The cache is a small camo-ed bison tube containing a rolled up log book. Please bring your own pen. Beware of muggles and place the cache in the same spot, so that it is not easily visble.
A Little Highway 69 History
Highway 69 occupies a corridor that connects Sudbury to Highway 400 in Nobel, and forms part of the Central Ontario route of the Trans-Canada Highway. What you may now know is that before there was a Highway 400, Highway 69 passed through Gordon Bay, MacTier and eventually Port Severn before heading east towards Orillia, and south to Brechin on the east side of Lake Simcoe. Plenty of businesses operated along this route as it was the main north-south connection between the city, Muskoka and beyond.
Since 1989, Highway 400 has been extended gradually northward from Barrie towards Sudbury. In its path, some parts of Highway 69 "twin" (or run parallel to) Highway 400 while other sections have been upgraded to a four-lane paved freeway as part of the 400. In 2008, Highway 400 construction reached MacTier, just south of this spot.
In the summer of 2012, the segment of Highway 69 between its southern terminus near MacTier and Rankin Lake Road was decommissioned and renamed Lake Joseph Road. Driving down this "twinned highway" now, you can see many blank billboards, boarded up buildings and paved lots where gas stations used to be. That said, the road remains part of the provincial highway system under an unsigned 7000-series designation and on days when the 400 is congested, this portion of former Highway 69 road provides a great alternate.
Thank You
Thanks for driving through this section of Muskoka history. We hope you enjoyed the location and learning about the area! Thank you to everyone who visited the original Kermie's Picnic cache - shared cottage commute nostalgia and stories or discovering (or rediscovering) this scenic spot were a delight to read both online and in the logbooks, and we look forward to comments and photos from your visit to Kermie's Picnic II. :-)