Beavers, a beaver dam, lodge, and damned beavers

With spring creeping up the continent, and a Canadian election looming, a break is as good as a rest.




I took a canoe on the other side of Long Lake one April. The yellow line represents the long walk I took around the lake in spring. The trail is called the Oka Colonisation Trail. Now, partly, used by snowmobiles. The beaver dam is the small lake in the middle of the screen shot.

It meant hauling butt up a hill, taking cell phone, bear bell, water bottle, and a snack.


It harnesses the water above the lake, in this lake. With time, the bog that feeds this lake and the other has filled up with floating plants. You can see them in front of my canoe. Water hyacinth, floating plants, with water moving underneath.

 It was a sweet trip, and one I won't make again.

The beaver dam is incredible.

I love watching busy beavers.

It is illegal to ruin a beaver dam. Imagine what it does to the waterway below the system. Built over many eons, you can destroy whatever lies below.

Matt, of Muskoka Lakes winery, told us a story during a winery tour/tasting of how someone upriver destroyed a dam, which resulted in his having to go out and protect his cranberries which were threatened with being flooded.

You can see my post on the cranberry bog, 
to see how they grow!

There were several beavers in this lodge in the video. They were smashing their tails in a warning. Normally they go under the water and swim away. I was threatening their dam and two left, swimming away, these two stayed put swimming back and forth.


I am hoping some bird savvy person will tell me the name of the bird singing its tune in the background.

Don'tcha love progress?

Allyson Snelling | Jan 26

Wakeboard cable park proposed in Gravenhurst

GRAVENHURST - Imagine wakeboarding on the lake without being towed by a boat.

(Yes. Imagine?! NOT.)

OK for snow machines, not people?

 Then there is the snowmobile trail.
And one of the reasons I left Long Lake after fifty years cottaging there. My forest walks were relaxing. I would usually pick up the garbage on the snowmobile trail. Tower Road is a great walk winter or summer.

Sledders owned the frozen lake in winter. Jetskis in summer. Round a round figure 8's with the ensuing noise and strangers too close for comfort. Our new neighbours were appalled.

Imagine our other lake friends. Owning property for 70 acres for 100 years, now facing more trails and more noise. They had to post warning signs, which weren't much help.

Imagine the wilderness. Quietly walking through towering beeches, larger diameter than my expanding girth. :-)

This is what the sleds do to the land.

Now, I must admit to some conflicted emotions around this idea.

Long Lake (2km long!), is a busy lake with sledders, and people who really don't belong on the lake. We know that pollution results when sleds go by. Avoiding this lake, by going around it, will not resolve *this* problem for nature, as the sleds will simply go somewhere else. Plus, there are those who illegally hunt in this area. They trespass, and friends have a bullet hole in the home to show for it. They were there at the time, working outdoors, and pretty pissed off!

Otter be careful out there!

This opening up of yet another forest trail will impact more homeowners and wildlife alike. The otters who swim across the snow.

Residents oppose new Bala snowmobile trail

Local residents plan to oppose a new snowmobile trail in Bala at an upcoming meeting in Muskoka Lakes, this newspaper has learned.

The 2.6-kilometre trail, known as the Oka Colonization Road, located west of Bala off Tower Road, could provide a more convenient connection to the Muskoka Lakes Snow Trails Association’s 144-kilometre trail system, claims association president Rene Leenaars.

In addition, Kyle Vickers, whose residence is accessed via Tower Road, objected to the use of Tower Road to access the new extension. Unmaintained in winter, the township road is plowed by Vickers to one lane in order to reach his driveway. The road could easily be mistaken for a snowmobile trail, he explained. The twists and turns and hilly nature of the road also result in many blind spots for oncoming traffic.

Coming off the trail onto Long Lake
They seldom still to the trail

“I don’t want to hit a snowmobiler,” said Vickers. “It’s just unsafe.”

In response to Vickers’ concerns, the MLSTA agreed to widen the required section of Tower Road to two lanes in order to safely accommodate both vehicle and snowmobile traffic.

Tower Road is a beautiful little road. It runs through a small creek, and water that runs into the lake.

Is it a good idea to open up 144 km to strangers across the system? I've seen and heard them on the trails. With the powerful machine, zooming by in the dark, we open up the region to even more burglaries and thefts. 

