Honouring Mike Naughton,

Transcription

1 Honouring Mike Naughton, Founder, Five Winds Backcountry Ski Club Distributing Ashes According to His Wishes Page 1

2 Born in England in 1918, Mike was the Founding President of the Five Winds Backcountry Ski Club. He began establishing ski trails in the Gibson River area in Mike captured the history of his beloved Gibson River area and the Club's presence there in "Gibson River Past and Present: A Five Winds Chronicle". He also wrote his memoirs, "Michael Naughton, My Life". Both of these can be found on the club s website. Michael Naughton died in London on June 3rd Original members of Five Winds Backcountry Ski Club remember him for his vision and years of dedication to the club. Old and new members remember him for the joy he has given us as we ski on his trails every Sunday during the winter. Mike's wishes were to have his ashes scattered on his beloved Gibson Trails. Mike once sent a list to Five Winds member and friend, Gerry Sinzig, outlining eleven locations where he wished to have his ashes distributed from an airplane. The locations were: 1. Small unnamed lake. MR Brotherson trail High Point Concrete Dam Heather Path/Mc Donald Link McCrae Lake Mostly around McCrae to Double Dam Gray Lake Dark Lake Grid West to King Bay 11. If you have any of me left, The McCoys would be lovely As all locations except The McCoy Islands are reasonably accessible on foot, Five Winds club members have hiked or skied to the ten trail locations during 2015 to 2017, distributing his ashes. On the last weekend in July 2017 a canoe/kayak trip to the McCoy Islands completed his wish list. Page 2

3 A summary of locations, maps and a brief description of visits to each site follow. Summary Activity Status of Locations Loc# Location GPS Coordinate 1 Small lake unnamed. MR Brotherson Lake Portage Trail High Point a Mike Naughton trail sign at Canal 4 Concrete Dam Heather Path/Mc Donald Link McCrae Lake Double Dam McCrae North Gray Lake Dark Lake Grid West to King Bay 10a King Bay at end of 12 Mile Lake Road 11 McCoys would be lovely Completed N44.898, W N44.918, - W N44.950, - W N44.953,- W N44.940, - W N44.953,- W N44.922, - W N44.958, - W N45.030, - W N45.048,- W N45.007,- W N45.066,- W N , W Planned Access Point Effort (in) Who When Completed? Southwood On hike 1 hour in Southwood On hike 3 hours in Southwood On hike 5 hours in Southwood On hike 5 hours in Gibson Lake road Gibson Lake road, old snowmobile trail McCrae L. South Parking McCrae L. North Parking 15 minutes 30 minutes 30 minutes On hike 1.25 hours in On hike 3 Gary Ataman Sept 27, 2015 Gary Ataman Sept 26, 2015 Gary Ataman Sept 26, 2015 Gary Ataman Sept 27, 2015 Brad Allard and friends Gary/Heather Ataman Gary/Heather Ataman, Louise Langlois Gary/Heather Ataman Potters Landing hours in Gary/Heather Ataman 12 mile road 1 hour ski Brad Allard and Chester Pohoski group Potters Landing End of 12 Mile Lake Road Dillon Marina 4 hr paddle End of the road 3 hr paddle Gary/Heather Ataman Gary/Heather Ataman Gary/Heather Ataman and 9 other folks Nov 22, 2015 May 6, 2017 May 7, 2017 May 6, 2017 Oct 3, 2015 Feb 19, 2017 Oct 3, 2015 Oct 4, 2015 July 28-30, 2017 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Page 3

4 Summary of Map Locations Page 4

5 1. Small unnamed lake. MR (616100, ) (N44.898, W79.529) Mike s ashes were spread on a rock outcrop overlooking the small unnamed lake and marked with a few rocks. Gary Ataman did this on a hike September 26/27, Page 5

6 Mike s view onto a small lake on the Gibson River Page 6

7 2. Brotherson s Lake Portage Trail (613000, ) (N44.918, W79.568) Mike s ashes were spread on portage trail/five Winds trail intersection looking down at Brotherson s Lake and marked with a few rocks between some trees. Gary Ataman did this on a hike September 26/27, Page 7

