July 14, 2018
Presqu'ile Provincial Park, ON to Sands Banks Provincial Park, ON
Day 9
Weather: Sunny & warm, with rain in the afternoon
I got up about 6:15 a.m. leaving Cameron blissfully sleeping in his tent, while I cycled the 3 miles out to the Presqu'île Point Lighthouse. But when I got out there the lighthouse was covered in tarps and scaffolding. I took a couple of photos to prove I went but you couldn’t really tell it was a lighthouse.
Presqu'île Point Lighthouse
Presqu’ile is French for “almost an island”.
The Presqu’ile Point Lighthouse was first lit in 1840 and is a sixty-three-foot-tall, octagonal, stone tower.
A canal linking the Bay of Quinte with Presqu’ile Bay was proposed as early as 1796, but the Welland Canal and Rideau Canal were prioritized. Work on the Bay of Quinte to Presqu’ile Bay link named the Murray Canal started in 1882. The Murray Canal passes the nearby community of Carrying Place named by the early settlers as an area they would portage their vessels between the Bay of Quinte and Lake Ontario.
The canal opened in 1889 and range lights were installed in Presqu’ile Bay in September 1891 to mark the approaches to the canal.
The Presqu’ile Point Lighthouse developed cracks over time, therefore in 1893 iron bands, planking, and shingling were installed on the tower to prevent water from entering the stonework.
A fog signal building was added to the station in 1906.
When the light was electrified in 1935, the fog signal was discontinued. This also brought to an end of an onsite keeper. The keeper of the range lights in Presqu’ile Bay at the time, was given the extra duty of turning Presqu’ile Point Lighthouse on and off.
In 1965 the lantern room was removed.
The Presqu’ile Provincial Park was created 1954 and the former keepers house turned into a visitor center. During this transformation, the second story was removed.
The Presqu’ile Point Lighthouse Preservation Society was formed in 2012.
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I was back at the camp by 7 a.m., and I woke Cameron, ate breakfast and packed up. Pack up was quick and we moved out of our site and up to the shower block to combat the mosquitoes that hung around the campsite.
With 6 miles already in after my trip to the lighthouse, we left at 8:15 a.m.
Shortly we were at the turn off into Brighton and as we were still hungry so headed off route to Tim Hortons for another breakfast.
Feeling content, we got back off Hwy 2 and headed back towards the lake and the Waterfront Trail only to find a detour a couple a miles up the road at the Murray Canal which directed us back towards Hwy 2. We went through the closed signs hoping to bike through but the bridge was closed. Rather the go back to the official detour we made our own, going via English Settlement Road.
We stopped in Carrying Place as it started to the rain, but by the time we got all suited up it was pretty much over.
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There was heavy traffic on the Loyalist Parkway as all traffic was diverted through here at the only canal crossing. We had to cross to the left side to cross the bridge and it took a while before we could back over to the right.
We stopped again for a break and food in Consecon where I also adjusted my seat as it has been bothering me. Carrying on to Wellington I soon realized that the adjustment wasn’t quite right. More adjustments were done in Wellington.
We decided not to take a side road to get a distant view of the Scotch Bonnet Island Lighthouse as the island is about 5 km offshore.
Scotch Bonnet Island Lighthouse
The Scotch Island Lighthouse is a fifty-four-foot-tall limestone tower attached to a small dwelling and was first lit in September, 1856.
In 1862 another house was built to serve as the keeper’s winter accommodations, as the stone dwelling was only fit for occupation during the summer months.
A new lantern was added in 1882 and a Fresnel lens replaced the original lamp array in 1909.
When a new light that burned acetylene gas was installed in 1919 the keeper was withdrawn from the island.
In 1959, a skeletal tower was erected replacing the stone lighthouse, which had started to crumble.
Now a National Wildlife Area with restricted access, the island is home to the largest colony of Herring Gulls on Lake Ontario and also a Cormorant colony.
We arrived in Wellington about 1 p.m. and had a late lunch in a park. We cruised the main street a number of times until we found the bike shop where we pumped up our tires.
Another band of rain was heading our way so we quickly headed to the Tim Hortons on the outskirts of town and sat for an hour or two and worked on the journal as the rain came down. The area is very dry so this was much needed for the local farmers but obviously inconvenient for us.
While there we mapped out our next days ride referencing this handy map on their wall. I have decided to eliminate the ride out to the Prince Edward Point Lighthouse which will take 25 miles off tomorrows route. Although undecided on where we will end up for the night, the hope is we can get all the way to Kingston thus shortening the following days ride.
In hindsight one of the next two or three days should have been a rest day but our schedule is tight so we must push on.
We left Tim Hortons at 4 p.m. and grabbed some groceries for dinner.
Arriving at Sandbanks Provincial Park about 5:30 p.m. they advised us they didn’t have any campsites. We tried 2 other campgrounds nearby and got the same story. Being Saturday night everywhere was full.
As I had bought sausages for dinner I decided I better cook them before they went bad so we went over to the day use area for the Provincial Park and set up the stove. While eating our dinner, I remembered a RV park back down the road so called them and they said they would accommodate us for $55. Not wanting to go back to far we scouted out the day use area for showers and found none as we had decided to push on and stealth camp down by the beach.
On our way out of the day use area I thought to try the entrance kiosk at the Provincial Park one more time. Bingo they had just got a cancellation so we secured a site.
We finally got set up about 8:30 pm. Unfortunately this was a noisy site and it was hard to find some flat ground for two tents. Once again, campgrounds during the weekend get noisy with one group singing until 11 p.m. and then our neighbors partied till well after midnight. Probably would have got more sleep down by the beach, but no shower.
Sometime later I woke up to rain on my face. I had half covered the tent with the fly as it was hot so I quickly got up and secured the fly.
I guess this place is a popular swimming area with the amount of people in the day use area. With all the issues of finding a site to camp we never did see the beach.
Today's ride: 61 miles (98 km)
Total: 397 miles (639 km)
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