Thursday, September 24, 2020

PORT ELGIN TO WIARTON WITH A FEW STOPS IN SOUTHAMPTON AND OLIPHANT ALONG THE WAY

Despite darkness and fog we did find our way north back along Lake Huron's North Shore Road to the Biener trail head parking lot Wednesday night.  'Overlander' calls this spot 'Golf Court VR' while Google Maps calls it 'Woodland Trails'.  Easiest way to find this spot from highway 21 north of Port Elgin is to turn west on Concession Road 10 heading towards the lake and this spot will be on your left less than two kilometers in.

ALONG OUR WALK THIS MORNING
We had us a totally quiet night.  No humanoids around to noise up the darkness.  Temps are on the rise so we decided not to use our Buddy heater and simply set the rig's furnace thermostat.  Worked fine and only took our rig's house battery down two notches.  We were up at 6:40 a.m. and on the Biener Trail less than an hour later.  What an absolutely great walking, biking, cross country skiing, and horse riding trail this is mainly through a cedar forest.

WELL MAINTAINED TRAILS
WE KEPT SEEING CURIOUS LITTLE THINGS ALONG THE TRAIL
SWAMPY AREA BUT OUR FEET REMAINED DRY ATOP A BERM
A LITTLE HALLOWEEN GHOST SNAGGED IN A PINE TREE


PHEEBS MEETS A LITTLE PAL ALONG THE WAY
There are actually four trails altogether and they go for a few miles, even back as far as the lake.  A walking berm surrounds a large swamp and the southern east west trail runs along behind a Port Elgin subdivision.  A few gully-whomps along the cedar chip trail with plenty of greenery and wildflowers to be seen.  Two thumbs up for the Beiner Trail slightly northwest of Port Elgin Ontario.

THE SOUTHERN SECTION OF THE TRAIL BUMPS INTO A SUB DIVISION

LOOKS LIKE MORE HOUSES WILL BE GOING IN HERE SOON
NICE TO BE BACK IN THE FOREST
DID YOU SEE GRUMPY OSCAR'S LITTLE POODLE FACE
Around 9 a.m. we headed back towards Port Elgin's main beach area to park and take advantage of the strong free wifi signal area to catch up our computers.  Parked facing the lake as Old Sol climbed steadily up into the clear eastern sky behind us.  At 10 this morning we were already at 60F.  El Perfecto:)) Have to say here what a great time we are having 'so far'.  Weather couldn't be better, rig is running perfectly, Lake Huron's scenery at it's best as the topography slowly blends from farmland to forests and lakes.  With summer over and kids back in school we enter the most beautiful time of year without all the noise and hustle & bustle of manic traffic and frantic beach goers vying for space with caravans of campers.  Of course keep in mind we are traveling during the week and not the week-end and it's off-season now.

HEADING FROM OUR OVERNIGHT SPOT BACK TO PORT ELGIN'S MAIN BEACH

FORGOTTEN TOYS ON THE BEACH
PORT ELGIN'S MAIN HARBOR ENTRANCE
SPOTTED THIS LITTLE DOG ON A BOAT
WOULDN'T THE OWNER BE WORRIED ABOUT THE LITTLE FELLA SLIPPING OVERBOARD??
It was going on 11 o'clock when we finally rolled out of Port Elgin's main beach area and re-traced our steps back past the Biener trail area making our way to highway 21.  Hung a left and headed the short distance to and through Southampton crossing a highway 21 bridge over the Saugeen River.  Took the first road left and sauntered along the coastline finally picking up highway 13 for Sauble Beach.  It was about noon when we lost our sunshine and the day turned kinda foggy for awhile.  

