October 17th, 2011
Published by: mooresb
Hole In The Wall Hole In The Wall October 17th, 2011
to spend all my summers growing up in northern Georgian Bay. When I took my own children there many years later one of our favourite outings, as it had been in my childhood, was to Hole-In-The-Wall. This is like the space in an exclamation mark, between the dot and the line: a short channel between a long mainland peninsula and a small island.
level from chicken to daredevil; the kids would jump into the inflated inner tube we brought along like arrows aimed at a bullseye. There are wonderful smooth orange granite shelves beneath the surface of the water around the corner from the diving rocks. I would rather be under the water if only I had gills, and I liked to just swim along looking at the magnificent rock formations. In fresh water most surfaces under the water are slippery with a film of algae, some of the "shelves" are large and have only a few inches of water above them, so sliding on them was great fun. On higher terrain above the swimming spot there is a glacially-created large crevasse, at a 45 degree angle, with one perfectly smooth face and serviceable cracks which one year tempted young rock climbers. My heart was taxed as I watched them climb up and then slide down the thirty foot slope! Adjacent to this rock face can be seen, if one is standing in the right position, the enormous noble profile of what looks like an Indian carved by the ancient glacier in smooth, velvety white granite. We would climb to the highest place and look down on Hole-In-The-Wall - the lake's gem tones of turquoise and sapphire showed up the varying depths; we might watch the occasional boat going through the channel unsuspecting of the pairs of eyes watching them. One year my kids and I had a lovely swim, exploratory walk, and a few games of cards at Hole-In-The-Wall; the day was typically sunny and beautiful. Later in the afternoon I was walking along the edge of the water watching some large slow-moving fish I couldn't identify, when I looked up towards Little Current, the closest town, on the horizon. Coming at us was the dark indication of a storm. I ran back to the kids and our mini-camp and declared that we had better get out of here, quickly. We threw everything in the boat, pulled up anchor, and started off, plying our way through the little channel.
After motoring through Hole-In-The-Wall we turned East, just around the corner to a small cove where the water is deep, and there is a natural granite "dock", perfect for unloading the boat of gear and passengers. Then the boat was tied to a dwarf pine tree growing near the water, and the anchor was tossed off the stern. This cove is secluded and very private, it felt like it belonged to us, and we rarely ever saw another boat. We always brought a large picnic, thermoses, sun screen, playing cards, books, and tin juice cans tied with string handles in case there were blueberries to pick , even pillows to make reading more comfortable, and of course bathing suits and towels everything we needed to spend many hours there. Swimming was the main activity of the day, interspersed with the other entertainments. The deep cove was equipped with a cliff at the water's edge offering several diving platforms for any skill
When we got to the other side, to the large channel which took us back to our island, the wind was up and the waves were several feet high. My 14 year-old son was at the tiller and the temptation to have a thrill ride was great; he asked me if we could ride the waves for a few minutes. Being a lover of wave riding I said okay, just a bit, and we bounced and pounded our trusty cedar strip kicker on the waves coming down the channel West to East. I had a moment of fear that we were being too reckless, and at my signal to him, he turned the boat and we beat it for home, the rain and wind just off our stern. It was exhilarating not knowing if we would stay ahead of the storm. As we approached our island I decided it would be quicker and easier to park the boat at the neighbour's island connected to ours which was more protected from the 1
October 17th, 2011
Published by: mooresb
wind and had a sheltering roof. We tied up in record time! Just as we ran with our swimming and picnic gear towards the sand beach between our islands, the rain pelted down fiercely, drenching us. We ran along the woods path to the Clubhouse, our main cabin, the sound of the rain drumming above and around us, to tell our tale of adventure and warm ourselves by the fire. We were safe at home.
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