Yes, There Are Rattlesnakes On The French River Trail

As the morning sun warmed us, we reluctantly began to take down our tents and pack up to go. Our stay at Grundy Lake had come to an end, but we still had the rest of the day ahead of us to enjoy. Our plan is to go to the French River Provincial Park that was close by and hike the Recollet Trail there. 

As I folded up the corners of my tent and swept off the loose sand and pine needles, I was surprised to find a number of creatures that had taken shelter from the cold under it. It was not as surprising as the garter snake I had under my tent a few years back at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. However, I was not expecting to find a cold little toad huddled there. I picked it up and moved it to a warmer spot in the sunshine at the base of a pine tree. 

I went back to my task at hand was surprised to find a second cold and huddled toad under my tent. This one was darker in colour and was rather beautiful. I scooped it up and put it beside the last one; under the tree in the warm sunshine. 

Also taking shelter under my tent were a few earth worms. I guess that is not as surprising. 

Also not surprising was the presence of a couple Harvestmen (Daddy Long Legs) that I had to shoo away. My mom and I discussed these little fellows and she ended up dispelling some misconceptions that I had about them. I knew that they were arachnids and not spiders however, I had always wrongly believed that they could not bite. I had heard somewhere that they "had powerful venom but couldn't pierce the skin of humans so they were harmless". 

Apparently this is not quite true. I read up on them and found out that "They have no venom glands and do not spin webs. They prefer moist environments, such as under logs and rocks, though some can be found in desert climates." 
Apparently they are ambush predators, eating spiders, earthworms, and insects. They will also eat decaying plant material and insect eggs. Because they are omnivores, Harvestmen do have fang-like mouthparts (also known as chelicerae) to chew their food. While this might point to biting ability in other insects, Harvestmen are not known to bite humans and should not be considered dangerous. Although it is possible for them to bite, their mandibles are far too small for humans to feel any kind of sensation should they even try. .....But they don't even tend to try. 

Another thing I never knew because I have never experienced it, is "Harvestmen can be guilty of assaulting your olfactory senses, in addition to scaring people and animals with their bizarre ability to cluster together to defend themselves against predators. True daddy long legs or Harvestmen excrete chemicals that put off a distinctly, unpleasant odor from special glands in their bodies. In a large group, it creates a much more pronounced effect than individuals would, in a collaborative defense against larger predators". 

​Interesting! 

Although this Assassin bug wasn't hiding under my tent, it was camouflaging itself with sand. I am sure if it was sitting on something other than my tent, it would be doing a better job of hiding.  I moved it some place safer. 

Once we were all packed up we got in the car and headed off to the  French River Park. It was only about 15 to 20 minutes away from Grundy Lake Park. I had never been there before and since it is a day use only park there is not as much about it online, ​so I didn't know what to expect. 

We pulled into a fairly large parking lot and found that there were quite a few vehicles parked there. It was busier than I had thought it would be. 

The sign in front of our parking spot reminded us that camping was not allowed here. It's nice to see that they have it clearly laid out for you because some parks are a little ambiguous about this. There was no mistaking it here. 

A map of the Visitor center area was provided which showed a number of picnic areas.

A little red squirrel greeted us at one of those picnic table areas. 

At one of the picnic table areas there were a number of Historical Site signs posted. 

They provided information on the French River and how the Ojibwa were a large part of the trading route. 

The Visitor Center was an interesting shape. Unfortunately is was closed due to the Covid pandemic. I guess we will have to come back one day to see the inside. 

Right at the beginning of the trail were 2 different warning signs. Watch out for Massassauga Rattle Snakes and for Poison Ivy. We did not really think too much about either one. Usually if you stay on the trails you won't run into poison ivy. As for rattle snakes, they are a threatened species in this area so they are very rare to encounter. 

And so we began our hike. Almost immediately we were passed by multiple groups of people. There was a large family of about 10 people, young and old. There were some couples and some smaller groups. They were both coming out and going in. This was not going to be the quiet and peaceful hike that we had hoped. 

