Current at 11/6/2011 (Online waypoint URL)
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Traditional Cache Old Kenora 1 - Harbourfront by moonsocket (2.5/1.5)
N49° 46.042  W94° 29.445 (WGS84)
UTM  15U   E 392650  N 5513832
Use waypoint: GC2NP0Z
Size: Micro Micro    Hidden on 2/11/2011
In Ontario, Canada
Difficulty:  2.5 out of 5   Terrain:  1.5 out of 5
Dogs allowed  Recommended for kids  Takes less than an hour  Scenic view  Available at all times  Available during winter  Bicycles  Stealth required  Park and Grab 
   



This is the first cache in the Old Kenora Series

Kenora Harbourfront



Pre History of Kenora:

Kenora's future site was in the territory of the Ojibway when the first European, Jacques De Noyon, sighted Lake of the Woods in 1688. Pierre La Vérendrye established a secure French trading post, Fort St. Charles, to the south of present-day Kenora near the current Canada/U.S. border in 1732, and France maintained the post until 1763 when it lost the territory to the British in the Seven Years' War — until then, it was the most northwesterly settlement of New France.

Birth of Kenora's "Harbourfront"
In 1836 the Hudson's Bay Company established a post on Old Fort Island, and in 1861, the Company opened a post on the mainland at Kenora's current location.In 1878, the company surveyed lots for the permanent settlement of Rat Portage ("portage to the country of the muskrat")— the community kept that name until 1905, when it was renamed to Kenora. The name, "Kenora," was coined by combining the first two letters of Keewatin, Norman (two nearby communities) and Rat Portage.

Kenora's "Manitoba roots"
Kenora was once claimed as part of the Province of Manitoba, and there are early references to Rat Portage, Manitoba. There was a long lasting argument between the two provinces known as the Ontario-Manitoba boundary dispute. Each province claimed the town as part of their territory and the dispute lasted from 1870-1884. Although Ottawa had ruled the town part of Manitoba in 1881, the issue was finally taken up with the Privy Council of England whom eventually decided in Ontario's favour. Kenora officially became part of the province of Ontario in 1889. Boundaries were drawn up for the provinces and the Northwest Angle on Lake of the Woods which definitively drew the borders between Ontario, Manitoba, Canada, and Minnesota, U.S.A.

Kenora: Central to Canada.
Gold and the railroad were both important in the community's early history: gold was first discovered in the area in 1850, and by 1893, 20 mines were operating within 24 km (15 mi) of Rat Portage, and the first Canadian ocean-to-ocean train passed through in 1886 on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Later, a highway was built through Kenora in 1932, becoming part of Canada's first coast-to-coast highway in 1943, and then part of the Trans-Canada Highway, placing the community on both of Canada's major transcontinental transportation routes. The original barrier to the completion of the highway concerned the crossing of the Winnipeg River at two locations. The single span arch bridges are among the longest of their type in North America.

Kenora's Resource to Tourism Transition.
Gold, minerals, wood, fish, and many 'resource aplenty'; Kenora began as a hub of resource trade. The logging industry, which was important earlier, declined in the second part of the 20th century as the tourist industry grew, and the last log boom was towed into Kenora in 1985. In 2010, the two largest mills in the community closed, and we demolished. 700 people, roughly 5% of the entire population, were laid off. Kenora currently pursues and aggressive transition toward of tourism and lifestyle economy.

Transformation of the Harbourfront:
Always a tourist and recreation location, and famous for sporting events like sailing, rowing: the Kenora harbourfront has always been a launch pad for exploring Canada's wilderness, by boat, and then plane. The harbourfront has undergone many redevelopments over the years. Most recently, major reconstruction of the entire infrastructure has been undertaken. Phase 1 occurred in 1986, and included the construction and upgrades to the docking, parking, and the pavilion. Phase 2 is currently underway, and is set to expand the docking ability of the harbor, and create a more permanent infrastructure for the dozens of events that occur down at the harbourfront each year. As well, and more pedestrian friendly route from the harbourfront to the tunnel island trails will be crated, among other upgrades,. Kenora's harbourfront thrives, and will continue to do so long into the future.

- Portions of text adapted from Wikipedia.org listing for "Kenora"


Phase 2 development plans


Additional Hints Hints


Current at 11/6/2011

Found it 7/9/2011 by Kabuthunk
Been a while since I cached in Kenora. Or Ontario in general for that matter. So my wife and I decided to take a shot at going to Kenora today. The forecast was for light rain in the morning, sunny the rest of the day, so we figured we'd get some quick beach time in before having to head back to Manitoba for an event there later that day. Also, we wanted some specific things available at the LCBO available only in Ontario.

Well, the whole LCBO thing didn't turn out as planned, since they only had one item out of the two we wanted... bit of a long drive for that, but them's the breaks. And since it was still cloudy at the time, we decided to check out the various shops around the harbourfront streets, and as well snag a geocache or two. So when I first turned on my GPS... or at least looked at and paid attention to it, anyway... I discovered that I was standing a scant 20 meters away from a geocache BigSmile. Hey, can't go wrong with that... it's like it was meant to be. So I quickly informed my wife of such, and began my hunt while she looked on. In the meantime, she soon got tired of looking at me comb the wall, and started to look at what shops are nearby.

So about 30 seconds to a minute into my hunt, my wife discovers that there is an outdoor sports type store pretty much right beside where we were. Me, being an outdoor type individual, decided that the cache hunt can temporarily be placed on hold. Besides, I was getting absolutely nowhere in my search, and there was at least a jillion places that one could have hidden in the area. Methinks I needed to read the cache description and possibly the hint. So inside the store, I cracked open my palm pilot and checked out what the cache description said (minus the pictures in cachemate). Quite the thorough description of the history of the harbourfront... I can safely say that I was unaware of pretty much all of that. I kinda like caches where you learn something new. I did however break down and read the hint though ToungeOut.

After leaving the store, my wife went to check out what shops were on the other side of the buildings, while I returned to the hunt. With fresh knowledge in my brain, I quickly abandoned one method of searching and concentrated on another. Unfortunately as well, the tall walls were playing havoc with my signal, so I couldn't rely on the GPS all that much. Stepping back a bit however, I realized that what the hint had mentioned was a bit... larger than I had anticipated. Turns out I was only searching half of it. Expanding my search somewhat, I came across the cache container very quickly. And I think the only reason I stumbled across it and knew what I was looking at was because I've found several others hidden in the same manner. I love this type of container! And actually, I think this is the highest quality, best made one I've seen to date Smile.

With the cache found, I parked myself on a nearby curb so that I could sign the logbook. My micromail chainmail ball signature item would not fit comfortably in the cache... or at least I couldn't really guarantee that it wouldn't cause problems when returning the cache, thus causing me to be more conspicuous when replacing it, so I instead placed a nanomail ball in the cache container. That done, and with the coast clear (which was surprisingly clear all day... guess nobody wanted to be on the harbourfront on a Saturday morning at about 11:00am), I replaced the cache as found. First Ontario cache of the day complete Smile.

Thanks for getting a cache right on the harbourfront for us to find. Of the once or twice that we go to Kenora every year, the harbourfront is a staple for us... typically both where we park, and where we eat as well. So it was nice to have an additional activity to do right when we arrive.

Took: Nothing
Left: Logbook entry and nanomail ball

ps: I may have accidentally dated it the 10th... I was a bit confused about the date


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GCW7NE Red Rock #1- Camping Adventures (76.29 kms W)
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Hints (Back)
magnetic
muggly
on the fire escape apparatus, close to wall