Day Tripping Ontario: Bobs Lake Ontario

BOBS LAKE 2012

My good friend Linda and my husband enjoying the sunset.

How do I begin? Bobs Lake is such a special place to me and always brings me such pleasure to write about, but this has to be the hardest page ever for me. This past September our good friends Ben and Linda Huston accompanied us to the Lake for a weeks vacation and some much needed relaxation.

Shortly after returning home, Linda passed away. So with tears in my eyes and an emptiness in my heart, I dedicate this page to sweet Linda. I would have to say that Linda was my closest friend since I moved to Canada 13 years ago. Her kindness, gentleness and loving nature made it easy for anyone to enjoy her company, she had a wealth of friends!

We left our homes in separate vehicles that rainy Saturday morning on route to Bobs Lake. Ben and Linda with their GPS and a map I printed out for them. It was a three hour drive. Even though they left later than us, somehow they got ahead of us, as I found out from Linda and I texting back and forth. Must have been Bens heavy foot, hehehe, or their eagerness to get away. Since it was their first time to the cottage, we asked them to wait for us at Seed to Sausage, which was located just before the turnoff to the Lake on Highway 38 near Sharbot Lake.

A wide variety to choose from, the summer favorite was a steak and mushroom sausage.

Michael McKenzie owner of Seed to Sausage

Linda was looking forward to shopping there as she sampled their products when her and Ben volunteered at The Great Canadian Cheese Festival back in June.

By the time we had arrived at the Lake, the rain had subsided long enough for us to unpack, and also for a visit from my brother and his wife from Pennsylvania who were also vacationing at the Lake. Linda served up some goodies from Seed to Sausage which we all enjoyed. Later we enjoyed a meal of manicotti, meatballs, garlic bread, and salad, with a fire in the fireplace to take of the chill of the evening. The next morning we awoke to a beautiful calm lake.

My brother and I spent a morning of fishing, just like the old days.

We had a good day! Just like always. And a lot of fun!

Linda and I took a walk over to Cedar Haven Camp. I showed her the place that I have been visiting since 1960 with my family. (Below photos)

This was Cabin 2 which my family used to stay in when I was a child.

Elsies Island was once owned by Cedar Haven.

The view of the bay, looking towards where we were staying.

The fish house, where some good fish stories were swapped!

Sunday Linda and I drove over to visit my brother and his wife. He was sharing with me some of the 500 worms he brought up from Cabellas in Pennsylvania.

It was a beautiful drive down some long and windy roads along the lake.

And along some nice farmlands where Linda mentioned about someplace she once visited where she took photos of the bales of hay.

Friday nights storm damaged a fence when a tree fell on it. Luckily the cottage was spared.

This is the cottage where my brother was staying at, and where my parents stayed in later years.

The sofa in the cottage was so comfy, Linda said she felt like Little Miss Muffet, sitting on her tuffet, when this photo was taken.

Morning Glorys along the way. Always so beautiful!

Now when I gaze at the sunsets and hear the loons calling out, I will hold dear the memories of Lindas beautiful smile and hear her cheerful voice. Miss you Linda, your kindness will live on in all of us whose lives you touched.

BOBS LAKE 2011

Bobs Lake will always have a special place in my heart. I try to find words to describe my feelings and come up with the three M's. Magical, mystical, and magnetic. Anyone who has ever visited Bobs Lake knows this feeling. Years ago when there was limited information on the internet about Bobs Lake I made a page on my website, and it became my most popular page: click here.
Many people have sent me e-mails and shared their special memories.

Since my first year at the lake in 1960, not even a year old, my family would drive over ten hours from Wilmington, Delaware to spend two to three weeks at the lake every summer. We would spend every vacation at Cedar Haven Camp. I'm excited that I just now came across this old postcard of what the camp used to look like when Chick and Elsie Reynolds used to own it, about two years before I was born circa 1957

Below is a photo of what the lodge at Cedar Haven looks like now.

The view (below) of Cedar Haven Camp taken from the boat, or Cedar Haven Cottages as they call it now. You can hardly see the lodge. They had called it a lodge, because that was all it was at first, there were no cottages, and you stayed overnight in the lodge and meals were served.

