One Of These Things Is Not Like The Otters

Carsten woke me up at 8:30, telling me that it was time to get up because it was starting to drizzle and we didn't want to pack up the tents when it was raining hard if we didn't have to. 

I opened my eyes to find a little green inch-worm making its way across my sleeping bag. He is lucky he didn't get squished while I was sleeping.  I brought him outside and put him safely on a nearby maple leaf. 

We got to see if our shelter that we had built was of any use. As we were packing up we would put the things that were ready to go into our backpacks, under the shelter, close to the cedar tree wall. Since it was only a drizzle and not a down pour it worked not too bad. If it were a real rain then it wouldn't have done much good. 

We were packed up and ready to leave by 9:30. I didn't even eat breakfast. That was ok though, we didn't have far to go today and I had dried fruit and granola bars in the pocket of my fanny pack to snack on.  Today we were on our way to Helenbar Lake. 

As we left, I turned and said "Good-bye toad. Stay out of the fire pit!"  

Almost immediately the trail was an upward slope. But we knew this ahead of time and were expecting it. The first part of our journey was to climb Bear Mountain. After that the rest of the trail should be mostly downhill from there. 

It wasn't all that bad really. It wasn't the steepest climb we had ever done, by far. The only thing that made the climb a little problematic was there were places where there was nothing to hold on to. Or, sometimes there was, but the tree would be old and falling apart. So, what you grabbed onto would crumble in your hand or break off, causing you to lose balance unexpectedly. 

The drizzle stopped but the sun didn't come out and it stayed a bit chilly. That's not the worst thing when you are hiking. It kept the mosquitoes away and we also didn't get over heated.

According to the published map, there are actually a few lookouts at the top of Bear Mountain, not just one. 
We got to the top and the forest opened up into a bit of a clearing. 

​The view here was blocked by trees though. We were not sure if this was considered a lookout or not. Could it be that this was once a lookout but the trees have grown up over the years and the view is now blocked? In some parks we had been to, this would qualify as a lookout to them. We were hoping for something a little more awe inspiring than this though. 

We followed the trail along the top of the mountain. It was nice and flat here and we were glad we didn't have to climb anymore. 

It wasn't long before we came to the real lookout.  Now this was awe inspiring!  You could see for miles! 

I was so busy looking at the view that I didn't see the snake that was right at our feet. If Carsten hadn't pointed it out I might have stepped on it. 

It was a garter snake that was probably hoping that the sun would come out so that it could get warm. It was not moving at all and was hoping that we didn't see it, I suppose. I felt for the little guy because I hate being cold too. 

We turned our attention back to the view. It was amazing to see not just one lake, but two. To the left we could see the lake we had just spent the past 2 nights on. And to the right we could see through the trees, the lake we had been on before that. 

I mentioned to Carsten that the mist looked really nice against the trees on the other side of the lake. He said "That's not mist. That's clouds". The clouds had been particularly low the last few days and we were so high up that I felt that was pretty accurate.  We could actually feel the moisture in the air from where we were. 

We left the lookout and continued on down the trail through some trees until we came to another open rocky area. This one had rocks in a circle that looked like someone had once made a fire pit here a long time ago. 

And someone had made an arrow out of rocks pointing in the direction of the trail. 

But we didn't follow that area because we had arrived at a second lookout point. And this one was even better than the last one!  We could see three lakes from this spot!  It just takes your breath away. 

We looked down below us and we could see the campsite where we had slept the past 2 nights. You could even see the bottom of the lake from here. So this is what the King Fishers see when they are fishing!  It was fabulous! 

We could see the second and third lake to our right with barely any trees obstructing our view. 

We could even make out where our other campsite had been. The one where all the bear poop had been. It was amazing to be able to see exactly where we had hiked for the past few days from a birds-eye view.  

After reaching the top, it was a relatively pleasant and easy sloping trail back down the other side. This gave us a chance to enjoy things like the changing colours of the leaves.

Or the odd rock formations decorating the trail. 

It was a nice hike with only a few hic-ups once in awhile, such as not being able to find the trail from time to time. But once we found it we took out some orange ribbon and marked it better for the next people using the trail.  Most the trail was easy through this stretch though.

Of course, there was still a lot of blow downs across the trail that we had to climb over or around. 

But sometimes these blow downs made for the perfect seat to take a rest on. 

