The Forest And I Was All There Was

"Are you sure you want to go camping at this time of year? Won't you be cold?"  That was the typical response I get when I tell people I am going camping in late September or early October. 
And the answer is "Oh, I am definitely sure".  

I am very sure that I need to get away and take some time to myself. I am very sure that the chilly night would not keep me from the opportunity to clear my mind and have some one on one time with just me and God. My destination of choice this time.... Six Mile Lake Provincial Park.   

Even the large sign saying "Caution. Active Bear In Park" wasn't going to deter me from some much needed alone time. Actually, the sign didn't phase me at all.  I have seen bears in the Ontario wild before and I know to keep my distance and to keep my food locked up in my car. 

The office at Six Mile Lake Park has two walk-up windows rather than a place to go inside.  It reminded me of a McDonald's Drive Thru, only on foot. I let the lady at the window know that I needed to cancel the second night I had reserved since I would only be staying for one night now. When she asked me why the change of heart I explained that I was meeting my sister in Orillia the following day because we had tickets to go to the "Price Is Right Live Show" at Casino Rama on Sunday. Heather had bought the tickets for my birthday and we were excited at the possibility of perhaps getting on the show case and winning a prize. Chances were slim but it was exciting to be going just the same. 

She wished me luck on the Price Is Right and handed me a map of the park before I returned to my car to drive to my site. The map was a nice one. It was printed on really good quality, somewhat shiny paper and looked very professionally made. Not like the newspaper quality ones that you usually get.

The park store was along the way, so i decided to stop there before I went to my site. 

Outside the store was a giant map of the park posted up on a sign, which was identical to the paper one that I was just given. 

There was a little picnic area off to one side where you can go to eat any treats you my have bought at the store. 

The store was fairly large for a park store and had all kinds of stuff in it. I bought some wood and my Six Mile Lake park sticker for my collection. 

There were some nice T-shirts for sale too. They were a tad over priced, but not too crazy. So I splurged a little and bought one that I particularly liked. 

One of the first signs I see as I drive towards my site is one of my favourite signs.  "No excessive noise or disturbing others at any time".  

The site that I reserved is right on a corner lot. I was a bit worried that it would mean having to put up with a lot of traffic passing by, however, at this time of year there aren't as many campers so it wasn't as busy as I had thought. You can hear the highway from pretty much everywhere in the park, so in the end I guess it doesn't matter if  I can hear traffic going by anyways. It's pretty unavoidable. 

I had reserved site number 57.  It was relatively flat with a decent amount of sun but it backs onto a ravine with a creek at the bottom of it. 

The site was fairly small actually.  At first I thought all the sites were small. But as I drove around later, I realized that many of them were much larger than mine. Sites 80 to 89 seemed to be good sizes. I just happened to have had an unlucky pick in that regard. But it didn't matter to me. I was only one person on the site and I wasn't there long so I didn't really need a whole lot of space. I had room for my tent and my car and that's all that really matters. 

Directly across the road from me was site 56. It appears that it is a walk-in site. Who ever chooses that site would have to climb a bit of a hill to get there and there was no immediate parking there. They would have to park up the road and then hike a bit to get to their site. 

Once I was all set up, I decided to go for a hike on the hiking trails. The trailhead was super close by and I could walk there. The bathrooms were almost right beside the trail head so I made a quick stop there before starting my hike. 

I don't know if it was because it was the end of the season or if there was something wrong with one set of bathrooms but one was closed and the doors were locked. There were still quite a few people in the area I was camping in so I hoped that there wouldn't be a long line up in the morning for the bathroom. 

The inside of the bathroom could use a little bit of n update. But it was clean and I was pleasantly surprised to find a flush toilet!  Lots can be forgiven when you are provided with a flush toilet when you are camping! 

The sink even had a mirror above it, which you don't always find in many parks. So all in all, I couldn't complain about the bathroom. 

Between the bathroom and the trail head there was one visible campsite. Site 43. There was a strange wall around the site made out of piles of dirt. I am assuming this is an attempt to give the campers a sense of a boundary around the site or something. Perhaps a feeble attempt at giving them some privacy from the foot traffic of the hikers going by?  I don't know. I do know that I wouldn't want to have that site. There was no one on it when I started the hike but there were campers on it when I came back. I felt like an intruder going by. 

There were 3 trails loops entwined into one large trail. To do all 3 trails would only be about 2 and a half kilometers. 

I would start by hiking the Living Edge Trail (orange) which would turn into the Marsh Trail (red) and then turns into the David Milne Trail (blue). By doing this there would only be two small sections of the trail that I would miss. 

Right away as you start The Living Edge Trail you are warned with a sign to watch out for ticks. I had long sleeves and pants on, so I felt that I should be just fine. 

