Petroglyphs and Nanabush Trail

On July 29th Trish, Cilla, Dottie (our dog) and I headed to the Petroglyphs Provincial Park in Woodview, Ontario to explore the First Nation rock carvings and to hike along the Nanabush Trail. We were staying at a nearby cottage for a few nights to escape the daily routine of city life and get a good dose of the great outdoors.

 

It was a 20 minute drive to the park, seemingly longer with Dottie crying in excitement the whole time, while Cilla pulled her headphones closer to her head to block out the incessant noise. How I wished that I had headphones to wear too.

 

We arrived, paid our park entry fee and then made our way to the site. Dogs are not allowed in the sacred area so Cilla and I left Trish with Dottie at a waiting area nearby. As we entered the spiritual area we could see a huge grey building with glass windows all around. When we entered we cleaned our hands with sanitizer and put our masks on. There were only a couple other families there and they were leaving just as we came in so we had the whole place to ourselves and could take our time. We walked on the raised platform that circled the massive marble rock. There were more than 900 figures, including turtles, snakes, birds and people, that were carved as far back as 1100 years ago. Cilla quietly told me what she thought the carvings were pictures of.  Many indigenous people use the site for ceremony and we could see plants, a wooden bowl and remnants of a fire at the top of the rock. Because of the spiritual nature of the site, we were not allowed to take pictures.

When Cilla and I were finished we went back to the waiting area to give Trish a chance to view the rock carvings. Cilla chose to go back with Trish while I waited with Dottie. Afterwards we enjoyed a picnic lunch before going on a hike.

 

We decided to explore Nanabush Trail, a 5.5 km loop trail which crosses a variety of habitats from forests to wetlands to rock outcrops. The trail started near the main parking lot and began with us walking through a mixed forest of mostly pine, spruce, maple, and basswood.

The trees stood at attention like giant sentinels as we passed by, while we felt diminutive in their presence. The terrain was mostly compact soil with exposed tree roots and rocks scattered like breadcrumbs throughout the trail, showing us the way. We made sure we put on bug spray before our adventure so that we wouldn’t get eaten alive by the mosquitos. Although we passed a few people on the trail, for the most part we were completely isolated and didn’t have to worry about wearing masks to stay socially distant.

 

The park is home to a large population of white-tailed deer, as well as smaller mammals such as beaver, fisher, chipmunk, and squirrel. There are also pileated woodpeckers, various warblers, northern flickers, and ruffed grouse. Bald and golden eagles can sometimes be seen in the winter. The five-lined skink, Ontario’s only native lizard also lives in the park.

I always find it interesting to find dead trees on the path, because even though they are dead, they are vital to the life cycle of the forest. They provide a place for small mammal dens and bird nests; a home for spiders and insects and; food, protection, and shelter for thousands of tiny organisms.  Woodpeckers also rely on dead trees for a food source and to nest.

 

Leaving the forest, the trail entered a large wetland with great views of the marsh from the boardwalk and we could see cattails, speckled alder, nannyberry, sedges and a wide variety of ferns. We could hear birds calling to one another and frogs making their own “glunk-glunk-glunk” sound.

There were 3 different boardwalks on this trail.

 

 

Cilla and I both slept horribly the night before. My back was sore and I had a hard time getting comfortable on a bed that wasn’t my own. Cilla kept getting up in the night, turning on her light and as she put it “didn’t want to stay in my bed.” Cilla was so tired at breakfast we thought she was going to pass out with her head in her toast.

 

As a result Cilla was basically a mess the whole hike. She managed the first kilometre on her own, but after that I mostly had to carry her. She would walk for about 2 minutes and then I would carry her for 20. Thank god she only weighed 36 pounds. This was the first time on a trail she didn’t fight to walk or run ahead of us.

 

We re-entered the woods on the west side of the marsh and into a world of vibrant green colours.

Cairns were used as markers throughout the trail instead of wooden posts. However, their plaques that once obtained a number that corresponded with information in a trail brochure, were long gone. With moss and lichen growing on the rocks they resembled fairy houses more than trail markers and you half expected a fairy to come peeking out from behind.

 

We passed a few trees with burls growing on their trunks, giving them a fascinating, whimsical appearance. In general, burls develop because of invasions (bacteria, fungi, and insects) or stressors (freeze damage and environmental injury) and it doesn’t appear to do any damage to the tree, other than change their appearance.

 

Before long, the trail opened onto a granite out cropping with scattered white pines, and red oaks and we enjoyed fantastic views of Minnow Lake.  Minnow Lake is a steep-sided, clear lake with a population of pumpkin seed, suckers, brook trout and rainbow trout. These are not natural populations of game fish. It was stocked with brook trout in 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968 and with rainbow trout in 1969 and 1970.

 

 

We had a steep climb over the granite flat-rocks which were scattered with pine needles, making the surface slippery and tricky to get a good grip with your shoe. I put Cilla down at this point as I was worried I would fall carrying her. Trish helped her climb up while I stayed behind to take a few more pictures. It started to lightly rain which was a welcome relief as I was sweaty and hot from carrying Cilla.

 

After the steep climb we entered a deeply shaded stand of eastern hemlock and white cedar trees.

Arriving at the east end of the lake, we crossed another long boardwalk for another beautiful view of the wetlands.

We then followed the path back to the trail entrance and drove back to our cabin. Cilla was determined to not miss out on having another swim in the lake by wasting her time on a nap, and continued to fight sleep while she splashed around in the lake.

Afterwards she was so tired she was shivering uncontrollably as her body could no longer regulate her temperature and I warmed her up with a nice hot bath. She was so exhausted she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow at 6:30 and didn’t wake up again until morning.