Roaming the Upper Ottawa Valley and Beyond

 The  Lake Temagami/Ottawa River water route is one of the MAJOR historical water bodies in Canada. It opened up the central and western regions of the continent. As early at 1615, Jesuits were guided by First Nations people into the great beyond of the boreal forests. Near the cabin where we stayed was an old mission. It was founded by the Jesuits in the later 1800s to serve the forest workers, pioneers. fur traders and People of the First Nations in the area.  Across from our cabin The town of Ville Marie is across the way Lake Temiskaming A pair of loons and two babiers The Maiden River Shower house at our camp A sweet little bench There are lots of these carved bears all over the camp. On benches, the top of poles, hanging from eaves One of the silver mine shafts collapsed a couple of years ago and caused the ground to drop, drowning this fish shack The view out on Lake Temiskaming from the front of our cabin Welcoming sign Panoramic view out front of our cabin There are six cabins

 I can't imagine what it is like to live here. We were on this self guided tour, with a mum and her boy crossing our path here and there. The boy was saying something a bit strange as they returned to their car. I said to him, "Just think son, fifty years ago, if you lived here, this would have been your life." He scrunched up his face while his mum nodded her head. I hope it was a learning experience for him. The ruins in these photos are the remains of this old silver mine This building had toxic substances stored in it at one time. I'm quite surprised it is open without any kind of gate inside. There are signs on the site prohibiting folks to pick up material The town across the way. There are piles of mine rubble EVERYWHERE in the town There was no soil evident in this pile of rubble. But look at the beautiful flowers growing there.  If you want further information on the silver mines in this area, I found this webpage very informative.  https://www.davidkjoycemin

 As usual, blogger has tossed my photos on the page willy nilly This lovely fish gave us two meals. M. caught four fish, kept two. Gold mine beside our cabin The dam where the Montreal River meets Lake Temiskimang   The river above the dam View from the kitchen sink. That's the same river out there View across to the island. Horseshoe Island Camp is completely boat access. We were on the "mainland" but that too is water access only as there are no roads beyond. This big hill was behind our cabin. Do you see the fire tower? The tailings pond for the gold mine was right beside the lake! The beautiful lake (head of the Montreal River) Driving in to the Government dock Every time I looked to the left I could see that pile of rubble Beautiful cliffs along the water