Day Two, Monday

The Route North

The plan, the second day, was to travel north into the rock of the Canadian Shield for a far as we could before we headed east.  We had to get under the far side of Algonquin Park to Barry's Bay where we had a room booked for the night.  There was no mistaking the change in the landscape as we headed out very early in the morning for what would be a long and fabulous day of travel.

The landscape became more and more rocky as we headed north, up Highway 400 to Parry Sound.

Beside the highway, near MacTier

Some of the scenery along the sides of the highway from MacTier to Parry Sound was like a postcard.

Our first rest stop was in Parry Sound, Ont.

We headed first to the harbour and got Joanne her lighthouse picture, then went up the hill in the middle of town, took some pics and did some 'touristy' things.  Then we were off again.

Lake Manitouwabing, near McKellar

A quick stop at Eagle Lake, where I spent my summers as a child -- not much has really changed in 40 years.

The dock area (no motorized boats allowed on the lake).  I swam across here a few times as a child.

McPherson's Point -- named (I believe) for the first family to camp here back in the early 60's.

The next stop was at the new dam where the Magnetawan River goes under Highway 124

We stayed here quite a while.  The water, the noise, the serenity was hypnotizing.

The ride along Highway 124, then south on Number 11 to Huntsville was gorgeeous, as miles after miles of rock, trees, lakes and rivers went by.

Just before Huntsville, we turned left again and headed east, along Highway 60, towards the bottom of Algonquin Park.

Not a lot of people on the beach of Dwight, Ontario in the middle of a Monday afternoon -- which suited us and our afternoon lunch break just fine.

Definitely, one of the prettiest, largest wilderness parks in our driving area.  So much of this park is inaccessible by car. 

Oops ... wrong road (again).

Downstream from the Tea Lake Dam

The bushman ??

Joanne at the front gate

Not a lot of buildings in the park, but there were a few -- mostly for park maintenance, and there was plenty of that everywhere

Spectacular scenes as we drove along.  The camera stayed very busy.

Rest stop at the Lake of Two Rivers

... and one airplane.

Before we left the park, we took a trip off the highway for bit up to Opeongo Lake.  We learned here that it's not a good idea to leave a digital camera on all day.

Another side-road excursion

We left Algonquin and started looking for something to charge up our camera battery.

Fitting, I suppose, that Mew Lake would have such strict restrictions on dogs.

We solved our camera battery problems by buying a car-cigarette-lighter charger in the next town (Whitney).  All that remained of today was to drive about an hour down the highway to Barry's Bay where we had booked a room for the night.

The Madawaska River -- we passed this river a number of times as it bent back and forth through the area.

We'd heard about how pretty this town was, but the town and Barry's bay itself were truly gorgeous.  We spent the last hours of daylight driving around the town and the water.

Above:  On the far side of the bay

To the left:  On the hill overlooking town

Barry's Bay, Ontario

All that remained of the day was to sleep ... which we did -- gladly.