McCrae Lake "Spring CleanUp" - Saturday, May 26th

This is a lovely lake accessed from Georgian Bay Road off of Hwy. #400 (formerly Hwy. #69).  It has been designated a Conservation Reserve under Ontario's Living Legacy "Lands for Life" initiative. Because of it's location close to a major highway, it is very heavily used by fishermen, paddlers, hikers, etc.  Even more pressure has been put on this area through the addition of a snowmobile route over the past year.

Because this lake is not part of a provincial park, there is no government body taking responsibility for the environmental impacts of so many people using the area.  It is up to each individual to be responsible....and some of them have a lot to learn.

Fortunately, Sean Bisschop of the "Friends of McCrae Lake" coordinates a clean up event twice each year; once in the spring and once in the fall.  Kudos go to the Municipality of the District of Muskoka, who kindly provide a dumpster and, this year, added recycling containers for glass, tin and cardboard.

The weather God smiled on sixteen of us as we headed into McCrae Lake for the annual spring clean up day.  After meeting Sean in the parking lot and discussing logistics, we headed down the MacDonald River. 

The addition of a bailey bridge made our progress across the portage trail a little more challenging than it used to be. You can no longer follow the old portage route in its entirety. There are metal beams sticking out under the bridge, and the rocks are slippery when wet and muddy, so be very cautious if you want to save your head and your canoe...clearance is only about three feet. 

Why the snake at the top of this page?  Well...collectively we saw four while in the lake; milk and garters.  Also, there was one unsubstantiated report of two rattlers.  We also saw a skink (first time ever, for me), blue herons, cormorants, painted turtle, an unidentifed black turtle, yellow lady slippers, orchids, trilliums, columbine, and LOTS of tent caterpillars.  Poison ivy in abundance made us very glad we had worn our long pants. 

There was garbage aplenty.  Our most dangerous find were dozens of broken beer bottles, and those plastic rings which hold six-packs together and get stuck around the necks of birds and animals -- slowly starving them to death.  Our smelliest offering was about one lb. of uncooked potatoes found in a fire pit on top of someone's fermenting cooked creamed pasta with carrots dinner...yuck!  One site had been raided by raccoons in the night and the humans had left--with the contents of their disrupted food packs still scattered all over the site. 

Other campers sort of only see half of the picture...they neatly tie all their garbage in bags...and then they toss it way back in the bush (where the animals tear it apart), or they leave it neatly stacked on the shoreline (where the animals tear it apart), or they leave it at the portage (where the animals tear it apart). Note:  There is no regular garbage pickup on McCrae Lake, folks!  You do have to carry it out all the way!

Treasures found included one pair of very stylish sunglasses, a lovely copper kettle (no lid), metal tent pegs, and six cold unopened beer. 

Highlights included the wonderful weather, the great company, the pleasure of paddling a beautiful lake, and meeting the irrepressible 10-year-old Courtney, who loves to climb rock, has eagle eyes for spotting garbage and a fertile imagination which she uses to compose songs about Dave. Thanks to everyone who came out to help!  You did a wonderful job!

If you are interested in the fall clean-up on September 8th, please contact Sean Bisschop of the Friends of McCrae Lake or Marilyn Clark (member of the BCC and PEST).