MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018 ML BLUE 47 It was mid-July and the early morning greeted us with blue bird skies and humidity as thick as maple syrup. We decided to trade in our to-do list for a couple of stand-up paddleboards and a daytrip out to explore a small section of the Severn River. The journey took us to the Town of Coldwater and then north along Tower Line Road to one of the Severn’s many inlets. This section of the river can be accessed from Port Severn Park and Gloucester Pool Resort Marina. For us, the dock at a friend’s family-owned rustic cottage provided the perfect launching spot. We plotted out a six-kilometre circle route to explore the shallow water channels created by the meeting of three islands. As we would soon experience on our short outing, the watercourses and lakes within this sliver of the Trent-Severn waterway—a 386 kilometre system that connects Lake Ontario and Lake Huron—are rich in biodiversity and natural beauty. We gathered supplies and paddled out from the inlet towards the northern shoreline of Beechwood Island. Rocky granite outcrops dominated the landscape decorated with eastern white cedar, sugar maple, white birch and pine. Arrowheads and flowering waterlilies blanketed the shallows while jagged ends of fallen trees emerged from the water’s surface. The paddle along the eastern shoreline of Lauley Island led us to deeper waters and a chance for a cooling swim in the midday heat. A chorus of waterfowl, song birds and frogs called out as we made our way through the channels. From Lauley we paddled towards the south side of Gouette Island through an area known as the Narrows. The Narrows opens abruptly to make for an easy crossing to our launch point. —Laura Raimondi DIY: ontarioslakecountry.com 20 HALF DAY TRIPS Board the Beer Bus to experience a new guided brewery/ historical tour focusing on the story of prohibition and bootlegging up the highway in Owen Sound, back when the Ontario temperance movement proved strong enough to crush the city’s many breweries. The dry spell lasted 66 years, making Owen Sound the last dry city in Canada. The new guided Corkscrew City Tour features two local breweries, beer tasting and immersive theatre experiences with a brash port-town twist. Led by author Richard Thomas, the tour series is named for a time generations ago when the city was known for gambling and hard drinking, and where it was rumoured every man carried a corkscrew in his pocket. Not everyone was stoked on this reputation, and by 1905 the first branch of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had formed in Owen Sound and successfully lobbied for prohibition. By 1917, prohibition went nationwide, but bootleggers and smugglers flourished in the city and throughout the county. The Corkscrew City self-guided tour in Owen Sound is a part of the broader Saints and Sinners Bootlegger’s Run, and pays homage to thirteen unique historical sites where citizens drank, prayed, campaigned for and against alcohol, and filled their flasks. There are three remaining tours on tap this summer: July 20, August 17, and September 14. —Nelson Phillips DIY: corkscrewcitytour.ca The watercourses and lakes within this sliver of the Trent-Severn waterway—a 386 kilometre system that connects Lake Ontario and Lake Huron—are rich in biodiversity and natural beauty. SUPing the Severn 19 The lower Severn River. WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Corkscrew City Tours JOHN FEARNALL