MAGNETIC - Definition: Having an unusual power or ability to attract

It has been about seven years since I have been back, so you can imagine my excitement about returning. I don't know why I have not visited more often, because I currently live only three hours away. This must have been the magnetic pull at work, but 12 years ago I met my husband who happened to be Canadian, in a Nascar chat room, and a few years after moving to Canada I became a Canadian citizen. The photo below is of us at Bobs Lake about 8 or 9 years ago.

The below photo is from 1972 of my Mom in front of an old Cheese Factory. This Cheese Factory was located just outside of Westport on the long dirt road to Cedar Haven Camp. The place didn't look like much from the outside, but it was a true learning experience for me as a child to see all those shiny vats of cheese in the making, and to learn about the whole cheese-making process. I would take home curds and whey butter to all my friends, as they didn't have a clue what curds & whey were. We didn't waste money on souvenirs, but a wedge of the oldest, sharpest aged cheese was what my Mom would take back for all her sisters in Pennsylvania. It made the best macaroni and cheese, and my Dads favorite, melted cheese on toast. And this leads into the next M . . . . .

MYSTICAL - Definition: Of hidden or esoteric meaning

Much to my surprise and delight someone had signed my guest book privately telling me about his newly acquired property on Bobs Lake. I was wondering why his name sounded so familiar, but just thought it was my imagination. You ask what does cheese have to do with this? Well my love of cheese and my bosses' vision led me to be Event Coordinator of The Great Canadian Cheese Festival. It was then I realized he was recently a speaker at a cheese conference that my boss had attended about a week or two prior. After many e-mails back and forth he offered me a week at his lovely property which just so happened to be close to my favorite area of Bobs Lake.

So call it what you will, mystical, six degrees of separation, or just the amazing powers of the internet, I was able to rekindle all of my Bobs Lake Memories this year! Thank-you!

The above photo was taken at 6:52 am. I went out to get some photos of the sun which had just risen, but instead got this photo of the full moon. It is always great to have a full moon during your visit to the lake, as its the best place to sit back on the dock and look for satellites and shooting stars. But between the full moon and the cloudy week, it hampered my star gazing, but I think I did see that NASA satellite go by:-)

MAGICAL - Definition: Enchanting; bewitching

To me the lake has always been magical. I remember jumping out of the car as a child and could not wait to get my bathing suit on and spending every possible hour that I could in the lake. And never forgetting that longest hour of my life that I had to wait after eating a meal to go swimming. LOL

In my teens I would just jump out of the car and sit on the dock and just look out over the lake in awe of the beauty and solitude and had to pinch myself to remind myself that I was not dreaming. So many times upon arrival the spirits in the skies would have a rainbow waiting for me. And that first night I would always catch a Northern Pike off the dock with my old faithful daredevil lure.

This year there was no rainbow waiting for my arrival, just a gorgeous view as usual, but I did catch a nice perch, and I did run to the edge of the lake and rip off my shoes and socks and walk in the lake, before I even unlocked the cottage or unpacked the car.

The cottage was absolutely the most comfortable and cozy place I have ever stayed at in all my years to Bobs Lake, and ironically it was located at the exact spot where I would get my first glimpse of my favorite area of the lake.

The view from the bay.

When I was 16 years old, staying at Cedar Haven, I became best friends for a week with a girl named Jane, whose family owned the white cottage (above) called Rocky Knoll. And thanks again to my Bobs Lake web page we re-connected after her cousin saw the page and contacted me. And ironically we hung out playing pinball and bumper pool and listening to the jukebox with the kids from Ohio who formerly owned the cottage I was staying in this year. Now if only I could get Rod Stewart's Maggie May out of my head. LOL

THE MICA MINES

I remember as a child my Dad taking me to the mica mines and I still have a big chunk of mica that I found that day. This year I had to go back and see if I could still find the remains of the mines. BINGO, I found it and some more chunks of mica for my collection.

From the lake you look for the old mining car at the shoreline (above photo). With my binoculars, I quickly found it and we began our exploring.

You have to be very careful as there are pits and deep crevaces hidden all over.

The above one looked very deep. We hiked up to the top of the hill and found more old equipment. (below)

John Lovelace did an episode "In Search of the lost (mica) mines" on his TV series Wings over Canada. This again confirms the fact of how special this lake is, when a bush pilot like John Lovelace actually lived there for a number of years. The tape can be ordered from Wings over Canada, Look for season four episode 404.

