Wednesday, September 22, 2010 (Elliot Lake, ON)

We were ready to go by 8:30 this morning...it was chilly so we had our long-johns on and I had 6 layers of clothing! But it was clear out and it was looking very promising weather-wise. Upon arriving at the ELATV Clubhouse, we began to unload the quads from the truck as members of the club started to arrive. There would be 5 members (John, Alex, Roy, Bill and Fred) taking us with them on their Wednesday ride. They have approximately 85 members in their club. Their website is http://www.elatv.com/.  More about ATV'ing in Ontario can be found at http://www.atvontario.com/

We started out at 9:00 a.m....I was behind John, the ride leader...and Steve was behind me. Barely a minute or two into the ride, I tried a radio-check with Steve—we have 2-way radios attached to our helmets—but there was no response, so I took a look behind me. He wasn’t there, so I stopped...eventually, John noticing no one was behind him, turned around and came back to check out what was going on. Just as I also turned around to follow John back, along they all came...so after turning back around again, off we went. I continued trying to talk to Steve over the radio but there was no response...I figured he had forgotten to turn his on. It wasn’t until we stopped for a minute at a road that I learned the reason for the hold-up...his radio had fallen off his helmet. No wonder I couldn’t reach him...well, I’m glad that was all it was...I was afraid the hold-up had been an issue with his quad.

We started our ride by going up to the top of Beaver Mountain to a spectacular lookout (after riding past our campsite.) The view was even better than from the Fire Tower Lookout...and the colours...incredible! You can almost see them changing daily.

We had one hellava day! The weather was fabulous...I had to start removing some of the layers as the day wore on. John led us on a ride with awesome views...of the countryside and many lakes. The pictures likely won’t do the colours justice. We stopped numerous times...to rest, take pictures, have snacks/lunch and to chat with the club members. All, with the exception of John who has lived here for over 30 years, have retired and moved to Elliot Lake.

We rode through hundreds of puddles...some larger than others...through streams...some so deep that we had to hold our feet up...and through mud bogs! Just put ‘er in 4x4 low...and go!

We arrived back at the clubhouse at 5:00...now that had been an excellent 8 hour, 90 km ride! After saying our thank-yous and goodbyes to John (the others had parted earlier, riding to their homes...you can do that here in Elliot Lake) we gassed-up the quads and loaded them back into the truck. Saturday is their annual fall colours ride so we will just ride from the campground.

Arriving home, we quickly got changed so we could sit outside with a bevie and take advantage of the lovely evening...but the clouds were quickly coming in...there was rain heading our way for tomorrow.

Peter, our neighbour, came over for a chat. They had been given a tour of the area by ‘Retirement Living’ a non-profit organization that is promoting Elliot Lake as a retirement community. He is very impressed with the area and all of the activities it has to offer but it sounds like they really didn’t find any housing (apartment or small house) that they really wanted to purchase.  Apparently you can buy a 2 bedroom bungelow for $74,000.

By 7:00, the clouds had come in, the wind had picked up and it was getting pretty chilly so we headed inside. It was time to prepare dinner anyway. We spent the rest of the evening watching TV before heading to bed...we were both pooped! We had had a great day!