Another ride under our belt !
Ride Lead: Marcel Lafrenière
Ride Tail: Leon Paquin
This was a beautiful sunny day with a cool morning start of O degrees Celsius warming to 15 degrees Celsius by the afternoon. The planned ride was towards Baie Jeanne and Cross lake region which are both southern branches of Lake Temagami. We met in the field near the church in River Valley for a 9 a.m. start. We were only 4 ATVs and 3 side-by-side, 10 people and a dog to accompany us. Before leaving I explain to the group that it is a Class 2, 100 km ride ahead of us. Asked that they don’t forget to turn on their headlights and stressed the importance to always make sure you always look back in case a rider breaks down, but especially when the track turns down another path. Departure was at 9:10
We arrived at Baie Jeanne at 10:05 a.m. and took a short 15-minute break. This bay is part of Lake Temagami to the south that many people from West Nipissing use, but be careful, you need a 4X4 or, better still, an ATV to pull your trailer. On this road there is a cross marking the passing of Don Anderson who died a long time ago. I believe he was a member of the Sturgeon Falls Hunters and Anglers Club.
We continued on at 10:25 traveling for an hour before stopping at a small clearing near Iron Lake for another quick break. It was almost dinner time but we pushed on to a much better Lunch spot by the Temagami River located at the bottom of the Surveyor Lake dam which is part of Cross Lake that is attached to Lake Temagami. We arrived at 12:25 and had our Lunch with a 35 minute break. In this place there is a large tire of a Skidder commonly called Guidoune in french forester jargon because it twists and a tree which is around 80 years old grows in it. In the distance we can see an old destroyed bridge to cross the river.
At 1:10 p.m. we left and headed upstream of the Surveyor Lake dam, which we reached at 2 p.m. On a personal note, this summer I went there by personal watercraft from the access road near Temagami. In the past, many people went there to launch their boats to fish, including myself with my canoe. At the beginning of the 1990s the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) decided to make it a park and installed a fence to prevent access. This meant you could now only access it from the village of Temagami. Well you might guess, there was a big protest from the people and the Hunting and Fishing clubs with petitions. So the MNR’s solution was to abandon their planned idea and this location which is now only accessible by off-road vehicles. If you look carefully, you can still see the efforts of the Ministry as there are cement curves and signs to be found at this location.
After our little break at Surveyor Lake, we lined up for our return to River Valley. Along this route we could see the devastation of the big fire of 2019. The MNR planted small pines in 2020 which are now about four feet in high or the size of a small apartment Christmas Tree. We continued on finally returning to our starting point in River Valley at 3:45 p.m. Another beautiful day in the company of club members.
At the end of this month, I will again be your guide through the Mattawa trails which are part of the Voyageur Multi-Use Trail System (VMUTS). One of the our stops on the trail will be a visit to an abandoned World War II mine called Purdy Mica Mine. Don’t forget your flashlight and water boots as we will take some time to walk 300 feet inside the mine if you are up to it. This promises to be one of the hi-lights of this ride. Keep watching for more details coming to your mailbox.