The Speares

A really long drive to get about an hour north and west of Sudbury, but it was worth it. It was the Monday of the long weekend but the traffic was not horrible and there's quite a full service town called Chelmsford a bit before the park where we got a snack and gas on the way back. Our site was #210 in Hawksnest South, sort of a beach front site although there was a short trail to get to the beach. Maybe not the site you'd pick with a park full of kids, but in the quiet of early September it was fine. Bit of traffic noise; maybe get a site further from the highway next time. Unfortunately, being the start of off season, they weren't renting canoes any more. We were hoping to get in on the apparently great fishing to be had. Next time maybe.

The beach is rather good, and we made use of it the first couple of days with the incredible heat wave we were experiencing. Once the cold front went through then it was the opposite extreme - a day of freezing and huddling by the fire in the rain. Luckily our new tarp poles stood up and we were dry.

The first couple of days in the heat and the rain we did the littler hikes, but after the rain subsided on the fourth day we tackled the big hike - the Hawk Ridge Trail. It's a 15 km moderately challenging hike with some rock scrabbles and quite a few good lookouts. We had lunch about four hours in but had we waited another 15 minutes we would have been at the Three Island Lookout, a much better place for lunch. Quite a few more vistas on the way back. Saw a little brown snake of some sort and a lot of grouse, including a spectacular male. Later on there were females pecking around the firepit in our campsite.

All in all a great trip. Quiet neighbours, no generators (nearby), great beach, great hike. Maybe check out site #168 next time - a hydro site with a lot of room and good privacy.

Home | Stories | Flights | Recipes | Trips | Programs | Login | Contact