Eventually we got to the intersection on the trail.  This is where the trail split into 3 ways. To the left was the side trail to Helenbar Lake. To the right was the trail we had just emerged from. Behind us was the continuing trail on to Semiwite Lake.  We were getting so close now! We picked up our pace a little. 

We battled our way through over growth and dead fall. We noticed that many of these dead fall trees had green leaves on them still. So, they were pretty recent falls. Perhaps even within the last few days. 

We came to one that was literally taller than Carsten was. There was no climbing over this one.  And the fallen tree was very long and had fallen on another one, which had fallen on top of another one after that, in a domino effect.  It created a virtual wall of trees in both directions. This meant that we would have to go off the trail and walk all the way around it and then find our way back to the trail. Sounds simple, but once you leave the trail it isn't as easy as you may think to find it again.  Plus, having a backpack on meant that we couldn't easily climb over or under things. We actually came back to the trail on the other side quite a bit further down the trail than I had expected we would be. It was kind of surprising. 

In light of this, it made me think about how hazardous not having a clear trail  could be.  Not only could you go off trail and then get lost, but there was another potential hazard. If anyone ever needed a medical evacuation, be it by a rescue crew or just trying to get themselves out with a broken leg or something, this sort of fallen tree scenario would make it extremely challenging, if not next to impossible, depending on the situation. 

The side trail to the site wasn't too long. But it was long enough that we had time to see a couple more interesting things, such as some Coral Tooth Fungus.  The bright white of the fungus was eye catching in contrast to the browns and greys of the forest. 

Then there was the little brown  Wood Frog that we spotted hopping through the wet leaves. He was doing his best to blend in instead of stand out. 

In short order we reached a grove of pine trees with a blanket of pine needles under them. This was right next to the lake. We had arrived! 

This was another wonderful site that we were very happy with.  There was a lot of open space and a nice big fire pit. 

People had left their grills behind, so we had a number of them that we could choose from. 

Someone even left an old broken rake.  Sure it was broken, but in a pinch it was still usable. We really didn't have any use for it though so we just leaned it against a tree out of the way somewhere. 

There was a picnic table here too.  That was a nice bonus. 

The site had easy access to beautiful Helenbar Lake.  To the left you can see a clear shoreline that would take you to a marshy area if you walked along it far enough. 

Anyone canoeing on the lake would be able to see the campsite by the camp sign that was attached to a tree along the waters edge. 

To the right was shoreline riddled with driftwood and dead fall. 

The MacKenzie trail that we were hiking is actually named after RCAF Lt. Bill MacKenzie, a pilot who made an emergency landing in this lake in 1946 when he ran out of fuel. He spent 27 days lost and surviving off of berries while making a trail through the forest. He finally ended up at Semiwite Lake where he was found by a fisherman. 

Apparently his plane had crashed in the water very close to where this campsite is (although this campsite was not his campsite. His was further down the lake, past the marshy area to our left). The military removed most of the aircraft, except for 2 pieces which can still be seen today at the Helenbar Lake portage (which was on the other side of the lake from where we currently were).  Carsten and I could see a patch of water lilies growing out in the middle of the lake, a little further than you usually find water lilies. We wondered if they mark the spot where the plane went in. Perhaps the wreckage created some sort of mineral rich deposits or some sort of environment that encourages the growth of the water lilies there. Or perhaps not. It could be that the plane went down in a completely different spot than where the water lilies are growing. Maybe we just have a good imagination. If we had a canoe we probably would have paddled out to see what we would find. 

This site actually had a post to put your backcountry pass in. It is rare that you find these out in the back country, so we were surprised to see it. 

It looked like someone had started to build a wall out of logs here. 

Carsten decided that the log wall would be a good place to put up his tent. 
Although there is a whole lot of open space here, the space is not all flat.  Much of it is sloped, so finding enough flat space to have a comfortable sleep at night was not as easy as we first thought. 

However, I too managed to find a relatively flat spot to put up my tent. It was pretty close to the clothes line that we had already set up though. 

This site was another site that had a good number of toads. We made sure to check for toads in the fire pit before lighting a fire. There were none. 

The Thunder Box on this site was the best one on the whole trail so far. It was easy to find and easy to get to, even if it was up a hill a little bit. 

