PETERBOROUGH, ONTARIO TO STONY LAKE/JUNIPER ISLAND, ONTARIO

Monday, July 20th, 2015

Day 350

Miles Traveled: 22

Total Miles Traveled: 5207

  Our thrill for the day was locking up at the Peterborough Lift Lock.  We had visited this lock a couple days prior by foot and were excited to be there in our own boat to enjoy the ride up.  It is considered an engineering marvel, and, the mechanics of its workings are basically the same as when it was completed in 1904.

approaching the Peterborough Lift Lock

  The lift is 65 feet and takes about 2 minutes to complete.  This is a lot faster than the traditional locks that take about 30 minutes.

we are going up as high as the upper pan while it comes down

  Upon leaving the lock and looking back, it looks as if the waterway falls off the face of the earth.

leaving the Peterborough Lift Lock
we were out first, the other boats are following us

 

  The next set of locks after the Peterborough Lift Lock are close together.  There are 5 locks in less than 5 miles.  After leaving the last of these five locks, we entered the Kawartha Lakes section of the Trent Severn Waterway.  It is characterized by a series of lakes joined by locks.  The first lake entered was Katchewanooka Lake, then Lock 27, followed by Clear Lake, and then Stony Lake.  In both Clear Lake and Stony Lake are islands - some large, some small, some with homes or cottages, some just for wildlife.

Clear Lake

  One island had a church called St. Peter's on the Rock.

St. Peter's on the Rock Church on a small island

   Don, the Peterborough Harbor Host, tipped us off to a great anchorage on Stony Lake behind Jupiter Island.  We found its location and dropped the anchor.  Dan fished, Angie worked on blog, and both relaxed while enjoying the view.  There was some small boat traffic initially, but, as evening approached, it became very calm and quiet.

view from our anchorage on Stony Lake