Exploring Kenora and Rushing River

After our visit with Grant, Doreen and their friends at West Hawk Lake yesterday, we had only one day left to explore the area around our campground here at Longbow Lake, Ontario.  So, taking the advice of Grant, Doreen and their friend Desa, we decided to knock about nearby Kenora, then drive over to Rushing River Provincial Park.

Kenora is quite a tourist town - popular, evidently, with especially people from Winnipeg and just south over the border in the States.  Many people own cottages in the immediate area and will day-trip into town for lunch or walking about.  Consequently, the town has a large number of retail establishments catering to tourists.

The most unique thing we found in Kenora was Husky the Muskie, a HUGE statue by the marina:

Are any further words necessary?

We got lucky in our visit, both as to time and place, because our walk took us around to the marina and Kenora Market Day, held on Wednesdays in the white tent-like pavilion you can see in this photo of downtown Kenora from the waterfront:

Today we needed bread, and we found some especially tasty bannock.  We bought two loaves of that and some multigrain bread.  Bannock is a variety of flat quick bread. When a round bannock is cut into wedges, the wedges are called scones, which we have all tasted. "Bannock" is a Northern English and Scottish word of Celtic origin. The Oxford English Dictionary states the term stems from panicium, a Latin word for "baked dough", or from panis, meaning bread.  We find it very tasty!

Having tried a little produce shopping, we walked down Main Street to - what else? - a brewpub! This one was Lake of the Woods Brewing Company, local to Kenora, which sits on Lake of the Woods, a huge lake that lies west of Lake Superior, just above the Canadian border with the U.S.  Lake of the Woods Brewing Company is located in a rehabbed old fire station:

We found the beer and food very tasty, and we felt nourished for the rest of the day's adventures.

Walking back to the truck, we took a different route by Kenora's old train station --

-- and its Court House:

We were happy to get out of Kenora due to the congestion and traffic, and all the more happy to arrive at Rushing River Provincial Park.  Rushing River is, indeed, rushing here, with half a dozen rapids and falls within a 2-mile length of the river.  Here, Kathy admires one of the more spectacular falls on the river:

To reach the other falls, we needed to hike the Lower Rapids Trail.  David found the trailhead:

As we started down the river, we first encountered a placed, slow-moving stream that almost resembled a lake or pond, and which was quite comely:

Further down, however, the stream bed narrowed, the water flow accelerated, and the water began tumbling again over and around huge boulders:

These rapids continued for nearly a quarter mile:

Because the river flows through small canyons and among rocky cliffs, it was necessary for the park to install over a dozen boardwalks and staircases to accommodate the trail:

Here, as we returned upstream along the opposite bank of the river, we again reached the placid section, which enjoys a beautiful setting:

The green beauty extended all the way upstream back to the upper falls:

By the time we finished our park visit, it was after 3:00 p.m.  We took a back road to return to the campground and were happy just to collapse in our camp chairs to enjoy happy hour and the softening sun.

On to Winnipeg!