MOUNTAIN LIFE - Blue Mountains | Summer 2018

SUMMER 2018 ML BLUE 81 WEEKEND TRIPS long pebble beach where we’ll camp, we see no sign of anyone, past or present. (For most of the trip we see no other watercraft apart from the Chi- Cheemaun passing periodically in the distance, its engines rumbling like a low muttering voice from a parallel dimension.) We explore a series of sea caves near our campsite, climbing up a mossy chimney that pops us out on top of a cliff, then funnels us back down to the shore via a series of rough chutes choked with ancient cedar deadfall. This place is untapped: motor boats rarely venture here for fear of the open water crossing and the numerous shoals. Paddlers are also dissuaded by the threat of being blown off-course or capsized. We choose our paddling windows carefully, thanks to the weather- and wind-divining skills of guide Scott Parent. Paddling effectively out here means sometimes pausing in the middle of the day if an unfavourable wind comes up, as we do on our first day. Between noon and 3pm we take a long lunch on Cove Island, explore the deserted lighthouse and outbuildings, and swim off the old concrete pier. After the wind drops we paddle into the open channel—a place where Lake Huron can hurl the full force of its storms into the Bay—in becalmed waters, with occasional slow-motion low swells at our back. Our second night (on Perseverence Island) is hardly less solitary, though we see a dive boat checking out the wreck of the City of Cleveland steamship (downed just off Perseverence in 1901). We too check out the wreck the next morning with masks and snorkels before we begin our paddle to journey’s end, South Baymouth. For the last leg we hug the southwest corner of Manitoulin Island which is also totally deserted. Perhaps this is because this scrubby, Escarpment shoreline is unsheltered, lacking in bays or inlets, and the water too shallow for any boat with a fixed keel or propeller. Whatever the reason, I feel once again that we’re happily “lost” in the wilderness. That is, until we spot the cell tower outside South Baymouth… —Ned Morgan DIY: we do not recommend paddling from Tobermory to South Baymouth without an experienced guide. If you want to try The Crossing by SUP, contact fathompaddleguiding.ca for details.