Walking the Rocky Places

WALKING THE ROCKY PLACES
 September 20 & September 22

Walking sticks are always handy when hiking trails in the Canadian Shield. They provide that critical “third point” useful in guiding hikers over difficult terrain. At Depot Lakes Conservation Area, there are several such challenging spots as we found on a guided hike there September 10th. The following day, we found similar conditions as we explored a trail in Frontenac Provincial Park’s extreme east side, touted as the Park’s most rugged and challenging terrain in its 160 km network of trails. If one does the Slide Lake Trail, the walk is more of a clamber, requiring the use of all four limbs as sharp granite rocks, narrow passages and ankle twisting crevices lead hikers to some of the highest points in this 13,000-acre park.

Walking sticks are useful though for other purposes. As a hiking guide, they provide me with the opportunity to point out interesting flora and fauna along the way and talk about the things that make these areas so special. At Depot Lakes, it was the colonies of polypody fern we found, and the bearberry that carpeted otherwise bare areas of the granite rock. Frontenac Park had its trail side maidenhair fern and hop hornbeam trees, now free of their cargo of hop-like seeds that now lay harvested on the ground beneath, likely the work of the numerous chipmunks we heard chattering away in the white pines.

But walking sticks can also point out history and this important element of any hike is critical in presenting the entire picture, and how both the natural and human history are often interconnected. It was relentless logging in the late 1850s that left Depot Lakes Conservation Area the way we see it today with its second generation oaks and maples. The Germans were some of the first people to settle in the area. They made barrel staffs from the white oak stands that used to dominate the area and by their trade, were known as coopers. When people started exploring the area, it was chiefly due to the exploitations of the natural resources rather than settlement. Land clearing was a natural process during this exploitation, and lumbering soon became an industry that resulted in the destruction of many of the original stands of maples and oaks.

The most significant portion of the lumbering was done by the Rathbun Lumbering Company. When this company moved into the area between 1850 and 1870, “colonization” roads were built leading into the area. The Frontenac Road became the main road, today known as Highway 38. The rugged terrain which typifies this area is stark evidence that the land was poor for farming. Since the Frontenac Road and others that followed were limited in direction and length, it became essential for the lumber company to develop roads of their own. One such logging road is still very much evident today and exists as part of the hiking trail system at 2nd Depot Lake. The old logging road runs east off of the present Third Depot Lake Road, and across the north side of 2nd Depot Lake. This old logging trail used to cross Depot Creek near what is known today as Roley’s Rapids. The trail crosses Depot Creek at this point and the ruins of the stone abutments of the old bridge are still in place. The bridge, built in 1870, was made of piled rock with a mortared stone facade (lime mix) and a span of logs. To the north of the bridge was one of the camping depots, as well as a small cabin that belonged to lumber camp cooks, the Roley Brothers. Legend has it that both brothers were bachelors and Irish in descent, building a cabin and settling in that area during the logging era. Thus, in time, the bridge became known as Roley’s Bridge. Today, the rapids still carry the Roley name. The last log drive here came through about 1908.

However, there are still many unanswered questions about the history of Depot Lakes, particularly the name. While we assume that the Depot name resulted from the logging history, it is interesting to note that an old 1800s map I have of the area refers to the lake as “Deep Eau Lake.” There is still much to learn.

The history is no less interesting at Frontenac Park’s east side where the logging industry of years past resulted in the use of two major water routes within the Park’s interior. One of these routes moved logs from Big Clear Lake through the LaBell Gorge to Labelle Lake, then along a connecting creek to Slide Lake. As we stood there at the former location of the old log slideway we could almost imagine the activity that once took place here as logs were forced through the slide to Buck Lake. Buck Lake is not nearly so busy now. Despite the gorgeous weather we basked in on this paddling and hike combo, we did not see another boater during the entire two-hour paddle on this lake that parallels the Old Perth Road.

Except for some passing yellow-rumped warblers, everything was quiet too near the remains of the Goodwin and Gahan farm sites, farther south along the trail where the granite rock suddenly changed into early 1900s farmland, now covered in growths of goldenrod and Joe-Pye weed. The entire Frontenac Provincial Park has a fascinating human history of both lumbering, mining and settlement. On another hike some years back on a different trail, my walking stick directed everyone’s attention to an old steam boiler, remnants of the old Tett’s Mine. The slightly ajar door of the boiler in more recent years has served as an entry point for porcupines who have found the relic much to their liking. Years of accumulated scat pellets, built up to such a depth that the excess was now rolling out through the open door!

It is these things – the human history and the natural history, that combine to make these wonderful trails come alive. And all it takes is a walking stick to point them out. Join us sometime on these interpretive hikes. Already, we are planning the 2007 schedule.