River Valley ON.

[Redfrog]

Anyone hunt or fish in this area?

 

[the spank]

My grandparents had a cottage on Manitou for over 20 years before retiring and going to BC. I spent many hours up there with my grandfather fishing the various lakes and hunting the old trappers trails and logging roads when I could. I couldnt hunt myself then as I was just a kid and in school but I went up every fall at thanksgiving to follow along behind him as he hunted for grouse or moose. I still go up there once or twice a year to fish just for memoirs sake.

 

[crashcollins]

Yup we got a moose calf last year. May get into some fishing there this summer.

 

[Redfrog]

I hunted/fished that area in the early to mid 60's. I'm referring to River Valley near the Temagami river.

Is Magasin Giroux still there. The pub? The chip stand.
We hunted moose and bear in the fall and fished there through the summer.
Giroux had some mounts up in the store. What a neat store. Campbell soup to shotgun shells and a cooler full of game hanging in the fall. I lived near Windsor then and used to drive like a maniac to get up there on the weekends.

 

[the spank]

I hunted/fished that area in the early to mid 60's. I'm referring to River Valley near the Temagami river.

Is Magasin Giroux still there. The pub? The chip stand.
We hunted moose and bear in the fall and fished there through the summer.
Giroux had some mounts up in the store. What a neat store. Campbell soup to shotgun shells and a cooler full of game hanging in the fall. I lived near Windsor then and used to drive like a maniac to get up there on the weekends.

Yes I know where you were referring to. My grandfather built his cottage there in 1959 or 60 on Manitou Lake 30 miles past the town of River Valley on the 805 road. I worked for the MNR up there in the summer of '85. The Magasin Giroux is long gone.Closed down in the late 80's or early 90's if memory serves. I walked into the store one day the summer I worked there and though it was still well stocked it was pretty run down. The mounts you talk about were so old and dingy looking that most of them were half rotten, lol. But I remember them when things were bright and shiny still. I can remember buying tackle there with my grandfather on the way to the cottage to fish. The chip stand is still there though the woman who ran it way back then is long gone and it has changed hands numerous times over the years.There is a licensed restaurant in back of the chip stand nowadays or was the last time I was up there( Feb 2010). The Pub is long gone as well. It closed down in the late 80's or early 90's too, it may have been during Ontario's infamous and proud Rae Days!! There isnt much up that way any more except alot more people and private campgrounds that are a real eyesore if you remember the peaceful tranquility that existed back there in the 60's and 70's. My Grandfather always kicked his ass he sold the cottage when he retired to move west but if he saw what is like up there today he would sell it anyways. It is still beautiful country but it seems as if the people who use the area today have little respect for it. I watched one day as people were trying to knock the rocks off the Bulldog face(The Manitou) by dropping rocks from above high on the cliff. I just kept wishing they would fall off and crash in the rocks below! Oh and the road has undergone major work and is paved for over half way now!!
You lived near Windsor back then? My grandparents had a neighbor two doors down from their cottage who was a lawyer or accountant or something like that from Windsor. Seguin was the name. His kids would sometime come in by float plane. Are you related to him?

 

[Redfrog]

Thanks for the update and the trip down memory lane.

I'm not related to Seguin.
That store was quite a piece of history for that area. Hector Giroux ran it whne I was there. He had the store and the pub next door. They usually had some entertainment on Friday and Saturday night. As I recall the place was pretty small, I'm gonna guess no more than 40 seats. One trip we were there and Stompin Tom was playing. He was setting up his plywood when we got into town.
Hector told me that his grand father hiked into that area and trapped. No roads at that time. He was proud of his mounts especially a specled trout he had mounted. It was about 3 lbs. On one trip I caught a beauty and rushed into town to weigh it. It was one ounce less than his. He was nervous for a awhile. Course it was weighed on his scale.
There were no pheasants in that area so I had one mounted and gave it to him. You'd have thought I had given him a new pickup.
It was peaceful there and some beuauiful scenery. Good fishing and hunting as well. The priest at the time used to shoot a few moose to feed some of the elderly or poor locals who couldn't get their own. It was different time and place.
There was an elderly woman running the chip stand when I was there. Hard to believe it's still there. She also made home made baked beans and home made bread. In the fall we would stop and she talked about her husband and how he hunted 'partridges' before he passed on. I cleaned up some ruffies and brought them in for her. She teared up and said her hubby had been dead about 15 years and this was the first 'patties' she had had since.
There were lots of black bears in the area then. What a pain in the summer, always in camp.

I sometimes think about taking a trip back up into that country, but from what you say it would just piss me off.

 

[crashcollins]

Saw lots of bear tracks last moose season but no sightings. If you were there for Stomping Tom you may have run into my friends as they hunted there back then. A guy who lives in town just a few doors down from the store has a mount from a moose my friend shot back in the 80's I think it was.

 

[Redfrog]

We borrowed an aluminum boat from a guy who lived a couple houses west of the store.

 

[the spank]

Thanks for the update and the trip down memory lane.

