DAY FOUR - PRINCE EDWARD COUNTY

Today dawned sunny and warm after last night's thunderstorm. We set out to explore Sandbanks Provincial Park on the south shore of Prince Edward County. Once again, we found it empty. The only life on the long Outlet Beach was a flock of gulls. The lake was glassy calm and the sand pockmarked from the deluge of rain a few hours ago.

We headed for West Point, down Lakeshore Road, and found a beautiful spot. Obviously it had once been lived on as we found the foundations of a house and cleared land to the lake's edge. All we could hear was bird song, though I must say PEC is filled with it wherever we've been.

This is a perfect picnic spot, but it wasn't lunch time yet, so we took many photos. Two loons were cavorting off shore, wild flowers were in bloom everywhere, and the rocky shoreline was intriguing.

We saved Dunes Beach for last. This is the largest collection of dunes on a fresh water lake in the world, and of course, is constantly evolving with currents and wind action. Again there was no one there but us. In July and August, we're told, there is not a parking spot or campsite to be had — one of the great advantages of travelling out of season.

I was having lunch with a fellow Dundurn author today at Lake on the Mountain Inn and we drove halfway across the County through farms and villages. We got there too early and took a farm lane for about four miles to spin out the time.

The lake is at the top of an escarpment that overlooks the mainland of Ontario. It looks like a crater lake, but isn't. Geologists believe the rock beneath fractured and collapsed in on itself creating the circular lake. It's very picturesque with the lake views on one side and the Bay of Quinte on the other. By the time our long lunch was over, the skies were grey and rain was beginning, so my pix are not worth posting.

Roger Litwiller, author of White Ensign Flying, and I talked naval history and writing, while my husband and Roger's wife, Rhonda, talked more generally. It was an excellent lunch, with good company. I'm so happy we managed to meet.

IMAGES: Photos by Pharos 2014

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