Sandrobber: Fenelon Falls to Kirkfield Lift Lock to Lock #39 to Barrie

Day #645; Loop Miles to Date = 7,622

Fenelon Falls was a great stop. We would have stayed here 3 nights, but they strictly enforced the rule of a 2 night maximum stay. So, reluctantly we moved on Tuesday morning. But, before we leave Fenelon Falls...a few "Pictures that make you say...what??"

The lock in Fenelon Falls is right on the main drag, and it is quite the tourist attraction - there is always a crowd watching the action. It's just that finding 3 Amish men spectating was not something we expected.

We've seen a few phone booths since arriving in Canada...but someone actually using one?...now that's unusual!

We knew that the next few stops were going to be rather remote, and we had some time to kill before our next marina reservation in Barrie for the weekend. In this next stretch, we encountered some of the most treacherous water that the Trent Severn has to offer...the Trent Canal...extremely narrow and quite shallow (and of course all rocks).

The sides of the canal were only about 15' away...

And you could see piles of rocks where they had originally cut this canal out of the rock.

Here's Act III finding a way to let a smaller boat get past.

Sandy caught taking a picture of Act III while they were taking a picture of us!

We had decided to stay a night at the Kirkfield Lift Lock. This is the second largest lift lock in the world (only Peterborough is larger). We have now stayed in excess of 10 nights on lock walls on the Trent Severn, which means that we now qualify for the seasonal mooring pass. All this means is that any stay we have from now on in the Canada Parks system is "free". We have only been paying about $25 a night as it is, so now each free stay just makes our overall nightly dockage rate go down. It's great! And once we found a reasonable restaurant here at Kirkfield (with Kawartha ice cream) we decided to linger here and stay 2 nights.

Looking down from about 50'. You can see the upper pan on the right side of the pic here.

View from inside the pan on the way down.

Our view looking back while in the pan.

Our view of the canal at Kirkfield Lock.

It should be noted that at Kirkfield, we are now at the highest elevation that we will be on the entire trip...860 feet above sea level. From here on out, the locks will predominantly be taking us back down. Kirkfield lowers us 49 feet to start. It's rather amazing to reflect on the fact that just a just a little over a month ago, we were at sea level on the Hudson River...yikes!

From Kirkfield, we transited a short ways to through a couple of more locks, and settled for the night above lock #39. This was a beautiful and isolated spot that was very peaceful and enjoyable. No services, shops or restaurants of any kind, and we had a relaxing night.

Lock #39.

Lock #39 with a crowd! They sometimes smash as many boats into one lockage as they can when it is busy. Thus far, we've managed to avoid jams like this for the most part.

And finally this week, we decided to check out Barrie, ON. This stop is not a typical one for loopers as it is slightly off of the most traveled path. We had a windless day to cross Lake Simcoe (20 miles or so) and are glad that we checked out Barrie. Barrie is second only to Toronto in terms of population in this part of Ontario, so there is plenty going on here. The marina is not located directly near some of the services that we usually like to find (groceries, laundry) but it is a beautiful setting on the water, with a folksy, bohemian type of vibe to the restaurant and shopping area near by. We are staying here 3 nights, and then it will be off to Orillia.

This is called the Hole in the Wall bridge. It's rather a landmark, and still in the shallow area of the canal. Once through here, it is only a short ride to get to Lake Simcoe.

Act III coming through...

And us going through.

On the way to Barrie...just a small place on the lake. Barrie is only about an hour drive from Toronto, so there is ample evidence of "City" money all along the shores of Lake Simcoe.

And now for the random shot of the day...