Bonnechere Caves
September 28, 2009. Roger, Bryan and I made a day trip to the Bonnechere Caves in Eganville to shoot some photo. We arrived early, and spent some time shooting the rapids of the Bonnechere River, before taking the tour of the caves. A couple of Rubenesque American women joined us, but kept to themselves.
Our tour guide was Josh, who turned out to be well spoken and knowledgeable. Due to the small size of our group, he let us wander off and take photos and shoot video at will. We encountered hibernating bats in the caves, which was an unexpected surprise. At the end of the tour, instead of exiting at the back door, we walked up through the caves again, revisiting the bats, and squeezing through a side tunnel that Roger had gone through earlier.
Afterward we visited the sinkhole, which was the original exploration point of the caves. It was raining lightly at this point, and we took advantage of overhanging rocks to shield our camera equipment. Fossils are everywhere, most of them from the Ordovician Period, which means cephalopods (squids), crinoids (starfish-like critters), brachiopods (clams) and gastropods (snails). Before returning to the car, we returned to the rapids for a few final photos.
We stopped by the ghost town of Balaclava on the way home, to see the abandoned wood mill and houses there. The rain was quite intense by this point, keeping us from doing any casual trespassing, and getting some decent photos of the crumbling structures.