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YOUR SIMCOE COUNTY Collingwood scenic cavesunique By BRIAN BAKER COLLINGWOOD Turning west off Highway 26 at the west end of Collingwood past pot tery factories with windows filled with colorful potteryware famed over the western hem isphere we drove west through rolling farmlands and fruit or chards toward the Niagara Es carpment of the Blue Moun tains As we did the mesalike block seemed to recede an op tical illusion We had come to visit the Scenic Caves the best place in this area to study unusal rock formations Then quite abruptly the road swung north and side road took us back around to the south up benchland hill Almost as soon as we began to climb we could begin to look down on landscape as seen from an aerial rather than ter restial viewpoint As we climbed higher up Ap ple Hill we could see the straight streets of Collingwood the shimmering white bulk of the grain elevators Hen and Chicken Islands and the lighthouse tower and the great sweep of Nottawasaga Bay cut ting far down into Simcoe Coun ty Like going down mineshaft in reverse in driving up this escarpment face you notice that as reduction in atmos pheric pressure causes an out ward pressure against your ear drums you must swallow to equalize the pressure WILD APPLES At the Scenic Caves park standing on an elevated ben chland at the foot of the precipice we could detect change in climate certain freshness great for appetites All around we noted wild ap ple trees the fruit of which pro vides deer and all sorts of wildlife with food on this part of the Bruce Trail blue jay split open beechnut nearby crow flew over carrying an apple Behind the childrens playground on foot we climbed the increasingly steep grade finally climbing over limestone boulders to peer through an opening into small cavern known as the natural refrigerator kept few degrees above freezing by cold drafts drawing through some dark crevice from another cavern known as the Ice Cavern single shaft of sunlight penetrating the gloom showed up bluish colored mist Wooden and natural stone steps lead you huffing and puff ing up by huge blocks of limestone tons in weight on up to the top of the cliff where gnarled roots of threes clutch desperately to the thin covering of soil series of ladders next lead you down into the Ice Cave itself four storeys deep into the nightlike darkness of crevice cold and damp and most years containing snow in tolate summer We have seen visitors making snowballs down there in early August To go as far as possible we had to squeeze sideways ANCIENTTRAII Along the top of the cliff we followed beneath the leafy shade trail that has probably been used more or less con tinuously for thousands of years as trail the Petun Trail like main highway between Lakes Ontario and Erie and Georgian Bay by the Indians Here and there you cross bridges over giant crevices 50 to 60feet dee and few feet wide Everyw ere you can see the effects of slump erosion common to cliff faces where underlying shales have slipped out and allowed the great blocks of Silurian dolomite to shift like great castle walls Not in centuries have these gigantic blocks moved not since the retreat of the Ice Age have most of them moved Most amazing is hanging rock 30ton block of limestone wedged part way down in crevice that actually widens from top to bottom as if gravity was acting in reverse We even find lovers leap know as suicide point where beautiful Indian Maiden in grief threw herself after her lover who had been thrown off the cliff by jealous wouldbe suitors COMMUNICATIONS Ash piles two or three feet deep were originally found on promontory appropriately known as signal point since the days of the pioneers It has been said that from this point you can on clear day overlook 3000 square miles of north Cen tral Ontario From this point Indians par ticularly the Petuns of later years could send smoke signals to as far as Barrie to Wasaga Beach Collingwood Midland and Christian Islands and it also served as relay com munications station You might prefer not to look down the five storeys from the little woaden bridge that jumps across from the cliff head to the top of pinnacle where lndian chiefs of long ago held their council meetings They walked across precarious log and pulled it across after them like draw bridge Here we had not only great view of the countryside but also an unsurpassed view of one of the most famous rocks in Canada Standing Rock known by the tonguetwisting Indian of Ekarenniondi rock that stands out