The only problem with it was it had a bunch of bugs running around that I had never seen before in my life.  What were these odd and kind of creepy looking bugs? They had a head like a giant ant, but a bright yellow butt like a firefly or glow worm. The yellow butt didn't appear to glow though,.

I knew nothing about them so I didn't get too close in case they bite. 

After getting home later, I researched them online and found out that they were "Gold-And-Brown Rove Beetles".   It basically said that "Gold-and-brown Rove Beetles consume flies, maggots, and other living insects that live in carrion, fungi, dung, and decaying plants.  Short wings allow for a glimpse of part of their abdomen. As a result, they look like they only have one half of a wing, however, they can fly. Golden yellow hairs on the tip of the abdomen give it a brilliant, metallic sheen. The body of this insect has a tendency to bend upward while it walks. Rove Beetles prefer to remain hidden and will likely hide when they feel threatened. Finding one is exciting because most vanish from view before onlookers see them."

Well, these ones sure had no qualms about being seen. 
​

Now that the campsite was all set up, it was time to do some exploring. There was a hill on either side of the campsite. I went and climbed over the smaller hill and found there to be a marsh there with a large muddy pond. 

Naturally, I was hoping to see some wildlife here, and I wasn't disappointed. The first thing I saw was a Blue Heron. However, it saw me first and promptly decided to leave the area as fast as it could.  Then my attention was turned to the pond as I saw some movement and some ripples in the water. 

I was super excited to see three otters in the water and on the muddy banks. I stood there taking pictures as quietly as I could. Then I went to get Carsten so that he could see them too. We were in a spot, behind some trees, that was well hidden from their view so, we were able to watch them for a long time. 

Carsten eventually got tired of watching them and he went back to camp. But I wanted to see if I could get some good photos for the photo contest that the park was hosting this year.  I just had to get closer! 

I ever so slowly made my way through the trees and down the other side of the hill snapping pictures as I went. I was sure that at any moment they would notice me and take off. 

But they were way too busy and most of the time they had their heads under water so, they didn't hear me sneaking around. 

It was a real joy to watch them. They seemed to be playing and fishing for things to eat like frogs, fish, and cray fish.  They looked really happy, which made me happy. 

The pictures I was getting were decent enough but probably nothing that was going to win a photo contest. If only I could get even closer without them noticing me. 

I spotted a path that ran between the marsh pond and the lake. Clearly other people had explored here before. The path led to a most beautiful old cedar tree that looked like it was straight out of a story book. I was hoping this would be the perfect spot to get my picture. 

I remained undetected by the otters thanks to some tall marsh grasses between me and them. It was the perfect cover. 

I kept low and watched the ripples in the water. They were not easy to photograph because they spent a lot of time under water and when they did come onto the muddy banks, their colouring blended in too much for a good picture at this distance.  All my photos were too blurry or grainy. But I wasn't giving up yet. 

As I sat watching for the perfect opportunity, I took note of an interesting looking piece of driftwood at the edge of the pond. It was a bit of a different colour and had an unusual shape. 

Then all of a sudden it dawned on me that it was not a piece of driftwood at all! It was a Bittern!  It was sitting so perfectly still that I hadn't even noticed that it was there. But it knew I was there. That is why it was sitting so perfectly still. It hadn't moved the entire time I had been there, which was for a few minutes now.  It probably would have continued to sit there for as long as I did, if it hadn't been for one of the otters. The otter in all of its fun and play, also hadn't noticed that the Bittern was there. So when the otter jumped out of the water and onto the bank, it collided with the Bittern. There was a bit of a ruckus as the otter started yelling at the Bittern and the Bittern squawked  and flew away in a hurry.  

With the Bittern gone, I focused my attention back on the otters. However, I realized after many attempts to get a good picture that despite being closer to them, they were actually somewhat harder to see from this spot than from the hill I had been on earlier. 

I looked around and noticed that the shoreline of the lake might actually bring me to the mouth of the creek that feeds the pond from the lake.  Perhaps by going down the shoreline, I could pop up closer to them from the other side of the pond. It was worth a try. 

So I went back to the lake and started to follow it. You could tell that the water level was down a little bit and that this area would probably not be walkable in the spring time.  

All over the place there were lovely white Pipewort flowers growing, like little tiny snowballs. 

I tried to be as quiet as I could as I walked across wet crunchy gravel and prickly Bur-weeds. 