Many stop beside the lake

How much better to limit trails to those living locally, or acting as local tourists by staying in local resorts. Why expand a trail in this way? Those driving their sleds at breakneck speeds do not add to the local economy. They do not stop on long treks. The 'kids', and I use the term loosely, bring their own beer cans and leave them on the trails. With changing weather conditions, a long trek can take you through trails that are in varying degrees of accessibility. I remember sitting in the Rosseau restaurant, hearing people complain that they had to stop as the trail was 'brutal' that day.

What do these guys contribute to the economy?

Some folks save money by building a fire on a sled trek. How does this contribute to tourism dollars?

I think that to improve the quality of life for landowners, the association use our tax grants to create discrete trails, not open-ended highways for those who want speed, not beauty.

Running right through precious bogs

Read the Bracebridge Banner article here:

CottageCountryNow Article: Snowmobile trail progress delayed in Muskoka Lakes

"MUSKOKA LAKES — A request to open a snowmobile trail hit a snag at a recent Muskoka Lakes committee meeting.The 2.6 kilometre trail, known as the Oka Colonization Road, located west of Bala off of Tower Road, could provide a more convenient connection to the Muskoka Lakes Snow Trails Association’s 144 kilometre trail system, said association president Rene Leenaars.Currently, riders must wait for Long Lake to freeze to connect across the trails, he said.According to Leenaars, the Oka Colonization Road was used as a snowmobile trail from the 1960s until the 1990s, when there was a disagreement over landownership."

Forest walk: 'last one' photo slideshow

One goal achieved - forest walk: 'last one'

My goal: to walk around Long Lake. I did it. In 3 hours. As we sell our home, I keeping thinking about the term, 'last one', that our kids use with our granddaughter.

This was likely the last one for this trek. A good time was had, and I have said good-bye to the precious forest where I walked and breathed in the fine air.

I am so proud of myself. It took 3 hours, more or less.
I walked around Long Lake
At my age there is little on my bucket list. I'm just not the adventurous type. I do not have lofty goals and dreams. As 25-year teaching career stood me in good stead.

A published book. And a story that impresses all with my fortitude. You just have to put one foot in front of the other.

The old bridge, falling apart and covered in flora, railings battered by hurricane-damaged trees falling.

I was fully unprepared for this journey, because I forgot a water bottle. I knew the path, as I had snowshoed it in winter. The thing is, where the ATVs and sledders break trail in winter, in summer bracken and raspberry bushes take great joy in growing along the sunny path. My legs are scratched. I have bruises from moving furniture, but that is another story!

Once  starting on the path, I just couldn't turn around. The detours, with fallen logs, were a pain, as were the bogs. The kind woman at the water processing plant filled a sample bottle of water for me. I wouldn't have made it otherwise.

A delightful walk through deep variations of green. The fern waving fronds at me, moved by light breezes.
I saw evidence of critters turning over moss, looking for bugs. And mushrooms nibbled by hungry critters.

The ATVs have worn a terrible double groove in the old Bala Road, which fills with water and mosquitoes.


I was a weary traveler, through bog and muck, around hill and dale. I made it! Yes, I had to go slowly around the bogs.


I wore my bear bell and saw nary a bear. Despite forgetting lunch, I paused and stole some blueberries from the bears. I'm sure they will forgive me.


I saw little wildlife, but lots of mushrooms, and dragonflies.




The vistas were wonderful.
If I wasn't so bugged out and hungry, I would have taken a photo of myself with the timer.


This is where I started my trek: on Tower Rd. off of highway #38.

I nibbled on wild blueberries.

An excellent journey and one that will be forever in my dreams and memories.

Long Lake and Bala's old road

I love our lake. I my late father's papers I found a list of Long Lake Cottager Association members dated to 1968/1980. I posted their names yesterday and the day before.

I remember the days of old, when we all knew each other, there were no cottages behind us (lots 46 -  51), or in front of us (150, 160, 162). The place across the lake, we still call "The Judge's place", was built in 1911. He held a long, long section of land, very private, and now only water access. I always envied that spot of land.

In those days, the Bala's highway #169 (it was just a road/cowpath then) ran NW around the lake. Then, Long Lake was a part of Lake Muskoka.

