#2191 "Algoma Central"

Frater was indeed beautiful even in the fog and heavy drizzle. Some professional observers would call it rain. There were a pair of bull moose in this image but they dissolved into the fog like ghosts. This view was looking northwest along the tracks of the Algoma Central Railway.

Several members of Canada's Group of Seven painted in the Algoma region between 1918 and 1923, including Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, J.E.H. MacDonald and Arthur Lismer. Back in 1918 Algoma was certainly remote. Villages along the shore of Lake Superior were only accessible by boat. Interior regions of Algoma had the Algoma Central Railway. The group rented a boxcar from the Algoma Central Railway and converted it into a paint mobile. What fun!

A hundred years later I had my own paint mobile. The 2004 Subaru Forester was filled to the roof with paint, canvas and summer weight camping supplies. It might have been June but the weather was more like January. It was a wonderful experience. I was traveling on Highway 17 or Kings Highway 17. The official opening for through traffic on the 4860 mile long Trans-Canada Highway took place on September 3rd, 1962. The Subaru was my access to Algoma and the painting haunts of the Group of Seven.

This painting was looking northwest along the paired ACR lines. A ditch was still filled with the water from the remains of Hurricane Alberto. A dirt lane paralleled this ditch for a ways. All of the paths led into the thick fog and the notch cut through the tree line.

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