Stormhaven was right in between Cyprus Lake Road and Emmett Lake Road, on the shoreline of Georgian Bay just like the Grotto. This was the spot of our backpacking site.
We drove in a big U from Cyprus Lake Road onto Emmett Lake Road to the parking lot at the beginning of the trailhead. From the parking lot to the campsite was 3.7 km, or 2.3 miles, one-way. The first kilometer was very simple and flat. After the first kilometer, the path forked. We originally missed our first turn and headed down to the beach area. It was beautiful and awful all at once. We couldn't find the trail and the beach was covered in horseflies, or sandflies as they say in Canada. No exaggeration, there were at least 50 flies on each of us, biting and buzzing, and heavy duty bug spray did not help! We were literally running around the beach, trying to find the trail and trying to get rid of the flies. We finally doubled back to the fork, which lead us to the beach in the first place, and saw a sign for Stormhaven. It headed directly into the trees.
Once we were in the forest the flies slowly fell away and we were left fly free! The terrain of the trail was probably the hardest I have ever hiked. There was no dirt path like we were used to, only treacherous ups and downs over roots and slick rock. The trail was marked by a single white, painted strip on a tree. At times, the trail lead straight up an incline you had to climb up with your hands. The best way to describe it would be hiking through a wild forest, that so happen to have some trees cut down resembling a pathway. The trail would weave into the forest and then out to cliffs overlooking the beach. Every time we would get close to the water, the flies would come. This was the most unenjoyable part of the hike. Since it had rained the night before, the ground under the forest's canopy was still damp and the smooth rocks were like ice. I was slipping all over the place. That, mixed our rugged trail and flies, made me want the hike to just be over with.
We finally saw a tent, so we knew our campsite was close. I had originally done some research and picked a spot by the water someone had recommended, but now we were dreading being anywhere near the water. Our fingers were crossed that we were far enough in the trees that the flies wouldn't bother us. Thankfully we were. Our campsite was great! We had a wooden platform where we set up our tent, and it was nice to sit somewhere other than the muddy ground. We had a terrific view of the bay from our site as well. We could peek through an opening in the trees and see the turquoise water just beyond the treeline. The beach was similar to the beach area at Indian Cove. There were huge rocks laid in the water, like steps leading into the bay, and big boulders, which made for great outlooks.
Since the flies were so bad, we decided to stay up by our tent to eat instead of on the beach. We finished our chili mac and laid down to go to sleep. As the day was slowly turning to night, I hopped out of the tent to see if I could get a quick picture of the sun setting. I grabbed my camera and headed down to the beach. No flies! The cooler evening breeze must have sent the flies away for the night, so after talking with some local Canadians, I ran back up to M to get him to come down by the beach with me. I promised him the flies were gone, so he agreed.
The sunset was beautiful and we were very excited we got to explore. We walked down the shoreline, over boulders and rocks, and took some amazing photos. After the sun had almost completely set, we went back to our tent to sleep. We went to sleep peacefully listening to the waves of the bay beside us.
We woke at 4am (just like in Colorado) and heard the unpleasant noise of rain. We prayed that it would stop before we were ready to leave. At 7am, the rain had stopped, though it was very cloudy. We ate breakfast, packed our stuff and started our hike back. The trail was even slicker than the day before so we had to be extra careful. Luckily the flies were all gone, but the mosquitoes were beginning to make an appearance. But thankfully, they weren't bad until the last kilometer of the trail. M was also mad he was the spiderweb catcher. Since he's much taller than me, he was catching all the spiderwebs in the face. By the end of the hike though, he was spider free. Back at our car, we changed out of our deet-ridden clothes just before it started to drizzle (hmm, sounds like Colorado again). We were glad we accomplished the hike and experienced the Canadian wilderness, and we super happy we didn't have to deal with anymore sandflies!
