Thoughts From The Wilderness – Chains That Bind(Or Do They?)

There are things that seem obvious to most people when they look at them or at least they should appear obvious. “Thoughts From The Wilderness” is my perspective; my slant if you will; my feelings of how life, living, our struggles and our successes can be illustrated by looking at how nature and the great outdoors reveal those tiny mysteries of life to us. The best part of this whole deal is I’m extremely fortunate to have Lynn and her innate ability to capture those moments in time that allows “Thoughts From The Wilderness” to exist. Honestly, she brings to the table the superior ability to capture the seemingly insignificant details, which are the significant memories of our adventures. I am one lucky guy.

On a recent afternoon at Six Mile Lake Provincial Park Lynn snapped a pic of the canoe/kayak racks down at one of the beach areas.

In most instances, I might blog and go on for 700 words or more about how the chains and locks on the canoe rack represent the chains and locks we forge throughout our lives. Those chains and locks that bind us and keep anchored into a place we may not want or choose to be.

That would be the obvious entry.

But, let’s not focus on the chains and locks in the photograph. What else is there in it? Well, we see, dirt, a bit of grass and leaves and the racks themselves.

Here’s the “light comes on moment” in the blog.

What does or could the rack represent beyond simply holding watercraft?

When I sit back and ponder the photo for a bit, I see the racks patiently waiting. Patiently waiting to hold the memories of another summer of fun and new adventures that await a family as they make their first foray into camping and canoeing.

Don’t they also represent that first step or opportunity to get just a tiny bit outside of someone’s comfort zone? How many people got that first addictive taste of backcountry canoe tripping by having someone help them slip a canoe off the rack at a provincial park, summer camp or at a canoe outfitters establishment for the first time?

Close your eyes for just a second and picture this. Parks staff help them lift the canoe off the rack and lug it down to the beach. They outfit the parents and child in PFD’s and them load them into the canoe; give them a few lessons on what to do; then a gentle push and off they paddle and fumble around in the sheltered bay on the beachfront at Six Mile Lake. It isn’t very pretty, but that hour or afternoon spent figuring out how to make the damn thing go straight or even get back to the beach was enough to ignite a flame for camping and ultimately backcountry canoe tripping that sees that family wilderness canoe tripping in places we yearn to get to ourselves.

But, one the other hand, maybe it was just a simple afternoon paddling around and nothing more came of it. Just creating memories of time spent together camping, laughing and being a family.

Yup, sometimes the obvious isn’t obvious at all. Perhaps the obvious isn’t really obvious depending on how we look at. What is the tint of the glasses we use to view the world around us?

If your glasses result in seeing all as negative, then I guess you were anticipating or worse, choosing the “chains that bind” blog entry. But, we can choose the opposite. I chose to see the positive; the fantastic positive memory creating element the picture can represent.

We pick and choose to see what we want to see and ultimately believe. I’m sure there are scores of you out there, who live and work in environments that are toxic and negative to the “nth degree.” Something occurs that we see as positive, most others choose to see the negative.

Much of life, living and the way we see and react to it is a choice. I wish people would try seeing the positive in something for once. Just try it once! I bet people would be shocked at the result. Wow, a positive and wonderful memory we just created.

Shocked; surprised and bewildered, but in a positive way.

What colour are your glasses?

Just a few random thoughts.

 

 

Good Friday Afternoon at Six Mile Lake Provincial Park

Confession time. You drive by a location a hundred times since at least 1990. In 2014, we move and this place is less than 30 minutes from our house. I’ve uttered to Lynn more than once, “Gee, one day we’ll have to check out Six Mile Lake Provincial Park.”

Well, we finally did and we’re glad we took the time and checked it out for a couple of hours on the afternoon of Good Friday.

Six Mile Lake Provincial Park is located less than 2 hours north of Toronto with convenient access to and from Highway 400 via the White Fall’s Road exit.

It’s a very popular car camping destination offering six campground locations through the park in a variety of settings.

This link will take you to the Ontario Parks website for Six Mile Lake.

The afternoon of Good Friday arrived sunny and cool. With a turkey cooking away in the oven filling the house with a delicious holiday aroma, we grabbed Katie and headed off to hike around the park for the afternoon.

We’ve been out on a number of adventures since New Years and with the mild temperatures we’ve experienced at times over the past three months, many of the backcountry trails we’ve hiked have been icy. I mean VERY ICY. In fact, ice covered.

A day of freezing rain in Algonquin. Everything in the picture was covered in ice including the trail, the trees and the rocky slope.

Like most outdoor enthusiasts, we prefer being in the backcountry away from the hustle and bustle so to speak. Not that this is a huge issue for the most part, but we’ve had to kind of pick and choose the trails we think might not have been well used, hence not as packed down and slippery.

