Time for a Galop, but first a little history...
Early natives camped beside the turbulent rapids here 400 to 500 years ago. French voyagers who rested by the rapids during expeditions gave them their original name, Galoop, meaning Galloping waters.
It was United Empire Loyalists who finally settled at the rapids' site, and that settlement became the village of Cardinal. Captain Hugh Munro was the first to build here - a grist mill and, later, a carding and spinning mill.
The "galloping rapids" at Cardinal were so treacherous that the boats had to be pushed upstream with poles. One of Cardinal's first settlers, Henry Lewis, established a very profitable business using yokes of oxen to pull boats through the swift waters. Some days he made as much as $20!
As river traffic increased it became apparent that the method of poling boats was no longer efficient. Plans were made to build a canal that would take boaters around the Galop Rapids. Construction, done without the benefit of machinery, began in 1844. Workers used carts, horses, picks, axes, wheel barrows and shovels, and were paid 50 cents a day. The canal cut through the outer edge of the village, and the Cardinal lock became a social gathering place.
Soon a deeper waterway was needed and in 1897 work began on the "new" canal. Again the canal cut through the village but this time at a point that was much deeper inland. Cardinal became an island accessible only by a swing bridge.
Although this new canal was deeper, ocean-going ships could still not pass through. Finally, the St. Lawrence Seaway was constructed, a causeway was built and part of the canal was filled in. Cardinal was no longer an island.
You can start your quest by parking at N44° 46.663 W075° 23.967 which is 350m from the cache and is at the end of Galop Canal Road off HWY #2.
Make sure you check out N44° 46.616 W075° 23.986, and you will be rewarded with a glimpse of one of the old lock gates underwater and the remains of an old barge. As well, if you head east to N44° 46.640 W075° 23.841 and look out over the water you will see the funnel of the sunken vessel "Conestoga", and to your left the remains of the first canal.
Make sure you are alone when retrieving the cache as this is a VERY popular area and make sure to cover the cache when replacing it.
When you are done caching, head down the road to Cardinal and park at N44° 47.104 W075° 23.082 where you will find a park, washrooms and a picnic area. Then follow the dirt road to N44° 46.785 W075° 23.590 where you will get a better view of the "Conestoga" wreck and an information board.
Conestoga Info