June 7, 2011 - Port Elgin and Bad Weather

Today we biked from MacGregor Point park to Southampton, Ontario and back again. The trail from Port Elgin to Southampton is a converted rail trail, very flat and easy, well marked and pretty busy. Beth and I are geocachers, so it took us quite a while to make our way to Southampton, stopping quite often to find and log the caches hidden along the route. Southampton is a lovely town, very tourist-y and friendly, with unique stores, cafes, and coffee shops. We had our lunch down by the shore of Lake Huron underneath the giant Canadian flag in the park, then turned around and headed back to the park, following a different route. The return route is fairly new, and a bit more hilly, and unfortunately, the section in town is not well marked. It’s well worth the risk of getting temporarily lost, though.

The return route takes you through the waterfront park and its marina, band shell, boardwalk, and fabulous beach. Next comes a wooded park with a small gauge railway for the kiddies to ride, picnic tables and pathways, and then on to an absolutely stunning section right down on the lakefront. Like a small scale version of the Pacific Coast Highway, it’s a curving, paved, two lane road following the lakefront, with a refreshing lake breeze and great lake views. Whoever put that section of the trail together, my hat’s off to you. That is without a doubt the prettiest bike trail I’ve ever been on.

By the time we got back to camp we’d covered about 30 miles. I was sore in places I won’t mention in polite company. Also while we were gone, a raccoon had gotten into the trash can we forgot about and left out for his dining pleasure. It also looked like he or she tried to eat a box of  wooden matches.

That night we had several hours of high winds, strobe lightning, and even hail. You can’t believe how loud a hailstorm can be from the inside of an rPod, like wearing a motorcycle helmet while someone pours a bucket of marbles over it. It ended about 3:00 AM, and almost immediately, park personnel were out clearing downed trees. So if the thunder didn’t wake you up, and the hail didn’t wake you up, chances are the chain saws would.