CANOEING IN GEORGIAN BAY. 



G. H. HODGETTS. 



The countless islands of Georgian bay 

 are destined to become one of the most 

 popular summer resorts for both Canadian 

 and American recreation seekers. They lie 

 along the Eastern and Northern shores of 

 the bay from which they derive their name, 

 and which forms the Northeastern part of 

 Lake Huron. Not many miles inland to the 

 East, are the Muskoka lakes, famed for 

 their beauty and picturesqueness.^ In the 

 opinion of many who have camped in both 

 localities, however, the Muskoka scenery 

 can not compare with that amongst the is- 

 lands to the West. 



Already many of the most desirable is- 

 lands have been purchased from the Can- 

 adian government by gentlemen from 

 American .cities. Several beautiful club 

 houses have been erected, and every year 

 brings hither a larger number of our neigh- 

 bors from across the line. I am a Cana- 

 dian, but I am sure it is with pardonable 

 pride that I extol the beauties of a part 

 of my country of which the Americans 

 themselves can not speak too highly. 



My last trip to the islands was made in 

 the company of my 2 brothers, who live 

 in St. Catherines, not 12 miles from Ni- 

 agara Falls. We crossed Lake Ontario 

 by boat to Toronto, thence by rail to Pen- 

 etanguishene, a distance of 100 miles. A 

 large and beautifully equipped passenger 

 steamer connects with the train, and for 

 several hours winds through countless 

 channels and passages until one becomes 

 almost bewildered by their intricacy. The 

 islands are almost entirely of rock, but cov- 

 ered in most cases with pine, spruce, cedar, 

 birch, poplar, maple and oak, with an un- 

 dergrowth of juniper and a variety of 

 berry bushes. The trees grow in crevices 

 in the rock which have become filled with 

 soil, and it is surprising how thickly wood- 

 ed some of these rocky islands are. Im- 

 mense trees will often be seen apparently 

 growing in the solid rock. There is also 

 much heavy moss of different kinds and 

 colors, which further adds to the beauty 

 of the islands. 



We took our canoe and supplies from 

 home. When the steamer reached a point 

 about 50 miles from Penetang, we were 

 landed on one of the islands. We immedi- 

 ately camped for the night on the rocks. 

 Our tent I had made specially for this trip. 

 It is of 8 ounce duck, is round, 12 feet in 

 diameter and 8 feet high, with a 2^ foot 

 wall. This style of tent is, I think, the 

 most suitable for a canoe trip, being light, 

 capable of being packed in small compass, 



and requiring but one pole, an important 

 consideration when you carry your whole 

 outfit in a canoe. We slept on the ground, 

 placing our blankets on a mattress of ce- 

 dar boughs. Another year we intend hav- 

 ing individual sleeping bags ; also a 

 heavy canvas ground-cloth for the tent. 

 We anchored the tent with small rocks, as 

 there was, of course, no chance to drive 

 pegs. 



Our provisions and cooking utensils were 

 packed in 2 small boxes, and our bedding 

 and clothing in canvas bags made for that 

 purpose. We changed our clothes at Pen- 

 etang and thus had not the trouble of lug- 

 ging around civilized garments during our 

 2 weeks' trip. We congratulated ourselves 

 more than once that we had done so, as 

 every additional article requires valuable 

 space in the canoe, and makes extra work 

 in loading and unloading. Our canoe is of 

 basswood and was built to order in Peter- 

 boro. It is simply perfection, as we have 

 proved to our own satisfaction. Length, 

 18 feet ; width, yj inches ; depth, 13 inches. 

 It will hold our entire outfit conveniently, 

 and leave plenty of room for 3 or even 4 

 persons to paddle. We were not at all 

 overloaded and paddled over 400 miles with 

 all our stuff on board. 



We had with us a repeating shot gun, a 

 .38-55 repeating rifle, a double barrelled 

 shot gun, and a .22 caliber Stevens rifle. 

 Game is plentiful among the islands and 

 on the mainland. We went prepared for 

 everything up to bear, which are often 

 seen in the fall. Ducks were innumerable, 

 but hard to get at. We could seldom ap- 

 proach within gunshot of the numerous 

 flocks which we frightened from their feed- 

 ing grounds. By stopping in some of the 

 rice beds for a day or 2, we might have 

 shot dozens of wild fowl had we been so 

 inclined, but we were on the go continually. 

 For the same reason we got but few ruffed 

 grouse, as we did not go into the bush for 

 them. 



The fishing is, during the proper season, 

 unsurpassed. Black bass, pike, muska- 

 longe and trout are abundant. The bass 

 fishing in Georgian bay is celebrated ; its 

 rocky ledges seem the natural home of this 

 most gamy fish. We had no difficulty in 

 securing all the fish and ducks that we 

 needed. We caught all our fish by trolling 

 from the canoe. 



• If the weather was favorable we broke 

 camp as soon as we finished breakfast. 

 Everything was packed up and placed in 

 the canoe, and in a few minutes we were 



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