PINEHURST LAKE CONSERVATION AREA - September 2017

Monday September 11th 2017

Finally a chance for a couple of days camping.   We are trying out a new park for us - Pinehurst Lake Conservation Area, near Paris ON.

The drive was OK, except for so much construction through and around Cambridge.  We ended up getting on to the 401 to avoid long waits and congested lanes to try to maneuver ourselves around to reach our destination.

We took site #110, described as a "premium" site with good privacy.  Sometimes you cannot believe all you are told.  It was a good level site.  With water and hydro hook up.  It was a good privacy site as there was only one other camper in this area - lucky for us.  The one downfall was it was a very shady site - as was most of the others - and there was a very cool breeze.

After lunch we made our way to the Morton Trail.  It has an outer and inner loop, both about 2km each.  A very easy trail, as it was well maintained.  Along the way we could see the trail continued straight or went to the left or the right.  Nothing on the map showed trails to either side.  So we continued straight on.

There was a lookout area, which was quite nice.  So we sat and enjoyed that for a while.
Then back on to the trail.  Once again trails to either side, so we did the same as before and followed the map trail.

After a while we came across another Lookout Area, which was really very pretty.

Then we were almost back to the start of the Morton Trail.

It was still a really pleasant afternoon to be out walking, so we headed towards the beach Trail.

Pinehurst Lake is a fair sized lake, parts of which have a lot of vegetation on and around it, especially water lilies.

The beach area was very well looked after, and extremely busy at this time, including a lot of people swimming.  I will try to get pictures tomorrow, if it is not so busy.

From there after a couple hours walking, we made our way along the trail back to our site.

It was still vey nice out, although there was a very cool breeze around our site.

We lit the campfire a bit earlier than we usually do, but it made a big difference.  It was very pleasant to sit out and enjoy the fresh air.

We ate dinner around the fire, which was working very well, and that was our stop for the duration of the very enjoyable evening.

Tuesday September 12th 2017.

Nice bright sunny morning, no wind, but a little on the cool side.   Still good to eat breakfast outside though.

Several Chipmunks came for a visit, but no pictures.  Will keep trying.

By 11 a.m. we were on our way to The Plantation Trail, in brilliant sunshine.  This trail is about 1.5 km from our site, so a good work out before we hit the trail.   It led us through a good portion of the park.  Through the non serviced area.  Where we must admit there were a lot of great sites.  Then through the seasonal area, where we saw a lot of very well laid out sites.   Then on to the Trail.

Once again a very well cared for trail.  Making it an easy walk at this time.

We hadn't gone very far along the trail when we came across this tree with a large caterpillar nest on it.
Why here we wondered.  So many trees, and only this one has a nest.

The flowers were all in bloom along the trail.

Then another tree housing caterpillars.

It turned out to be quite a hilly trail now, with more Look Out spots.

One showing the hills and the yellow blooms.

All very nice to look at.

Then we were on the edge of farmland.   Hence - I managed to find a great old barn.

Then we entered The Carolina Forest Area.

I personally think it looks more like Georgian Pines.  Regardless it made for a nice shady walk.

From there it wasn't far to the end of the trail.  It had become quite a strenuous walk, as some of the hills were quite steep.

To get back to our site we walked some of the Beach Trail, parts which we had not walked yesterday.

It was a very pretty area to walk.

It was a little sunny when we made it back, so we recuperated for a while before it was time for a late lunch.

We managed to move around the site and stay in the sunshine for some time. 

We did have a problem with lots of tiny caterpillars,  Guess they liked the warm sunshine as well.

After a while it was time to find another trail to explore.

We started on the beach trail, then decided we would walk all the way around Pinehurst Lake.   Some of it had to be done via the park roadway.  But most of it was on the trail around the edge of the lake.

Pinehurst Lake is a 9 hectare - or 23 acre - spring feed Kettle Lake.   Which was formed during the last ice age.  (That wasn't the past few weeks of 2017 and beginning of 2018, it was the previous ice age)

There were a good many hills to climb again, but that led to some lovely views of the lake.

And also the picnic shelter.  This part of the park was very well looked after.

We had to walk a short distance along The Captain Kidd Trail.  The one trail we did not get to complete yet.  It is a 3 km trail, so not too bad.  It goes to the most southern perimeter of the park.

When we made it to the beach we were surprised to find it so quiet.

It was a fabulous "Beach" weather day.

As we were getting to the edge of the beach area we came across signs of the summer winding down - canoes all lined up on the grass.

We are not ready for summer to leave yet.

And so a few more yards and we arrived at the spot we started at.  We had completed the Lake Trail.

It had been a fun afternoon's walk,  and a good work out.

So back to our site, get the campfire set to light, get my Chef working.  Then we can relax here for the evening.

And a very enjoyable evening it was!

Wednesday September 13th 2017                                                   166210

Cloudy, cool start to the day, and time for us to pack up and head home.

The weather forecast was tempting enough to make us want to stay, but we do have "work" plans for the remainder of the week and weekend.   Keeping up with "stuff" that had previously been put off, while we were away having fun, now has to be done.   The nice thing about that is it will free us up for 2018.  When hopefully the spring and summer won't be so cool and changeable. 

First stop on the way home is "Home Depot".  That will take care of necessary supplies.

We did travel Hwy 401 to Home Depot.  They had all we need, so one our way home.

Now a really nice afternoon, so after a late lunch we finished this little trip off with a walk around our Conservation Area.

McGowan Falls.   Durham

No it's not upside down - I just love pictures with reflections.

Durham. ON.