The chickadees seemed to be used to the amount of foot traffic through the trail and didn't seem to pay any attention to the passers by. 

The trail is not the most difficult one to hike, however, it is not completely without its struggles and obstacles. In many places there were root covered rocks and slippery spots. That is why when a young man with a fishing rod over his shoulder and his girlfriend came up behind us wearing only crocs on their feet, we were both astonished and amused. We stopped to talk to them for a few moments. Despite their odd choice in foot wear, they seemed to be travelling faster than we were so we let them go ahead of us. We watched as the girlfriend in particular struggled to get up and over some slippery rocks. We hoped that we wouldn't find them later down the trail with a broken or twisted ankle. As more people passed us on the trail we noticed that many of them did not have the proper foot wear for hiking. It was as though they weren't expecting to come here today and that the hike was a last minute stop between wherever they came from and wherever they were going to. 

The trail was a mixture of trees and rocks that had a rugged beauty to it. 

There wasn't a whole lot of wildlife to be seen, except for a little red squirrel in a tree. The colour of red on this little guy was quite brilliant compared to the one we had seen on the picnic table by the parking lot. 

Someone had erected a miniature  inukshuk along the side of the trail. 

The trail would wind through the trees sometimes and then open up into wide open rocky areas at other points. Moss and grass were trying to take over parts of these open areas, but the well worn foot path kept it from encroaching all the way. 

Most people were just passing by us at a quick pace trying to get to their destination, which was the falls at the end of the trail. Mom and I were enjoying the journey and appreciating the beauty of every rock and tree. 

We came to a part of the trail that was fairly littered with rocks and boulders. We wondered how well the girl with the crocs and the people with sandals on had done through here. There were no people on the sideof the trail needing medical attention, so we figured that they must have done all right. 

We came to a quiet little bridge where we stopped to take a short break and to listen to the running water that flowed beneath. 

The sun danced and sparkled on the surface of the flowing water as it tumbled and trickled over the moss covered stones down the hill side. 

We knew we were getting close when we could see the river through the trees and the rocky cliffs on the other side. 

There was a bit of a steep hill to climb down (more like slide down on our butts) but around the bend from that the Recollet Falls came into view. There were a bunch of people already down by the edge of the river. We stood back for a minute or two and waited for most of them to leave. It didn't take long since they had arrived ahead of us long before we got there. We saw the girl with the crocs and her boyfriend fishing at the rivers edge off to our right. We were happy to see that they had made it there in one piece.

I went down to the edge of the river while my mom took in the sights from higher up. The sound of the water rushing and the feeling of power that you know is below the surface, makes me feel the energy of the nature all around me. It makes me feel connected to nature and to God. It's a wonderful feeling. 

As I looked around I noticed a path off to my left. It seemed to lead down towards a place where the water was calmer. Then again, it could be more of the hiking trail. I decided to go check it out. 

To get to the path you have to pass by the historical plaque for Recollet Falls. I stopped to read it. 

A grasshopper was getting its exercise by jumping from grass to rock and back again. 

And a fat little Wooley Bear caterpillar was at rest in the warmth of a sunny rock.

I followed the path that did lead down to the calmer part of the river. Then I realized that this must be a portage. 

It was beautiful and peaceful here. I think this was my favourite spot of the whole area. 

To my right I could still see the rushing waters of the Ricollet Falls.

And to my left was a rock wall cliff. There were some trees growing in front of it with other trees that had fallen down across the rocks. This made it look like a fence or a great place to make a fort. It felt like a hidden section that would be worth exploring. But I didn't really have enough time for that. I knew that we should be heading back soon. So I turned around and headed back up the side trail. 

As I went back to see where my mom was, I caught sight of a blue Powdered Dancer damselfly making a meal out of a shadfly. 

I just love the eyes of damselflies and dragonflies! 

The damselfly wasn't the only insect looking for a meal out by the falls. There was a wasp scrounging around down there too. 

