Pictographs

We did some different things in Algonquin Park this summer.  One of the interesting paddles we had was on Rock Lake.  There's a lot of visual interest on Rock Lake with its rocky shores, high cliffs and a wide river at the end that connects to another lake.  It's a fairly large lake too, so the winds kick up quickly.  We've been caught a few times in high waves here and have aborted our plans because of it.

 

This summer we decided to paddle around the lake as it was a nice calm day.  The water was like glass at times, and although it was hot, you can always dip feet and arms into the icy waters to cool down as you paddle along.

 

We wanted to see the pictographs painted on a rocky cliff alongside this lake.  We've seen similar images at Bon Echo campground, and although we knew the pictographs were here on Rock Lake, we'd never paddled over to see them.  The images have been painted on the rock cliffs by aboriginal peoples in the winter time when the lake is frozen .  I'd read that the images were difficult to see now, so we were quite happy to be able to find two fairly clear images when we arrived in our canoe and kayak.  The image is of a god-type creature with human form, but with rabbit-like ears.  The same image has been painted on the rocks at Bon Echo park.

Can you see it there?  Painted in red ...

The second best image was of three lines, almost like claw marks on the rock.  I don't know what they symbolize, and perhaps part of the image has been erased by time.

The pictographs at Bon Echo park are far more extensive, and there are small tours on a steady boat from the park that will take you over to look at them and the guide tells you more history of the paintings.  Sadly the images at Bon Echo are subject to damaging higher waves caused by motor boats.  Outboard motors are limited in size in Algonquin Park, but the images will one day be lost completely here too.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy

 

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