July 10, 2017
Peacock Point, ON to Long Point Provincial Park, ON
Day 11 - Hills & Gullies
Sunny then rained later. Headwind
Got an early start hoping to beat the wind as it didn’t really die down over night. We left the camp at 7:15 a.m. and rolled into Port Dover at 8:30 a.m. The wind wasn’t as bad as yesterday, it may have shifted direction slightly overnight or we were heading in a slightly different direction as the lake curved.
We stopped for coffee and donuts at the Tim Hortons and used the wifi.
We stayed a while as it took some time to upload photos to the web site. We left around 10:30 a.m. and headed down to the jetty and rode out to the lighthouse.
The first lighthouse at Port Dover built in 1845 was accidently burnt down in 1848.
In 1895 a rail ferry service was established between Port Dover and Conneaut, Ohio to ship coal. In 1897 a rear range light was erected.
In 1905 the existing lighthouse on the west pier was erected. This lighthouse remains active, but the rear range light has been discontinued.
We then rode out on Hwy 6 to a grocery store to stock up. Our destination today is Long Point about another 25 miles from Port Dover.
We went through 3 small towns, Port Ryerse, Fishers Glen and Normandale. They were all close to the lake so we had a downhill into the village then a climb back out.
At the last town, Normandale we went all the way to the lake edge and ate our lunch.
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We crossed a peninsula and soon after it started to rain, we cycled for another 10 minutes until it was time to bring out the wet weather gear.
We cruised through Port Rowan without stopping then headed south on Hwy 59 to the Long Beach Provincial Park. After paying for our site we had to backtracked 2 km to the campground but did find the lighthouse on the way back. It is right outside the park entrance.
In 1830 the stone Long Point Lighthouse on the tip of the Long Point sand spit was first lit. By 1833, a storm had produced a natural channel through the Long Point sand spit and a lightship was stationed at Long Point Cut in 1844 to guide ships through the cut. By 1857, the cut had filled again so the lightship was transferred to Lake St. Francis.
A storm in 1865 re-opened the cut and the government appropriated funds for a permanent lighthouse. This lighthouse was first lit in 1869. By 1919 the cut had filled again and lighthouse was decommissioned.
The lighthouse is now a private residence.
Campsite $42 which is a bit pricey.
Set up on a wet sandy site so trying hard not to get sand on the wet panniers and bikes. I did end up dropping my front pannier in the sand with sand sticking to every wet surface. Later it cleared up and the sun came out.
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 454 miles (731 km)
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