Photos A Walk in Nature

[JohnDF]

No big adventures today, just a couple of hours walking

walking for two hole hours sounds like an adventure to me... and my bad back.

 

[Just Tom.]

walking for two hole hours sounds like an adventure to me... and my bad back.

Sorry about that . My back pain flares up a couple of times a year, to the point where I can‘t walk upright and putting on my socks is a major challenge. Thankfully I haven’t been lifting any furniture lately.

 

[CelloDan]

What a fantastic thread! I’ll have to post some of my outdoor adventures as well.

I am looking forward to see some of your adventures

I’m looking forward to the next update of your travels in Esperanza - keep it up!

Thank you , I am afraid there is at least one more update to Esperanza’s adventures lol

I could not let summer pass me by without navigating the whole length of the system .

In the previous ones I had gotten to do from Kingston to Poonamalie Lock in Smith Falls ( halfway)

I needed to go from Smith Falls to Ottawa to complete it.

So yesterday I embarked lol on yet another adventure.

I started way back from Smith Falls at Chaffeys Lock though so I would get to see again some beautiful places.

Updates will come tomorrow but more likely Monday evening when I get home as right now I am exhausted after having been on the go the whole day plus getting soaked mercilessly along with my stuff by a summer deluge of Noah’s flood proportion.

Later

Here is the map, from Chaffeys at the bottom left to Ottawa top right

 

[mbkr]

I go to Tennessee several times a year. I don't even bother looking at maps anymore. On this most recent trip, a friend went with me to look at a minivan I had for sale. He's also an engineer and an ex-colleague. Anyway, we were yacking away, I forgot where I was, misread a road sign, and headed for Louisville instead of Paducah. I realized my error almost immediately, but it was 8-9 miles to the first exit where I could turn around so I decided as we were still going the right way for the moment, I wasn't backtracking. We broke out the maps (yes, paper maps ) and hit the two lanes. Saw some nice southern Illinois country and crossed the Ohio River on the Cave in Rock Ferry. It turned out to be a very pleasant mistake. I screwed up in reverse


It looks bigger from the middle


Jerry and I had been discussing his wife's new phone and I mentioned that I used mine mostly to take pics and -since he was an engineer and therefore as geeky as I am - that I took pics of pocket knives to post on a forum. While I was taking the ferry pics, he said, "Here, you need a picture of a knife" and pulled out his Case. I didn't ask him the model, but I think its a 21051. He said he bought it 46 years ago on the day his daughter was born.

Turned out to be a great trip. Excellent weather. Did some repairs/maintenance. Went to a wedding. Got to eat homemade peach cobbler. Sold a minivan too

 

[Just Tom.]

crossed the Ohio River on the Cave in Rock Ferry.

Love the pictures of the Ohio and the ferry. The last of the Potomac ferries just closed last year, due to a lawsuit over the construction of the blue retaining wall you can see on the far bank in this picture (taken on my last bike-camping trip I posted about here).

 

[mbkr]

Love the pictures of the Ohio and the ferry. The last of the Potomac ferries just closed last year, due to a lawsuit over the construction of the blue retaining wall you can see on the far bank in this picture (taken on my last bike-camping trip I posted about here).

Thanks Tom. Its too bad about the Potomac ferry. I didn't even know the Cave in Rock existed until week before last.

 

[sunknife]

Returned yesterday from 5 days of camping at a stick bow rendezvous in MI. We had 10 people in our camp + a few hundred others in attendance at the event. I am always having such a good time there that I forget to take many pics. The two knife pics I did manage to snap are of poor quality as you can see below. Had my Oregon trapper beavertail and Lon Humphrey FB along for the trip. I did manage to get a pic of the wife shooting and one of me, note her archery form is so much better than mine although I do manage to hit more targets than her.
View attachment 1616669View attachment 1616670View attachment 1616673

 

[JohnDF]

So cool.
I haven't done a 3D shoot in forever.
I really need to start practicing more!!!