Soon it was time to turn around and go back. The trail is not a loop so we would have to go back the way we came. As we were climbing up the rock that we had to slide down to get to the falls, we crossed paths with a group of people who were very excited. They had just seen a rattle snake on the trail a little ways back! 
They even had a video of it. It was a pretty large rattle snake too. 
With all the people coming and going on this trail I was very surprised that they had seen one. Especially since they are rare to see. I got hopeful that we would see it too on the way back. 

We kept an eye out for rattle snakes the whole way back but we never did see one for ourselves. I was a bit disappointed. Mom decided to stop for a bit and spend some quiet alone time at a nice resting spot on the trail. She suggested that I go on ahead to explore some of the other areas that were closer to the Visitor Center and so I went on alone. 

On the other side of the Visitor Center is another trail. This one was much wider and more groomed than the hiking trail that we had just been on. You could easily get a wheel chair down this trail. I wondered where it led to, so I followed it. 

I took note of another sign that warned about rattle snakes. This time I thought that yes, there really is a possibility that I might see a rattle snake. So I looked a little harder for one. I still never saw one though. 

The wide trail ran right behind the Visitor Center. It was interesting to see that the Visitor Center was being held up and supported by a very large cement post. It was a very unusual building. Very artistic in design. 

The trail was not long at all and it led to a large, green, bridge. Of course I had to go and see what kind of view it had. There was a man and his son who had the same idea as me. 

The further I got out onto the bridge the windier it got. I had to hold onto my hat or it would have blown away. 

The view from the bridge did not disappoint. I could see for miles down the river. I couldn't quite see where the Recollet Falls began but I figured that they were probably somewhere just around the bend way, way, up the river. 

I could hear some talking and I looked straight down. I could just barely make out two people down below under the pine trees. They were fishing. They looked so tiny from way up here. 

When I got back from the bridge I met my mom in the parking lot. We had noticed an interesting looking First Nations ceremonial area just near the bathrooms when we came in and we decided to take a couple minutes before we left to go and check it out. 

The first thing we noticed was a sign that said "Honouring The Canine" and yet it had the symbol for "No dogs allowed". I thought that was very odd and contradictory. But then I read the rest of the sign and it all made sense. 

It reads:
​
" When the Creator finished placing the rest of the gifts on Earth, Nanibush, the helper was asked to visit with all living things. Nanibush did as the Creator asked and walked the Earth to make sure that everything was as it was intended to be. 

As Nanibush completed half  the journey he returned to speak to the Creator. Nanibush shared with Creator that all things were in place. Nanibush said it was a lonely journey as each gift he came across had a male and a female. Hearing this, Creator gifted Nanibush with wolf as a companion to complete the rest of the journey.

After a long time Nanibush returned to the Creator and said all living things had been visited and are in harmony. 

Creator, Nanibush and Wolf celebrated together. Creator honoured Nanibush for the dedicated work and gifted him with a female partner. Creator honoured Wolf for his kindness of companionship. Creator gifted Wolf by promising we would never call upon Wolf/Canine to do more work. This is why today, dog is mans best friend.

Please help us honour the Creator;s promise by not bringing or taking your dog into the Grounds set aside for Ceremony. By doing so, we would be asking dog to work again.

Thank you" 

I thought it was a sweet story.  It made me miss my dog. Since we didn't have a dog with us, it wasn't a problem at all.  We went into the Ceremony Grounds and looked around. We saw a tee pee like structure at one end. It had a fire pit inside and some wooden logs for seats all around it. 
​

There was another unfamiliar structure on the grounds too. It had various colourful flags on it. It seemed to also have some sage or sweet grass or something hanging from it. There was no one around to ask any questions about these structures so we left without learning anything about them. 

With our hike completed and our camping trip done, we headed for home. It had been a wonderful trip and I think this area may be one of our favourite places to visit. We will definitely go camping at Grundy Lake Park again. 

As we drove along, we were happy to see the Sandhill Cranes in the farmers fields once again. Seeing these large majestic birds was a beautiful finish to an already wonderful trip.