THAT IS CHANTRY ISLAND OUT THERE JUST OFF SOUTHAMPTON'S COAST
THE LITTLE TOWN OF SOUTHAMPTON IS OVER THERE ACROSS THE SAUGEEN RIVER
STOPPING FOR A LUNCH BREAK AT SOUTHAMPTONS'S NORTH END
KELLY FRIES UP SOME BEAN SOUP
Sauble Beach is a very well known beach along the Lake Huron shores but I've only ever been there a couple times in my life.  I just never took to the place for some reason.  Continued north to a little place by the name Oliphant.  Had never been to Oliphant before and I was curious to see what was there.   Mainly homes and cottages but no town that we saw.  Kind of a uniquely remote place at the base of the Bruce Peninsula.  A nice area in a different sort of way.  Due to wind patterns coming in off the lake it is well known for those in the know for it's kite boarding.

ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THOSE GRASSY SAND DUNES IS THE BEACH AND LAKE HURON.....NOTICE A SLIGHT FOG SETTING IN
WHITE EGRET
A READER BOARD ALONGSIDE A BOARDWALK AT THE OLIPHANT FEN
PHEEBS AND I HEAD OUT FOR A WALK
OUR CLOUDY DAY IS REFLECTED IN THIS POOL OF WATER
HEADING BACK TO THE RIG
Knowing the only place in the area with free wifi and a few overnighting spots we headed east out of Oliphant for Wiarton, Ontario with plans to spend the night there.  Construction on Wiarton's main street led us around a few blocks and ended us up at Bluewater Park right at the water's edge.  Here is the home of Canada's most famous prognosticator, Wiarton Willie.  The well known Bruce Trail runs right through here as well.  A strong Wifi signal in the Park but no overnight parking there so we checked out another spot in town on Louisa street.  'Overlander' mentioned it but there is no wifi signal.  Thunder and lightning from a fast moving storm rolled over us about 2 p.m. dumping a 5 minute rain.  Picked up a few groceries, some gas, and headed back to a parking lot we noticed on the east side of Bluewater Park.  Saw a Class B parked there so figured we would give the spot a try for an overnighter.  If we get turfed out and have to move we'll head back over to the parking area on Louisa street.  Now, because I already have way too many photos in tonight's post I am only going to include three Wiarton pics from today.  The rest will start off tomorrow's post from ????

WIARTON WILLIE

GROANER'S CORNER:((   It was a disastrous year for the farmers. The snow fell and fell until the government relief agency had to step in and lend a hand.  "It must have been terrible," said the government man to a farmer. "All that snow."  "Could have been worse," calmly answered the farmer. "My neighbor had more snow than me."  "How's that?" asked the government man.  "More land," replied the farmer.

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"The Jewish people have observed their 5,758th year as a people," the Hebrew teacher informed his class. "Consider that the Chinese have observed only their 4,695th. What does this mean to you?"  After a reflective pause, one student volunteered, "Well, for one thing, the Jewish people had to do without Chinese food for 1,063 years."

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10 comments:

  1. We know the Bluewater area of Wiarton well. Our good friend Cindy Masterson-Roth lives there. We used her RV when we visited. Sure looks different this time of year. When we visited Sauble Beach we couldn't get a parking spot to stop long enough to eat a bite of lunch, it was THAT BUSY!

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  2. Felt like I was traveling right along with you tonight as I enjoyed all the photos of the beautiful scenery you visited today.

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  3. Color me green—-Envy of the wonderful trails through the forests. Alas. Far from me here in TX! I am glad you and Kelly are having the fun. Great pictures. And your new rig seems to be a winner! Happy Trails.

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  4. You folks do find the neatest places. We'll bookmark the Biener Trails for sure. Gord.

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  5. Loved the picture with Kelly and Phebes on the boardwalk, with the Winnie in the background. Says it all.

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  6. I am so jealous! Our rig will stay parked this Winter....again.

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  7. turn off at dyer bay road and go into mountain trout camp. wonderful place.

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  8. Sounds like a great day. Glad you checked out that Oliphant boardwalk. Any kite surfers while you were there?

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    1. Nope, didn't even see any people out and about while driving through there. It looked like an area time forgot.

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  9. Great pictures!!
    Nice to see UR travel pics,,,,What great late fall weather!!!

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