I'm not related to Seguin.
That store was quite a piece of history for that area. Hector Giroux ran it whne I was there. He had the store and the pub next door. They usually had some entertainment on Friday and Saturday night. As I recall the place was pretty small, I'm gonna guess no more than 40 seats. One trip we were there and Stompin Tom was playing. He was setting up his plywood when we got into town.
Hector told me that his grand father hiked into that area and trapped. No roads at that time. He was proud of his mounts especially a specled trout he had mounted. It was about 3 lbs. On one trip I caught a beauty and rushed into town to weigh it. It was one ounce less than his. He was nervous for a awhile. Course it was weighed on his scale.
There were no pheasants in that area so I had one mounted and gave it to him. You'd have thought I had given him a new pickup.
It was peaceful there and some beuauiful scenery. Good fishing and hunting as well. The priest at the time used to shoot a few moose to feed some of the elderly or poor locals who couldn't get their own. It was different time and place.
There was an elderly woman running the chip stand when I was there. Hard to believe it's still there. She also made home made baked beans and home made bread. In the fall we would stop and she talked about her husband and how he hunted 'partridges' before he passed on. I cleaned up some ruffies and brought them in for her. She teared up and said her hubby had been dead about 15 years and this was the first 'patties' she had had since.
There were lots of black bears in the area then. What a pain in the summer, always in camp.

I sometimes think about taking a trip back up into that country, but from what you say it would just piss me off.

You wouldnt have any trouble recognising River valley, not much has changed there for sure. Most of its inhabitants work in Sudbury now.The 805 road(hwy)has changed considerably. The camps along the sturgeon river are still there and a few new buildings, houses and gravel pits have popped up along the road for the first few miles out of town. The railway line is gone and the tracks removed about 12-13 years ago. Once back in far enough the scenery hasnt changed much except the road is much straighter due to a mine re-opening for a very brief period in the late 80's at Emerald Lake. The old Rose mine if memory serves. I picked up a load of old WET dynamite there that had been on the mineite since it's original closure (back in the 40's or 50's? )to transport back to town in '89. Was a nervous ride, nothing worse than sweaty dynamite or so we were told, LOL! There is now a Native Healing Lodge on Manitou and Blue Demon Lodge has more camper trailers parked there on both sides of the road than can possibly fit into a campground of its size. Junk laying everywhere, bits of quads etc. It is a real eyesore. I went last February for a day of ice fishing for lakers and must have seen 100 other fishermen on one lake alone! I took a few photos on my way out of the devils rock to send my Grandfather but I don't know if he got to see them before his passing. He really missed the place, lots of memories! After that trip I havent been back, lost my desire to go. Someone had opened a road into the point on Manitou next door to Manitou Lake Lodge. They are developing the place and selling lots. I will forever remember the time spent back there with family while growing up. It was like being in an entirely different world for me back then. Was far removed from the city of St.Catharines where I grew up. My grandparents are both gone now, my grandfather 1 year to the day today. My family too with the exception of my father and younger sister. We all had some good times back there!

P.S Your pheasant was still there when the store closed. I remember seeing it as a kid and used to marvel at the colors of it. I never asked where it came from. I just assumed the man who owned the store had shot it when hunting somewhere south. It sure was one worn, soot colored specimen of a mount before the store closed though...LMAO!! Thank you to you as well for taking me back in time. I know there will never another time or place like that in my memory.

Devils Rock or "Manitou" on its namesake lake. Pic taken from the road entrance at the old ranger point.

My Grandparents Cottage driveway, there was never a gate when I was a child...times have changed I guess.

Manitou Lake Lodge....

The Lake as seen from the lodge.......

Close-ups of "The Manitou"......

 

[the spank]

My Grandfather , his little pal Buffy and I fishing for lakers...June 1980. The year he retired and sold the cottage to head west.

 

[44fordy]

My folks used to own Manitou Lake Lodge. (I was "created" there) Which probably explains a lot of this obsession of mine.

My gang has hunted there a few times in the past decade. Done really well with grouse and shot a nice cow moose on Wawiashtaki (Grassy Lake).

 

[Redfrog]

My Grandfather , his little pal Buffy and I fishing for lakers...June 1980. The year he retired and sold the cottage to head west.

Thanks for the pics. I LOL when I saw that you had seen that pheasant. LOL.
Sure was good fishing in the river. Bass, pickerel, brookies.

I bet that rod and reel had lots of time on it. I had a couple looked just like it.

 

[257Roberts]

Did a lot of Ice fishing north and west of the area when I lived in Capreol north of Sudbury.
My best lake trout was just over 10 lbs. one cold February day.
Great Moose hunting as well.

 

[the spank]

My folks used to own Manitou Lake Lodge. (I was "created" there) Which probably explains a lot of this obsession of mine.

My gang has hunted there a few times in the past decade. Done really well with grouse and shot a nice cow moose on Wawiashtaki (Grassy Lake).

Wow! Youre kidding?!! That is so awesome. My memory is pretty dim as we didnt spend alot of time over at the lodge but my grandfather usually made it a point to stop in at least once every trip to chat with the owner. For some reason I keep thinking of the name Clare? Is that correct?

We used to go over there in summer to buy ice from them. They had an ice house where they put up ice they had cut out in large blocks from the lake during winter and then put in the ice house to insulate it. I can remember going over every winter on the sled and either watching them cutting the ice or getting there and it had been done and there would be a huge hole or thin ice area marked off in front of the camp.

I can also remember many trips to the outlet going into brigh####er to build the dam back up where cottagers from the far end of the lake had removed it because the water had come up too high for theyre docks they had built during a low water year. I can remember my grandfather cussing them out for lowering the lake level and screwing up the trout spawn. We would go build up that creek outlet with rocks by hand. That old trail at the end sure had some good grouse shooting on it back then. Gramp wore his 410 out up there I am sure, LOL! The last moose he shot up there he took in 71 around Grassy Lake somewhere. That was the last time he ever hunted moose and he took a young bull, the antlers hung over the door inside the cottage and were still there when he sold the place. He left them there for the new owner. I often wondered about going back and asking for them. I always wanted them as a momento of my days up there with Gramp.