Bon Echo Provincial Park reviews have been very enticing and we wanted to check it out for a long time already. Today is our day. I just woke up there.
Starting with posh breakfast
While making our traditional breakfast, consisting of un-caged hen eggs, prize winning natural bacon and organic espresso (and no Andi did not forget the espresso maker this time) we discovered that tenting among trees may provide surprises.
I kid you not, judging by the number of spots on the tent cover, there must have been a million birds aiming at us. Regardless of the number of the bombs they dropped, these party poopers did not stop us from enthusiastically re-cranking brass espresso mill imported from Turkey for a second morning wake-up sip.
Mazinaw Lake trail
I set up my mobile office and typed words of wisdom while the aroma of bacon spread over the campground. After a satisfying breakfast we packed up quickly, loaded our old Forrester and drove towards the Mugwump Ferry Boat.
The ferry will to take us to the other side of the Mazinaw Lake where we may enjoy moderately difficult 1.4km Cliff Top Trail. The ferry ride was smooth and picturesque, the trail was rocky and steep.
Panoramas and health are connected
To me the Cliff trail will stay as an image of never-ending stairs, orange rocks and great lake panoramas. This trail would be total fun for Health Level B, challenging for Level C, but not so nice for a D. Health has its benefits… and you might have never thought that health and panoramas were in any way connected.
As per the Bon Echo brochure available at the campsite there are six hiking trails and one canoe route within the Park. We wanted to explore all the trails of Bon Echo, so after the Cliff trail we moved towards the Creek Trail.
Half way through the hike a major black cloud came from behind and it made us rush back to the car. That black thing looked like it was going to stay for at least few hours, so we decided to forgo hiking and go towards Cobden, our next destination.
Lack of good coffee sucks!
Still without GPS connection we kinda aimed north. This no-internet zone lasted for another hour on Hwy 41. Only approaching Renfrew did we get a faint signal.
Renfrew appeared on a paper map as a circle. Judging by its size we were hoping for a nice coffee shop or a lunch place with WiFi connection. Guess what! Renfrew does NOT have any quality coffee shops.
We found only two Tim Hortons. I know a lot of people do not care about coffee quality. For most people coffee is coffee, but to us coffee is a health food and it is worth going an extra mile to get those extra health benefits.
We do not want any diluted oxidized coffee version that has at best half of the potential health benefits. It is as though you would buy a bra with only one breast cup? That’s just a crazy thought!
More spice and more butter, please!
We stopped at the corner of Hwy 60 and 20 at the Crown & Kilt Pub, the only non-fast-food eatery in Renfrew we could find. The decorum was charming and we were also enticed by the menu: mostly protein based foods like steaks, burgers, etc, not starch or pasta based cheap stomach stuffers.
People were nice, but the food was too “healthy” for our liking. I prefer more spice and more fat. My ordered “Hideway” was too plain and unfortunately not satisfying. I had to settle for fries and double butter on the mini bun. Oh, I know… I will pay for that. The bill came to $36. The later part of the charge will show up in my stretchy pants.
BoneVista rocks
We finally arrived at BonaVista Campground, which looked like the best privately own campground we experienced so far. We got a spacious camp space, drinking water at the site, working electrical hookup, and a good WiFi connection. This is a place I would visit again.
We were going to spend a few nights here so we upgraded our camping facilities. I got a portable rain and mosquito-shielded office with a blue roof (see photo). I also got a color-matching table: blue utility box we keep our tenting supplies in. For the first time ever I would be able to let my workaholic dragon out past the sunset. It is due our fantastic upgraded facility that also features ceiling suspended night light.
Go to Bon Echo to Ottawa Part 1
Go to Bon Echo to Ottawa Part 3