8 Mikes view onto Brotherson s Lake and the portage trail Page 8

9 Rock markers at the base of the trees overlooking Brotherson s Lake Page 9

10 3. High Point (609400, ) (N44.950, W79.613) Mike s ashes were spread on a rock cairn and also some at Mike Naughton Trail (Mike s High Point) sign up on the hill overlooking Indian Pond and the Gibson River valley (looking SW). This was done on the Sept 26/27, 2015 hike by Gary Ataman. We camped at Indian Pond that night and went for a cool swim. Page 10

11 Gary dispersing Mike s ashes at High Point rock cairn which overlooks Indian Pond Page 11

12 Spreading Mike s ashes at the Trail Sign in his name Page 12

13 4. Concrete Dam (600575, ) (N44.940, W79.725) Brad and others hiked in from the baseball diamond and followed Heather Path trail to the dam. They spread Mike s ashes at the dam on Nov 22, Page 13

14 Brad Allard reported on the ashes dispersal ceremony at this site. 9 were in attendance with 2 having to turn back due to snow conditions. We deposited ashes on the grounds on each end of the dam. Snow was on everything with the clear water of the stream adding contrast to the view. It was a day that Mike would have loved. We had a nice ceremony at the West end of the dam, where Judy Mandrel shared s people had sent, and others of us recalled some of our experiences with him. We topped it off with a small wake around a campfire with roasted sausages and marshmallows. Judy also played taped bagpipe music that an old friend of Mike's had recorded for the occasion. Mike loved the sound of pipes. I particularly did, as well, on this occasion. It was a valuable and important experience, especially for some of us that knew him. Page 14

15 Participants at the ceremony were Brad Allard, Tim Baetz, Rob Butler, Andy Hueton, Frances Maher, Judy Mandel, Cathy Rand, Brigitte Seib and Andy White. Page 15

16 Rob Butler, a long-time friend of Mike s, subsequently wrote to Mike s wife, Bozena, in England, describing this day to her. Page 16

17 5. Heather Path/Mc Donald Link (597500, ) (N44.953, W79.763) It was a rainy cold (5 C) spring morning (May 6, 2017) when Gary and Heather Ataman parked on the Muskoka Road #33 and hiked down an old skidoo trail to the intersection of Heather Path and McDonald Link trail. It was about 800 meters and 20 minutes in. Page 17

18 Heather and Gary Ataman spread some of Mike s ashes at the Heather Path/McDonald Link Junction sign and some at the beaver dam just a few minutes south down the trail. Page 18

19 6. McCrae Lake area (596000, ) (N44.922, W79.784) Heather and Gary Ataman and Louise Langlois parked at McCrae Lake parking lot (May 7, 2017) and hiked in on the trail about 30 minutes to Jewel Pond and deposited some of Mike s ashes overlooking the pond and the trail. Gerry Sinzig s original recalled that Mike was fond of Jewel Pond, so we decided to add it to the sites. Page 19

20 6a. Jewel Pond. (N , W ) Louise spreading Mike s ashes and covering them with a marker rock on the rock outcropping overlooking Jewel Pond Page 20

21 6b. McCrae Lake Crows Cliff (N , W ) Many people stop here for the view looking west from atop the cliff, including Mike Page 21

22 6c. Rock Outcropping Campfire Spot (N ,W ) Louise, Heather and Gary found a rock outcropping at the coordinates Mike had provided. They made a fire in an old existing fire pit, that has not been used for years. The moss had grown over the cut logs that have been placed for the next visitor. Maybe, originally by Mike? Mike s ashes on a rock overlooking the fire pit and beaver pond beyond Page 22

23 7. Double Dam McCrae North , (594300, ) (N44.958, W79.804) Heather and Gary Ataman parked on the ATV trail entrance at the highway exit ramp and it took them a little over an hour to hike in on a cold (5 C) and rainy May 6, 2017 day. They selected three nice spots for Mike s ashes based on his given coordinates. Page 23

24 The first was halfway down the lake across from a beaver lodge. (N , W ) Page 24

25 The second was at the Double Dam beaver dam sign (N , W ) The third spot was on top of the hill, looking down on the lake and Double Dam beaver dam. (N , W ). A rock marks Mike s spot on the lookout over the lake. Page 25

26 8. Gray Lake area ( ,594000) (N45.030, W79.807) This was done on the Oct 3, 2015 by canoeing in on Go Home Lake by Gary and Heather Ataman. Mike s ashes were placed at Gray Rapids overlooking the waterfall on a crisp fall day. Page 26

