The Blackstone Creek Misadventure

When I'm campaigning door-to-door I always get asked the same old question, "What are you going to do if you get elected?". It's a fair question.

One of the things I would do is use this website blog to communicate with people about the various Ward 1 and Seguin issues. I would use photos and words to document my understanding of the facts and arguments surrounding issues. Here's an example of the sort of issue research I would report on if elected.

ISSUE: Water Levels (Blackstone Creek between Horseshoe Lake and First Lake)

In speaking with waterfront property owners on Horseshoe Lake the common concern is the lake water level. This is determined by the amount of rainfall, and the water run off from Blackstone Creek which feeds into First Lake at a lower elevation.

At issue is the question of the appropriate height of a blast rock weir at the mouth of Blackstone Creek located at the western edge of Horseshoe Lake. This contentious, artificial weir regulates the level of water in Horseshoe and Virtue Lake (as they are connected by a channel) and the entire watershed system along Blackstone Creek. I understand that there is some ongoing discussion regarding the installation an adjustable wooden weir to better regulate the flow out of Horseshoe Lake.

In order to better understand the water system that connects these lakes, I decided to navigate down the 1 km section of Blackstone Creek which connects Horseshoe Lake and First Lake.

At the entrance to Blackstone Creek a Ministry of Natural Resources sign is posted warning people not to remove any rocks from the weir. The sign did not prohibit the addition of rock to the weir. An oversight? Too much rock would eliminate Blackstone Creek.

DOCUMENTATION:

A small map showing Blackstone Creek (center), Horseshoe
Lake (right), and First Lake (left). The creek passes under three
road or highway culverts and ends with a large, boggy fen
as it spills into First Lake.

A view of the blast rock weir at the Horseshoe Lake
entrance to Blackstone Creek. The McKaig Drive culvert
forms a concrete bank. As with every other creek obstacle,
I lifted the canoe up and over the weir.

Here's a reverse view of the weir and Horseshoe Lake to the east.

At the far end of the McKaig Drive culvert you can see more artificial
blast rock set at the culvert entrance along with a water pump
hose which snakes through the culvert to no purpose.

View from underneath the 69 Hwy culvert which is longer, deeper and
wider than the McKaig Drive culvert.

A reverse (westside) view of the 69 Hwy culvert.
Notice the lack of artificial blast rock rubble on the
creek bed.

Onwards along Blackstone Creek. I could paddle the canoe through
the creek's narrow passage without scraping the canoe on
creek bottom. Though I began to see trees fallen across my route.

And another tree across Blackstone Creek. Those Boy's Own
Adventure novels don't mention all of the trees fallen across
unexplored creeks. I stopped counting the number of times
I stepped into the creek and lifted the canoe over a tree.

Then I reached the eastern entrance to the 400 Hwy culvert. It
was long, wide, but very shallow with blast rock. The creek bed
slopes way up with blast rock at the entrance to the culvert.

I had to pull the empty canoe through the twisting rock passage.
The canoe still scraped bottom blast rock. I was reminded of
Dante's Inferno as I sloshed through the culvert. I felt like I was
passing into another world - the stuff nightmares are made of.

A reverse (westside) view of the 400 Hwy culvert. Notice the lack
of shallow blast rock on the creek bottom.

More fallen trees.

The blur in the middle of this photo is a low tree branch I leaned
forward to avoid and managed to tip the canoe. The important
thing in any water misadventure is to get completely soaked
so you don't have to worry about getting wet anymore.

I waded in waist-deep water to a large tree across
the creek and managed to roll the half-filled canoe
over to dump out the water. Sometimes obstacle
trees can be your friend, kids.

Beautiful creek scenes like this almost made the near constant lifting
of canoe over fallen trees worth the struggle to continue.

This was the second beaver dam obstacle I had to lift the canoe over.

Here's the most beautiful scene on the 1 km route down
Blackstone Creek as it enters First Lake. Water lilies among
boulders fallen into the creek from the slope above made
me think of a tranquil Japanese garden.

And here I came to the end of the navigable portion of Blackstone
Creek connecting Horseshoe and First Lake. The weedy fen
prevented further paddling. I was tempted to pull the canoe
though to open water, but wasn't sure how big the fen really was.

I landed the canoe near the fallen boulders and
prepared myself for the next part of my ordeal -
a portage to the open water of First Lake.

Those Boys Own Adventure novels also don't mention
that real life canoe portaging sometimes means carrying a heavy
canoe up steep ridge slopes through dense bush.

Here's a view of the the First Lake Fen from a small clearing
on the ridge. I'm glad I didn't try to carry the canoe and gear
through it.

I followed deer trails over the ridge to an opening onto First Lake.
The sun was about to set and I was glad to get back onto open water.

Here's a reverse view of Blackstone Creek (middle of photo) as
it spills into First Lake. Actually Blackstone Creek barely trickles
into First Lake due to two beaver dams across the creek. Without the
beaver dams Blackstone (Swamp) Creek would be very low indeed.

ANALYSIS: Blackstone Creek is no longer a functional drainage system for Horseshoe Lake into First Lake due to the presence of two beaver dams located between the Hwy 400 culvert and First Lake. The artificial presence of blast rock in and around culverts also raises the historic levels of the Blackstone Creek bed inhibiting water flow. Blackstone Creek, due to inadequate water flow, is more characteristic of a swamp than a creek.

So ends my documentary report of a canoe trip down Blackstone Creek in the summer of 2010. It helps me to better understand the current condition of the creek in relation to Horseshoe and First Lake. I hope it is of some value (and possible amusement) for you to read the account.

I wouldn't recommend it as a first date canoe trip.