Joe & Wilma's Excellent Adventures

 Saturday, May 18, 2024

Wawa Lake

Joe was determined to make that drive around Wawa Lake today, so after our donuts at Tim Hortons, we headed out.  We tried to get more information on this drive but the Visitor Center was still closed for the season.  We don't know when the "season" starts but apparently not yet.  He asked a guy at the donut shop, and another one at the gas station, but they didn't really give him much information, so off we went.  It started out ok, just another dirt road, but eventually we took a wrong turn and the road deteriorated.  

We veered away from Wawa Lake, but there were lakes and ponds everywhere we looked.We thought for sure we would see some wildlife, but all we saw were 2 chipmunks and 6 ducks.

We did see several beaver huts and a beaver dam, but no beavers.

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We came to a crossroads and apparently chose the wrong fork.  We lost the road on the GPS which should have been a clue, but the road straight ahead said closed, so we took the right fork.  Further on there were some campers off to the left but then the road really got bad -- rough and narrow. It was really a two-track.   I'm sure we have a bad case of Wawa pinstripes on both sides of the Jeep. I think this is Joe's reenactment of our trip through New York City.  Here's the first low underpass, which we fit under.

The second low underpass almost took the roof off.  Well, maybe we had a few inches to spare but it was certainly low.

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We went on and on, the potholes shaking us to death and the road continuing to deteriorate.  Finally, we actually came to the end of the road -- right in front of a house.  The road would have taken us right into a lake.  So we turned around, and a guy came out of the house.  I'm pretty sure he was living off the grid and wanted to be alone.  Joe said, "Hi.  We found you even though we weren't trying to."  He didn't laugh.  So Joe explained that we were trying to find the road to Steephill Dam and Highway 17.  He said there was no way to get there and we had to go back to the "sawdust pile" and take a right, which would take us back the way we came in.  So we headed out, on that terrible road again, making more scratches on the Jeep.  Interestingly, we met a pick-up truck on this road.  And then a quad.  Would like to have asked them where they came in from but they didn't stop.  We finally got back to the crossroads where we had taken the wrong turn. We forded this one deep mud puddle both ways.  I wasn't sure it wasn't deep enough to sink us, but Joe plowed right on through both times.  

 I knew Joe wasn't going to take the road back, like the guy had said. Joe was bound and determined to finish this drive around Wawa Lake so he took the road that said "closed."  It was bumpy but not as bad as the one we had been on for 6 1/2 miles.  But, alas, we finally came upon the dam.  You can see the river winding down from it.  

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We found out at the donut shop that today is opening season for pickerel, a fish in the pike family.  We saw one boat on one of the many lakes on this drive, but the back side of the dam was quite busy with boats launching. 

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We finally reached highway 17 and headed back to Wawa.  It was about a 3-hour drive, but probably not more than 40 miles.  And there wasn't much to see except brush and lakes.  But we got it done.  It was a beautiful day, although it sprinkled when we got back to town.  And the bugs are plentiful, especially on this drive.  The road had not followed Wawa Lake very closely except at the very beginning but we saw plenty of other lakes.  I was glad to get back to the RV!

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