[ Get-aWay ]
Reading rocks!
BeSt Rock ARt SIteS of the cAnAdIAn ShIeld Spirit Walls STORY, PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY VIRGINIA MARSHALL
My feet shuffled uncertainly along the sloping, slippery granite. To my right, Lake Superior’s frigid green waters lashed at the precarious ledge on which I stood. To my left, a pink face of cold rock rose skyward in a single perfectly vertical pitch. Suddenly, I spotted them—caribou, men, canoes, snakes and a myriad of mythical creatures leaping and gliding across the granite canvas. To my young eyes, the creatures appeared almost alive. These were my first pictographs—an- cient rock paintings symbolizing people, events and medicine important to the artists who created them hundreds or even thousands of years ago. It’s no coincidence that many pictographs—including the ones I visited as a child at Agawa Rock—are found in spec- tacular natural settings. For it is in these places that the connection to the spirit world is strongest. The Agawa Rock paintings are still every bit as vibrant today, as are some 500 other pictograph sites found across the Canadian Shield.
Petroglyphs PETROGLYPHS PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO
On a smooth, horizontal outcrop of limestone—in a peaceful central Ontario forest—over 900 figures carefully etched into the rock comprise the most outstanding petroglyph site in all of Canada. The animals, birds, people, spirits and other images carved into the rock are estimated to be around 2,000 years old. Many of the visions, events and medicine depicted in the rock are not fully understood, but on-site interpreters can help explain some of the stories and meanings written in the stone.
Stay Awhile: Four short hiking trails round out a visit to this day-use park. Mountain biking, swimming and camping are available a 50-minute drive north at Silent Lake Provincial Park.
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Info: The park is 45 minutes northeast of Peterborough, off Hwy 28. Petroglyphs site closed Thanksgiving through early May. Petroglyphs Provincial Park, (705) 877-2552, ontarioparks. com/english/
petr.html SPRING 2010
Mazinaw Rock BON ECHO PROVINCIAL PARK, ONTARIO
Above the waterline of Lake Mazinaw, at a level comfortably reached from a canoe, over 260 pictographs adorn a 1.5- kilometre-long cliff face. Like the other tribes of Shield country, the Algonquins who painted these figures and symbols hundreds of years ago believed that the sheer 100- metre cliff was not only a physical boundary between water and land, but also a gateway to the spirit world. The powerful messages they left for the spirits at Mazinaw Rock comprise the largest single collection of pictographs in Canada and are easily viewed by canoeists.
Stay Awhile: Take a tour of upper and lower Mazinaw Lakes on the park boat, or by canoe (rentals available). Find comfortable wilderness campsites, sandy beaches and great fishing on Joeperry, Pearson and Mazinaw lakes.
Info: The park is one hour north of Napanee (90 minutes from Belleville) on Hwy 41. Bon Echo Provincial Park, (613) 336-2228,
ontarioparks.com/english/bone.html
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