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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