McCrae Lake Cleanup day Saturday September 7 2019

Submitted by HuetonAndy on Tue, 08/13/2019 - 20:37

Flatwater

It might be a surprise to you to know that the campsites in the McCrae lake Conservation Reserve are cleaned by volunteers. Without that semi annual cleanup effort, Ontario MECP would be forced to consider closing the park to camping.

The semi annual (spring and fall) cleanup of McCrae Lake campsites is on for Saturday September 7 , 2019. The cleanup the Barrie Canoe and Kayak Club is the chief organizer. As a WCA member I am posting this on the WCA’s Outings page, and I will put you in touch with the Barrie Club club member who is organizing the entire day. You do not need to be a BCKC member to join us on that day, however we will need you to sign a couple of waiver forms. BCKC will also be issuing invites for this day to members of the Five Winds Backcountry Ski Club of Toronto as well as the , The Wilderness Canoe Association and we will post an invite on Facebook under Ontario Hiking.

The cleanup day starts at the McCrae Lake parking lot at 9am.

Cleanup group members, who are not members of the Barrie Canoe and Kayak Club are welcome, and you may bring your own canoe. If you don't have a canoe, PFD, or paddle, please see this link:

https://bckc.ca/trip-sheets/summer-trip ... MClark.pdf

and contact the cleanup organizer for BCKC, , Marilyn Clark so that we can pair you with a BCKC member and put you in a canoe. If you want to bring a friend and you want to work with that friend for the day, we can do that. We usually pair two canoes together to clean a group of sites. For insurance reasons the BCKC requires that at least one BCKC member be in a BCKC owned canoe. We can't pair two non BCKC members alone in one of our canoes.

For information to contact the organizers of the Sept 7 . 2019 cleanup day, click here:

https://bckc.ca/trip-sheets/summer-trip ... MClark.pdf

or send me an email off this page.

Group meetup time is 9am in the McCrae lake parking lot. feel free to drop us a line to get directions.

A park ranger staff member of the MECP (Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks ) will be with us for the day. Please know that without the semi annual support of BCKC to do this cleanup, the MNR does not have the money to cleanup up McCrae lake campsites because park users pay no fees, so no cleanup budget. Without the twice yearly cleanup, the MNR would be forced to consider closing McCrae Lake access for camping.

Please consider helping us keep it beautiful and accessible for all. thanks

(you are welcome. We do it because we love the place too.)

additional information under itinerary description, items required and items recommended

Andy

The Basics

Event Location:

McCrae Lake parking lot. Georgian Bay Road off hwy 400. N.W. corner of exit

Date(s) & Time:

Saturday, September 7, 2019 - 09:00

Registration Cut Off:

none (but please be kind to us and send us an email to say you are coming)

Event Duration:

one day

Difficulty Rating:

Beginner

Participant Info

Who's Invited:

WCA members will help the Barrie Canoe and Kayak Club for the day

Maximum Group Size:

15 boats

Minimum Group Size:

1 boat

Itinerary

Itinerary description:

We will be working with members of the Barrie Canoe and Kayak Club, as well as a Park Ranger from the Ontario Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks (MECP) . BCKC.

We will be paddling around the shoreline of the lake (generally in pairs of canoes) , cleaning campsites and picking up garbage. At the end of a busy canoeing season , we always finds lots of BBQ grills and broken chairs. We collect all the garbage and bring it all back across the portage to
the parking lot. MECP and BCKC have an arrangement on this day for the Township of Georgian Bay to have a Township truck to collect the entire garbage pile the following Monday.

Bonus: Volunteers get to keep any items of value found. In past years that has included almost brand new, abandoned tents, tarps, chairs, ropes, camping knives.

We do always stop for a long hour long (or more ) lunch and swim. It sounds like work but it is light work and it is very satisfying to leave the place cleaner than it otherwise would be.

Required Items to Bring:

Recommended Items to Bring:

Sunscreen, hat, lunch, fresh water to drink or a bottle and a filter so you can pump water, rain wear, a spare change of clothes in case you get .wet. Swimsuit and towel for a lunch time swim. Gloves: rubber, leather or other so you can pickup garbage safely. We will have a box of medical gloves so you can wear them inside the leather gloves you supply. A Food Barrel with portage harness works well for carrying out metal, grills and other garbage. As noted above, the garbage will be left in the parking lot for the Township of Georgian Bay to collect.

How to Get There

Event Directions:

McCrae Lake parking lot. Georgian Bay Road off hwy 400. N.W. corner of exit.

take Hwy 400 north out of Barrie to Georgian Bay Road. When the off ramp lane meets Georgian Bay Roar, turn right and pass under hwy 400. Turn right back on to the Hwy 400 south exit ramp. drive about 40 yards up the ramp and make a left turn into the McCrae lake parking lot

Carpool Info:

Please let me know as the organizer of the people coming from WCA and I will pair you with others from BCKC, Five Winds and other groups coming for the day.

Other

Cancellation Policy:

if rain of bad Thunderstorms are scheduled, we may postpone one day to Sun Sept 8

Event Coordinator/s Contact Information

Contact (Name):

Andy Hueton

Phone:

705-481-7521

Email:

andyhueton@gmail.com