 

[redsparrow]

The Lon Humphrey fits in well at any stick bow rendezvous! Looks like a good time for everyone except the elk.
Thanks for sharing Greg. Five arrows up for an interesting post my friend.

 

[sunknife]

So cool.
I haven't done a 3D shoot in forever.
I really need to start practicing more!!!

Thanks, John. I do a lot of shooting but I still need a lot of practice myself to break a few bad habits.

The Lon Humphrey fits in well at any stick bow rendezvous! Looks like a good time for everyone except the elk.
Thanks for sharing Greg. Five arrows up for an interesting post my friend.

Thanks for the five arrow compliment, James. The Lon Humphrey is a great camp knife. It can do a lot of heavy work and still hold a mean edge,
almost like a knife/mini hatchet in one.

 

[CelloDan]

He said he bought it 46 years ago on the day his daughter was born.

That is just amazing , what a special knife must be for him !

Turned out to be a great trip. Excellent weather. Did some repairs/maintenance. Went to a wedding. Got to eat homemade peach cobbler. Sold a minivan too

Awesome Mike

Returned yesterday from 5 days of camping at a stick bow rendezvous in MI. We had 10 people in our camp + a few hundred others in attendance at the event. I am always having such a good time there that I forget to take many pics. The two knife pics I did manage to snap are of poor quality as you can see below. Had my Oregon trapper beavertail and Lon Humphrey FB along for the trip. I did manage to get a pic of the wife shooting and one of me, note her archery form is so much better than mine although I do manage to hit more targets than her.
View attachment 1616669View attachment 1616670View attachment 1616671View attachment 1616672View attachment 1616673

Five from me too Greg
I seem to remember you mentioned that you had made some of your bows out of black locust wood a while back.
Certainly a lot of skill goes into making one that shoots well or that would not break I am sure.

 

[CelloDan]

Hello Porch

Yesterday evening I arrived home safe and sound from my latest trip to the Rideau Canal

I departed from Chaffeys Lock last Friday and navigated 140 km to Ottawa arriving Monday afternoon.

I am feeling quite happy as in this trip I navigated a good portion that I had not yet seen ( the second half from Smith Falls to Ottawa )

I have now navigated the entire length of the canal from Kingston to Ottawa ( the only locks I did not go through at some point with Esperanza are the very first one in Kingston and the last ones in Ottawa as the system empties into the Ottawa River )

For this trip I picked my trusty Victorinox Pioneer X as I thought the scissors would be more useful to me in fishing situations rather than the saw in my Farmer.

Here is with the tattered map I used which I had reinforced with packing tape otherwise it would not have survived the trip.

Friday: From Chaffeys to Colonel By Island

I am afraid I don't have any "fresh" pics of this leg of the trip ( I've shared pics of this area in previous posts) but no worries there is like 50 to make up for it in the next legs of the trip lol

This is a beautiful 22 km portion navigating trough several lakes.
It took me about 3 hours and I had to go trough Newboro ( the high point in the system ) and Narrows Lock.

I had it in my mind to carefully check the weather, especially as it pertains to Big Rideau Lake as this lake is known for making navigation for small craft difficult in windy conditions ( I had had a taste of it the week before with headwinds from the NE )

Navigating the first few smaller lakes went quite well. As I entered the final stretch of about 4 km to reach Colonel By Island in Big Rideau Lake I noticed whitecaps and much stronger tail winds from the SW than what I was expecting based on my earlier weather check on my phone.

Esperanza handled it well, at times she was "surfing" in the waves however I was a bit uncomfortable.
On top of that I run out of gas and had to refill my little 2 hp Honda in those conditions.
I was glad to be wearing my brand new life jacket which I wore at all times while on the water.

I arrived at the island and docked, still a bit surprised to see the waves slam against the shore and the stronger than anticipated wind.

I then check the new weather app that I had installed on my phone to realize that as I typed the name of the closest city it had auto filled it for me for the sister city with the same name in the USA ... well, that explains it all, doesn't it

So instead of 8km/hr winds from the SW I had 18 km/hr with gusts to 30 km/hr.

