Back in the late 1800's, Bond Lake Park was a
hot spot for Torontonians to visit and get away from the every
day grind. Even if folks weren't overworked and exhausted they
would come to Bond Lake to spend time with family, friends and
Church groups. Of course getting people into the area wasn't a
challenge thanks to the Metropolitan Railway (later the Toronto
and York Radial Railway Company). Thanks to this electrical
railway, summer sun seekers and commuters alike could easily
travel from Richmond Hill to North York quick and easily.
When the line was extended to this area, there
was a small problem with the power supply down at Davisville - it
proved to be insufficient as the line pushed further to the north.
To rectify this problem a Power Station was built in 1899 on the
southwest side of the lake. This was a steam operated power
generating facility and was capable of a capacity up to 1000
horsepower. Bond Lake was ultimately chosen as a location due to
the large quantities of water needed in the cooling and condensing
phases of the generating process. Eventually the new facility
generated more power then the railway could use, and the company
offered its surplus electricity to nearby communities.
Today not much is left of the Power House or the
rail line. There are two sections of old foundations in the general
area of the cache site. Checking the books I've read, the ruins are
labeled (unclearly) as, "Power Station", "Dynamo House" and "Smoke
Stack". The house that is still standing on this site has been
renovated in the past 10 or 15 years, but looks to have sustained
fire damage. It has brick work commonly seen in buildings built in
the early 1900's underneath the melted and missing vinyl siding.
Also there is a large metal barn pushed back into the bush behind
the ruins. Between scoping the area initially to see if it was a
suitable location for a cache, and placing the cache I've spent a
lot of time exploring the area and have come to appreciate the
area's history - hopefully you will also!
Now, details on the cache. It's a small
tupperware type of container that holds 1 cup (same size as a juice
tetra pak). It's big enough to hold small trade items and a log
book. I didn't include any trade items as I don't care to do so
simply because people don't log their trades / takes / etc. If you
should happen to see the driveway entrance off of Yonge St there is
a farm fence gate with NO TRESPASSING signs. This is for motorized
vehicles only! There is a trail that is easily accessible from the
waypoint below marked "Preferred Parking", and also there is a
waypoint for parking that doesn't require much effort to get to the
cache site. Again, the signs are for motor vehicles only. Hikers,
Joggers, Dog walkers and now, Geocachers use this stone trail which
was built for nature walks on a daily basis.
Additional notes about the Cache:
- There is no writing instrument in this cache.
- Please re-hide the cache exactly as you found
it.
Thanks & enjoy!
