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Talon Chutes-Mattawa River versus Grindstone Point – Lake Superior

Not Road Pot Holes – The Natural Ones by Back Roads Bill A street pothole is a type of failure in an asphalt pavement, caused by the presence of water in the underlying soil structure and the presence of traffic passing over the affected area. These are spring time annoyances to our car’s alignment, wheel bearings and suspension. There are potholes in the natural environment as well, these are worth the visit. The landscape around us holds many secrets. You can drive, hike or paddle by and never know there is interesting pothole” just over there.” When you discover an anomaly detective work is required. Our planet is estimated to be approximately 4.5 billion years old. It is difficult to comprehend but there certainly has been enough time for slow, continuous processes to mold and shape the Earth as we know it. James Hutton, known as the” father of geology,” suggested that the Earth was much older and that processes occurring in the present were the same processes that...

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The Piano Man – Glenn Gould – Wawa

Pianist Discovers Back Roads – Wawa Solitude By Back Roads Bill One of the important aspects in the routine of visiting a single place and getting to know one area really well, is taking the time to check in with your feelings and allow yourself to just ”be.” It is why people look for camps and cottages and return to the same vacation spots time and again. At a local level many look for what is called a “sit,” “magic,” or “me” spot. It is a place for solace, inspiration and rejuvenation. We all seem to look for these special places within nature. Recently at the Grammy Awards, Canadian pianist Glenn Gould was awarded a lifetime achievement more than thirty years after his death. Not many Canadians have been awarded Grammys (Oscar Peterson, Joni Mitchell and the Band). When he was alive he won four Grammys. He shunned fanfare and actually retired at a young age from public performances, spending the rest of his performing life in the recording...

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Champlain’ Monuments May Be In the Wrong Locations

Ski Club Road Not the La Vase – Evidence to Be Considered or No Evidence by Back Roads Bill Editor’s Note: This is the final of three stories commemorating the 400th anniversary of Samuel de Champlain’s arrival to the North Bay area. This installment considers a different route for the explorer from Trout Lake to Lake Nipissing other than the La Vase portages. Are the monuments commemorating Champlain’s visit in the wrong location? On July 26th it will be 400 years since Samuel de Champlain appeared somewhere on the shoreline of Lake Nipissing. A number of locals think so including Roy Summers.   He is a retired civil technician and a local historian. He is a very thorough researcher and an aficionado of historic maps. Years of dogged determination has helped Roy piece together what was in this area from a geologic and historic perspective. He is also a member of the Friends of the La Vase Portages. He thinks Champlain took the historic portage from Trout Lake to Lake...

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Erratic Behaviour – Ice Age Reminders

Glacial Droppings – Movement by Back Roads Bill Humans sometimes exhibit erratic behaviour but even rocks can do so. Boulders of a particular rock type which may be many tonnes in weight may be found sitting on a different type of bedrock; sometimes they are perched prominently in open areas. For the most part they tend to be rounded. The surface is often fine grained indicating grooves and scratches, remnants of the movement of the ice sheets and the constant scoring by neighbouring boulders. After the ice melted the boulders remained distributed in a random way. Most parts of Northern Ontario have been glaciated that is, ice sheets once enveloped the landscape. Glacial striae (you can see these scratch patterns on the bedrock) and glacially oriented features, such as drumlins and eskers, indicate that the general direction of ice movement was towards the southwest. So as a result most areas have erratic boulders. Dr. Eric Mattson was contacted at Nipissing University. His speciality is snow and ice hydrology; glaciology...

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Painting Detective – Group of Seven – Wawa

Art Detectives – Sleuthing for the Group of Seven by Back Roads Bill The Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew are detectives. They are sleuths, motivated to solve crimes. We appreciate Sherlock Holmes, the fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, for the astute logical reasoning used to unravel difficult cases. ‘Following in the Footsteps of the Group of Seven’ is not fiction it celebrates the inspiration of others and why we have favourite panoramic views. This coffee table book traces the work of Jim and Sue Waddington who have a passion for locating the actual sketching sites for artworks by members of the Group of Seven, the renowned group of landscape painters. Nearly a century ago, the group of artists travelled into northern Ontario and farther afield to capture the beauty that lay just beyond the outskirts of Canada’s urban areas. Armed with sketchbooks, brushes, and paint boxes, they set off into the heart of the wilderness with the singular purpose of interpreting the...

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Dreamers Rock – Spirit – Manitoulin – Little Current

Special Spiritual Place – To Dream: Learning about Native Culture by Back Roads Bill Nearly every culture in human history has sought to honour the divine, the mysterious, the supernatural, or the extraordinary in some way. Most often this happens at sacred sites – special places where the physical world seems to meet the spiritual world. For Jonathan Pitt Dreamer’s Rock has spiritual significance. He is of mixed First Nations ancestry and a member of the Canadian Métis Council. He teaches within the Aboriginal Teacher Certification Program and is a teacher of Anishnaabemwin (Ojibwe) as a Second Language Program at Nipissing University’s Schulich School of Education.   The promontory is located near the gateway of Manitoulin Island, on the way to Little Current. It commands a view of a protected water passageway in all directions, along with the stunning white quartzite of the La Cloche Mountains. “Dreamer’s Rock has been used since time immemorial as a sacred ceremonial place by Native peoples” said Dr. Pitt. “Fall is a time of...

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