I was almost there and I could see my destination up ahead. There was a big pile of driftwood at the entrance to the creek and that is where I was hoping to get a clear picture. The mouth of the creek wouldn't have as many bushes in the way to impede my view. 

I was just about at the mouth of the creek when, to my surprise, I spotted my little friend the Bittern again!  He hadn't flown that far away; just over top of the bushes that acted as a wall between the pond and the lake.  He was standing there with his neck out stretched acting as though he was a log or something.  He seemed to be looking or listening for something. Every once in awhile he would turn his head ever so slightly to peer into the forest. I don't know if it was me who spooked him or something else, but after a few minutes he finally flew away. 

The entrance to the mouth of the creek was like a little tunnel that was covered in branches and sticks. You could tell that something had dragged them there on purpose to create a protective barrier to the pond, just as a beaver would. Actually, it most likely was a beaver that did this.  As far as I know, otters don't make dams. 

It had been well over an hour since I had started my quest to get the perfect photo of the otters. Perhaps even 2 hours. I had lost track of time.  By the time I got to this end of the pond there was only one otter still there. The others had gone home.  But now, I was in almost a perfect spot to get my picture. 

Of course as luck would have it., I only got one picture before the otter spotted me and the gig was up. With a splash and a crash he scampered away as quick as can be.

​It would have been the perfect picture, but sadly at the angle I was at I only got half of the otter and part of his face was blocked by a leaf from the bushes between us. I guess this perfect otter picture just wasn't meant to be. 

It was a bit disappointing but at the same time I felt truly blessed to have been able to spend so much time watching the otters play. And I may not have gotten the perfect picture for a photo contest, but I did get a couple of good enough ones to share here and to make me smile. 

I now headed back to camp by following the shoreline back. I was so focused on otters on the way over that I hadn't taken much note of the beautiful Jewel Weed that I had passed by. I began to pay more attention to the beautiful things around me. 

There was some pink Joe Pye Weed 

And some tiny, delicate little pink flowers called "Northeastern Bladderwort" . Not really a pretty name for such a pretty flower. The person who named it could have found something prettier to call it, don't you think? 

A Diving Beetle was doing what it does best in the water... diving. 

I saw the remains of a crayfish floating in the water. Possibly left over from one of the otters dinner. Or maybe from a racoon? Either way, it let me know that there were crayfish in the area. 

And so I started to look for larger rocks and sunken pieces of wood in the water to look under. Maybe I could find a live crayfish under one of them. 

Sure enough, I did find a couple here and there. They weren't too keen on me lifting up the roof of their house though, and they tried to hide under smaller rocks. They did a pretty good job of blending in. I let them think that I couldn't see them and I put the roofs back on their houses. 

There were a few leopard frogs hanging out on the shore too. 

By the time I went back to the campsite to see what Carsten was up to, it was about 4:30.  That was when we heard a terrible ruckus down at the lake and we went rushing down to the shore to see what all the noise was all about. 

It was two King Fishers having a fight over fishing territory. They were chasing each other around and being very noisy about it. 

It didn't last long though. Eventually one of them gave up and flew off to another part of the lake to fish somewhere else. 

We went back to the campsite and sat around talking until it was time to build a fire to cook our supper on. 

I was starting to notice that the No-See-Ums were pretty bad here. At first I thought I was just itchy from all the mosquito bites that I had from the day we went to Upper Brush Lake. However, it became apparent that I was actually getting bitten with new bites from the No-See-Ums. 

As we ate supper we talked about how this would make a great canoe trip for Penny, my sister-in-law. We looked at our maps and figured out where we might like to camp and how long the portage was between Semiwite Lake and Helenbar Lake. 

At about 8:30 the mosquitoes came out and that was our que that it was time to pack up the food and put it in the tree so that we could escape to our tents. 

As we were clearing the table a little moth landed in the lamp light. It was so shiny! We had never seen a moth as shiny as this one was. Apparently this little guy is called a "Shiny Headstand Moth".  Of course it was hard to get a good picture when the sun has gone down and all you have is a flashlight, so this picture really doesn't do it justice at all. 

There had been no sunshine all day, but no rain either. I had been too busy to really notice the weather much anyway. It had been another really good day. 

In my tent, safe from the mosquitoes, I could hear the loons calling each other and I could also hear a  Barred Owl. I love it here, and I went to sleep happy.