MUSKOKAN - Flying is a strange world: views from aloft, being on top of cottages, boathouses and boats of all types, seeing how enormous this land is from the perspective of height.
To Rob Clark of Gravenhurst, I owe thanks for a flight in his 1946 Piper Cub. I met Rob at an art showing in Gravenhurst and asked if he would take me for a flight over Huckleberry Rock, then recently devastated by brush fire.
“Anytime, you wish,” he said. We arranged a time during the heat wave for our lofty flight into the cooler heavens, the ultimate air conditioner.
He landed his Piper Cub at the docks at Kirrie Glen and I slipped into the front of the plane, carrying two Nikon cameras, while Rob was behind me at the duel controls. He started the prop manually.
We took off, the plane became a flying carpet, my adrenaline rushed as we banked over Pine Island and past resorts. In the front cockpit, there is nothing but the world in front of you.
From far above, I photographed Valentine Island with its giant inukshuk, Marco and Buck Island and north along the coast over Valley Green Beach, over Apollo and Sappho Island, the Seven Sisters, Belle Island, where a devastating fire destroyed the historical mansion that once stood there, over Keewaydin and up towards Mirror Lake, all the while shooting photos at a frantic pace.
The air was clean, balmy and invigorating as it rushed at my forehead. The windows were open and I had a death grip on my giant Nikon to counter the blast of wind whenever I pointed the lens out of the plane. I snapped continuously until Huckleberry Rock came shimmering into sight, 1,000 feet below, damaged and sad.
Having provide the photographs for the book The Hidden World of Huckleberry Rock by Andrew Wagner-Chazalon, I was really concerned about the effects of the fire. You could see the dry and scorched tortoiseshell landscape remaining after the fire and how close the fire came to houses and cottages.
We circled the rock and the bay and then headed up Indian River to Mirror Lake and into Port Carling, alive with summer activity, ant-sized people shopping and doing the Muskoka shuffle.
I spied Turtle Jack’s, Duke’s and the boats locking through. We continued to follow Indian River past Echo Point and into Lake Rosseau over Baker Shoal and Baker Point. The boats below looked like brides with giant trains floating behind in the water. We flew up to Windermere, the cottages and golf course, and around the village. We flew over the farm lands and the fields dry and brittle from the constant sun this summer season.
As we flew high in the air, I could feel the pressure of the day wafting away, away from reality as the engines roared.
“Bank to the left and lift the wing,” I shouted to Rob over my shoulder. I wanted the wing out of the way while I shot the original site of Timothy Eaton’s cottage, Ravenscragg Point.
We flew past Sans Souci and low over Brackenrig Bay, and over Brandy Lake, witnessing some fabulous wetlands, then back along Millionaire’s Row, chasing the Segwun until we both turned, one to continue on their journey and the other bringing theirs to an end.
Bev McMullen is an award-winning photographer who specializes in images of Muskoka. She has had numerous books published, has her work exhibited in many of Muskoka’s galleries and is working on a children’s book. She can be reached in Muskoka at 645-8771.