THE WILDLIFE

I remember my family going for a walk, and we found a big nest up high in the trees in a swampy area. At first we thought it was an Eagle, but after getting out the bird books, we found it to be an Osprey. They were not very common back in the 60's but I am happy to say the lake now has an abundance of Ospreys. In fact so much so they never shut up. LOL Don't get me wrong I love to hear their gentle peeps, but I love hearing the loons so much more. And don't get me started on the annoying crows. I did see more Ospreys this year than herons.

The above photo is a little island with a man made stand for the ospreys to nest. At one time this little island had one single large tree on it, and I nicknamed it loon island, because when I would canoe over there, the loons would always be nesting.

A loon above and another osprey below. We did see a golden eagle.

I watched this little mink (below) swim across the bay, over to the boat house and then wander over to check out if I was catching any fish on the dock.

Photo below is of a red squirrel. I should have taken a photo of a black squirrel as I keep forgetting they are not common place for my friends south of the border. My husband calls them tree rats, and they can be a pain, as one had chewed a computer wire on my van. Luckily my husband is an excellent mechanic and I saved $1000. of labor, but was out $400. for the part. In my opinion the red ones are more of a menace.

Photo of a woodpecker below. My husband don't believe me, but I actually petted one when I was a kid at Cedar Haven.

Check out the below video for the peaceful sounds of Bobs Lake.

I only hope and pray that I don't see any cormorants there, or I'm going to have to go cormorant hunting. They are a species that are quickly becoming a problem in many areas of Canada and the United States. They destroy the vegetation on the islands and shorlines that they inhabit and eat up all the fish. The Canadian Government is calling their return a success story. I say HOGWASH! Read here to see what the Toronto Star has to say about their deforestation. I would hate to see any of Bobs Lake landscape be ruined by these evil birds.

I think we are being followed! We take the half hour dive into the beautiful little town of Westport and what is the first thing we see? The Kawartha Voyageur.

I imagine one of the reasons we don't get to Bobs Lake as much as I would like, is because we have a boat on Lake Simcoe, which is where we see the Kawartha Voyageur quite often. We also saw her wintered one year closer to home in Pickering, where she was getting some work done, and the years we spent at the 1000 Islands we would also see her there.

She does have some of the most beautiful cruising grounds, but its not the most glamorous ship. But for someone who does not have a boat, its the best way to see the best of Ontario's waterways and quaint little towns.

St. Andrew the Fisherman, Anglican Church. Church services for the cottagers in the summer months. I wanted to get married here in the summer of 2000, but we were kind of rushed into a February wedding, thanks to immigration Canada:-(

Additional photos have been posted at our Day Tripping Ontario facebook page. Please visit and LIKE the page!

And one last thing, while I was there this year I came up with a new word to describe my feelings:

SUREAL - Definition: having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream

Until next time, the dreams will continue:-)

MY ORIGINAL BOBS LAKE PAGE - BUILT IN 2002

The below is from my first page and was built on a Web-tv and not a PC. I had no digital camera, and used my old camcorder to capture photos, so please excuse the blurriness of some images. Being that it was housed on an ancient server, I have transferred everything here, so it is all in one place and will not get lost in cyberspace:-)

The Morning Sunrise

My family has been vacationing at Bobs lake since 1952 and I have been going there since I was born. Well actually it was 1960 (the year after). This month we spent a weekend with my brother and his wife at the cottage for their yearly return to the lake. Last year they spent their honeymoon at the lake, as did my friends daughter whom I introduced to the lake back in the early 1980's. Needless to say, once you see the beauty of it, you get addicted!

Sugarbush Point pictured above near Patterson Bay. I always loved the idea of this little screen house which you enter from the back door on the mainland and just go out the front door and jump right into the lake. A great idea for swimming.

This family has the right idea for an excellent swimming barge, complete with a high dive. I just love the idea of swimming in deep water away from the weeds.

Me in the early 60's
As a child I always jumped out of the car first thing and ran to the edge of the lake and just wondered where this place came from, because it was like I was in another world. It was like I found a place that was just created. A place that no one knew about and it never seemed to change. And thankfully it hasn't changed too much over the years.

Laura Lee Davidson probably said it best in her book "A Winter of Content" (published 1922)..

