Coldwater

Saturday, August 11, 2007

A beautiful day. I think the goal was to find a good paddling spot without going 2 to 3 hours north of Toronto. The timestamp on the photos indicates that we were in the water around 9:45.

Jane and Steeles to Coldwater

The trip is pretty well due north up Highway 400 from Toronto, through Barrie to the Coldwater exit ramp.

117 Km from Jane and Steeles, according to Google Earth.

Two exit ramps provide access to the village of Coldwater; the first ramp passes through a T-junction (turn north/left) and the second is shorter, taking you directly to the downtown core.

I have indicated both exits on the screenshot above.

Fred was not too impressed with my first choice. Here he is seen staring at a tree-trunk, remembering our first canoeing trip when I tipped us both into the drink. He is clutching his trusty Ontario Map Book so he can plan a getaway to a better spot.

See! I told you so. Here he is examining page 54 while I dance about, waving my arms, saying how placid this little creek is.

Well, this looks cozy.

Muskoka it ain't, but the sun is warm, the sky is blue, and who knows what we will see in the rushes, marshes and mud flats.

We find a spot and prepare to launch.

I am writing this trip up TWO YEARS LATER so I'm not 100% certain of the spot, but I think we are at the junction of Upper Big Chute road and River street, a right-hand bend about half a mile north of the main intersection in Coldwater.

Our trip was down the creek, turn left into catfish bay, and return.

Note the long arms of land, spits, which bracket the creek. You'll see these in the photos below.

The mention of "catfish" seems to have spiraled Fred into a fishing story.

Pretty soon we are engaged in the game of spotanotter, or it might be leaveabeaver. Or two, judging by that swirl of water on the right.

These rushes lined the creek for the whole trip, so we felt as if we were in a disused canal.

The water was calm; easy paddling.

Easy coasting, too.

Here we are enjoying the scenery.

The ridge in the background is the line of hills to the west of Highway 400 as it heads north.

After much paddling (about 45 minutes judging by the timestamps on the photos) we appear to be heading into the lake.

Frankly I have no idea where this was taken, unless it was on the way back.

The bulk of our trip was between banks of rushes, mud-flats.

Likewise this shot, taken who-knows-where.

If you-knows-where please drop me a line.

We then set off along another road. My memory fails me.

And yet this looks like a launch spot in Coldwater.

Clearly a second trip is required to clear up this location.

On the way back we stopped at Bass in the Vaughan Mills mall and checked out some kayaks.

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