Dorcas Bay - Pictures from the Past

 As I've said, I have visited Dorcas, or what Parks Canada is calling Singing Sands, numerous times over the past.  Once we brought university students up here for a week long field course.  So I have a few pictures from the past; pretend you're a botanist and see if you're fascinated by these plants!.  

'Singing Sands' by the way refers to the squeaking sound the sand makes when you walk across it.  This is due to the uniform size of the quartz grains and only occurs a few places in the world.

This map was posted in the years when Parks Canada had taken over management, but before all the recent changes to access had been made.  You can see the narrow access lane that led in off the sideroad, and behind that the open fen, half covered by map labels.  The sandy shore was very wide at this point, and you can see the forest beyond the access point.

This is Fringed Polygala, found typically under the Jack Pine forest.

Indian Paintbrush is found on the dry sands, but in slightly more open areas.

Thios is a terrible picture of Fringed Gentian, but it's the only one I've got.  This beautiful flower typically grows on the open sandy shore.

In slightly ,more damp areas you can find the Grass of Parnassus, not a grass at all, but a flowering plant.  It looks like little white lanterns across the fen.

And now we come to the fascinating Pitcher Plant, this picture taken in the spring when the leaves (pitchers) were still green.

The flower, which hangs down, is stunning, in real life a brighter red than this.

But it's in the 'pitchers' that the plant gets its reputation, for sharp downward pointing hairs trap insects which drown in the fluids at the bottom, providing nutrients for this carnivorous plant.

There's one more fascinating insectivorous plant in the fen, the Linear-leaved Sundew.  The tiny hairs wrap themselves around visiting insects, whci get dissolved by this unique plant.  This one is tiny!

I hope these photos from past blog posts in 2015 help show the uniqueness of this habitat.

Singing Sands Fen

 Mrs. F.G. waited by our car to make sure it wouldn't suddenly be towed, so I didn't go far down the boardwalk, but it was enough to give me a good view over the fen.  These posts from our trip north are dragging on too long, so I'm just going to post every day for a few days and get finished.

There was a good information sign with a map to get me started.

Here's a close look at the map.  The narrow laneway I remembered is gone entirely, replaced mostly with this boardwalk.  It extends out in a bend letting you see the wetland and continues to the Jack Pine forest beyond the creek according to the map.  Notice the bilingual wording.

At this time of year, 8 feet off the ground, the fen looks anything but interesting, just dry, light brown vegetation.

But there were two information signs, helping visitors appreciate both the dunes and fen as habitats.  The one for the fen shows an illustration of the famous Pitcher Plants, the carnivorous plants of the fen.

But if you look closer you'll see the small reddish plants on the sand, just clusters of tiny 'pitchers' in what as now a dry habitat.  Tomorrow I'll share some pictures from the past showing a close-up.

To me it was a beautiful view across the fen, perhaps because I know what's out there, having explored it in the now distant past.  For a time in the '70s I was in charge of management here.

There was a wet pool right beside the boardwalk as I turned to head back.  Perhaps next year we'll get up just to visit Dorcas, and look around more thoroughly.

Dorcas Bay - Singing Sands

 We drove down the highway from Tobermory as far as Dorcas Bay, a large bay on the west side of the peninsula known for its Jack Pine forest on the dunes, and a large wetland described as a 'fen', one of the rarest habitats in southern Ontario..  My first trip up here in 1962 coincided with the Federation of Ontario Naturalists buying this gem from a bankrupt developer.  I've visited here many times but not of course in the past 8 years since I became paralyzed.  Now it's part of the national park and things have changed!

Here the National Park has taken over, building new parking, and controlling beach access with a new walkway and boardwalk.  This was the surprise of the trip, to say the least!

Replacing the narrow gravel lane I remember, leading to half a dozen parking spaces, is controlled access, with parking now entirely on the other side of the sideroad, and a broad brick walkway leading us into Sing Sands.  We pulled right up to the beginning of the walkway, even though we shouldn't have, and got out.

There were two buildings there, one for washrooms and one presumably for admission (and I hope, some information).  But that building was closed.

Beyond it one side of the wooden deck led to the beach. protecting the dunes but giving access to the open sand.  I stopped at that point.

But it was wonderful to see that view out to Lake Huron, the beautiful blue water bringing back great memories.  This bay is known for its very shallow water; you can walk out an incredibly long distance and find it's only up to your knees, great for families with young children.

Besice me the dunes looked as if they were being successfully protected,  In previous years, people traipsing over the dunes and destroying vegetation were a major problem.

I turned to go the other direction to see the wetland, finding a wide elevated boardwalk that gave people access while protecting the fen.  There's a low narrow line of dunes that holds the water of the wetland back, except for a small creek that breaks out to the bay.  Here a big sign beckoned me on.

Back to the 'Little Tub'

Once the ship was fading into the distance we turned and headed back to the 'Little Tub', threading our way across the parking lots to avoid curbs and find an accessible route.  With no deadline to leave, I got some photos of different types of boats for you - and these two great carvings!

These two great carvings made me think of old fishermen, and I suspect one of them carved these.  When I first started visiting Tobermory, in the late '60s I would beg a cheap ride from Cap'n Smith, who took tourists out to see Flowerpot Island. and I know he did some carving.  I also once met the famous Orrie Vail, a retured fisherman who occupied a small shack smack in the middle of what is now the ferry dock.  He also did carving.

This ole two-masted sailboat was the first I noted.

