Jumping Caribou Lake

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Jumping Caribou Lake
Jumping Caribou Lake - Byers Bay, Camp Cariboo on Jumping Caribou Lake
Byers Bay, Camp Cariboo on Jumping Caribou Lake
Location Marten River, Ontario
Primary inflows Ingalls Lake, Natural Springs
Primary outflows Caribou Creek
Catchment area Twin Sisters
Basin countries Canada
Max. length 5 km (3 mi)
Max. depth 56 m (184 ft)
Islands 16 Islands-- Larger ones being: Canada Island, Scout Island, Pickerals, Perth Point, Ohio Island, Big Bear Island

Jumping Caribou Lake (also spelled Jumping Cariboo) is located within the Municipality of Temagami, in the Nipissing District, Ontario, Canada. It contains small islands and hidden bays. Ojibwa natives of the area have given the lake its name.

Jumping Caribou Lake played an important role in the logging industry from the early 1900s until the late 1920s. The first cabins on the lake are located on Byers Bay off the Old Ferguson Highway (now realigned and part of Highway 11) and were part of a logging camp. Similar logging also occurred at Cassels Lake. An extensive network of dams and log chutes were constructed in the area – Allowing the old growth timber harvested to be sent downstream to the saw mills in Sturgeon Falls. In 1934, Herman Watson Osborn bought the old logging camp and transformed it into the first private camp on the lake, which is now used by the fifth generation of the family. Osborn was instrumental in getting Warner Brothers to film Captains of the Clouds (starring James Cagney, Brenda Marshall, Dennis Morgan and Alan Hale, Sr.) on Jumping Caribou Lake.

Of the original logging cabins on Jumping Caribou Lake, only one is still in use today. At present, there are 32 private camps and 1 commercial camp (Ravenscroft Lodge) on the lake. There is boat access at Ravenscroft Lodge as well as a public access ramp off the King's Highway 11.

Byers Bay is one of the lake's southernmost bays. It is named after Ellen O. Byers, Herman Osborn's daughter.

Fish in the lake include walleye, northern pike, smallmouth bass, white fish and lake trout. Hunting area include moose, bear, grouse, pheasant and rabbit. Winter sports in the area include ice fishing, cross country skiing, dog sledding, snowshoeing and snowmobiling.

[edit] Geography

The lands surrounding the lake are part of the Canadian Shield, one of the largest single exposure of Precambrian rocks in the world which were formed after the earth's crust cooled. The hills in the Temagami area are remnants of the oldest mountain ranges in North America, that date back during the Precambrian era. These heavily eroded mountains would have rivaled the Himalayas in grandeur. The uplifting was accomplished as enormous pressure caused the earth to buckle in a process called folding. Other processes, such as volcanic activity and geologic faulting in which the earth cracks open also contributed to the formation of these mountains. Over millions of years, these enormous mountains were gradually eroded to the land we know it today in Temagami.

The rocks that form Temagami to this day are igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rock. The area has good potential to host diamondiferous kimberlites and more diamond bearing kimberlites may continue to be discovered in the area.

[edit] See also