This old stump in the South River is a reminder of where the land used to be years ago before they dammed the river for hydro electric purposes.

Highway 17 at Petawawa

This not-often-seen graffiti is found under the Trans Canada bridge that crosses the Petawawa River.

Just outside of Cobden is this livestock barn. At first I thought it was a combo -> Pontiacs and cows.

Here's another photo from our Lake Nipissing "tour" last week.

Split Rail Fence

This split rail fence is one of many in the hills to the west of Powassan.

We revived COSC yesterday and went for a bit of a photo shoot along the south shore of Lake Nipissing and the Alsace Road region. You can really see how low the lake's water level is by the white, bleached rock around the island. That's where the water level is normally.

This is looking west along the rail line that runs through the Ottawa Valley near Cobden. It isn't as vital a link for the farmers these days, but it certainly was before transport trucks took over from the trains.

Abandoned or seldom used warehouse in North Bay.

This is a shot of the Petawawa River just before it flows under Highway 17 on its way to join the Ottawa River. Although there has been very little run-off from the winter snow, the river is close to normal spring time levels.

Spring Sky

This spring has been one of the longest I remember. Normally we go from winter to summer with maybe a week or two of spring. It's been really nice, but summer is still eagerly anticipated.

Well, what have we here? It's my old truck, cap less. Looks like it still works well. I guess Mike got the better of the "case of beer exchange."

Kissin' Cousins

Big Red and the Stealth Bomber stare each other down. Great trucks no matter how you look at it!

On the north side of Highway 17 just west of Petawawa at the start of the CAF Military ranges is this little monument. It's a memoriam to the German settlers who settled the Petawawa area. The grave site that goes with this monument is located on CAF property, and to visit the grave site one must arrange a pass at the guard house at the entrance to CFB Petawawa.

This was taken just west of Cobden in the Ottawa Valley farming area. This lone tree looks fabulous all year.

And what do you see as you drive along the Scotch Line Road in the early spring evening, besides lots of mud and trees, but swamps, always good things to stop at and investigate.

Rainbow over the Scotch Line Road
The Stealth Bomber easily handled the Scotch Line Road on the weekend, and the "pot of gold" almost lived up to its billing.

Dock in the Clouds, 'nuff said.

It's been pretty crappy out the past day or so, and I haven't taken any new photos. Here's a shot from last week of Duchesny Falls with some ice.

Here's a view down the lake from yesterday morning. It sure looks different right now, as we have freezing rain and sleet happening. However, by Sunday we should be back to spring.

On Easter Monday evening there was a real feeling of spring in the air which, I find, is quite noticeable in this photo across the lake.

Upside down or not? Not. This is a reflection in Four Mile Creek of the tree on the bank. It's only at a certain angle that the creek water looks blue. From most angles it looks brown from the reflection of its banks.

Now that Trout Lake is ice free, I went for a bike ride through town yesterday to see the ice conditions on Lake Nipissing. There still is a bit of ice present, but it won't be long before it's gone as well.

In the distance are the Manitou Islands.

The ice piling up near shore resembles craters on the moon.

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

Yesterday the temperature was +28C here at the lake, and the wind blew very warm and gusty. By 1pm the lake was ice free - the ice is off the lake 3 weeks earlier than normal!! I've never seen it be ice free so early. So, I went for a paddle in the canoe.


As some "viewers" are aware, I really like reflection photos. Here's one of the little cabin just down the lake from our place.

And what do you do when the lake is ice free? You put the dock back in the lake, naturally. I guess it's time for the next step and get the boat in the water. Unbelievable!! It's only the beginning of April!!

One Mile Bay, Trout Lake

April 1, 2010, 10am

I took this photo on Thursday morning. Since then, it's been really warm, and the ice and snow have left One Mile Bay.

Not only is the ice leaving Trout Lake quickly, it's making an early exit on Lake Nipissing too. The former St. Joe's College sits quite nicely on this point on the west end of North Bay.

This is the beginning of the Easter long weekend holiday traffic. This was taken at the junction of Highway 63 East looking towards Trout Lake Road and Quebec beyond and Highways 11 and 17 running east-west through North Bay. I took this while waiting for traffic at noon yesterday. And, I was using a "hand held device," not a "hands free device."

No, it's not an April Fools' Day joke. There really is this much open water in front of our place. It's unbelievable for this time of year.

Last year on April Fools' Day the temperature was -25C. Today it will get to +20C, and by Saturday it will be +25C.

In our 12 years on the lake,the ice has left around April 25. This year it's going so fast it may disappear before April 10. I'm going canoe-ing this weekend.