 You can see where I drew the yellow line around the southern portion of the lake. I cannot imagine those days, and the building of the railroad. Tough work in bugs and snow.

• I took a walk on that wild side in the spring.  
• Walk on the wilder side II

The Long Lake Bala road followed the shoreline of Long Lake,  going around to Tower Rd. and back into town beside the water tower.  You can see the road, peopled by sledders these days.

In fall there are hunters and I dare not walk there!

 In spring it is delightful, as the birds laud spring, and merrily mate, and the vista is glorious.

At the southern end of the lake is a beaver dam. A big one. And evidence of the critters which inhabit the forest.

And other critters!

Long Lake, Bala, Cottagers Association @ 1980

As times changed, people moved on, the families bought or sold. Some property was divided up amongst siblings, as farmers partitioning off land for their kids.
I posted the 1968 list yesterday. I think this is the same map used for the 1980 census of cottage owners.

The next map viewable close up by clicking on it. Highway #169 runs from the lower left corner of the map (up from Gravenhurst) NW to the upper left corner, heading into Bala.


Uncle Doug, as I called Doug Flett, was an organizer. He prepared a map, with numbers assigned to each property.

Some wisely bought a couple of lots, others more than one, knowing the kids were growing and this would be a growing town.

Herb Farlie bought a number of lots and built a successful motel/cottage rental, and a nursery.

You can see many names of people long gone, others have kept their cottages/homes in the family name. Quite a challenge with today's economy, and the need for many to travel to find work.

The map I have photographed, as our scanner is too small to accommodate it. Uncle Doug did a fine job collecting names! My mother, who worked as an office secretary for Rotary Club of Toronto for 30+ years, typed up the list.


This is the list of cottagers who joined the Cottagers Association on Long Lake (1980).

	History of Long Lake, Bala, Ontario
Map #	Owners
A	Anthony & Marie Lamdin
Map 1/2	Mrs. Marion Sutton
2A	Kerry D. Adams
2B	George Cmelo
4&5	Mrs. Lillian Sutton
6	Mrs. Eva Pherill
7	David Raye/Joseph Kane
8	Percy Evans
9	Fred & Ada Lange
10	Mrs. Daimi Bruckner
11	Rene & Janet Leenaars
12& 13	Kenneth & Gwen Morton
14	Mrs. Patricia Ward
15	Douglas Adams
16	John & Margaret Dillon
17- 20	Herb & Kaye Farlie (Bala-Hy Motel)
21 & 22	Warren & Elsie McClellan
23	Department of Highways
24	"
25	L.W. & Ethel Rogers
26	Donald E. & Esther McPhee
27	Edith Vonmanteuffel
28	Mrs. Alpha Plunkett
