We love our time at Murray Lake! We left the house at 3 in the morning driving north along the 400 ... our first rest stop was Perry Sound where we got the dogs out for a quick walk ... then into McIck for McBreakie ... I actually love the McMuffins, shhhhhh. Then back into the van ... we watched the sun come up as we continued north ... and almost hit a deer! Continuing through Sudbury, curse that Canadian Tire, and along the north shore of lake Huron to Blind River. We stopped for gas and a pee break and then slowly drove onward to Iron Bridge. I love this stretch of road ... it closely follows the North Channel and we always watch for Bald Eagles here ... we saw at least 8!
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| Bald Eagle |
Their white heads where hard to miss in the bright sunlight. Once, 2 years ago, we saw a golden eagle here ... but we were part of a group at that time and couldn't stop. We'd really like a repeat of that!
Once again we turned north toward Chapleau ... the fall colours were just getting started.
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| Fall Drive North |
As we followed the winding Mississaugi River a large bull moose ran along the road and as we approached it dashed into the trees on my right ... and disappeared! How do they do that? I had my camera ready ... and we were almost on top of it ... but as soon as it hit the trees, it was gone.
We passed Chapleau ... almost there! Then up towards Missanabi ... almost there ... and then finally down the long driveway to the lake ... we were there!
Tina met us at the van. We let the dogs out to run ... and run ... and introduced Tina to Alfie. The lake was calm ... just like a mirror, reflecting the autumn gold of the forest. Ahhhhh. We talked while the dogs played ... both goldens ran to the lake and splashed around near the shore ... no surprises there!
We dragged in all our gear ... the little cabin never changes! Finally ... peace and quiet for a whole week! We were both exhausted, so after a quick supper we watched the sun set ... and then we went to bed.
The next morning dawned, the lake hidden by a frosty fog ... so beautiful!
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| Frosty Fog |
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| Delicate Frost |
I headed out in my PJ's to have a look around. Frost clung to the surfaces of every surface! I took this picture of Sydney ... c'mon, don't tell me dogs don't smile! Back inside, Steve started coffee and I started a fire to warm up the cabin.
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| Happy Syd |
We were not alone on the lake this year ... we were very surprised to learn that another cabin was occupied ... by a 2 person, 2 dog hunting party. As we enjoyed our coffee ... in front of the big window, our neighbours headed out on their small duck boat.
Jeff and Tina were busy at the outpost cabin, so we did in fact have the place to ourselves. Steve checked out the boat, getting things set up the way he likes them, while I played with the dogs. Suffice it to say that both Alfie and Syd spent the entire week wet!
And that's how the entire week went. The weather was warm and calm, so Steve spent many hours out fishing. Mostly I read ... we have hundreds of books from Steve's mom, she was a huge fan of Christine Feehan, and I had packed the first 5 books of the "Game" series. Not really my style, often violent, but quite interesting storylines ... I read 1 each day. I also spent some time scrapbooking and baking.
When Steve returned from fishing we'd play with the pups. We had a thought to see if Alf would dive from the dock ... ya think? He was like a little kid, running down the length of the dock and flinging himself into the water. I took this series of pictures with my camera on burst mode ...
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| Dock Divin Dog - Alfie |
Too funny! Sydney showed some interest, and even though we know we shouldn't encourage her ... dock diving is too hard on a dog's front legs, we let her do one ... so here it is, Syd's first ... and last dock dive.
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| Syd's not so graceful dive |
At night we'd watch the stars and on 2 occasions we heard an owl. The sound of silence was deafening! The cabin has no electricity ... a generator can be used for some light ... but we chose not to use it, except once when we invited Jeff and Tina for dinner. And we hardly used the wood stove, except in the mornings to drive off the chill.
We had a great vacation - so peaceful! Before we left, We gave Jeff and Tina a picture of one the sunsets from our trip last year. It was breathtaking!
On Friday night a large party of moose hunters arrived ... long into the night we could hear their generator droning on and on ... it was time for us to leave.
Saturday dawned and it was windy. We had decided to drive along the Superior shore on the way home, and I was hoping for some drama. We stopped in Wawa for coffee and then down 17 into Lake Superior Provincial Park. Initially I wanted to stop at Old Woman Bay, but evidently so did everyone else. Surperior was a little moody, but still incredibly beautiful, and many people were stopping to admire her. So we pulled into the parking lot at Katherine Cove ... we took the dogs out and had the entire beach to ourselves. We didn't dare take the goldens off leash ... the lake was too dangerous. Waves roared ashore, the water an exotic green colour.
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| Katherine Cove Lake Superior |
What a great vacation!
