Post 135: Hiking around Sharbot Lake, Ontario

Hiking around Sharbot Lake, Ontario – Pick a Direction!

Step outside our door and pick a direction, any direction, and you can go for a walk in the forest!

The ground is a soft carpet of leaves, branches, bark and stems in various stages of decomposition.

Head north and you will eventually come to Silver lake. Head south and you will traverse some hilly terrain before coming to the Beaver Dam Lake (and yes, there is a Beaver Dam on the Lake). Skirt around the Beaver Dam Lake and you will find yourself crossing the Great Trail (more on the Great Trail a bit later in this post).

Cross over the Great Trail and you will find dozens of ATV paths that head in every direction. Most end up at a body of water or some rustic camping area with a fire ring. We are not sure if the sites are used for camping or are they a hunting camp?

When walking in the woods, if you look hard you will find the remnants of old logging roads. These old roads are great for walks as they are somewhat clear of major growth.

We have been walking / hiking around the area for several months now and so far we have only seen a total of 2 other humans!

Wildlife on the other hand is more abundant. We have had the pleasure of viewing River Otters, Beavers, Snakes, Qual, Porcupine, Fox, Deer, Turtles, and many species of birds. Lucky, (our black lab), has tried to play with a few of them and has learned, the hard way, that the animals don’t always want to play. Lucky was ‘quilled’ a few weeks ago by a porcupine that was not interested in playing!

In addition to the wildlife, we have seen old buildings, and other abandoned items. It makes us wonder what life was like here years and years ago.

Four Seasons

Depending on the season you are out walking, the sights are very different. Yet each season is beautiful in their own way. We have witnessed 3 of the 4 seasons so far; the tail end of summer, fall, and early winter.

Walking in the summer you are a little more restricted to the trails and/or roadways. Walking through the forest is more like bushwacking. The brush is dense, abundant and GREEN. Everything’s so green (even some of the water lol).

Autumn is intense, the brush is starting to thin out and the leaves are transitioning from green to vibrant yellow, sunset orange and fire red.

Although the first ‘official’ day of winter is December 21st, we have had several heavy snowfalls and many subzero nights. The trees laden with fresh sparkling snow are a sight to behold – simply beautiful – so relaxing and peaceful to look at.

A pleasant surprise was our pups! They BOTH love the snow. They wrestle together, roll in the snow, stick their face neck deep and just have an old fashioned good time in the snow!

One of our favorite activities on walks is to look for footprints to see what animal has been out and about. The challenge is to find the prints before the dogs trample the snow with their own prints lol.

Here is a short video of Lucky playing in the snow.

The Great Trail

If you decide to take the Great Trail, head west and you will come to the town of Sharbot Lake. Or if you prefer, go east to visit Perth, Ontario. Want to go further than Sharbot Lake or Perth? Stay on the trail and you will eventually end up on the west coast of Canada or east coast, your choice! The Great Trail is a multi-use trail that is over 24,000 KM long making it the longest recreational trail in the world!

A Video of our walk to the Great Trail

Here is a video of our hike to get to the entrance of the Great Trail.

Here are a few pictures from our hikes.