29	Frederick Soilleux
30	Mrs. Vera Johnson
31	William and Viola Miller
32	Ludwig & Rosemary Konjic
33	Donald & Mary Butt (my cousins!)
34	Leslie & Ethel Gibson
35	Adolph & Ida Kunz
36	J. Leonard & Mildred Wilson
37	Fred C. & Adie Butt (my aunt and uncle)
38	Hal Grossman
39	Austin & Lillian Forsythe (another aunt and uncle!)
40	D. Douglas & Alma Flett
41	Raymond & Joan Jilks (my parents)
42-43	Mrs. Mabel Callahan
44 - 45	William & Doris Bodrug
45A	James Niosi/Doreen Boyko
46 - 50	Valerie Blake
51	Muskoka Lakes Township
52A	Royal Trust Co.
52	Brent Rentals - Huckleberry Isl.
53	Hugh Clark 'Fishermen's Isl.'
54 - 57	Department of Highways
58	Mrs. Janet Gibbs
59	U. Vigneux
60
61	Frank Pastrak
66	Rev. Carl I. & Helen Zurbrigg (See #128/9- parking area)
67 - 68	Walter McAdam
69	walter Herman
70	Pestrak
71	George Reid
72	Reid (as #52
73	Hugh Clarke
74	W.D. Brent Rentals & 52 parking
75	Norma jean Beggs
76	Fred E. Griffith
77	Newman H. Stork
78	Earl J. Stork
79	Donal & Marueen Loughlin
80	Rueben & Hannah Schafer
81	Miss Julia Gray
81A	Harold G. Reid
81B	William Davis
83	Edward C. Barwell
84	Department of Natural Resources - road allowance
85	Mervin E. Briese
86	Mrs. Ettie Playle
87	A. H. Johnston
88	Miss Gertrude Allen
89	Miss A. Louise Griffith
90	Albert L. & Hermione Prince
91	Miss Vera Nelson	Miss Nelson & Heming were best friends. Miss Heming sold in 2008, moving into LTC.
91A	Miss Ruth Heming
92	Nick Muelmeester (Willy)
93	Frank B. & Evelyn Smith
94	Mrs. Maude Shier
95	Miss Veneive Logan
96	Daisy H. Forest
97	J. W. & Peggy Sutton
98	William G. & Jane Hutton
99	J. Maxwell & Kathleen Abbott
100	Mrs. Lillian Powell
101	Miss M. Donnell
102	Wesley L. & Kay Lynd	I vividly remember the lovely Lynd arching gate over one of these properties.
103	Wesley & Kaye Lynd
104	Bert & Vivian Lynd
105	Eric & Alma Lynd
106 - 108	Wesley & Lloyd Lynd
109	See #104
110	Keith & Ruth Clarke
110A	Edward & Ruth Roberts
111	Mrs. Mary Iddison
112	Arthur & Olive Addison
113 - 114	Mars Hayward
115	Emil & Helen Schrei
116	Gordon & Rita Cude
117	Elizabeth Anderson
118	Stephen Wallace
119	Bill & Anne Payne
120	Robert & Esther Wheaton
121	Ruth Lyon
122	W. & Muriel Santimo
123	Harry Cohen
123A	Jim Dunkley
124	Doug & Catherine Cochrane
125	Wm. Jenkins Estate
126	Joan Moore/Michael Hennesy
127	Joan Butcher
128 (A)- 129	Rev. Carl I. & Helen Zurbrigg (Isl.) See #66
130	Arthur H. & Gustavine Parks
131	George & Pearl Coysh
132	Gary & Merilyn Dunkley
133	Grant Butcher (See Map #123A)
160	Mrs. Maaiki O. Russell
162	Done Helen Pletch
170	Freda Weaver (as #73 - parking)
200	William Thompson
201	Bruce & Lisa Wallace 'Rock Isl.'
210	Sutton
211	Pherrill (Long Isl. See Map #6)

