Back to Civilization

We took our things out of the canoe and returned it to the rental place. Jake wasn't there to greet us, but the dogs were. It was a COVID-compatible, non-contact return anyhow — we left the canoe on the grass and dropped our paddles in the "return" pile.

We noticed one of the dogs stalking the bird feeder and learned from the lady that they sometimes get one. We chatted for a few minutes, but didn't stay long because there was still a light rain falling.

We carried all the gear to the car and packed it into the trunk. After getting things squared away it occurred to us that dry clothes would be nice. They were at the bottom because of course they were, so we pulled everything back out. It was worth it as it made the four-hour car ride much more comfortable. On the next trip we'll prepare better by leaving extra clothes (including footwear) in the car. There will be no chance for it to get wet, it will just be waiting for us.

The Brent Crater

Beside the access road is a lookout that William and I investigated the previous year. There is a raised platform which looks over an ancient meteorite impact site. Known as the Brent crater, it was formed about 450 million years ago.

At that time there was no complex life on land. In the oceans were a type of jawless fish, but the only multi-celled plant was algae. Dinosaurs would not show up for another 200 million years. There is more information on these geologic time periods at https://dinosaurpictures.org.

The amount of time between then and now is hard to get a handle on, nearly all of the time that things have been living on the planet. Despite all that, the crater is still clearly visible. Quite an amazing thing to see and we really recommend it. Even after all our portaging, no one was put off by the climb up the tower.

Park Office

We left the crater and continued along the road. The park office has a running count of all wildlife sightings for the season. We had kept track during the trip; mostly chipmunks, loons, etc., but we also had the beaver sighting and the funny goose story. I think that the idea is mainly just to have a fun thing to do on the way out of the park. With COVID-protocols we didn't know if this was still happening.

In any case it didn't matter because Katherine was dozing by the time we got to the park office. She was half awake so we talked about it, but decided not to stop to report our sightings. There was a bit of a lineup at the office anyhow, it looked like about three groups were waiting to check in.

A Light Snack

After the park office is the highway that goes all the way to Ottawa. There isn't cell service at the park office, but after about fifteen minutes is a rest stop that William and I used the previous year. This picnic area does have reception, so we used it to call home and check in.

It was late afternoon and we were getting hungry after our long days. In normal times we would stop at a restaurant, but that wasn't a good idea this year. I don't think we would have even found anything open. Fortunately, we still had several pounds of snack left over. We got it out of the trunk and ate it on the way home.

We also stopped for gas in Deep River to avoid a repeat of the previous year's "running out of gas" bonus adventure. Liz was already at the cottage, so we wouldn't have a handy rescuer this time.

Home

The drive was uneventful, once in Ottawa we stopped at A&W to pick up dinner before going home. We got there around 7:30pm, ate, and then went back out to unload the car. We got things into the house, but were so tired that the rest of the unpacking was left for the morning. We had a really good time, but it was nice to be back in our own beds.