July 13, 2018
Darlington Provincial Park, ON to Presqu'ile Provincial Park, ON
Day 8
Weather: Cloudy then cleared
Today started out cloudy and a little cooler. We left the campsite around 7:15 a.m. and we first had to climb a hill to get back to the main road out of the park. Last night when we entered the park we come through a gravel road from the west.
For the first part of the day we would cycle on minor roads sandwiched between the expressway, the railway and the lake front. When there were no roads in an east or west direction, we followed trails that varied between paved to single track.
On one of the trails that went through some trees, we ran into a swarm of mosquitoes and several hitched a ride on my back and had a fine time biting me before I stopped to shake them off.
We also crossed the double railway lines more times than we could count.
Feeling hungry we stopped in Bond Head/Newcastle for a second breakfast and break.
From there we started to follow Lakeshore Road which was a nice quiet road and we would stay on this road until Port Hope.
We reached Port Hope at 11 a.m. and after looking around the historical downtown and not finding a suitable restaurant we crossed the river and found Captain Georges where we had fish & chips.
Leaving the restaurant we got turned around and headed the wrong way north on Hwy 22 instead of Hwy 2 east. Within a mile my sixth sense told me something wasn't right and I asked a passerby who advised us we were heading the wrong way.
Back on the right road we turned the next corner and found the newer developed section of Port Hope, the fast food and chain stores on the outskirts of town. Port Hope was way bigger than I thought.
Spying a Metro grocery store we stopped and got our groceries for the day.
Leaving the quieter roads behind we got on Hwy 2 about 12:45 p.m. and headed out of town. Overall this road had a good shoulder and wasn't that busy.
In no time we were in Cobourg which had a nice downtown area, campground and nice sandy beach. I'm not sure what the camping situation was at the campground for tents but this would have made an ideal stopping off point. The place was busy with vacationers and reminded us of Port Stanley from last years trip around Lake Erie.
While there we rode out on the pier as far as we could go to take a photo of the Cobourg East Pierhead Lighthouse.
Cobourg East Pierhead Lighthouse
The Cobourg Harbor Company formed in in 1829 to build a harbor at Cobourg. The 500 foot east pier was completed in May of 1832 and the west pier was completed in 1839.
The Canadian government took control of the harbor and between 1842 and 1845 both piers were extended and a lighthouse was erected. The lighthouse stood at 16 feet and was a square wooden structure.
By 1850, the harbor was being managed by the town of Cobourg and as an economic driver they built a railway from Peterborough to Cobourg.
At the time, the trestle bridge over Rice Lake was the world’s longest trestle bridge. Unfortunately, winter ice floes on the lake continually damaged the bridge.
A beacon was erected on the west pier in 1883 and in 1886 the east pier was extended and a pierhead light was built.
In 1905 the Grand Trunk Railway, Canada and the Buffalo Rochester & Pittsburgh Railway, USA formed the Ontario Car Ferry Company and built a cross lake ferry called the Ontario 1 which launched in 1907. This ferry carried thirty railroad cars with coal from the Pennsylvania mines being the primary cargo.
In 1909 the Ontario No. 1 began carrying passengers. A second ferry aptly named Ontario No. 2, was added in 1915. Both vessels remained in service until 1949 when the service ceased due to the reduction in coal use.
In September 1915, a new concrete beacon was completed on the end of the west breakwater.
The present pyramidal, concrete lighthouse on the east pier at Cobourg was built in 1924.
(We also learnt about the ferry service during our visit to Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse in Rochester, NY which would come later in the trip)
After Cobourg, we continued to follow Hwy 2, until just before Grafton where we turned south and made our way back to Lakeshore Road to follow the shoreline once again.
By the time we reached Colborne I was tanking so we stopped for a Gatorade and a 30 minute rest. After a sufficient rest, we were back on Hwy 2 for a short distance then turned again towards the lake and our stop for the night, Presqu’ile Provincial Park, arriving at 5 p.m.
We got a radio free site amongst the tress for the night so it was a quiet area of the camp. After set up, laundry and dinner we cycled over to the beach to take a look. Much the same as last night it was a rocky beach and we had gotten in to late to take a swim. But it proved good for skipping stones.
Back at the campsite the mosquitoes quickly arrived so we retreated to the tents and I set up my chair inside my tent and worked on the journal until dark.
In the end an early night but we were able to catch up on sleep from last night.
Today's ride: 67 miles (108 km)
Total: 336 miles (541 km)
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