3 rd ride of the year or how to get lost in your own back yard.

[Marilyn Mason]

About a week ago my wife and I were returning home from spending Easter at 
my daughter's place in Penetanguishene.  We crossed the Madawaska River in 
the Hamlet of Madawaska and I noticed the normally 150 yard wide river was 
down to a trickle.
I decided Monday I wanted a close look at this so I jumped on the bike and 
using back roads I managed to turn the 120 km trip to Madawaska into 200 km. 
The river is extremely low.  I stopped and took several pictures of both it 
and the Opeongo river which was at a similar level.  I walked out on what 
was a dock that was about 20 feet long and there was a 10 foot drop to the 
sand dune below.  There were dirt bike and ATV tracks all over the sand that 
is normally the river bed.  The water was 75 yards away.  The river was 
about 10 feet wide.  The Opeongo was no better.  What had been 2 islands 
were treed hills on a sandy waste land with the odd tree stump sticking up 
from the river bed.  The Madawaska is about 200 miles long, has a dozen or 
so control dams and 2 hydro electric power dams about 150 miles from where I 
was standing.
I headed south to Maynooth to get fuel.  I was going to take the Peterson 
Road and return home through Bancroft but it was getting late so I headed 
north on HWy 62 to Maple Leaf.  I decided to take a short cut through New 
Carlow, and Craigmont to come out at Combermere.  I have always come out 
from New Carlow on this road and missed taking the turn onto the Boulter 
Road.  I kept twisting and turning staying on paved roads trying to figure 
out WTF I was other than being on the Greenview-Musclow road.  I wasn't too 
worried as I had 400 km of fuel and a paved road that had to meet something 
I recognized.
I finally came out at Hwy 62 at Birds Creek about 20 km he other side of 
Maynooth and 3 km north of Bancroft.  I rode into Bancroft left on Hwy 28 at 
a very brisk pace through Hardwood Lake, then the back roads through Schutt, 
Jewelville, Latchford Bridge, Quadeville, Wolfe, Cormac Eganville and home 
in an hour and 20 minutes 122 km.
It sure beats riding that Stihl 280 brush wacker or my Stihl 290 chain saw.
Sorry I can't give you a status report on the Peterson/Elephant Lake road 
Art maybe next time.

Jim