This part of our summer holidays voyage takes us through the hamlet of Bolsover to Canal Lake, up the Kirkfield Lift Lock and on to Rosedale. Not as sunny and warm as the day before, but a good day to travel, with no wind and the rain held off.
One of the many locks to pass through in this stretch;
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| Heading up through one of the locks. |
The first of two swing bridges in Bolsover, this one had been operating by the staff from the Bolsover Lock. As a result, when we left the lock, we had to hang around at the bridge, waiting for the lockmaster to drive over by car to swing the bridge for us. Coming the other way, we had to wait for the same thing. This is something new that started in the 2013 navigation season as part of Parks Canada's cost saving measures. I will have more to say about that in the future;
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| One of the swing bridges at Bolsover, along the Trent Severn Waterway. |
Passing by the gas dock at Sunset Cove Marina. A nice spot to spend a night.
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| Sunset Cove Marina in Bolsover. |
Midway through Canal Lake is this old bridge, commonly referred to as 'the hole in the wall bridge';
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| Hole In The Wall bridge on Canal Lake. |
When initially built on 1905, the location was nothing more than a field. There is a really good book about the building of the TSW called ''A Work Unfinished : The Making of the Trent-Severn Waterway by James T. Angus' that includes the whole history of how it came to be and is full of many period photos. Included in that collection is a neat shot of this bridge under construction - in the middle of a dry field.
Here's a close up shot of the build date for the bridge;
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| Hole in the wall bridge, Trent Severn Waterway |
More healthy eating, even while travelling. This is my daily fruit intake. Lots of FRESH fruits and veggies every day. Good for the body!
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| Healthy fruit bowl snacks. |
Crossing Canal Lake we encountered this family of White Swans. A first for us to see the little young ones;
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| White Swans with babies on Canal Lake |
This sign sits at the easternmost part of Canal Lake, right at the beginning of the man made Kirkfield Cut, advising bigger boats that they must call a Sécurité, warning other boaters of their transiting this area. Reason being is that it is very narrow in spots and for two large boats to pass would be difficult & downright impossible in some areas.
Trouble with this plan is that sometimes the signal may not reach boaters entering the cut, way over at Mitchell or Balsam Lakes (where there is the same sign for boats heading in the other direction). As well, many boats travel with their radios off (which it down right irresponsible) and wouldn't get the message any ways. My advice? How about if Parks Canada staff were to simply cut back the severely overgrown trees along this stretch? Too simple, I know. . . .
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| Warning sign for larger boats at Kirkfield |
There is a tangle of weeds as one enters into the Kirkfield Cut and one must stay within the more travelled middle of the channel, or risk becoming completely entangled in them. Right after this shot was taken, we clunked something (I'm thinking it was a bigger branch) at this spot. Fortunately, there was no damage. In a subsequent post, I'll share a video of a couple of scuba divers inspecting the running gear for damage, taken a few days after this incident.
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| Lots of Weeds |
A closer view of the weeds.
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| More weeds on the waterway. |
Here we are, just about at the top of the ride up the Kirkfield Lift Lock. This point marks the summit (highest point over sea level) for the entire Trent Severn Waterway. From this point, one is heading downstream in either direction. It's with this in mind that the navigation buoys change - green on the right from here!
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| Kirkfield Lift Lock |
After exiting the lock, I heard one of the aforementioned Sécurité calls from this boat. Unfortunately when I tried to hail them to discover their position or ETA for arriving at Kirkfield, there was no reply. To be prudent, I decided to tie off to the lock wall and wait for whatever was heading towards us to arrive at the lock. Good thing, too, as by the looks of the beam on this thing, we would have had a lot of fun trying to pass each other in the cut.
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| Wide beam boat in the Kirkfield Cut |
The lady on this boat was VERY grateful that we held back and waited for them to transit the cut.
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| A grateful boater |
This is what I am talking about - a very overgrown canal. Apart from a break at tiny Mitchel Lake, this man made cut runs all the way from Kirkfield to Balsam Lake - a transit of about an hour. It is pretty, though.
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| Narrow Kirkfield Cut. |
This is the tightest spot, with no more than 20' of clearance.
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| Approaching Balsam Lake |
Coming off of Balsam Lake and approaching the hamlet of Rosedale, at the south east part of the lake.
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| Rosedale on Balsam Lake |
Next stop - Rosedale Lock, but that's gonna take up an entire post to share the beauty of the place, so c'mon back for lots more :-)