On a hot summer day the plan was to explore a route to try to link up two old tracks, going around two hills on the north side of Lac du Bois.     On previous explorations  routes were taken that went over the top of the hills and another time I gone cross country around the hills, but for this time I was hoping to link up existing tracks.    I started by following the trail/track around the north side of the lake and continued on to the start of Hanging Valley.    At a junction, I turned up the grassy track which climbs up the southwest flank of Opax Mountain, but at a faint junction I turned off onto a grown-in track which climbed the slopes bearing north toward Opax.     I had once come across an old homestead deep in the bush, but I did not find it this time, but with some looking around I did find an old horse logging sawmill site below the slopes of Opax Mountain (see the photo below).

The old track was grown-over, but I soon found a dirt bike/mountain bike track climbing up toward the Opax Mountain Road (the steep track from the Mud Lake area).    The single track was steep and rugged and I could have continued to follow it up to the Opax Road, and then I could have looped back that way, but instead I struck off east by northeast to work my way through the bush toward another old track.    This was cross country, weaving my way past windfall, shrub growth and across gullies.    I had to climb over a barbed wire fence at one point.

Using a GPS map, I found the old grown-in dead-end track I wanted, and hiked it down until it connected to other trails and eventually came to a route I had once named The Homesteaders Track.     There had been a few homesteaders who had built cabins/homes on quarter sections and had tried to make a go of it over 100 years ago.    All of the homesteaders were gone before WW1.    In past years I had hiked this route and explored some of the old buildings and artifacts, including old vehicles and a portable sawmill.     Almost all of it is gone now, grown in or decayed.    Newer gates on old roads in the Lac du Bois Nature Conservancy have allowed nature to reclaim the area.

I returned down the old track to Lac du Bois and back to the start.   This is not a route which is recommended.    Many explorations do not result in new hiking routes which others can do.   Not many people enjoy this kind of “cross country” hiking.

Some images of the exploration are shared here.    Click any photo to go to the Google Photos album and then click any photo for a caption and more information.    Two photos of the homesteads are included from a 2014 hike in the area to show the differences after 11 years.

I have another exploration route in the area which I hope to do this fall.