#3001 "Red Horse Snowy Trails"

#3001 "Red Horse Snowy Trails" 36 X 12 (inches). Started at 9:30 am Monday, February 23rd, 2026.

It was a beautiful, sunny winter afternoon, and I decided to go for a long stroll along Long Reach Lane and Red Horse Lake Road. 

The spoor was days old, just north of Roddick Lane. Several snowfalls and the effects of the sun and the wind had eroded the defining marks which would have uniquely identified the travellers. I was pretty sure that deer and turkeys had used this same path. "Spoor" is a seldom-used word, which is why I employed it to mean "the track or scent of an animal." Unique titles are needed for the paintings, even though the chronological number is as individual as it gets. 

The shadows of trees snaked eastward across the undulating slope that led upward to the crest of the granite ridge that overlooks Red Horse Lake to the east. 

Red Horse Lake spans 746-acres in Leeds and the Thousand Islands Township. The two basins are deep, up to 122 feet. Red Horse is renowned for its lake trout, although bass and pike are common as well. Such lakes are rare in southern Ontario. 

The lake trout is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Lake trout are the largest of the freshwater char. They have been reported to live up to 70 years in some Canadian lakes. Lake trout are also a slow-growing, late-maturing species with generally low reproductive potential. Though potentially long-lived, both males and females, on average, do not reach sexual maturity until six to eight years of age.

Red Horse Lake is actually stocked with lake trout, which is why the fishing season for them is open all year round. Happily, the trout have also been determined to be naturally spawning and reproducing, something they do in autumn each year. 

After winter, trout move to warmer, shallower areas where sunlight increases insect activity. Baitfish follow the insects, and both are enjoyed as a lake trout "smorgasbord". We sometimes see large trout swim upstream through Jim Day Rapids in the spring. The turbulence in the strong current even helps to oxygenate the water. Some trout make it as far as the dam at Lyndhurst (Furnace Falls), but there they are stopped. On occasion, these trout will get stuck in the pools just downstream from Furnace Falls when the spring floods subside. Those trout end up on someone's dinner table. 

As cold-blooded creatures, the lake trout return to the deeper water of Red Horse in the summer, where they can still find their preferred temperature range of 13°C to 16°C (about 58°F). Large schools of trout are often seen on the fish finder, enjoying that layer of temperatures in the deep water of Red Horse Lake. 

#3001 "Red Horse Snowy Trails" nearing completion on a very cold winter day...

I thought of this information as I painted. It is included to help explain why I believe this area is so very unique and special. Why the Frontenac Arch Biosphere was recognized as a UNESCO Biosphere in 2002. 

It seems that everywhere we have lived has been threatened by "development" - simply turning the environment into cash. As if the land is not perfect to start with... Land is viewed as a commodity and something to manipulate. Actually, the exploitation of nature is happening everywhere, ever faster around the globe. By 2030, our current consumption patterns will demand the resources of approximately two Earths to sustain global demand. Clearly, the plundering of nature is not sustainable and urgent action is long overdue. 

Immediate action includes:

• Transition to Renewable Energy: Shifting away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources like solar, wind, and hydro power is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating climate change.
• Promote Sustainable Agriculture: Adopting sustainable farming practices that minimize soil erosion, reduce water consumption, and avoid the use of harmful pesticides is essential for preserving food security.
• Improve Resource Efficiency: Reducing waste in production and consumption, promoting recycling and reuse, and designing products for durability and repair can significantly lower our resource footprint.
• Encourage Sustainable Consumption: Promoting responsible consumption patterns, such as reducing meat consumption, buying local products, and minimizing waste, can help lower our individual ecological footprints.
• Invest in Education and Awareness: Raising awareness about the importance of sustainability and empowering individuals to make informed choices is critical for driving change.

ALTO, also known as the Toronto–Quebec City High-Speed Rail Network, threatens most of the above under the misguided guise of reducing carbon emissions. The estimated cost of up to $120 billion (about $3k for every citizen of Canada) is certainly underestimated to build the high-speed rail system that would effectively slice and block the essential north-south Algonquin-to-Adirondack (A2A) Nature corridor. That cost does not even include the trains or maintenance. Maintaining existing infrastructure is something that has been sorely overlooked. 

The goal of many of those who oppose ALTO is to simply fund and maintain the rails we already have, transforming that system into an affordable High Performance Train system. Transport 2000 had the answers for rail travel back in the 1970s. Rail can indeed be sustainable. There is no need for high speed, especially given the impacts on vital nature corridors (See The A2A Collaborative). The rail system should be twinned, with fares kept economically affordable. There is an urgent need to reduce the number of transports on the highways. We much prefer to travel by train and just relax, enjoying the ride. 

 

The high-speed rail is not expected to be finished until at least 2043, by which time the climate might be 3 degrees Celsius or more warmer than pre-industrial levels. Global warming is accelerating, with the planet heating at a rate of approximately 0.35°C per decade over the past 10 years, nearly double the 0.2°C per decade rate observed between 1970 and 2015. The impacts of those temperatures are beyond human comprehension, as they have never been experienced in this epoch. Please see my blog on the ALTO Project. 

The unsustainable and hypocritical nature of humans cannot be overstated. Humans are simply a naked ape and just another mammal. Not the owner and arrogant bully of all of Earth. The current Sixth mass extinction will effectively end the Holocene Epoch. 

For this and much more art, click on Pixels or go straight to the Collections. Here is the new Wet Paint Collection. Thank you for reading, and stay well!

Warmest regards, and keep your paddle in the water,

Phil Chadwick