The Passionate Hiker: Ant World

Sun. 24 May: Frontenac Provincial Park: Tetsmine Lake Loop

Rugged routes to land-locked lakes

As we walked down the trail from Kingsford Dam towards the Tetsmine Lake Loop, we met a young family returning from an overnight camp. The father was carrying an enormous roll of bedding on his back.

They were not the only ones carrying heavy loads. At our lakeside “elevenses” stop, on a rock, ants were at work. They were trying to move a large worm but were having some difficulty with the task. If only we could have understood ant language. One of them must have been issuing orders as they scurried around, trying to prop up the worm with small stones, and pushing its head around. Reinforcements were called for, and at last progress was made. We stood there for several minutes in fascination. As we continued down the trail, we were a little more careful not to step on any ants - if we could help it!

It was a perfect day for a hike in the Frontenac Park wilderness. Our route took us clockwise around the loop. On my last visit, we had travelled the other way round, and it had been early November, so today’s journey was a completely new experience. There were delicate red columbines on show as the trilliums were finally fading. We saw wild strawberry flowers, and several areas of poison ivy.

There were only four of us today, and our hike leader set a perfect pace. This trail always has something interesting around the next corner – the mine, surrounded by glittering mica, several lakes, bridges and boardwalks, and plenty of changes in elevation to keep the heart rate up.

After a nice lunch stop above Clearwater Lake, we seemed to drop down the hillsides all the way back to the start. We detoured to the campsite beside McNally Bay on Kingsford Lake to enjoy the sight of the choppy waters, stirred up by the strong, warm southwest wind.

Of course, at our feet were the ants, busily moving supplies from the shoreline back to their supply base. We were not the only ones who had earned a rest. It must be exhausting being an ant.

Note: single-click on the first picture above to scroll through the photos separately

Statistics:

Total Distance: 11.2 km (hike)

Height Gain: Say 500 ft.

Time on Trail: 4 hrs. 00 mins.

Start (Dam): 9.48 am

Mine site: 10.24 am

Tetsmine L: 11.15 am

Clearwater L: 12.24 pm

Ret. to car: 1.48 pm

Temp: +15C rising to +24 C

Weather: Sunny, SW wind