Overnight at Burleigh Falls Lock 28, Upper Level
44°33’32.3388″N, 78°12’31.0212″W
What3Words: ///unselfish.hothouse.person

Catherine writes:

We were surprised when we woke up to find there were six other boats moored at Lakefield Lock with us. When we arrived the other day we were the only ones on the mooring wall for several hours. Wally asked the lock staff if we could stay another night but the limit was two nights in this location so we would have to move on.

It was a lovely morning, not nearly as cold as it has been and we did not need the heater in the boat. We walked over the bridge into town to go to the Nutty Bean Café where they made a fabulous latte, scone and smoked salmon on a bagel. Wish we could find something like this at home!

I took Wally on the longer route home by some historic houses tucked away on small streets near the lock that I thought he would enjoy seeing.

We left the lock at 11:00 am headed for Young’s Point, where we arrived at 12:30 noon. There wasn’t much area to tie up in, and since it was such a beautiful day, we decided to carry on to Burleigh Falls.

From Young’s Point, a sharp turn to starboard brought us into Clear Lake where the landscape opened up. Wally could run the engines at a higher speed for several kilometers with the shoreline on each side well away from us so the wake we were generating was not a problem. I noted that the charts indicated that this area is also still called the Otonabee River!

The landscape changed back to Canadian Shield again through stunning rocky outcrops and small islands, many with cottages on them. Passing into Stoney Lake was challenging for its narrow openings and convoluted channels around the islands and rocks. The channel is very well marked, and we made it through the ominous sounding “Hell’s Gate” passage with no problem.

We arrived at Burleigh Falls Lock 28 around 1:00 pm and decided to lock through. This was a huge lock, with a lift of 24 feet. Originally it was a double lock 28 and 29 but was turned into a single in 1968 so there is no more Lock 29.

We were able to find a prime mooring spot on the upper lock wall beside the beautiful granite shoreline. Wally watched the boats come through the lock – one houseboat had a hot tub on top of it!

Later in the afternoon the Kawartha Voyageur came through the lock again, heading west like us.

We also saw another water snake with its head poking up above the water surface in the lock channel. Any thoughts I had of swimming here were abandoned even though I know he/she would likely skedaddle once it saw me.

I worked on making templates for the front window coverings using an old sheet. With Wally’s help and a lot of painter’s tape, I’ve got these finished so I can use them to make the real things in the winter.

Wally ran the generator for about an hour so we could cook some pasta for supper. We talked about whether to stay here or go to Lovesick Lock tomorrow. Plans were made to meet with our friends Joanne and Randy for lunch so looking forward to seeing them again.

Sue and Peter have very generously offered to drive us to Orillia to get the car on Monday. The plan originally was to get a ride to Peterborough to rent a car, but their kind offer will make our lives so much easier. We want to get to Buckhorn Yacht Harbour on Sunday to get a start of unloading the boat in preparation for going home.

Bye for now!