A Ghost Town

We were still four hours from home but we wanted to stop at Depot Harbour before we pulled into our homes and got back to reality. There apparently is a ghost town located on the island.

Rose Point

Nuthatch

While driving to our destination we stopped just off the road to get a photo of the small harbours. I loved how calm it looked with its overcast skies.

After some driving around at Depot Harbour we finally found what we were looking for – an old ghost town.

Ghost Town

Ghost Town

Some history on the site: Back in 1890 John Booth created the town of Depot Harbour to move his lumber to the area now known as Algonquin Park via a railway that was taken over by CNR in 1918. In 1993 the railway was damaged by a spring ice floe and was never repaired, bringing less and less ships to Depot Harbour. In 1945, the shops stopped arriving and by 1964 the town was abandoned. You can still see remnants of the old buildings (as shown in the photo above). Depot Harbour is the largest Ontario town to become a ghost town.

Permission to view the site must be obtained from the Wasauksing First Nations Band Office.

Macro World on Flowerpot Island

We woke up extra early this morning to drive over to the Tobermory lighthouse and get us some sunrise photos. We were eager to see what mother nature was going to show us.

Rise and Shine
Rise and Shine

And I had a front seat to the spectacular event.

Front Seat
Front Seat

You couldn’t ask for a better morning. Temperatures were mild, the colours were on point and we had some cloud for the colours to reflect off of. Thank you Mother Nature!

Flowerpot 2
Flowerpot 2

After a hearty breakfast we hopped on a boat and headed over to Flowerpot Island. After such great sunrise, the clouds came in and the drizzle started, eventually turning into a more substantial rain later in the day.

We walked along the shoreline path and stopped to photograph the flowerpots before heading to the lightstation museum on the north side of the island. That’s when the rain settled in so we got into our rain gear before heading back to the trails.

droplet
droplet

Instead of hiking the shoreline around the island we decided to cut through the middle and take the trail over some more rugged terrain in the hopes of spotting the elusive Striped Coral Root orchid. It wasn’t until we reached the main trail again that we spotted the orchid. I was thankful that I had the rain gear as I was down on the ground a number of times to get photos of almost every flower we spotted.

Striped Coral Root
Striped Coral Root

By the time we got back to our Airbnb we were both wiped and very damp. Not to mention excited to see what we had captured. We have one more day here in Tobermory and it looked like we may have some better weather.


A Dusting

I woke up this morning and decided that since the icy world had yet to melt away for good I had to do some exploring a little further north. My initial thought was to head up to Coldwater but I noticed that as I got past Barrie things didn’t look so ice covered anymore so I back south I had to go. This is how I ended up in Earl Rowe Provincial Park.

The park is closed in the winter so you have to walk in from the road. It’s short hike in to the lake area but, wow, what a view once you got there. 

The Dusting

The Dusting

The ice was slowly melting as the sun’s rays warmed them and trees just sparkled in the light. I wanted to stay for awhile but some of the areas I was shooting in were more on the dangerous side as branches pulled down by the weight of the ice were on the verge of snapping and tumbling down onto my head. I had to be quick get my shots.