As of our 35 mile trip today through Buckhorn and Pigeon Lakes, we are half way through the length of Trent-Severn and have completed three-quarters of the locks. I’m sure many of you are wondering why I have not included more scenery pictures. The grassy marshlands and flooded rivers lack definition and appear flat and lumpy with my camera. That changed briefly today as we began to see more rocky pine islands of the Canadian Shield and they give a hint of what lies ahead in Lake Huron. If you want rocks, Hell’s Gate is your place as we zigzagged through here at first light.
We did 3 locks today, each with a very different ambience. Our mooring wall at Young’s Point last night got really crowded with huge rental houseboats being wedged in everywhere. This morning we passed through the Burleigh Falls Lock and that mooring wall is smaller and more isolated and would probably have been a better fit for us. Here’s a picture of Lock 30, Lovesick, named for a jilted lover who took refuge here. This is not a problem for the Canadian geese that come here to mate and party but the park staff do great clean-up duty. It is an island lock with a bridge to another island with a walking trail to explore and would be a good stop.
Lock 31 is Buckhorn and is right in the busy tourist area with ragtime music playing, a Farmers’ Market and boats going every which way. We were hoping that the houseboats bearing down on us in this picture would slow down but then there were speedboats trying to overtake them coming up to this narrow channel. We were longing for some solitude and found an anchorage just before the hectic Bobcaygeon lock area in Pigeon Lake off Big Island in the Back Channel. The holding ground is grass and mud so you know the washdown pump will get a workout tomorrow morning but tonight we will float freely.
We did 3 locks today, each with a very different ambience. Our mooring wall at Young’s Point last night got really crowded with huge rental houseboats being wedged in everywhere. This morning we passed through the Burleigh Falls Lock and that mooring wall is smaller and more isolated and would probably have been a better fit for us. Here’s a picture of Lock 30, Lovesick, named for a jilted lover who took refuge here. This is not a problem for the Canadian geese that come here to mate and party but the park staff do great clean-up duty. It is an island lock with a bridge to another island with a walking trail to explore and would be a good stop.
Lock 31 is Buckhorn and is right in the busy tourist area with ragtime music playing, a Farmers’ Market and boats going every which way. We were hoping that the houseboats bearing down on us in this picture would slow down but then there were speedboats trying to overtake them coming up to this narrow channel. We were longing for some solitude and found an anchorage just before the hectic Bobcaygeon lock area in Pigeon Lake off Big Island in the Back Channel. The holding ground is grass and mud so you know the washdown pump will get a workout tomorrow morning but tonight we will float freely.
