The Quaking Bog

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. 

The trail was lined with old pines; their gnarled trunks and sprawling branches creating a natural archway that called us to explore further. The scent of pine needles filled the air, and mingled with the earthy undertones of the forest floor.

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

Sylvie was captivated by the vibrant array of sights and fragrances that surrounded her. Each moment presented a new chance to wander through the forest landscape, inhaling the rich aromas of the diverse flora. I couldn't help but wonder about the myriad of creatures that had traversed this very path before her. For Sylvie, the smells told tales of the animals and birds that had left their mark on the environment, their scents lingering in the air like a secret language. 

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. 

Penny and I admired the purple Vetch flowers and the pink Spotted Joe-Pye Weed growing in the sand. 

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.