some yellow signs with numbers on them. I wondered what they were for. 

It dawned on me that these might potentially be the campsites that you stay at for $25 per night. But I didn't know for sure. 

There was plenty of open space and a picnic table but I didn't see any fire pits. So, it was hard to tell if these were campsites or just picnic areas. 

Before leaving Cochrane, we stopped for groceries and gas. It was a good thing that we filled up since there were signs indicating that there was no gas available for the next 104 km.

We noticed on the map that there was a provincial park along the way called 

We plugged the destination into the GPS and kept an eye out for the turn off to Dana Jowsey Lakes Provincial Park.  When the GPS indicated that it was time to exit off the highway, there was no park sign; only a boat launch sign. 

The road we were now on was a gravel road and was bumpy. But it was decent enough for driving. 

​First we passed by Jowsey Lake on our right. 

On our left it was a bit marshy, but it had its own beauty. 

We drove for about another 7 or 8 km and from time to time we would pass by some bodies of water but none of the were Dana Lake. 

We were almost ready to give up and turn around when we finally found it.  There was a truck with a boat rack attached to the back of it sitting down by the water but there were no people around. 

I pulled into the spot and could hear the car go over a curbside bump as we left the gravel road. ​The next thing we knew we found ourselves trying to drive in soft beach sand. The car started sinking in it and a feeling of dread started rising up in us. We were getting stuck in the beach sand! 

I tried not to panic as I tried to turn the car around by making a loop to the left. We were now facing away from the lake but the exit was on a bit of an incline so as I tried to drive forward up a hill, the wheels started to just spin and the loose sand was flying everywhere from beneath my tires. It was like getting stuck in a snow drift, only worse. 

​I could get the car to go backwards but I could not get it to go forwards. The problem with that is if we went too far backwards we would end up in the lake. 

Thoughts went through our minds as Penny and I talked about our situation in stressed out voices. We pictured ourselves stranded here 8 km from the highway, only a couple of hours from sunset in a place where absolutely no one knew where we were and we weren't sure if we would have cell signal out here. Who knows if the people who owned the truck would be coming back today, tomorrow, or next week. Even if they did come back would they be able to pull us out? We did have a tent with us and a cooler full of food so we would be ok but the situation was far from ideal. 

I wasn't ready to give up just yet. I managed to drive backwards enough to begin to turn the car more to the left and was able to go forward a bit in that direction. It was by no means an easy thing to do though. I noticed that there was n edge where the sand met the beginning of the forest and that the ground appeared to be more stable there so I headed for that. 

We reached the edge and while my right tires were still in the beach sand, my left ones seemed to be on relatively solid ground. From here, I out the pedal to the metal and gunned it.  We started moving forward. There as a point where the car started to slow down and I thought we weren't going to make it. I started to say a prayer to God. Then,  at the last second the car gave it her all and we made it out of the bech sand and back up onto the road! 

Our hearts were pounding and we chattered excitedly about how happy we were to make it out of there. A wave of relief washed over us. 

Now that our car was safely back on the gravel road, we parked it and got out. You didn't think after all that ordeal we weren't going to get out and go see the lake, now did you?  We had to claim our reward for our efforts after all.

​We got Sylvie out of the car and started walking back to inspect the deep tire marks we had left in the sand. 

We looked around for a bit. I noticed there were signs on a tree that indicated "no camping". However, if we had gotten stuck there, we would have ignored that sign and camped there anyways. We wouldn't have had much choice. 

We went down to the waters edge and took in the beauty of the lake. It really was a beautiful spot.  Was it worth all the effort to get here? I don't know, but it was an adventure that we wouldn't soon forget. 

And so here I am. Dana standing in front of Dana Lake. 

On our way out of Dana Jowsey Lakes Park, Penny and I talked about how we didn't want to see another  Boat Launch for  very long time. It would probably always remind us of this crazy adventure we just had where we almost got stuck on the beach. 

We drove for about another hour to get to our true destination of Ivanhoe Lake Provincial Park.  Just before you enter the park you come to a bridge.  We crossed the bridge and then stopped for a quick break. 

On the other side of the bridge is  a cute little picnic area. 

Here there is an information sign telling you a little bit about the lake and its history. 

A little further up the road and we finally came to the signs for Ivanhoe Lake Park. It was about 7:15pm by this point. We were a few hours off schedule but we had made it! 

At the gatehouse we went inside to register and to buy our park sticker for our Park Passport souvenir books. 

Once we were registered we headed over to our site. We had site number 98 in the Bae campground section. 

It was a nice big site and it had two picnic tables. There was nobody on either side of us, which was nice.  The site on our right had some lattice fence between them and us at one end. You could tell that the site on the right was a seasonal site, but they weren't there at the moment. Nor were they there the whole time we were there. Which is one of the reasons why I disagree with seasonal sites in provincial parks. All that wasted time where someone else could be camping in that spot. 

The nice thing about our site and the sites in this section is that it is directly on the lake. We shared a tiny sandy entrance to the lake with the campsite on the right. It wasn't really big enough to make it into a beach going experience. 

​But it was nice enough to stand or maybe get one or two chairs in there to sit and watch the sunset if you wanted to. 

But we didn't have time to watch the sunset today. We had to get our tent up and get stuff set up before we no longer had any daylight to see in.

As we got around to setting up, Sylvie got around to digging herself a hole in the ground right in fron of one of our picnic tables. 

She had made herself a little nest and took no time to make herself at home in it. 

Right across the road from our site was the washrooms. 

Each bathroom had a couple of solar lights at the corners so that you could see where they were and where the door is. 

Instead, you could get potable water by taking a short walk down the road to a little place that looked like a pump house. 

It was set up with a hose where you could get safe water to drink. I took a bucket and filled it up with water for Sylvie to drink and took it back to the campsite. 

Along the way back I noticed some ant hills in the sand. They were very tall and looked like super ants lived here. 

I got back to the campsite just in time to eat supper while watching a beautiful sunset. 

There was one stray cloud that caught my attention because it was a bright orange where all the other clouds were mostly grey or white. 

After supper we took the dog for a walk and then came back and played board games for awhile until it was time for bed. 

It was a bit chilly and windy on this evening, but the stars were out. The sky was beautiful and the haunting cry of the loons reminded us why we loved camping so much.  We had a busy day full of adventure and now we were ready to sleep so that we could see what adventures awaited us the next day.