The trail starts out as a beautifully manicured, gravel path. 

In no time at all you come to the first wooden foot bridge. 

I was already happy with this hike because it promised to go through some wetland areas which are some of my favourite areas. 

From time to time I would come across a post with a symbol attached to it.  Sometimes a beaver, sometimes a leaf , a frog, etc.  Apparently the sign at the beginning of the trail head had talked about these symbols and mentioned that there was a guide book. However, I didn't read the sign thoroughly and I didn't realize that there was supposed to be a guide book until after the fact. But that didn't take away from me enjoying the hike in the least. 

There was a little marshy pond near the beginning of the trail that looked lovely in the late afternoon sun. 

A Green Frog was enjoying a swim in it and was doing its best to blend in to its surroundings. 

A Meadowhawk dragonfly was also enjoying the afternoon sun. He preferred to do it on dry land though. 

Most of this part of the trail followed the waters edge. I guess that is why they named this part of the trail "The Living Edge Trail". 

There were a few places where the trail took  you into the woods and up a few hills but  it was not a difficult hike at all. 

At this point I came to a post that showed where the trail split into two different directions. I could stay to the right and continue down The Living Edge Trail (the orange trail).  

Or I could do the trail backwards and head to the left to where The Living Edge Trail meets the David Milne's Trail (the blue trail)  I decided to stick with my original plan and stay to the right on the orange trail. 

The trail now led me through some shade trees which were filled with many small birds. They wouldn't sit still for very long so they were hard to see but they were all happily singing their little songs. 

The only birds that weren't shy were the chickadees. 

Every once in awhile I would come to a spot where the trail was not very clear. Without clear signage you had the potential to go the wrong way. 

Fortunately they had these trouble spots well marked with blue or white arrows on the rocks.  In one spot there was an X to tell you "Don't go this way" .  Now these were the sorts of markings we wished we'd had on our backpacking trip in Lake Superior earlier this summer. 

Coming out of the tree line I could see another marshy area up ahead. 

The way the sun hit the Tawny Cotton Grass was just gorgeous! It looked like someone had spilled a bunch of cotton balls all over the ground.

In the midst of this was an unusual shaped foot bridge. 

I stood on the bridge for a number of quiet minutes just soaking up the view and looking at the reflection of the sky in the surface of the water. 

Add to that the red leaves of the changing trees and this was easily one of my most favourite spots in the park I think. 

"The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, You call forth songs of joy." - Psalm 65:8

Even the yellowing pine needles on some of the nearby pine trees were beautiful in the sunlight. They looked  like little wee fireworks going off amongst the trees. 

I spotted a beaver lodge in one of the marshes. I didn't see any beaver though. 

Eventually I had walked far enough to reach the spot where The Living Edge Trail joins up with The Marsh Trail.  I had come almost  half way and was headed back now. 

Oddly enough there was little to no marsh for pretty much the entire March Trail. Only trees.  I don't think they thought the name through when they were naming this one. 

Up ahead on the trail I came upon some red and yellow  barriers across the path. At first I thought that maybe I had made a wrong turn somewhere and I was a bit confused. 

But as I got closer I could read the signs that were posted. Apparently this trail gets used as a snowmobile trail in the winter.  The barriers were there to stop people from going off the Marsh Trail and onto one that probably isn't maintained during the summer. The signs wanted me to make a left turn at this point. 

And when I turned to the left I could immediately see why the signs were needed. The path seemed to all but disappear to the left. I probably would have walked right by it if the signs had not been there. 

Once I pushed through some branches and past a few trees, I was back on track again. 

The trees were mostly pines in this section. It was a bit darker here too. It made me conscious of the fact that I would be running out of daylight in awhile and that I had better get a move on. 

The trail led me down a bit of a rocky hill. It wasn't very steep though. More like rocky stairs. 

Soon I was where the Marsh Trail ended and the David Milne Trail began.  According to the literature, the David Milne trail is named after the artist David Milne.  He never became one of the Group of Seven, but he was in the area at about the same time that they were. 

Gazing around the area I could completely see why he would choose places like this to paint. 

I could see myself coming here to paint actually. Although, I wouldn't be doing that on this trip. I didn't bring my paints with me and it was a bit too chilly to be just sitting. 

I stood there looking out at the water and drinking in the autumn sun. It was so nice to get away from it all. I longed for total peace and quiet. 

However, since the park was right up against a major highway, there was no such thing as complete quiet. I could see the passing cars through the trees as they hurried on to whatever their destination was. I was fortunate though to have a bit of a wind rustling through the trees that helped to drown out a good portion of the sound. 

​Looking around I noticed that there were quite a few oak trees in the area. ​ Then I noticed some strange round bulb like things that seemed to be growing at the end of some of the branches. I didn't know what they were. 

