Participants:
Wayne Copeland and Bill Morrison, Credit River
Logan Montreuil, Algonquin North Wilderness Outfitters
Bill Bennett, travelling companion from Cookstown, Ontario
Trailer Pickup- Bill Lidster, Credit Valley Conversation Manager, released a canoe trailer to Credit River for the pick-up. This occurred on Thursday, June 15 from Island Lake Park in Orangeville, Ontario.
Travel Itinerary: Departure from Guelph occurred at 5:00am on Friday June 16th. Bill stopped in at Cookstown to pick-up travelling companion Bill Bennett. The two then proceeded to highway 400 and the Outlet Mall at 400 and 89 highways to pick-up Senator Wayne Copeland of Credit River Council.
All of the travelers were present and accounted for by 7:00am.
For the most part the trip to Algonquin North Wilderness Outfitters was uneventful. As is always the case one small wrong turn took the threesome a bit out of the way but certainly an enjoyable side trip. They managed to meet a couple of fine folk, in the village of Astorville, who were either doing the morning gardening or taking time to go off to the grocery store before the heat of the day. It is a very nice area of the province. Once they got back on the trail it was smooth travelling for rest of the trip. The only problem that developed because of the wrong turn was that it made us a little late. Consequently, Logan, our contact had to deliver canoes to another location and the site was consequently closed. We did manage to phone Logan and agreed to meet after lunch. Fantastic, this break provided us with a bit of time to eat and relax. We went to Mattawa and had lunch at Myrts Family Restaurant. They service great hamburgers and milkshakes. We also had an opportunity to meet four ladies from the Red Hat Society who were out on a bit of a fun and silly afternoon. Not something we get to experience every day.
After lunch we headed back to the Outpost and sure enough Logan was there; busily working on the canoes we had come to pick-up. After some brief introductions we start to work loading the canoes onto the trailer. There were 5 canoes in total and a couple of them had to have the seats and yokes removed so we helped as much as could. We placed the canoes on the trailer and as we started to tie them down Logan intervened and said he would help with the tying. Thank you Logan. He made sure the canoes were tied down securely and provides us with a great deal of confidence and assurance that our trip home would be enjoyable. We were on the road by 2:00pm and travelling comfortably.
We made excellent time on the way home, but we were amazed as we witnessed thousands of cars going north. People travel a long distance to enjoy this beautiful land. Our arrival time back in Cookstown was just short of 6:00pm. At which time Wayne and Bill departed and the canoes continued on to Orangeville for drop off at Credit Valley Conservation – Island Park location. The entire day project took approximately fourteen hours, and it was a great opportunity to learn and communicate with fellow citizens. It was 900 kilometers of fun and friendship.
