Camp Seven A

‘Me n Len…’ was dedicated to Len Homes by Richard Pope, on Len’s 80^th birthday back in 1983 (p.8). It was first printed in ’85 (p.3). One June – probably in the mid or late 70’s – Richard had “… the opportunity to see Len’s beloved Far Camp…” (p.72) on Holland’s Creek. Their last trip was “…in August 1980…” (p.82). The author says that “Len… explained… whereas in the summer and fall a person could drive fairly close to the camp along the old logging roads, in the spring, because of flooding, you had to walk all the way from the Burleigh Road into where he had his canoe stashed – even that being over a mile from the camp.” (p.72). Len meant his Far Camp – close neighbour to Camp 7.

We now know that Camp 7 was located 3 3/8 miles (a.t.c.f.) northeast of Kennabi Lodge – definitely on the north western side of Holland’s Creek. We also know that Camp 7A was situated about two miles (as the crow flies) northeast of Kennabi Lodge, thus placing it about 1 3/8 mi. (a.t.c.f.) downstream from Camp 7 (3 3/8 mi. – 2 mi. = 1 3/8 mi.) – a significant fact! In ‘Me n Len…’, the map (p.10) places Len’s Far Camp about ¼ mi. downstream from Camp 7, hence making it about 1 1/8 mi. (a.t.c.f.) upstream from Camp 7A (1 3/8 mi. – ¼ mi. = 1 1/8 mi.) – a more significant fact! One could say that Camp 7A was just “over a mile” south of the Far Camp. Len has said that his stashed canoe was “…over a mile…” south of the Far Camp! Len stashed his canoe – in my opinion – at Camp 7A – the most significant fact!

About 2 5/8 miles east of Kennabi Lodge, the Kennaway Road met the Burleigh Road, and formed a junction. They then ran in a northerly direction for about a mile, before the Kennaway Road continued eastward and the Burleigh Rd. northward towards the abandoned Peterson Road. Just to the west of that one-mile stretch of road, between the two junction points, was Bill’s Lake. Somewhat further west of the lake was the spot where Len stashed his canoe. The map (p.10) does not mark this site, but since it was – like Camp 7A – “…over a mile…” from the Far Camp, we can locate the spot – with reasonable accuracy – on Holland’s Creek.

When Len took Richard into Far Camp, the author says, “We drove for six or seven miles up the Burleigh Road, pulled off onto the logging road at Bill’s Lake, drove for about one more mile… then parked the truck.” (p.73). I believe that this placed them just north of the lake and around two miles (a.t.c.f.): from Holland’s Creek – from Len’s stashed canoe – from Camp 7A.

Richard tells us that when “…we finally arrived at the bottom (south) end of the marsh system which would take us to the Far Camp”, then “Len…disappeared up into the bush to get his…hidden canoe…”(p.74). Next, the author says, “…I poked around the old logging bridge and the remains of sluice …Len …explained had been part of a system used to drive the softwood over to Haliburton back in Laking’s days.” (p.74). Now Len was born in 1903, the year Laking Lumber started in Haliburton, and he would have been 25 years old in ’28 the year the firm finished operations in Dudley Township. Richard says that “…Len at one time…had picked out all these roads for the Company…” (p.73). He would have been in his late teens or early 1920’s when they hired him. There could not have been a better candidate for that job than Len Holmes of Wilberforce. This outstanding hunter, trapper, fisherman, guide and woodsman knew that area – it was Len’s backyard – Holmes’ Home!

In order to access such a large depot as Camp 7, a cadge or tote road was required. Due to hostile topography, Len could not use the most direct route. He chose to run that road west from the Burleigh Rd., past Bill’s Lake, to a spot on Holland’s Creek where he knew that a much needed bridge could be build. The narrows at this spot necessitated a sluice and facilitated a bridge. From a location well upstream from Camp 7 all the way downstream to these narrows, the creek meandered through a long series of swampy ponds and low marshy area. This was the “…marsh systems…” (p. 74) that Richard mentioned previously, and the first such narrows, downstream from Camp 7. Once across the stream, the cadge road would curve to the right and work its way northeast towards its destination – Laking Lumber’s Camp 7 – just a ¼ mi. or so beyond the site where Len would build his Far Camp. That cabin was constructed some time after 1928 when Laking Lumber had run their last log drive. Len knew what he was doing when he chose his cabin site so close to Camp 7. The lumber… ‘borrowed’ came in very handy. On the day in question, Len and Richard paddled the mile or so through the “…marsh system…” in order to reach that cabin. They had paddled from Camp 7A almost to Camp 7. They were very close.

Luckily for this writer, Len explained the ‘narrows’ to Richard as a log-drive work site used by the Laking Lumber Company. He has described what was in the parlance of lumbermen of that time, a ‘camp’. Sadly… Len failed to mention its numerical designation… failed to even call it a ‘camp’! Hopefully this writer’s explanation has been sufficient to convince the reader that those ‘narrows’, with: sluice, road, bridge, stashed canoe – beyond a shadow of a doubt – were indeed that ‘Other Missing Link’ – were indeed… Camp Seven ‘A’.

The ‘narrows’ – even without a bridge – would have been a work site or ‘camp’. It was the sluice – not the bridge – that made it so. If the bridge had been some distance from the sluice… a branch road would have been needed for the construction crew – and eventually the drive crew(s) – to reach that site. Thanks to Len Holmes – and some luck – the bridge site and sluice site were one location… The Wm. Laking Lumber Company’s Camp Seven ‘A’.