Walking on Water - Hiking on the Lake!

 Walking on Water - Hiking on the Lake!

Getting ready for our expedition on the ice

One of the joys of living in Northern Ontario, is the beauty of a crisp, cold, winter's day, when the skies are totally blue and the sun is beaming in all its glory. 

Mark is eager to get going!

Today was such a day, and we decided to venture out onto Elliot Lake, itself. The temperature was -17 degrees Celsius when we stepped off the 'Old Beach' (Spine Beach), onto the lake surface. After several weeks of sub-zero temperatures, the ice must have been a foot or more deep, and the lake was completely frozen over. There were in excess of a dozen ice huts to be seen, as well as multiple tracks made by snowmobiles over the last few days. Today, we saw a few snowmobiles crossing the lake, and there were a dozen or more people enjoying the frozen lake, either on their own with their dogs, or with their family. It was easy to remain socially distant from everyone, and we felt totally safe walking out. 

Following one of the many snowmobile trails - it was almost like a network of railway lines

Several ice huts, just off Spine Beach

We decided that we would cross from our local beach (Spine) and journey towards the 'new' beach, (Spruce Beach). Just off Spruce Beach, there is a landmark rock, which is often shown on t-shirts promoting the city. During the summer, people of all ages swim out to the rock, climb it and jump off, having a lot of fun in the whole exercise. 

'The Rock' in the summer

The same 'Rock' today

Just north of this rock, there are two islands. We crossed to the smaller one and had a snack and a drink, called a dear friend of ours, and hosted a Facebook Live session, during which we walked across to the rock and back again, sharing the scenery with those who joined us. By this time, the temperature had risen to -8 degrees Celsius, and it was warm enough to shed our coats, winter hats, scarves, and gloves. We left them on the small island while we visited the rock. (If you have a Facebook account, and would like to view the Live Session, just click the blue link above). 

A welcome sip and snack

Just a gorgeous day with the warmth of the sun taking the edge off the cold temperature

This short video clip shows the view we had while enjoying our snacks.

After completing our snacks, we decided to do a figure of eight trek around the two islands. We'd been erroneously calling the larger one, 'Sylvan Island', but when I looked it up on the map for this blog, I remembered it's actually called, 'Sylvah Island'. 

In between the islands

A variety of tracks between the islands

We're estimating that the perimeter of the larger island is around 1.5 - 2 km, so it took us about 30 minutes to complete its circumnavigation. All the while, we kept looking up at the sheer blueness of the sky against the evergreen trees, feeling totally happy and blessed to live in such a beautiful area of our Province. 

Outcrop of rocks, showing the toboggan hill on Sylvah Island

It's always interesting to see familiar places from different angles. We enjoyed seeing the two beaches, but also our hospital, with the white smoke emanating from its tall chimney. (Mark made me laugh when he said that the white smoke must mean that a new Pope had been elected!!!)

White smoke from the hospital chimney

Beaver Mountain - the highest accessible point in Elliot Lake, overlooks the town and the lake - and we had climbed up to the top the other day, taking advantage of this recent spell of good weather. 

Beaver Mountain - the highest accessible point in Elliot Lake 

Elliot Lake from the top of Beaver Mountain, showing Sylvah Island, the smaller island, and you can just see the 'rock' to the left of them

Selfie with Elliot Lake in the background (from the top of Beaver Mountain)

It was also the first time we had seen the new jetty/pier at the boat launch from this vantage point, and it was nice to see Westview Park from the lake - a place where I have conducted several weddings since moving here, in 2013. The most recent wedding was for dear friends, back in August of last year. That day was slightly overcast; however, today was totally in contrast to that. 

The relatively new pier/jetty extending from the boat launch

Westview Park - the site of many outdoor town concerts, as well as a popular wedding venue

On our return journey, we were carrying our coats and gloves, and the scarves were in our backpack. There was no wind so the temperature stayed constant and pleasant. 

We estimated that our little expedition was just over 6 km, so we had our exercise for the day!

Our route today