"There may be other places as beautiful as the Lake of the Many Islands, although I cannot believe it. But Many Islands at sunset, its quiet waters all rose and saffron and lavender, under a crescent moon; when the swallows skim the surface and dip their breasts in the ripple, and the blue heron flaps away to his nest in the reeds - Well! I shall see no other spot that so moves my heart with its beauty, until my eyes look out beyond the sunset and behold the land that is very far off."

Laura spent the winter of 1914 on Mica Island to write about the changing seasons of the lake. I wish I could have met this brave woman, as in her writings she fullfilled a dream that I have always had, to see the changing seasons on the lake. It best describes it in this quote...

"I am tired to death," I stormed. "I need rest for at least one year. I want to watch the procession of the seasons in some place that is not all paved streets, city smells and noise..I have loved the woods all my life, I long to see the year go round there just once before I die."

I am looking for a copy of Laura's Book "We Build" Please email me if you have a copy for sale DayTrippingOntario@msn.com(Remove this before mailing) Thanks:-)

The door to the cottage where my parents and brother stayed in later years. The screened-in front porch is hidden by the cedars. A nice place to sit and watch the rain move across the lake.

Returning from a morning of fishing.

Catch of the day!

Theres nothing tastier than a fish fry of Bass and Walleye! Sure beats Red Lobster!

The fish of years ago.

My brother and Murton Badour launching a boat.

We have know Murton Badour since we have been coming to Bobs Lake. Murt is featured in John Lovelace's episode "In Search of the lost (mica) mines" on his TV series Wings over Canada. I remember as a child my Dad taking me to the mica mines and I still have a big chunk of mica that I found that day. The tape can be ordered here, look for season four.. I would like to thank the guys at Aviation world in Toronto for getting me the tape in a hurry to surprise my brother for his birthday!

You can also read the Environmental History of Bobs lake in Lloyd B. Jones book "The Dammed Lakes" This book tells you so many interesting stories about the History of Crow and Bobs Lake. Crow lake is actually attached to Bobs by a small channel. All my life I always had a recurring dream that I was at the point at Cedar Haven Camp and the lake dried up into just a small stream. Much to my surprise after reading Lloyds book, I realized that this wasn't a dream, but how the lake looked before it was dammed in 1821. Lloyd's latest book is called "Living by the Chase" and is about the Native people of Crow and Bobs Lake. His books also discuss Laura Lee Davidson and her love of the lake.

We pass by Crow Lake on the way home, which also adjoins to Bobs Lake through a narrow passage.

A visit to the Crow Lake General Store has always been a yearly event to get bait and an ice cream or some pop. Cream soda was always my favorite! There used to be Fanta and Royal Springs, but now its Cream Crush, the Lime Crush is great too, if you can find it.

Cedar Haven Camp

My family started going to Bobs Lake when Chick and Elsie Reynolds owned the camp. It was called Chicks Camp. In fact Elsies Island was once a part of Cedar Haven (the island across from the point of Cedar Haven) and one year my parents and brother stayed on the island, but my Mom didn't like being so isolated.

My brother and father on Elsies Island in the early 1950's

Before Chick and Elsie owned the camp it was called Ed's camp we think, as my Brother saw this on one of the cement blocks. My father used to tell me this story about my first lake experience in 1960 when I was 11 months old. Tom and Mildred Fletcher purchased the camp around 1958 and renamed it Cedar Haven Camp. Some people by the name of Jake and Lena took my family out for a boat ride. The propellor broke on the boat and a storm came up fast. (they always do for some reason) Some girls towed us to the main land (this was somewhere in Big Bobs or perhaps Green Bay) untill we could get someone to pick us up by car. When Tom came to pick us up, they had to tow the trailer out of the sand with the farmers horses. The only milk they had to feed me was un-homogenized milk and someone thought it would not be a good idea to give it to me, being I was so young.

My dad would be saying "those damn power boats making all that noise!" hehehe The Next owners of the Camp were Frank and Ruth Zendzian, whom I thought were the nicest people in the world and also the luckiest to own such a great place! They kept the place spotless! Frank was always helping out people on the lake. He would take me for a ride on the barge when he had to deliver an appliance to the Lewis's or the Bigler's. It was a treat for me.

Frank returning the barge. I'm sitting in the middle of it, and my Dad following us by boat.

Cedar Haven at its Best! I just found out the picture on this post card was taken by Peter Zendzian while flying over Cedar Haven Camp with a bush pilot.