I set up camp and just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I had planned to go fishing in the sheltered lake formed inside these group of islands however I was not going to go out in these conditions. Instead I cooled off in a little beach on the island and by 9 pm I was in bed ( in my sleeping mat rather )

Lessons learned:
Check weather more carefully on various platforms.
Make sure to fill the tank at Narrows Lock so mid lake refills are not required.


To be continued.

 

[RayseM]

"To be continued "... an important phrase

 

[CelloDan]

Saturday, day 2: From Colonel By Island to Kilmarnock ( 40 km )

Part 1

I slept very well, from 9 until about 5:45 am. I got up feeling energized and excited about the day's journey.

Sunrise at the island
6:23 am

Packing up almost done

Oatmeal, protein bars and yerba mate of course for breakfast

The spot where I camped as I am leaving at 7:25 am

I could not leave these islands without checking the inner lake in between them that I could not go the day before and also fish for a while.

Onto Big Rideau lake as I leave the protection of the inner lake, things are nice and calm

Big Rideau Lake, Rocky Narrows on the horizon

Rocky Narrows. Murphys Point Provincial Park on the left

Eventually I left Big Rideau Lake and Lower Rideau Lake and entered more protected waters as neared Poonamalie Lock.

I saw the place were the week before I hit the rocks and broke the propelller's shear pin.

Love this Red Barn by the River

Arrived at Poonamalie at 11:35.
This area was named by a British Soldier as it reminded him of a similar place in India where he had been stationed.

I crossed the lock and stopped for a bathroom brake, cool off, refill water bottles and take pictures.

A retired Lockmaster was still living in this house last year when we visited Poonamalie.

The way forward with Esperanza in the far left.

 

[JohnDF]

Dan, your trip photos make me so jealous.

 

[Jack Black]

Dan, your trip photos make me so jealous.

After Dan adopts me, we're going to go on trips like that all the time!

 

[CelloDan]

Saturday, day 2: From Colonel By Island to Kilmarnock ( 40 km )

Part 2

So I get on Esperanza, ready to leave Poonamalie, untied her, paddled to the middle of the canal and pulled on the motor pull cord . The knot holding the handle came undone and I found myself with the handle in my hand with no cord attached.

To make things worse the cord was swallowed up inside the housing and got stuck inside the flywheel.

The air was very thick with humidity now, temperatures soaring in the heat wave we have been experiencing for the past week.

Unfortunately my Pioneer X was not very useful in this situation as it does not come with socket wrenches

I then pulled out a cheap set of pliers I had bought at the dollar store to see if I could unscrew the bolts holding the top of the flywheel but they broke in half when I squeezed them

I went and talked to the lock attendant who luckily for me had a set of socket wrenches in the office. "Try the 10 mm first" she told me, "My Father always says to carry a 10 mm with you"

Sure enough the 10 mm did the trick and after about 20 minutes of tinkering I had the situation resolved and was ready to get on my way again.
The thought that this could have happened in the middle of Big Rideau Lake gave me the hibiby-jibies

Dollar store pliers

So I departed Poonamalie and after a short 45 min trip I see the city of Smith Falls up ahead

( to be continued )

 

[JohnDF]

After Dan adopts me, we're going to go on trips like that all the time!

I'm laughing so hard...

 

[RayseM]

Dan - don't leave home without these. They are part of my EDC now and I couldn't have spent better money.

The pliers - not the knife - though that is a particular great EDC too from Redmeadow Knives .

Here is a link for more and more info. KNIPEX XS COBRA

 

[sunknife]

Five from me too Greg
I seem to remember you mentioned that you had made some of your bows out of black locust wood a while back.
Certainly a lot of skill goes into making one that shoots well or that would not break I am sure.

Thanks, Dan. I appreciate the 5 arrows. I have made a dozen or so black locust bows but have had about a 50/50 success rate with it as a bow wood. Its strong in tension but weaker in compression so doesn't lend itself well to bending unless everything is done perfectly. I much prefer osage and a few other woods.
Your Black Locust bowls that I've seen pics of are another story, quite beautiful.