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I read several places that the Cranberry Bog hike in Killarney brings to mind Tom Thomson’s painting The Woodland Stream, Winter. I thought, how can this be possible?—it’s not a stream and it’s not winter. But after hiking the Bog, in the pouring rain, I agree. I think it is the red rocks and life just at the surface of the water that make you think of the colours and textures in Thomson’s painting.
Now, how about another bear story. Last night after a yummy dinner of fish and chips from Herbert’s Fisheries (so we didn’t have to cook in the rain) we settled in for the night. About midnight Ray shook me ...”wake up, wake up...I think there is a bear under our canopy”. Then we remembered we had left our backpack under the canopy to dry and there was a granola bar and and orange in it. We could hear it pawing....we started to sing but it didn’t scare it away. Then we clapped our hands and it pushed against the tent and growled. There were only two other campers on our loop and one came out and started to yell —he had an air horn. We were getting pretty terrified so Ray got out the bear bangers. We stuck the banger through a slit in the tent door zipper—BANG, FLASH—a flare shot out. You could hear it all around the lake. Finally, it ran away. It was just a big fat, grouchy, racoon. Yup, basically we scared a racoon off with a bear-banger....oops😄 This morning we leave this lovely bear filled park that was so special to A.Y. Jackson, A.J. Casson, and Franklin Carmichael that they convinced the government to create it—definitely a Group of Seven Provincial Park! Tonight we will have a shower and do laundry and probably enjoy some Kawartha Dairy ice cream. Tomorrow Algonquin. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. What an incredible campsite. No electricity and you have to walk in (can’t drive your car in) but the view more than makes up for it. It was a bit tricky to fill up our airbed, because it doesn’t fit through the tent door. So, we put the airbed in the tent...then we blew up the airbed at the car...then we carried the tent with the airbed in it to the camping spot. It probably looked ridiculous, but it was worth it!
Our first hike was Granite Ridge. Something we read told us the view from there inspired Carmichael’s La Cloche Panorama. Well, we didn’t find the exact spot of inspiration but we did find a couple really cool old cars and we saw a bear. The 1940 Dodge is the remains of one of the first cars that came here in the 60’s—the 1931 Chevy drove here over on the ice in 1955. And the bear...well I’m not an expert on bears, but this bear was really bookin’ it! He came right across our path about 55 metres away. I was terrified, but he wasn’t even looking at us, he was just running as fast as he could. Now, I’m just excited I saw him (I don’t actually know if it was a him but he was very big). Back to the Group of Seven. Although we didn’t find the exact spot as the panorama sketch we can see the characteristics of the La Cloche hills painting from our campsite view. The little lakes running into each other—the white hills, next to the red, next to the dark—the rocks reaching out into the water—the golds and the green. Beautiful. We are trying to stay dry and warm. You Are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom.
A.Y. Jackson painted the lighthouse on Coppermine Point where it was living out its destiny— shining its light and saving lives. Ultimately it was replaced by something more modern. In 1969 it was rescued and travelled about three kilometres to be part of a restaurant complex.
Well, the restaurant complex is no more, but the lighthouse still stands. It is clearly on ropped-off private property. We only went as far as the ropes, but they still let the dog out. The really, really big....really, really unfriendly dog. Got the picture though😄 Had the world famous apple fritters at Voyageur’s Lodge—highly recommended. We are in Sault Ste Marie. It is shower night! You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. We know the Group of Seven loved to paint in Plein Air, but exactly how did they get around the Algoma region back when roads and cars were few. The short answer is the Algoma Central Railway (ACR).
Back then the ACR had a program where you could outfit a railway car, like a little cabin, and have it dropped off somewhere along the rail line. Between 1918 & 1922 the Group of Seven spent a lot of time in the Algoma area and took full advantage of this program. In Sault Ste. Marie we were able to see a replica of their boxcar used in the film Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven. Lawren Harris describes the boxcar as “...a few windows, four bunks, a stove, water tank, sink, cupboard, two benches and a table”. Thanks to the kind park staff who were willing to take pictures for me in the closed visitors centre, I also have a picture of how they got around on the rails. They would use a three wheeled hand cart called a velocipede. Now, the staff wasn’t sure this was the exact one they used, but it could have been😄 I think I’ve mentioned that we can’t take the Algoma Tourist Train this year, but Ray did his research and found a road we could take part way. So, with me yelling out where the potholes and the rocks were we managed to make our way down a back road (7.5 km) to the abandoned railway station of Frater which is on the line the tourist train usually takes to the Agawa Canyon—in other words Group of Seven territory. We were actually chatting to somewhat local folks that had a camp out there—travelling by ATV—that said even a few years ago the ticket booth still stood. Now there are just the section houses (where you stayed if you had to take care of that section of the railway). It was cool to imagine someone from the G of Seven coming through there with their boxcar or velocipede. These days no one is going to drop off a boxcar for you and definitely no one is going to let you on the rails with a velocipede. However, I did get a ride on a handcart at the Palmerston Rail Museum a few years back. It was a lot of fun—if you ever get a chance...go for it! You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. As we were planning this adventure we knew we wanted to see Agawa Rock and its famous pictographs. We were disappointed to learn that the trail closed September 17th; so imagine our surprise when locals repeatedly asked us it we had taken the trail down. “As long as the water is calm you’ll be fine”....they said. Always up for a challenge we passed the closed sign and headed for the trailhead.
