Submitted for your entertainment: it's off topic, but I thought you folks would enjoy it.
This Sunday, K & I returned to the Petroglyph Provincial Park. It was pretty much an impulse day trip, so we didn't do much planning. We didn't think much was needed.
Apparently, rain makes a big difference.
My previous two visits to PPP was in October (with K last year, and Laura the year before that.) It's a wonderful time to hike the 16 km trail to high falls, and a great way to say farewell to the camping season. The combination of leaving early (before 9 am) and knowing how to get there (ignore google and just take highway 28 directly to Northy's Bay Road) saw us in the Petroglyph parking lot by 11 am - plenty of time to enjoy the petroglyphs and make the 32 km round trip hike to High Falls.
The Petroglyphs are protected by a large glass structure, which is designed to prolong the life of the 900 year old carvings. Visiting the Petroglyph site makes me feel calm and introspective. Canada is such a young country - it's humbling to be reminded of the land's history, before it's colonization.
There are multiple signs in the park advising you to respect the sacred grounds of the park, which are still a place of spirituality for the First Nations people. Photographs are strictly forbidden. Of course, you can purchase your very own Petroglyph thermos, or necklace, or t-shirt at the gift shop on your way out.
By noon, we were on the trail! The daily rain in the last two months has had a huge impact on the park's ecosystem.
For one thing, there was poison ivy EVERYWHERE. And I was wearing shorts. I know better than to go hiking in shorts. My only defense is that in the past, the trails have been trampled wide and clear. It didn't occur to me that the high falls trail would be overgrown with treacherous plants.
Not only did the poison ivy thrive, the raspberry canes were taking over everything. They crossed over the path every few hundred feet. In some places, the prickly branches completely obscured the trail. We could have made good use of a machete. The vines did a great job of scratching up my legs, nicely compromising my skin integrity. I tried to ignore the mental pictures of what my lacerated legs would look like after the ivy had a chance to set in. But after about 5 km, neither of us were thinking about the canes or the ivy - we were consumed by mosquitoes.
Never in my life have I been confronted with such a vicious, merciless cloud of blood-sucking bastards. These were no ordinary mosquitoes, they were the bad-ass blood lords of the north woods. Some of them had leather jackets and tattoos. And there we were, without our repellant, and me in my shorts and t-shirt.
Mosquitoes are Assholes. I offered my legs up for sacrifice, but they would not be satisfied. They went for every bit of exposed skin - our ears, eyes, lips - so many of them, everywhere all at once! They bit right through our clothes, flew up our sleeves and pant legs, flew into our mouths if we talked. They were starving, savage wilderness desperadoes and we were an all-you-can-eat blood buffet.
At this point, K & I began to question our sanity. Why do we do these things? Why do we leave the comfort of modern society to go traipsing through the wilderness, miles from any air conditioned convenience store?
Well, believe it or not, it's spiritual, in a way. There is something on the Canadian Shield that we can not find anywhere else. Something wonderful and pure. Perhaps the long hikes and the skeeters bring us out of our heads and into the present. The usual daily stresses don't matter anymore - not money or job worries, not family issues or responsibilities. The wilderness is all about the moment, and it throws your life into a different perspective.
You begin to see the wonder in ordinary things. We found trilliums and orange, orchid like plants with exploding seed pods. A magnificent snake (Northern water snake?) allowed us to cross close to him as he was sunning himself on the trail.
http://www.ontariowildflower.com/wildlife_reptile.htm#northernwatersnake
We found a what was either a mink frog or a spring peeper on the trail on our return trip:
http://www.naturewatch.ca/english/frogwatch/learn_frogs.asp?Province=on
I caught a flash of orange in a stream we crossed, I think it was a newt:
http://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/subsite/glfc-amphibians/notophthalmus-viridescens
We found deer poop and a nice pile of bear poop, right by the trail. We also found what I'm guessing was mink or marten poop - it was about cat-sized, greasy and full of hair.
http://www.ontariowildflower.com/wildlife_scat.htm
Our grand reward, the High Falls, was worth the heat, scratches and bites. The extra rain had bloated the creek to a rushing torrent. The force of the moving water created a powerful breeze, finally providing skeeter-relief. When we lay on the rock beside the falls, we could feel the rumbling vibration of the rushing water.
This, the plants, the wildlife, the water, is what we love. It keeps us coming back for more.
Next time, we will pack deet.
