FENELON FALLS, ONTARIO TO THORAH, ONTARIO

Thursday, July 23rd , 2015

Day 353

Miles Traveled: 26

Total Miles Traveled: 5278

  Immediately after leaving Fenelon Falls, we crossed Cameron Lake.  The wind was much less today so the lake was calm.  The day prior, when the wind was much higher, we got a glimpse of the lake and it was anything but calm.  We arrived at the next lock just as the first set of boats were being loaded.  We tied off to the wall and waited our turn.  We were traveling with "Aunt Aggie" and they helped us with our lines.  This lock, Lock #35 Rosedale, is the last lock that will raise us to a higher pool of water.  The rest of the locks will lower us to a lower pool of water.  After exiting the lock, we entered Balsam Lake and the highest point on the Trent Severn Waterway.  We also entered the Talbot River section of waterway.

Balsam Lake - highest point on the Trent Severn Waterway

  The section of the Trent Canal connecting Balsam Lake with Mitchell Lake was very narrow.  We had to call out on the VHF and announce our arrival at the entrance to alert boaters on the other end and listen for any to call back stating that they were already in the canal.  There is not room in this canal for two large boats to pass each other safely.  If there was already a large vessel in the canal, we would wait for them to exit before proceeding.

approaching narrow cut of Trent Canal

  We did not get a VHF hail that another vessel was headed towards us in the canal, so, we proceeded ahead.

very narrow

  We should have put "Seahorse" on a diet before entering this canal.  We could have almost reached out and grabbed leaves off of trees on both sides of the boat. 

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almost touching the trees

same on the other side

  Believe it or not, the narrowness was not the worst part.  This canal was dug out of the Canadian Sheild (a big rock mountain).  On either side were rock walls that went straight down to a rock bottom.  This would not be very forgiving if you got out of the channel.

rocks on the shoreline that go all the way to the bottom

  
  We both breathed a little easier when we finally entered Mitchell Lake.  But, only a little, as this lake was shallow with a channel just a little wider than the canal.  After Mitchell Lake, we again entered another Trent Canal which took us to the Kirkfield Lift Lock.  Unlike the Peterborough Lift Lock where we went up, this time we went down 49 feet.  When we pulled into the pan chamber, we were above many treetops.  It operates under the same principles as the Peterborough Lift Lock and is the second highest lift lock in the world.

inside the pan of the Peterborough Lift Lock

  The next lake was Canal Lake.  Like Mitchell Lake, it was man made with a small channel and known to be full of stumps and obstructions outside of this well marked channel.  Half way through Canal Lake is Hole in the Wall Bridge, built in 1905.

approaching Hole in the Wall Bridge

  We ended our day with a series of locks and choose to stop at Lock #40 (Thorah Lock).  We tied up with "Aunt Aggie" after locking through.  This lock is very isolated with no public road access.  We planned to enjoy a very quiet evening.  All around were shade trees and picnic tables for those boaters that stay and enjoy the surroundings.