Across the water was the 'Glass Bottom' boat, which also took tourists out.  It does have a glass bottom area where you can look down to the wrecks in the 'Big Tub'.  The popular harbour for boats is the 'little tub; the 'Big Tub' is nearby but largely surrounded by cottages.  There are two wrecks plainly visible in the Big Tub, under only a few feet of water.

 

Two of the more unusual boats in the harbour.

The dock where more pleasure boats have been pulling in.

An old fishing tug, apparently converted to a dive boat.

And back to the view out our front window - sorry for the reflection.  We were off homeward bound!

Good-bye to the Chi-Cheemaun

 After watching the ship load down by the bow, we hurried  along the dock to the stern to watch them cast off the lines.  In spite of sailing on it to Manitoulin many times in the past, we had never had the chance to watch the ship sail away from Tobermory.  It brought back lots of memories!

The

Lines for a ship this size are serious steel hausers; they have to watch that no-one gets hurt.

And then all of a sudden, the ship beside us was moving - fast!

The ship reversed out into the bay while the bow was closing as it went.

Turning to the left as it moved, we watched the bow slowly close.

By the time it had turned the bow was closed.  We remember being on the ship and hearing the bow close with a big clang.  And off the stern the propellers churned the water as it shifted from reverse to forward

And then the Chi-Cheemaun sailed away into the distance, taking our memories with it, for this year at least.

The Chi-Chemaun

It might strike you as odd since we've ridden the Chi-Cheemaun many times (in the distant past), but when you travel on the ship, you don't get to see it from the outside!  This was our chance, so I scooted back around the popular 'Little Tub' harbour, and found the path leading through to the ferry docks.  They were just about to start loading, but I rode around the back of the vehicle lines and on toward the ship.

I finally got to where I could see the ship, but I was still separated from it by a wide parking lot.  I had waited for the off-loading cars to pass, and the loading vehicles were behind me.

I crossed that wide parking lot, and looked for a way beyond.  At this point Mrs. F.G. joined me and we moved closer.  You can see the beautiful artwork on the ship from here.

You can see the full ship here, from the low stern at the left to the raised bow at the right.  This is a 'drive-on-drive-off ferry, where cars load into the bow and leave via the stern once they reach Manitoulin Island, and the reverse for the return trip.

The Chi-Cheemaun is known for its giant decal illustrations; yes these are decals, not paint.  Even the smoke stack is painted in indigenous patterns.  The name 'Chi-Cheemaun' itself means 'big canoe' in Ojibwe and was suggested by Donald Keeshig of Neyaashiinigmiing, known in the past as Cape Croker.

The artwork on the Chi-Cheemaun is in the Woodland style of indigenous art, with its bright colours and dark outlines.  This iconic style of painting was developed by Norval Morrisseau based on hearing legends told by the elders.

The explosions of colour on the bow of the ship has become the iconic image of the Chi-Cheemaun.  This is actully a picture of the ship loading; you can just see the outline of the roof of a dark car entering the hold of the ship.

I've always wondered what the view from the bridge would be like.  I presume the Captain was looking down on me here.

And I leave you with yet another selfie from this our very successful trip to Tobermory.

Revisiting the Harbour

We were out of the van in a flash, and headed out to revisit the little harbour we've been to so many times in the past, if not recently.  I remember this as a harbour of fishing tugs, slowly being overtaken by pleasure boats, but in more recent years tour boats and diving boats have proliferated.

The 'NorLight' was clearly a dive boat, with the space in the stern for a few divers to gather.

I think the 'Dawn Light' is a tour boat, with closed in cabin space for the tourists if it gets rough.

Across the way were two boats of the Blue Heron Cruises, a company that runs popular cruises out to Flowerpot Island.  I'm sure they are totally occupied in the summer!

I wandered down the south edge of the harbour to find new floating docks extending outwards, for smaller craft and more diving boats.  At that point I was stopped by inaccessible docks.

But I watched a moment as four guys in the first boat on the left were preparing for a dive trip, adjusting gear and making sure they were ready.

At this point it's worth saying a bit about the national park.  There are actually two national parks in this area, the Bruce Peninsula National Park and the Fathom Five National Marine Park.  The latter is known for its many shipwrecks, hence the dive boats I'm mentioning.  Diving on those shipwrecks is very popular! 

The former is based on the mainland, but includes sections of shoreline on both the east and west coasts of the peninsula, the east with its spectacular cliffs overlooking Georgian Bay, and the west with its sandy shoreline dropping very gently into Lake Huron.  The Grotto, a cave on the east shore is so popular that reservations are required, just to walk out there - though I've been there probably 20 times, usually leading groups of students back in the years before its popularity exploded!

Talking about the national park, this is the sort of improvements I noticed, clean permanent porta-potties, though they're certainly not accessible!

After exploring the docks I ventured up the street above.  It's now a one-way street, so I was comfortable dodging traffic.  I won't bother you with the numerous tacky (and inaccessible) stores, but I was interested in this one, a place I remember as Mrs. Belrose's boarding house.  I stayed here in an upstairs bedroom as a teenager once I could drive up here myself.  As I recall Mrs. Belrose was a widow who rented out rooms to make a living.

I soon made it to the cairn that marks the northern terminus of the Bruce Trail.  You can see I successfully reached the end of the trail in my wheelchair!

Then Mrs. F.G. saw the Chi-Cheemaun (the 'big canoe') above the buildings on the far side of the harbour.  Having had a cottage on Manitoulin for a few years when our kids were young, we've travelled on the ferry many times.  Just seeing it brought back great memories.  We turned back immediately and headed to the far side of the little harbour to watch.