#2317 "Canine Cove Cirrus Sunset"

The deformation zone on the western horizon of Georgian Bay was on fire with the September sunset. The long and straight arc of cirrus in the sky could only result from the leading edge of the moisture with the warm conveyor belt of the approaching low pressure area. Wisps of cirrus that were precursors of the main area of moisture were strung out parallel to the deformation zone. The atmosphere is stable at the height of the tropopause and these pieces of cirrus were undulating in gravity waves like those on a lake. Although the storm was clearly advancing on Canine Cove, there was a component of the wind from the south creating those waves in the atmosphere. The sunset sky might look chaotic but the message it told was very clear in the plain language of the clouds. There was another autumn storm on the way. It was a fun sky to witness and to paint.

Every painting needs a rhythm. The waves in the cirrus streaks provided the tempo... and the beat goes on.

For a description of how deformation zones form... I blog about the science as well as the art... "A Closer Look at Lines in the Sky". Art and science are really the same  as they examine the natural world around us.

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#2316 "Outbound from Snug Harbour"

Snug Harbour was a quaint and quiet little cove that reminded me very much of Nova Scotia. This is another view of Snug Harbour Range Rear Lighthouse which I also painted in #2311. I tried to be faithful to all of the structures on the various rocky islands. The Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse is a one-and-a-half storey dwelling with a tapered tower rising from the centre of its roof. It was built in 1893 and became operational within a year later.

This view is looking toward the west as we left the shelter of Snug Harbour. The cold front was well to the south and the northwesterly breeze was starting to organize streets of stratocumulus.

I also painted the buildings of Snug Harbour itself in #2312 "Snug Harbour".

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#2315 "Foggy Cold Frontal Passage"

The morning at Canine Cove had dawned with very thick fog. The Parry Sound Archipelago was in the warm sector of the autumn storm and our ongoing exploration of the area would be delayed. The fog was so thick that we we lost all landmarks if we ventured across any of the broad expanses of water. A much larger boat came by and it probably had radar. We shuffled into the wake of the Prima Donna boat and followed along. As we putted along northward there was a subtle shift of the wind to the northwest. Within a half hour the visibility was great at our location to the west of Killbear. The fog was lifting like a miracle into low stratus. It was safe to explore the beautiful shoreline.

This view is looking toward the east and the Killbear shore just after the cold front was passed our location. The water was a bit choppy with the wind shift as the waves tried to decide which way to go. The water was momentarily confused.

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#2314 "Parry Sound Cold Front"

The morning at Canine Cove had dawned with very thick September fog. The Parry Sound Archipelago was deep into the warm sector of the autumn storm. I knew that the cold front was to the northwest but without doing an isobaric analysis it was a challenge to tell just how far. Being optimistic and always enjoying an adventure, my friend Cam and I departed in his boat for a tour of the Georgian Bay shoreline to the north.

The fog was so thick that we we lost all landmarks if we ventured across any of the broad expanses of water. A much larger boat came by and it probably had radar. We shuffled into the wake of the Prima Donna boat and followed along. As we putted along northward there was a subtle shift of the wind to the northwest. Within a half hour the visibility was great and we toured a lot of the Georgian Bay landmarks as we had hoped.

This view is looking toward the southeast at the back end of the cold front. Some cumulus convection was evident along the front. If you looked closely you could even find some virga. There might have been a few convective drops that reached the bay but it would have been impossible to tell them from the spray of the boat.

The water levels were high in all of the Great Lakes. Some of the vegetation along the shoreline was submerged. You could read the water levels etched in the shoreline rocks. I included the sign posted on the point which encouraged boaters to respect the shoreline and leave only a minimal wake.

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#2313 "Flagged Pines and Cirrus"

The wind shapes the clouds and the forests. This view could be identified as looking northwesterly even without the aid of a compass. The flagged white pines have learned to lean with the wind. There is nothing to be gained by fighting a force of nature. The cirrus clouds were banded with the wind as well. These clouds were part of the warm conveyor belt surging northeast toward the Parry Sound Archipelago. Some gravity waves were perpendicular to those southwesterly winds comprising the warm conveyor belt. A long deformation zone was also perpendicular to those winds with the col in the pattern further to the north. The sun was getting low and the forests were strongly backlit showing their dark sides. The granite rocks were smooth on this particular island as they sloped into the depths.

Tom Thomson and members of the Group of Seven painted in the area for a while around 1914.

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#2312 "Snug Harbour"

Snug Harbour was a quaint and quiet little cove that reminded me very much of Nova Scotia. There was a small dory that reminded me in particular of Peggy's Cove. A dory by definition is a boat with a narrow, flat bottom, high bow, and flaring sides so this one is close. There were even some lobster pots. I doubt if they have ever caught a lobster in Georgian Bay. Snug Harbour is also the home of Gilly's Restaurant and Marine. It was closed when we were there. I was looking forward to fish and chips - maybe even a lobster. The tourist season was over and we did not see a soul.

