"The winter trip of our project didn't exactly begin as planned. We made a stop at Swift Canoe in Gravenhurst to pick up a Raven Royalite solo canoe that I'
A young moose I encountered while snowshoeing along Chikanishing Creek.-- Photo by Cory Trepanier |
m using for some winter paddling, and stayed over at our relatives, the McCoys, just north of town. So far so good. But this darn pinched nerve in my neck that I had for a couple of weeks was still acting up, and so we opted for
Painting along Chikanishing Creek.-- Photo by Cory Trepanier |
a day of R&R there. The next day things improved healthwise, but unfortunately the rain came down. So with the the snow quickly melting, we made a shift on the fly and carried on up past Parry Sound, where we were going to stay for a few days on an island, and went straight to
Killarney Provincial Park. While it was raining in Gravenhurst it was snowing up there, and by morning a foot of fresh white stuff had accumulated.
Since arriving, I have been exploring the snow and scenery and developing new works as I go. Breaking trail up to Granite Ridge by snowshoe (with a pack and tobbogan) gave me my first scene to paint, overlooking the La Cloche range (photo above of the area). The Chikanishing Creek is frozen at the mouth, but open a short ways up. With the heavy snow on the banks, it made for a nice paddle, and setting up along it's banks gave a beautiful view for another piece.
Rain/snow is being called for over the next couple of days; just in time for us to head out for a little winter camping along the coast itself perhaps. Naturally, I am hoping that it just comes down as snow. But you have to take whatever comes out here, and enjoy it. Which isn't very hard to do in scenery like this."
-- Cory Trepanier
March 9, 2002