I guess the point is, although we all love and strive for the ultimate backcountry expedition each time out, in essence, it does it really matter in the big scheme of things? Just getting out, whether it be in the backcountry of North Muskoka or a hike through a local Provincial Park really shouldn’t really be a concern. Being outside, soaking up the sun, watching the squirrels race around and listening to the wind as it gently blows through the forest and not having to worry about life and its challenges for just a brief few hours was and is perfect. In fact, it’s always perfect. It’s a good day when you’re main thought and concern is, “Did I remember to buy cranberry sauce to go with the turkey in the oven?”

At this time of the year, the Park is closed, but you can leave your car on the edge of the road that runs adjacent to the park entrance and simply walk around the entrance gate. When we visited there were three or four other vehicles parked as well.

I assume that some Ontario Parks staff work there during the winter months as many of the roads within the park and the parking areas surrounding the park office, store and maintenance buildings were plowed.

Six Mile Lake and the Park itself is exceedingly picturesque and it certainly delivers that Muskoka feeling and setting. But, a couple of things if you’re considering visiting and camping.

First, the Park is adjacent to Highway 400. Considering it was a holiday afternoon with not much traffic and certainly not much transport truck traffic, it was still loud on occasion when transports were roaring up “The 400.” It might be somewhat more tolerable in the “Maples” section which is located farthest from the highway. So, traffic noise might be a concern if you’re wanting more of a quiet setting. But having said that, I did find that after a bit, I tended to “tune out” the noise from the highway in that it just became part of the background sound. It was like that for me, but it might not be the same for you. So, beware.

Secondly, Six Mile Lake is a big lake and dotted with hundreds of cottages. In fact, when you look out from the beach areas in the park, you’re looking at cottages. If you come with a canoe, or a small boat thinking you’ll have the lake to yourself, you might be in for a surprise.

Nevertheless, as I mentioned it is a strikingly beautiful spot with two well-maintained beach areas including one with a children’s playground.

There is a very extensive boat launching area with what appears to be reservable dockage slips on a first-come, first-served basis. A quick call to the park when they open in May would confirm how the dockage system works.

There is also a dog play/beach area, canoe; kayak and SUP rentals, as well as a fully equipped Parks Store. In addition, there is also a small Interpretive Centre and three small hiking trails.

A few pictures from the afternoon.

Beach area looking out towards Six Mile Lake

“Buoy oh buoy” – waiting for summer

Patiently waiting for spring to come and for family and friends to enjoy an evening campfire. How something so simple can hold and create so many memories.

Alien landing site? Perhaps not. Hope nothing or nobody went through.

Katie checking out potential campsites.

A great site(large and very level) with super access to the water. The area might be busy next to boat slips and is also on the main park road. But, I bet the site is booked all summer though.

Part of the reservable boat dockage slips.

With a little help and encouragement, hopefully, we’ll be ice-free soon in this area. But, considering when I’m writing this(April 5), winter came back with a vengeance(April 4) in the Central Ontario area.

Would look much better full of canoes and kayaks waiting to be rented on a warm summer afternoon.

Six Mile Lake also has a number of “walk-in” sites. Although not located too far from the main park road, these sites do provide an additional measure of privacy or remoteness as compared to the sites in the remainder of the Park. Numbering about six or seven in total they are more or less situated together on a level area half-way up a short incline. In this picture, you can see the main roadway below. I’m about 30 feet or so from the tent pad area on Site 17 in the “Lakeview Heights” section. You park your car down just off the roadway below.

This is the first time I’ve ever seen something like this. Located near one of the beach areas, what a great idea if you came for a day visit and used a charcoal bbq.

All in all, we really enjoyed the afternoon we spent hiking and walking around Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. Despite its location close to the Highway and having to share the lake with cottages, the park is nonetheless located in a very quaint and scenic setting of South Muskoka.

Granite outcroppings of the Canadian Shield combined with a variety of pine and deciduous trees are about a nice as one can get. Having both non-electrical and electrical/serviced sites, Six Mile Lake Provincial would be a great spot to either pitch your tent or park the trailer for a weekend or longer.

Assuming you’re not stuck in traffic on Highway 400 coming out of the GTA on a Friday afternoon, a 2 hour or less trip is really a great feature. Take a half day off on a Friday; leave by noon and you’re set up on your site with a cool drink in your hand by 3 or 4pm.

Not bad.

So, now is the time friends to get planning for the summer camping trips whether they be a front-country excursion in a car to an organized campground or a backcountry canoe adventure with family and friends. Why not take some time and look at the Ontario Parks website for some great ideas on where to head out for a night, weekend or longer camping.

While you’re at it, make sure to check out all the information for Six Mile Lake Provincial Park. It has a lot to offer and would make for a great destination I’m sure.

Thanks for reading.