Kitesurfing at Oliphant!

Leaving Petrel Point, we returned south and drove out to the shore at the North Oliphant Beach.  We were surprised to see a kitesurfer fly by in the distance.  But by the time we got headed along the shore road, we realized there were at least a dozen kitesurfers zipping by on the choppy waters in the brisk breeze.

I thought the two on the right were pretty close. You don't want the lines to get tangled!

We sat and watched the spectacle for awhile, enjoying the excitement.  It seems that kitesurfing has taken over from the lone windsurfer here in popularity.

Then a guy very close by started up.  It was great to see how quickly they got going.  It looked like you had to be pretty strong to hold the lines and pull yourself up.

We tore ourselves away and drove on down the shore road.  The water was obviously very high, and there were fens on the inner side if the road too.  We turned east and headed home, a very adventurous day for us!

Petrel Point as I Remember it.

Petrel Point is best known for the orchids that bloom in June, so I thought I'd also share some picture from our last trip there in 2014, long before the wheelchair came into my life.  I think I first visited Petrel Point in 1962, when I was 14, and have visited it many times since.

The open fen with the older narrow boardwalk.  A lot fewer trees and shrubs than now!

Grass Pink, the most beautiful flower of the fen in my opinion.

Rose Pogonia, another pretty fen flower.

A closer look at the 'pitchers' of the Pitcher Plant, surrounded by the short linear leaves of the Slender-leaved Sundew.

Tall White Bog Orchid.

Indian Plantain.  Yes, this is the flower, though it looks like a bunch of seed pods.

The most spectacular orchid of the nature reserve, the Showy Lady's-slipper, although these photos weren't taken at Petrel Point.  This is a denizen of the cedar forest, and is the reason for the signs asking visitors not to disturb the orchids!

Petrel Point Accessible Boardwalk

After our picnic lunch in Wiarton we headed over to the west shore of the peninsula at Oliphant, and then north through Red Bay to Petrel Point just south of Howdenvale.  Petrel Point is an old nature reserve established in 1962 I think, and owned by Ontario Nature.  I had heard they had built a wheelchair accessible boardwalk here and was anxious to try it out.

There's a large new welcoming sign which explains the uniqueness of this wetland, a 'fen'.  Common bordering Hudson Bay, these wetlands are very rare in southern Ontario, but there are small pockets of them along the Lake Huron shore of the Bruce Peninsula.  You can see the new boardwalk on the right.

The new boardwalk, beckoning us into the cedar forest, looks great.  It replaces an old narrow boardwalk that has been here for decades.  There are very few wheelchair accessible trails through natural environments of any kind anywhere that I have found, so I was thrilled to see this one.  It was well built, with bumper edges, and plenty wide enough for safe operation of a wheelchair.

A sign announced it's construction and gave credit to several funders.

The dark cedar forest with it's tilting trees is fascinating in it's own right, but the orchids that grow here are finished for the year.

The boardwalk widens out in several places, giving spots to rest or turn around.   And in this case provide some information boards.

Two display boards explain the uniqueness and fragility of the orchids that grow in this unusual habitat.  Photographers have been wont to leave the boardwalk in the past just to get that ideal picture.  On occasion entire busloads from the Toronto Guild of Colour Photography would show up and some would even spread out groundsheets so they didn't get their knees dirty or wet in the process of getting their prize-winning picture, trampling all the surrounding vegetation in the process.  They added the second sign to emphasize this, along with some discreet fencing most people wouldn't even notice.

They have purchased several additional land parcels since the years when I was involved; this trail leads to one of those.

This part of the boardwalk forms a loop, which was appreciated.  This is one of the longer stretches leading out into the open fen.

And this is the fen, a marshy looking meadow interrupted with small cedars and Cinquefoil shrubs. on a base of wet sand.  Except these aren't marsh plants, they're sedges, rushes, and in this picture carnivorous Pitcher Plants.  There would be a few inches of water here in the spring, but in mid-August of a dry summer, it's just sand.

You're looking at the back of the Pitcher Plant flowers here, one of the three carnivorous plants that this nature reserve is known for.  The flowers nod over and hang down, so it's nearly impossible to get a picture from a wheelchair.

And these are the 'pitchers', enclosed leaves with downward pointing hairs that trap insects which get dissolved, providing the plant with it's nutrients.  You may be able to distinguish a side view of a flower on it's curved stem at the upper left of the cluster of leaves.

The colours range from dark purple to bright green or almost yellow.

A second carnivorous plant found in this unique habitat is this tiny yellow Bladderwort, most of the year with it's surface roots under water ready to trap and digest any tiny insects drifting by.

And the third of the carnivorous plants is the Slender-leaved Sundew.   It`s very hard to make out in this picture and I couldn`t get down on my belly to take a close-up, but it`s the reddish short leaves below the taller green stems of the rushes.  Tiny hairs on the leaves wrap themselves around any passing insects and then the plant devours them.

There are lots of other interesting plants in the fen.  This is just one, the False Asphodel.  We want to go back in fall and spring to see some of the others and get some more pictures.

At any rate, it`s a well done accessible boardwalk, and we really enjoyed it.  We`ll definitely be back!

Sorry it took me three days to get to this post; life is just too busy these days!

An Adventurous Day - Bluewater Park

We headed out yesterday on our longest day trip yet, stopping in Wiarton, Petrel Point and Oliphant.  It was a glorious late summer day, and we enjoyed all our stops, as well as the drive itself.  The first stop was Bluewater Park, on the beach in Wiarton, where we fought off the 'attack seagulls' to have our picnic lunch in peace.

This Ring-billed Gull led the way, hopping to within 2 or 3 feet to pick up crumbs.  The trick is to stare them down.  At least we weren't subjected to attacks from the air this time.  

We followed the boardwalk out to the end at the Rotary lookout away from the crowds.  I think that's the resting and staging area for the gulls in the distance where they rest up before picking on the next innocent visitor!  The gear adjustments on my new wheelchair which give me a 'Ramp' gear with high torque enabled me to bump up onto the boardwalk quite neatly.

The view out of the long, deep Colpoy's Bay into Georgian Bay is spectacular!  We're probably looking at Hay Island in the distance, one of three islands that occupy the opening into Georgian Bay.  The others are White Cloud and Griffith, with their interesting historical legends.

A closer look shows a large sailboat heading northeast.  Around the corner is Big Bay, site of the 'World's Best Stone Skipping Beach'.and I think that must the just the corner of White Cloud Island.

 On the left is Malcolm Bluff, and two sailboats much closer to hand.

An interesting smaller sailboat with double sails slid past on the far side of the pier.  Sorry I don't know enough about sailing to know what this configuration of sails is called.

Unfortunately the pier itself is currently inaccessible due to high water levels, though it looked as if the outer end was still above water.

This route to get to the pier was certainly not above water!  Note the inaccessible bench on the far right; last year this was dry land.

The Canada Geese didn't mind though.

And this is one for the books - a domestic duck on a leash!  Must be an interesting background story to this!

Next stop Petrel Point.