Carling Township on the eastern shore of Georgian Bay is also home to Adanac, Brooks Landing, Carling, Dillon, Killbear Park, Shebeshekong, Snug Harbour, Snug Haven and Woods. The plein air painting opportunities in in Carling Township and in Snug Harbour particular, are excellent.

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#2311 "Snug Harbour Range Rear Lighthouse"

During 1891, Staff Commander John G. Boulton of the Royal Navy conducted a detailed survey of the various channels leading to Parry Sound. The 4,000 islands and dry rocks in the waterways were enough to convince him that light houses were needed. The Department of Marine decided to follow Boulton's recommendation for five new lights, which would be located on Walton Rock, Snug Island, Gordon Rock, Jones Island, and Hugh Rock. Four of the five lights worked together to form two ranges: Walton Rock and Snug Island served respectively as the front and rear lights of Snug Island Range, and Gordon Rock and Jones Island served respectively as the front and rear lights of Jones Island Range. To reach Parry Sound, mariners would pass south of Red Rock Lighthouse and then align their vessel with Snug Island Range.

Built in 1893, the Snug Harbour Rear Range Lighthouse is a one-and-a-half storey dwelling with a tapered tower rising from the centre of its roof. It became operational within a year later in 1894. Located at the southern tip of Snug Island and directly west of Snug Harbour in Georgian Bay, the lighthouse is ideally situated to direct marine traffic into Snug Harbour or on to Parry Sound. The combined dwelling and tower achieve a height of 14 metres (45 feet) from base to vane.

A cold front had just crossed Snug Harbour and the clouds were very interesting. There was some virga but I did not detect a drop of rain unless they hid with the spray from the boat. The small convective towers produced equally small shafts of virga under the cloud base.

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#2310 "Killbear Light"

This is Killbear Light. The Killbear Lighthouse is not actually part of Killbear Provincial Park. It sits on a 3.5 acre parcel of land owned by the Coast Guard. The first light was built in 1904 to help guide the grain ships, iron ore carriers, passenger ships and logging vessels into Parry Sound and Depot Harbour. The base of the light was a large acetylene gas canister that would be filled every spring and would last the shipping season. Filling the large acetylene canister was a risky business and in the spring of 1908 the Department of Transport ship "Pilot" tied up alongside the buoy at Ten Mile Point near Cameron Island (which is just to the southwest of Killbear, about 3 km from the Park). Seven crew members were on board when an explosion sunk the ship, killed the captain and blew some crew members into the icy April waters. The survivors rowed towards Parry Sound and they spent the night at Pratt's Dance Pavilion on Mowatt Island. After another explosion at the acetylene plant in Parry Sound killed two men the fuel was switched to using smaller tanks like welders use. In 1966 the lighthouse was changed to electricity and in 1994 the original light was replaced with this present structure.

Killbear Provincial Park sits on a peninsula which has been called Killbear Point since the 1850's. Stories have been told about a logger killing a bear or vice versa on that point. Logging was not active in the area until 1860 and lasting until 1920 so that story could well be fiction. Meanwhile the local Anishinabek (Ojibway) people had called the peninsula Mukwa Nayoshing which translates into 'Bear Point' long before there were any loggers in the area. The Ojibway probably called the point Mukwa Nayoshing to recognize the natural corridor for the bears that regularly swim back and forth from the tip of the point to Parry Island where the Wasauksing First Nation is located. I have seen some of these bears while I painted. The question remains why it was called Killbear Point instead of just Bear Point. It is probably just a translation error from the Ojibway language.

Whoever painted the name on the rocks of Bear Point misspelled Killbear with only one "L". I saw a beautiful fox snake on this point when I painted there in 2017 - #1999 "Killbear Sheltered Coves" . I had no idea that Killbear Provincial Park was so close to Parry Sound and Parry Island. It was a long and twisty drive to reach Killbear Provincial Park by the roads. It was a short paddle by water from Parry Sound.

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#2309 "Wind Swept Georgian Rocks"

During 1891, Staff Commander John G. Boulton of the Royal Navy conducted a detailed survey of the various channels leading to Parry Sound. Commander Boulton discovered the area of the Parry Sound Archipelago to be dominated by " upwards of 4,000 islands and dry rocks".

This is just one of those rocks. Even the rocks look to be swirled by the relentless wind and current. There was once a pine tree on the western point of this rock. The other pine on the island was dead as well. Some low shrubs were managing to survive. It is a challenge to decipher the boundaries between the water, the rocks and the weather. Everything seems to be in motion in the Parry Sound Archipelago.

The sky was filled with cirrostratus and an autumn storm was on the way. Those regular bands of cirrus do not happen by accident. There is a clear meteorological reason behind their formation and organization.

I would paint the other side of this rocky island in #2335 "Granite Swirls".

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