CONROY MARSH - THE TAKE OUT

After a long hiatus (my apologies, there are reasons) I have once again returned to the blogs... This is a photograph of Rudi at our take out at Conroy Marsh, after our big paddle looking for the Ghost of AJ Casson. About 100 feet to the left of the picture is the put in, right into a bay off of the main channel, which then runs directly away from my (the photographers) position, toward the hill in the left background, and then to the right to proceed down between the hills. If you click on the picture, you should be able to just make out the blue line of the main channel. This was late mid summer 2011, some time after which we hung up the paddles, stored the canoe, and headed back to Tavistock, and school for Rudi and work for me.

CASSON AND THE CONROY MARSH - PART 5

After checking out the duck blind, and about ninety minutes on the water, we turned around and began to head back to our put in at Mayhew Landing. Unfortunately, nothing of the scene depicted in Casson's painting could be identified specifically, however the painting had a number of elements that we did see examples of on our paddle. We covered about one-third of the length of the Marsh, so it is quite possible the scene depicted was at the western end, somewhere near where the York River enters the marsh, as we have entered via the Little Mississippi, and I could not recognice the scene there either.

Noodling through the grasses and lilypads, looking north toward the hill at Craigmont, the location of an old corundum mine.

Very little of the land bordering the marsh is privately owned, virtually all is crown land, except for this obvious location,

A close up view of the blight on the landscape. A more thoughtful owner could have done a better job clearing

Rudi looking back as we head toward Negeek Lake and the take out.

AJ CASSON AND THE CONROY MARSH

My wife and I received a lovely framed print of "Conroy Marsh" by AJ Casson for our wedding. It was wonderfully thoughtful, as the Conroy Marsh is very close to our cottage near Barry's Bay, and is also a lovely examply of fine Canadian and Group of Seven art.

It took up residence in our formal living room at the Field house, above a wonderful little nearly antique bookcase. There it hung for many a year, and still does, occasionally reminding me of a still mostly wild part of Canada. Upon getting serious about canoeing about four years ago or so, my wife reminded me of it, and I then purposefully thought about finding the Conroy Marsh, to explore it via canoe.

After exploring various ways in to the Conroy Marsh over the last two years, my father in law recently reminded me of the painting, and suggested Rudi and I look for the site the next time we get into the marsh.