As soon as we entered the parking lot we knew we had stumbled upon something special. We saw a sweat lodge, a teepee, and many smaller tents and trailers scattered around the lot. There were tables full of fresh watermelon and many delicious treats. Because I am naturally curious I walked up to the happenings and asked if I could respectively approach. With a nod of a head I was directed to someone who was clearly in charge. She explained to me that they were Ojibwe people and they were taking part in their fasting ceremony. Every spring and summer they come and their young men and women go without food and water out on the scared rocks. The young men for four days and the young women for two. Apparently even if you are not young, but are seeking guidance, you can also fast. She welcomed us to go out quietly on the sacred rocks as to not disturb the ceremony. As you approach the ledge to the rocks you pass a sign that says that “Death and injury have occurred when highly unpredictable waves have washed visitors off the rock ledge while viewing the pictographs.” When we were there it was very, very calm, but I still held on to the chain that is attached to the rocks. My favourite was the Misshepezhieu. This spirit is said to be able to create storms over Lake Superior by thrashing his tail. I’m happy to report he kept that tail still until we got off the rocks. It is important to recognize that when we imply that the Group of Seven inspired art that was truly Canadian we are not dismissing this amazing art that is probably 400 years old. Thank you to the Ojibwe peoples who so graciously shared their rock, their art, and their stories with us. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Still looking for a Massey Harris tractor, but in the meantime ,thank you to K from W3H For sending along these tractor pictures. The Ford is ‘61 and the Massey Ferguson is ‘71. Both less antique than I am...but still old😄
This morning we were standing at a lookout on the Orphan Lake Trail when the only other people there turned to us and said, “This looks like a Group of Seven Painting”. Sometimes it is not so much the exact spot but a theme that reoccurs in their paintings. For example, we often see Group of Seven paintings with strong pine trees and bright oranges, yellows, and reds dabbed in. So, when I saw this theme on our hike again today I thought I would definitely be able to find one in my Silcox book to show you—there were several. This one is by Frank (Franz) Johnston.
I’ve also posted a couple of pictures of today’s hike. Sometimes I think....really...you really want us to climb up there....can that possibly be the trail?! It was definitely not a North Perth rail trail. We received several messages yesterday from friends who also have connections to the Group of Seven. I discovered that the husband of one of my friends is related to LeMoine Fitzgerald. That is one of the Seven I have never mentioned, along with Edwin Holgate. They were added late in the game so that at one point, before they separated, the Group of Seven actually had nine. I also discovered that another friend had met Varley, where he lived near Unionville, when she was ten years old. Small world. Two more sleeps until a shower. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. Today was a big hiking day—Nokomis and part of Awausee. Both have fabulous outlooks. Awausee has giant rock faces and stunning fall colours and Nokomis has views over Old Woman Bay. Can you see the face of the Old Woman? The picture is a bit bright because it was really sunny. You should be able to make out her forehead, nose, and chin sticking out into the water.
I’m going to use the Old Woman as an excuse to talk about The Group of Seven and portrait painting. Although we know them for their landscapes, they were very talented at many forms of painting. Varley, who I haven’t really talked too much about, produced many portraits and self portraits. In fact, he even painted a self portrait in a nativity scene for St Anne’s in Toronto. The painting I want to talk about is by Lawren Harris. It is the portrait of Salem Bland that is at the AGO. Salem Bland was a Methodist minister in the early 1900’s that pushed for social change in Toronto. The reason I wanted an excuse to mention him is that he is actually related (distantly) to Ray. How cool is that—to have a relative painted by the Group of Seven? Do you he looks like Ray? Ray cooked up a big batch of pancakes on the camp stove. So good, everything tastes better in the fresh air. You are Always in my Prayers. Love Mom. |
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Ray & Diane HomewoodSharing the Blessing of Travel Archives
August 2022
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