After I got home, I looked them up and was surprised to find out that they were "Oak Apple Gall Wasps" . These tiny wasps cause growths, or 'galls', on oak twigs that look something like tiny little apples. The female lays her eggs in the leaf bud. Inside the gall, there are a number of chambers, each housing a larva which eats its way out. This causes very little damage to the tree. 

I noticed that the sun was starting to sink a bit lower in the sky. I thought about staying to see if there was a good view of a sunset from here. However, I decided against it because I was not familiar with the trail and I didn't have a flashlight with me. So, if it got too dark it wouldn't be safe to be wandering around by myself on the trails. 

I passed by another beautiful field of Tawny Cotton Grass. There were other plants that I couldn't identify that had whispers of greys and purples to them. These colours blended beautifully with the rich autumn oranges all around. 

I left the calm waters of the marsh behind me and headed back to camp. It was probably about time since the battery on my camera was dying anyways and I needed to get a fresh battery. 

At camp I decided to eat supper which consisted of a turkey sub and a couple of cookies. I like to do a no cook, no mess dinner when I am camping by myself.  

I usually keep a journal when I am camping in order to remember things that I want to write in my blog when I get home. I realized that on this trip I had forgotten both my pen and some paper to write with. I thought that surely the park store would have some that I could buy. I was surprised to find that they did not. So instead I opted to buy a colouring book and some pencil crayons. It was a little unconventional but it would do the trick.

On the drive back I figured, why not explore the park a little bit. Besides, it was a good excuse to use the car heater for a bit. The evening air was getting a bit chilly. It is supposed to go down to zero degrees and get frost tonight.

​My first stop was at the pet Beach. 

This beach was just like a people beach. It was very nice. They even raked the sand on this beach. I was pretty impressed by how well it was taken care of. 

There were some picnic tables off to the side where pet owners cold sit and watch their pets play in the sand and the water. 

There was even a life ring that you cold toss out to a drowning pet if need be. Or maybe it was for the people. Or both? I dunno. But either way, you don't often see a life ring on a pet beach. 

Up the hill that over looks the pet beach there is a picnic shelter. It looks like a place where they hold learning event for kids. At the back of the picnic area there was a little storage room. 

Over looking the pet beach is a tiny little balcony area. Not sure of the exact purpose of it because it was pretty small and had no bench or anything. But it was kind of cute. 

Something that I had never seen in other parks (or at least not that I can remember) was a place to dump your hot coals and ashes from your fire pits and charcoal BBQs .  

Not too far away from the picnic area is the showers and laundry facilities. 

The laundry facility is an outdoor facility. I was surprised by this because most parks have them indoors.  I wonder if they leave these machines out over the winter? 

All the machines seem to be in great condition and free of rust. So perhaps they either bring them inside or cover them before the snow flies. 

In case anyone is wondering what they charge for a load of laundry out in the middle of a campground, it is $4.00 for a load of wash and $3.00 for a load to dry. 

Directly behind the showers is a volley ball net. I guess that is so you can work up a sweat and then go hop in the shower. Or maybe it gives you something to do while you are waiting for your laundry to be done. 

I started to walk towards the Day Use Beach. Along the way I came across a little shack that had a sign that said "Learn To Fish". It was closed though. I am not sure if it was closed for the evening or for the season. 

Between the pet Beach and the Day Use Beach is the Canoe Rental shack. This too was closed. But you could see that they had life jackets and paddles stored inside. 

There were rows of canoes and kayaks that you could rent. 

You could also rent paddle boats.

And you could rent paddle boards. 

At the canoe rental dock, they had a fishing line garbage station set up where you could go to dispose of your used fishing line so that birds and wildlife do not get tangled in it.

There were also signs posted that ask fishermen to be on the lookout for invasive species such as the Asian Carp. 

The next stop was the Day Use Beach. 

This section definitely had kids in mind. There was a big bill board with information and trivia about various birds in the area. 

There was a children's playground that had all the usual play equipment; swings, a slide, a jungle gym, etc. 

It was starting to get dark now but I could still see that the beach was nice and sandy and had also been raked just like the pet beach was. 

There was a fairly large area that was sectioned off by buoy lines. I didn't see anyone swimming so I didn't know how deep it was. 

The only people I saw were a few people fishing off the docks. The sun had set and it was getting dark. Time to head back to camp. 

It was too chilly and too dark to do much of anything that evening. I didn't feel like making a campfire. So instead, I put on some big wooly socks and warm pajamas and curled up in my sleeping bag for the night. It didn't take long to fall asleep. I was tired from all the driving and walking and the cold. It had been a good day. I am glad I took the the opportunity to do a little more camping before the end of the season. And such a nice park to camp in too.