What's booming? It's the sorting of floating logs into rafts, or booms, for transport from a logging camp to mill. At the height of operations this one in Blind River was the largest White Pine mill east of the Rocky Mountains. The mill closed in 1969 and now this area is home to the Blind River Cross Country Ski Club which is how John was introduced to the area. He went skiing there a few years ago, but even in the autumn the trail is picturesque.
We took the Delta trail to the lookout.
The view of Lake Huron and Blind River was worth the short hike. If you're familiar with the area, the jetty of the Blind River marina is almost in the center of the photo below (between the pine and maple tree).
From there we spotted this rocky area. The thick moss and fallen leaves made for a perfect photo op!
We walked for another hour or so, and after all the recent rain I managed to get two soakers. The first bit of good news is that I wore my Smartwool socks, so my feet were toasty and warm despite the water. The second rather surprising new is that despite the soakers...I didn't melt. ;-)
After a picnic lunch we drove to the far end of the park and walked along the beach. It wasn't quite warm enough to go swimming, but it was a great day for a stroll in the sand. John discovered this chain left behind from the booming days and well, being John, he just had to ham it up.
Speaking of logging, this man-made river or canal was used to transport the logs to the mill. The cluster of tamaracks in the background will soon be bare. Though they resemble evergreens, they shed their needles every fall.
The tamaracks on Hwy. 108 were equally impressive, especially when showered in rays of sunlight.
We had a great afternoon on the Boom Camp Trails and walked for about 2 hours total, but it's possible to get to the lookout and return to the parking lot in under an hour. There are three trails in all. The Harbour trail is 3.1 km in length. The Delta (the one we took) is 3.7 km, and the Woodland trail is 5.3 km long. All are worth a visit.
* * *