27 Gary spreading Mike s ashes at Gray Rapids on the Musquash River Page 27

28 Mike s view of Gray Rapids on the Musquash River Page 28

29 9. Dark Lake (593700, ) (N45.048,W79.810) Mike s coordinates are close to the intersection of Marsh and Dark Lake trail junction. Two ski groups traveled together down Dark Trail to Dark Lake, on a beautiful day on Feb 19, Ashes were placed on a rock outcrop. Mike memories, both funny and touching, were shared. The two groups then split and went off to enjoy a fabulous ski day, thanks to Mike s vision years earlier. Page 29

30 Five Winders on Finger Creek Pond on Feb 19, The following folks were present: Chester Pohoski, Judy Finlay, Bob Stephenson, Linda Mooallem, Andrew Patterson, Chantal Locatelli, Brad Allard, George Arras, Amy Chan, Cathy Rand, Lidia Janicki, and Tanya D. Page 30

31 Scattering Mike Naughton's ashes on edge of "Dark Lake" (Marsh Trail System) Page 31

32 10. Grid West to King Bay (N45.007,W79.915) Gary and Heather Ataman placed some of Mike s ashes on a small island (which had an Osprey nesting site on it) in King Bay, which was located on Go Home Lake on Oct 3, Gary spreading Mike s ashes overlooking King Bay on Go Home Lake western leg Page 32

33 10a. King Bay Marina (N45.066,W80.020) After doing some research it was determined there were two King Bays in the area. Some members recalled that years ago the bus sometimes drove down Twelve Mile Bay Road and stopped at King Bay, Georgian Bay. So it was decided to spread some of Mike s ashes at the marina park area giving Mike a nice view of the bay. Page 33

34 Gary and Heather Ataman spread some of Mike s ashes on Oct 4, 2015 at Pottawatomi Nation of Moose Deer Point Marina overlooking King Bay, Georgian Bay Page 34

35 11. If you have any of me left, The McCoys would be lovely (N ,W ) Eleven of us (Gary Ataman, Heather Ataman, Jane Ataman, Ben Martin, Jim McInnes, Mike Wittich, Marie-Jose Van der Zande, Morris Ilyniak, Jaromir Zubicek, Marion Hanover and Max Fothergill) camped on the North West side of the McCoys on a most beautiful summer weekend. We sat around the campfire on Saturday night and people that know Mike told stories of some of their memories. As the sun was setting Jim McInnes did the honour of spreading Mike s final ashes. Page 35

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37 On Jun 2, 2017, at 2:52 PM, Andy Hueton wrote an ; Hi All I was originally going to just reply to Gary and say simply yes to having my name and photograph in the document. Reply All was a much more appropriate Thanks. I only got to take part in one Mike Naughton ceremony s, the Nov 22, 2015 snow day event. Oh, what a beautiful day it was. For myself, my attachment to McCrae Lake and the general Gibson River area is that my family has owned land on Wabeck Island, just short distance from the McCrae Narrows since My grandparents, in fact first stood on the island in the 1890 s, a time when the land owner ( a close family friend of my grandparents) bought Wabeck Island and ever island within sight of the tallest point of Wabeck Island, for $2 and acre and gave many of them away as wedding presents. Pretty one could walk out in to Georgian Bay from McCrae Narrows and see a couple of those islands. Our family cottaged on Wabeck 1976 to 2014 (cottage sold). We still own a piece or raw land on Wabeck Island in Georgian Bay), I am certain that with a good west wind, I could stand on the high rocks at McCrae Narrows and smell the scent of the pine trees on Wabeck. While the purpose of the ceremonies was to scatter Mike s ashes, the real result was to deeply infuse his spirit in a new Generation of Wind Winders. Thanks for that. Understand if I may say that the spirit of the land was already in this newer member. Thanks Mike for your vision. Thanks Five Winds old timers for carrying out his wishes. Thanks for the infusion of his spirit. I am truly honoured to have been a part of one of the scatterings. Yes to my name in the document. You guys are truly special. Andy Hueton Stayner,Ont. June 2, 2017 Report input from; Cathy Rand, Brad Allard, Judy Finlay, Robin Butler and Gerry Sinzig Report compiled by Gary Ataman, President Five Winds Back Country Skiing Club Aug 2, 2017 Page 37