Black River - Saturday, May 10, 2008

Black River empties into Lake Simcoe near the town of West Sutton. We drove up Highway 48 out of Markham, and explored to the West of the highway, entering West Sutton along Catering Road. At the point where catering curves left to enter the main street, there is an acute turn onto a south-bound dead-end, with parking, and a short drop down to the river.

We launched and headed downstream a quarter-mile to the dam, but there was a pedestrian watching us, so we decided not to shoot the weir, but headed upstream.

"Best" is qualitative, a combination of short drive, scenery, weather and so on, but Fred and I agree that this is one of our better trips. Below is the view as we set off upstream. Cleared land is to our right, but to the left is the promise of tree-lined banks.

Open-mouthed in wonder, I take a shot of our progress, and catch Fred, open-mouthed in wonder.

Below, yet-another-shot of the banks. Look at the water; we have a very gentle breeze, but not enough to make waves. The air is warm.

We traveled under a bridge that carries a dirt track, probably alright in dry weather. The bridge is marked on my map.

Below, yet-another-shot of the banks. Look at the water; we have a very gentle breeze, but not enough to make waves. The air is warm.

Fred spotted some turtles; Alright for him, I'm supposed to be spotting dead and rotting stumps in the water.

As we draw near, the turtles slip off the spa one by one.

Fred and I have got this down to a fine art. He paddles and I take photos. Not much of an art, I know, but it's all we've got.

I put the camera on zoom, and click away as we drift quietly closer and closer …

(5MB movie http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Tripping/BlackRiver - West Sutton/MVI_4829.AVI )

This Canada Goose is pretending to be a statue.

Below is another shot of a meadow bank. Someone, years ago, dropped a few bulbs in here.

(4MB movie http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Tripping/BlackRiver - West Sutton/MVI_4831.AVI )

This Canada Goose is pretending to be a nonchalant swan.

(5MB movie http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Tripping/BlackRiver - West Sutton/MVI_4832.AVI )

This Canada Goose is pretending to be an overweight bomber.

(1MB movie http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Tripping/BlackRiver - West Sutton/MVI_4833.AVI )

The natives are friendly. You can hear in the background a local resident who has come to the banks to advise us of the location of a beaver dam ...

(2MB movie http://www.chrisgreaves.com/Tripping/BlackRiver - West Sutton/MVI_4834.AVI )

…. But we don't see no beaver!

The further we got upstream, the quieter the brook grew. The breeze had dropped, or the trees sheltered us. Bird song accompanied the flights of red-winged blackbirds for the whole trip.

There are many quiet bends in the river, around each one is a peaceful spot that invites us to take a break and eat lunch.

But we press on, "Let's see what's around the next bend; then we'll turn back". Right!

We paddled as far as the bridge on Old Homestead Road, turned around and had lunch.

What happened next defies description, but I'll give you a hint: I took no more photos that day!

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