Then one day when all the kids said Johnny Unitas is in the boathouse, I replied "Whats that, a new type of motor?" They laughed and informed me he was a great football player for the Baltimore Colts. He was looking to purchase Cedar Haven Camp. I met him a few times with his son, and also his coach Bobby Boyd. Bobby Boyd's kids even showed me how to do a summersault off the dock. To me they were just ordinary people who also enjoyed getting away in peaceful surroundings to forget about the real world. Because to me, Bobs lake wasn't the real world, it was like a Utopia to me! Johnny Unitas became the new owner of the camp. He then hired Verne Trivett to run the place.

Presently Cedar Haven Camp (now Cedar Haven Cottages, ltd) is owned by some Canadians who did major renovations to the place. They really fixed it up. New siding on the cabins (I'm American, I still call them cabins hehehe) new decks, dropped ceilings, and they even ripped some of the old ones down and put up duplex cottages. To me, its just not the same. I'm a creature of habit and I miss the old rustic look. I miss the open ceilings,, when I could throw smelly socks over the wall in the middle of the night and wake up my brother. And they ruined the nicest cabins by adding additional bedrooms and making the living areas smaller (3 bedrooms and a couch was enough). And the best thing they did was screw up my Fathers 30 year standing reservation. Jane Badour then offered to rent him her cottage which had so much more privacy. The only renovation that I like at Cedar Haven is the nice swimming area they added. I wished it had been there when I was a kid!

Cedar Haven circa 1992

The "BIG" dock (what we all called it) and my brother in a good ole wooden cedar strip Peterborough boat. This is how the front of Cedar Haven looked in the late 50's

Cedar Haven 1957

Cabin 2(left) and Cabin 3

Cabin 3 was at one time the ice house which stored blocks of ice cut from the lake in the winter. It now has a bedroom upstairs which is rather nice. Cabin 2 was always our favorite when I was a child because it was close to the shallow swimming area, sand box and the docks. Cabin 2 lost its coziness when they reduced the size of the spacious living area and made an extra bedroom. Its now claustrophobic when your stuck inside during a rainy day. There was a huge picture window, which you lifted up and attached to the ceiling, and I recall a huge storm coming in and us watching one of the trees fall on Cabin 1. The people in the cottage didn't know what hit them, luckily no one was hurt.

Cabin 1 in the early 50's with the nice rustic look

Cabins 6 (left) and 5 on the point which we stayed in latter years. Cedar Haven camp is situated on a point on the lake, so it is surrounded by water on both sides. These cabins always had the nicest view's and some better swimming in deeper water.

Many fish stories were swapped here at the fish house. It was once a busy place at nights.

You just had to take lots of bug spray to go in there!

The Christman's Cottage next to Cedar Haven is pictured above. I always loved the outdoor screened-in kitchen they had overlooking the lake. I thought what a great idea to have a kitchen which wasn't a part of the main house.

We met and became friends with this family from Buffalo, NY. Mr. Christman would always tell the story on how we met. I kidnapped his dog when I was a child. He came looking through Cedar Haven for "Hunter" and he saw me (about age 4) peeking out my bedroom window with Hunter right next to me. It seemed Hunter could tell when I arrived at the lake every year, because he always came right over to greet me. Although it could of been the pancakes and bacon I would feed him every morning. hehehe

Mr. Christman would tell us wonderful stories about his early days of coming to Bobs lake via the train to Crow Lake. His daughter became a teacher in Canada and I still see his son on occasion when we return to the lake. I could see that he felt the same way about Bob's lake that my brother and I do. The lake will always have special memories for us. I look at Bob's lake now with a different perspective. Its like it has a magnetic pull that keeps bringing us back year after year!

The above photo of Hunter is courtsey of Margaret Ann Comeau (Christman) She shared this photo with me, along with another Hunter story. Seems I wasn't the only one that Hunter would visit looking for goodies. He would venture down the dirt road to visit other cottagers from Ohio and their dog Bridgette. Bridgette was a West Highland terrier who was a picky eater. When she returned to Ohio for the winter they would tell her here comes Hunter and she would quickly eat her food before Hunter "could get it."

BOWERS CAMP

Another fishing camp on the lake is Bowers Camp. It is located across the bay from Cedar Haven. We stayed there once I think it was back in 1962. It used to be called Broughtons.