Leaving the dock and heading north, we turned into the narrow channel with a tall rock formation which the workers digging the canal named Dukes profile. The rock, chiseled by the weather, resembled the profile of the Duke of Wellington in 1830. He is said to be staring out cross the the channel to his court in the opposite granite cliff.
Passing through the narrow channel, we entered Cranberry Lake, with beautiful granite walls, rocky islands, a few homes, and farmland.
Going through Brass Point Swing Bridge was a tight fit as the bridge channel was 18-20 feet and we take up 14 feet. After the bridge we entered Little Cranberry Lake. We shared this lake with many fishermen. Apparently, there is excellent fishing here- Large and Small Mouth bass, Northern pike, Pickerel, and Muskellunge. Little Cranberry Lake has its share of cottages and boat docks dotting the shore with many small granite islands. We liked the ones named The Mounteys.
Next we go through Murthy’s Narrows at the end of a little Cranberry Lake and enter Whitefish Lake. Similar to Little Cranberry, but much wider, with cottages and fishermen.
Approaching the four locks at Jones Falls, Locks # 42-39, we tie up to the blue line and walk up to the locks. We waited through two lock downs filled with small cruisers and a few big ones going south for our turn to lock up. We shared the lock with a Canadian couple and their two dogs on a pontoon boat and we rose 60 feet into the narrows of Sand Lake.
After we got the boat tied up at the dock, we left to hike the area around the lock. There is a block house and a blacksmith shop from the 1830’s and an arch dam, which when built in 1832, was the tallest dam in North America. Today the dam has been modified slightly to power a small hydroelectric plant.
We also climbed down what used to be a 60 foot waterfall and we even got all the way back up!! This waterfall was the reason the locks were placed here originally. Canadians who lived in the area said in the spring water flowing over the falls is tremendous. What we saw was about 1/4 of the maximum flow.
We met Doug and Marian Abbot and shared docktails with them. They are on holiday and heading down to the Thousand Islands. They suggested that we stay at Jones Falls another night as this is a long weekend in Canada and all the docks will be full. So tomorrow we will stay here.
Here are some drone shots of Jones Falls.
Went out after dark to watch the sky, so many stars! Using the binoculars what we thought were high clouds turned out to be the Milky Way.
July 31 Day 106 Staying in Jones Falls
We slept late. Was nice to just relax in the morning. Later we hitched a ride with Doug and Miriam were kind enough to include us as they ran errands. I bought fresh veggies and Bill got beer. (Apparently, many Canadians drive their cars to the parks and then bring their boats to the lock. Then they have access vehicles as needed while they live on their boat at the lock park.)
As a side note: In Ontario only province run stores can sell liquor. Also there are state run beer stores. Just so you know, beer is cheaper in the beer stores.
After our shopping excursion, we watched a 90 foot Rideau River Cruise boat go through the lock. Was fascinating to watch a boat that completely fills the lock maneuver successfully into the lock. It actually has to fold up its bow to fit in the lock.
Later in the afternoon, we launched the dinghy and explored Sand Lake. We landed on Rock Island and tied the dinghy between two trees and -oops, Bill got a bit wet moving from the dinghy to shore.
I made it to shore without incident. We then climbed all over the rocks on the island. Was fun climbing up the big granite boulders. Now, of course, we had to get back down! We managed to successfully navigate ourselves back into the dinghy and return to the dock.
Bill and I such intrepid explorers! Again the stars at night were magnificent.