 

Long Lake, Bala, Cottagers Association @ 1968

In my late father's papers I found this list. I have another list from 1988. I will post that subsequently. I love delving into the history of this place. All numbers/letters correspond to the map. (Below)

#1046 Windsor Dr. - my estranged cousin's old home,now burned.

Austin & Lillian Forsythe
(another aunt and uncle!)

Our family cottage - built 1962
Land bought for $2000! 

History of Long Lake, Bala, Ontario		1968
Map #	name	town
A	Anthony & Marie Lamdin	Barrie
1 -  2	Donald F. Sutton	Don Mills
3	James & Grace Murton	Port Credit
4 -  5	Fred Sutton (Estate)	Bala
		"
6 -  7	Andrew Pherrill	Toronto
8	Percy Evans	Cooksville
9	Fred Lange	Toronto
10	Frank Bruckner(Estate)	Willowdale
11	Johanus Leenaars	Port Credit
12 - 13	Kenneth Morton	Toronto
14	Mrs. Patricia Ward	Orillia
15	Douglas Adams	Trenton
16	John Dillon	Galt
17- 20	Herb & Kaye Farlie	Bala
21	Roy & Elsie McClellan	Bala
22
23 - 24	Department of Highways
25	L.W. Rogers	Guelph
26	Donald E. & Esther McPhee	Bala
27	T. Fenn
28	Mrs. Alpha Plunkett	Weston
29	Frederick Soilleux	Mississauga
30	Mrs. Vera Johnson	Toronto
31	William and Viola Miller	Toronto
32	Ludwig Konjic	Toronto
33	Donald & Mary Butt (my cousins!)	Mississauga
34	Leslie & Ethel Gibson	Toronto
35	Adolph & Ida Kunz	Toronto
36	J. Leonard & Mildred Welson	Newmarket
37	Fred C. & Adie Butt (my aunt and uncle)	Willowdale
38	Hal Grossman	Bala
39	Austin & Lillian Forsythe (another aunt and uncle!)	Toronto
40	D. Douglas & Alma Flett	Toronto
41	Raymond & Joan Jilks (my parents)	Toronto
42-43	Mrs. Mabel Callahan	Dundas
44 - 45	William & Doris Bodrug	Thornhill
46 - 51	Mrs. H. I. Jones (Estate)
52	Herbert Reid	Islington
53	Bouchier	Port Credit
54 - 57	Department of Highways
58	Mrs. Arthur Gibbs	Bala
59	U. Vigneux	Toronto
60
61	Frank Pastrak	Hamilton
62 - 66	not purchased until later years
67 - 68	Walter McAdam	Toronto
69	Walter Herman	Bala
70	Pestrak
71	George Reid
72	Reid (as #52
73	Judge Everett & Freda Weaver (as #170)
74	Miss Adelina Reid See Map #162	Willowdale
75	Wright (Estate)
76	Mrs. Norma Begg	Toronto
77 - 78	Earl J. & Kathleen Stork	Rexdale
79	Pestrak
80	Miss J. Gray	Weston
81 - 82	Harold J. & Vera Reid	Toronto
83	Ernest Barwell	Toronto
84	Township of Medora Wood - road allowance
85	Campbell & Jane Robertson	Toronto
86	Mrs. Effie Playle	Port Credit
87	A. H. Johnston
88	Miss Gertrude Allen	Toronto
89	Miss Al Louise Friffith	Agincourt
90	Kenneth F. & Helen Wright	Dundas
91	Miss Vera Nelson	Toronto
91A	Miss Ruth Heming	Toronto
92	Leslie & Emma Campbell	Scarborough
93	Frank B. & Evelyn Smith	Weston
94	Mrs. Maude Shier	Toronto
95	Miss Veneive Logan	Toronto
96	A. C. Wood	Toronto
97	J. W. Sutton	Bala
98	William G. Hutton	Streetsville
99	J. Maxwell & Kathleen Abbott	Bala
100	Mrs.  W. Baldock	Islington
101	Duncan & Elizabeth Ramsay	Bala
102	Mrs. R. Cooper	Willowdale
103	Wesley & Kaye Lynd	Willowdale
104	Bert & Vivian Lynd	Willowdale
105	Eric & Alma Lynd	Weston
106 - 108	Wesley & Lloyd Lynd
109	Rev. G. Lynd (Estate)
110	Keith & Ruth Clarke	Vineland
111	Mrs. Mary Iddison	Toronto
112	Arthur & Olive Addison
113 - 114	John & Laura Deacon	Scarborough
115	Emil & Helen Schrei	Willowdale
116	Gordon & Rita Cude	Toronto
117	Norman D. & Eleanor Conway	Mississauga
118	Frederick E. & Dorothy Griffith	Burlington
119	Raymond G. Bromley	Islington
120	Raymond D. & Ella Mackie	Scarborough
121	Charles K. C. & Ruth Lyon	Agincourt
122	W. & Muriel Santimo	Etobicoke
123	Arthur & Anna Campbell
123A	Grant Butcher	Toronto
124	Mrs. Mary Knipfel	Port Credit
125	Mollie Jenkins & Berbert Grimm	TO, Aurora
126	Gordon & Marion Preston	Islington
127	John L. & Kathleen Butcher	Toronto
128 (A)- 129	Rev. Carl I. & Helen Zurbrigg	Ottawa
130	Arthur H. Parks	Toronto
131	George & Pearl Coysh	Toronto
132	Gary and Merilyn Dunkley	Toronto
133	Grant Butcher (See Map #123A)
162	Miss Adelina Reid See Map #74)
170	Judge Everett & Freda Weaver (as #73)
200	Robert Thompson	Hamilton
201	Bruce and Lisa Wallace	Willowdale
210	Fred Sutton (Estate - see Map #4)
211	Pherrill (See Map #6)

Beauty of nature

I suffer insomnia. If you are given lemons - make lemonade!

With changing light levels, and cats rising early, I went out 3 days in a row to try and capture a moose at 6:00 a.m.

Skunk Monkeyed again!

But a delightful trip out into the woods.

When I rose the other morning, the heron was sitting on the dock, checking out her territory.




All wonderful pieces of the natural beauty of this world!

The flowers and the blueberry bushes are happy with the rain.