CONTINENTAL Barrie Plaza LYNNE VANSHAKE and Debbie Orr of Burlington from the vantage point of the This 50foot pinnacle of grey rock standing well out from the foot of the cliff was worshipped by the local Petun or Tobacco Indians as well as the rest of the Huron tribe to the east It was believed by the early Indians that here lived mystical spirit known as the head piercer All Indians were supposed to pass this way after death into the Happy Hunting Grounds towards the setting sun As they did so the head piercer lept out and removed the brains opening the door tc the great beyond TIIE SIGHTS From the lookout the view is magnificent Roads and town and villages farms barns fields and orchards spread out in breathtaking panoraman resembling an air view Toward Barrie the landscape vanishes into the blue Straight ahead you look down on Wasaga Beach like the curve of great horseshoe You follow the sweep of Nottawasaga Bay right up to Christian Island To the south east like knobby knees chaotic hills of moraine left at the foot of the Niagara Escarpment by the last Ice Age advance and recession form sort of terrace where prehis toric Indians found ideal soil for growing corn sunflowers squash and tobacco Carrying oneyearold boy with one arm and clinging to safety chain with the other as Beautiful Try new style of hairdo for fall with color highlights added grotessional hairsty Indian Council Chamber ad mire famed lndian rock we stepped down great boulder steps and slippery trail like an extra long park slide 50 feet down into the Petun Fortress was no mean feat but it was well worth while On every side sheer cliff walls rose up all around up the ground covered with jumble of fallen limestone blocks left after section of the cliff slid eastward fifty feet to leave boxed canyon Two exits lead from this pit one over and through gap the other through tiny cave known as Fat Mans Misery You enter this cave through an opening beneath hughe slab of rock descend and turn left into an almost pitch dark crevice Then you climb ladder climb to the right by flattening yourself sideways and wiggle your way to the light of day through slit 14 inches wide Here we enter the Fern Cavern well named because here grow profusion of unique and dainty ferns rooted in the cavern floor growing on the rocks and cling the cliff walls 30 feet up and more Some of these have survived here undisturbed for 10000 years and are found nowhere else Ft RIRESS Bending low we crept under another hugh slab of rock with only four feet of headroom known as Tall Mans misery and entered natural fortress used by the Petuns as refuge when under attack New You to your hair by our lists We can streak your air to add light and youthfulness to your face HAIR STYLING Ekarenniondi magnificent view overlook and the Photo boxed canyon it could easi ly be defended Along the inner wall we found small cave like root cellar said by the pioneers to have been used by the bears as cozy hibernation site From far up the cliff walls trees grew as out of the side of the sky Looking back at the chasm wall we could in fact clearly define the sombre pro file of George Washington forever gazing west Slowly now tiredly we climbed back towards the rim of the cliff past curious pin nacle with slab of dolomite balanced on top past the outstanding column of rock The Barrie Examiner Frida October 197675 in Ontario ing Georgian Bay Baker known as Lone Rock used by Petun sentries to survey the lake and countryside to the north We concluded that this spot is one of the better places in which to come to know little better the mighty fantastic Niagara Escarpment which overlooks and shelters our county INFORMATION INIDEPIH LONDON CP From staff magazine hope this ar ticle has given you useful infor mation about how to deal with everyday plumbing troubles at home Next month will go more fully into sewage BEFORE YOU REPLACE YOUR OLD HEATING SYSTEM OR ADD CENTRAL AIR CONDITIONING See in operation in our showroom the General Eleclric WEATHERTRON® HEAT PUMP OIIE SVSIGM Wills HEATS your entire home quietly efficiently dependany Switches from heating to cooling automatically as required The Weathertron system uses much less energy than an ordinary electric furnace Delivers more than units of heat for every unit of electricity it uses and operating costs are surprisingly Iow Under ARI Standard Rat ing conditions at 45 Its easy to install Requires no fuel storage tank no chimney or gas gr iu kk wmmumm connection 500 If today It DYKSTRA BROS ELECTRIC no 33 Ellen St barrio 1261439