Sometimes you can hear Lake Superior roar and howl at night. Last night was one of those nights; windy and rainy, while we were warm and cozy in our little van.
There will be intermittent rain today, so it will be a good day to catch up on emails and posts and let the kids know we’re all right. That is if there will be any cell reception today. did they fix the broken fiber optics?
We drove to Marathon to see if the internet of Northern Ontario was restored to its former dubious glory, and it was!
Our office Today
We spent a few hours catching up with emails, messages, and blogging activities, before heading out for a hike.
Tony was able to get through to Garmin and they suggested several fixes that could only be done through my laptop later on, so still no GPS.
Penn Lake
We had enough sitting around and reading emails, so we hiked the beautiful path around Penn Lake.
Which was a lot more than the 2 km stated on the sign below. The trail ends on the other side of the lake and we had to continue through an RV Park back to the parking lot. More like 3 km, but who’s counting.
The forest reminded us of our former stomping grounds in Stouffville, where we used to walk in the forest almost every day.
But there was this warning sign to remind us where we are.
The walk was full of forest wonders:
mushrooms,
rocks,
and fairy houses.
We were told that the city took away all the fairy houses at one point, but brought them back because of a citizens’ uprising.
Some fairy houses were just a door in a tree,
or a window on a dead trunk.
We stopped at a lookout jutting into the lake,
walked on meandering boardwalks,
all leading to a beautiful elevated lookout
with a lovely view of the lake.
All along the way there were pages of storyboards.
We read the entire story, but we will only include a couple of the “pages” for you to enjoy while you imagine the rest.
We enjoyed reading the book as we hiked.
It would be a really good book for parents who want to discuss how one can have different emotions and be different versions of ourselves.
Back at the campsite we tried some of the Garmin fixes, but they didn’t seem to work. Looks like we will need to deal with this issue when we get back home. In the meantime, we hope that we won’t need the GPS.
It is going to be a cold evening so we made a fire, popped some popcorn, and drank beer while throwing unpopped corn kernels into the fire and waiting to see which will pop and which will burn.
Talking about canucks carrying large axes, we were surprised to see how many people go camping without an axe. We lent ours to a few people, but eventually Tony started preparing a few kindling for those in need.
Was he channeling his inner Canuck?
Don’t you love the blurb on the back of this beer can?
Looks like a lovely way to spend a gray and rainy day. The hike was lovely and love the little fairy houses, mushrooms and views you encountered along the way. Your popcorn game is also such a funny way to pass the cooler time. 😆 Hope you both had a nice Thanksgiving!
Thank and the same to you! You just never know what you might find on a trail!
Your walk along the trail looked very peaceful. And you’re right. Thepath through the forest does look very familiar 🤔 Enjoy.
I thought you might think so too!
What a lovely hike!
Thank you!
I’m sure as experienced campers, there are probably a lot of things that make you wonder if people have ever gone camping before.
Your line about checking in with the kids brought back a memory. My parents were known for their multi-week trips in their motor home. I suspect that they often chose remote places as stopping points, but it was a bit of a mystery where they were in an era before cell phones. Of course, they’d check in occasionally. I didn’t really worry about them, and I knew their trips provided them great happiness. Don’t clip my wings.
Yeah, different times and we are just trying to be “responsible” parents 🙂 It you keep on reading you will find out that it can be important at times!
Oh I loved this one, from the scenery to the fairy houses, especially the fairy houses, to the story book to the beer can. What a wonderful day.
Those fairy houses were so adorable! We really enjoyed everything about this trail.
What a glorious hike around Penn Lake! The photo of “rocks” makes me almost be able to smell the earthiness of the forest – so beautiful. I love the fairy houses and I think it’s really great that someone had the idea to post the story boards along the trail. Super way to keep kids interested in the hike. I hope you get your GPS to working and thank you for a great post!
We loved this trail so much for all of the reasons that you just mentioned. Sadly, our GPS was not fixed which proved more important later on our trip!
That can of Canuck Pale Ale is awesome, as is this tour…including those fairy houses. They are totes adorbs!
Thank you, and I am not sure if I mentioned that the beer is pretty good too!
I love the fairy houses. Glad they brought them back.
And that guy on the beer can, I think we’ve met him – building his own house from scratch. Quite a good identity to have. Hope the beer was tasty.
Haha, yeah, that guy! And the beer is really good!
Superb scenery. But it was the fairy houses that captured me. Gorgeous!
THey were so cute and I am so glad that the city ended up doing the right thing!
It’s good that you found the fairy village, on a future walk you might meet the fairy able to fix the Garmin, who knows.
Hahaha, good one 🙂 Unfortunately, we didn’t find the fairies and they didn’t fix ir and therefore, we ended up in a predicament later on!
Love the fairy houses. Looks like a beautiful location to relax and unwind.
It really was!
I love falling asleep to the sound of rain, especially when you’re somewhere warm and dry. Glad to hear that your connection to the real world has been restored. That’s not a bad view in terms of your office! I love all the mushrooms along the trail and same with those cute little fairy houses.
That was a really cute trail and totally unexpected. We thought we will just be traversing around the lake.
We didn’t find the fairy village when we hiked last year in Pukaskwa NP, but it was an amazing hike to the White River Suspension bridge! Thank you for the fond memories🙂
We didn’t make it to the bridge this time. Hoping to next time we are in the area. The fairy village is Marathon, not inside the national park.
It’s a long hike, but well worth it!
We stayed in Marathon overnight, and got the best sunset of our trip in North at the Pebble beach🙂
Interesting mushrooms!
Yeah, i thought so too!
I am also amazed by the people who go into the wilderness completely unprepared, BUT I need to know why would anyone take away fairy houses. Don’t they have rights????!!!!
Ah! In their defence, I wouldn’t call camping in a campground really wilderness, but to your point, some people go camping a bit unprepared. As to the fairy houses, I suspect that the city wanted a building permit 😊
Yup, more money in the coffers! But doesn’t your cell phone give you GPS?
The phone’s GPS is okay for certain things, but the Garmin takes the RV’s dimensions and abilities into account and uses satellites in places where the phone may be useless. We usually use both since with different results at times.
Wonderful Post
Thank you
Marvelous!
It was very cool!
The fairy houses and children’s story brought a smile. I’m glad the community complained when the houses were taken away!
The power of the people!