Let's call this "finding Axe Lake after thirty years"! It's a property that has been in my family (Craib / Rome) for quite some time. We used to go as kids, and hear all the stories around the campfire. They were great memories with images that still inspired awe seeing them again thirty years later.
It used to be a LOT more isolated than it is now, but the actual Rome property is relatively untouched, except for someone who is trespassing on the beach area. They are keeping things clean though it seems to be not much of an issue. Going in to find where we used to camp and then boat / hike around to our land from what I recall land owned by a family named Mansfield proved to be a challenging.
The really cool thing that happened each time, was that we got to a point of no return, and when finally turned around were led in a direction that eventually put us at our target. Along the way we met some interesting and very great people. From the road crew guy who seemed like he knew what was going on but didn't, to the ex federal penitentiary prisoner guy (not sure why he told us that), we ended up at a house owned by Pam and Bill. They were an incredible help in getting us where we were going. As it turns out Axe Lake Road is NOT the road we used to take into Axe Lake (go figure!). By the way, I didn't see Axe Lake Road on the charts I have....a little old mind you...but the first road out of Sprucedale (don't buy smokes or gas there!!) is called Yearly or something close Road, follow it to Rome Road, you'll see the cemetery on the right. They took down the old church there, but the Rome stone is still the most prominent one there
Finding the original camp and eventually the beach was very cool, although, the water was very high (oddly) so the beach was not much of the beach I recall...as in about 10 % of size. The video somewhat tells the tale. As far as the original Rome homestead, it was to overgrown to explore that deep, and we were not prepared to go that deep into it. Future trip will be camping on the actual property as opposed to just canoeing in for a few hours. Will have to get lot title registry from Muskokas for properties surrounding Axe Lake, hopefully they will show location of original Rome homestead foundation and out buildings.The property heading back from the beach has become extremely thick over time, so I have no idea how far back those buildings would be...have to consult Big Al on that one! So far that is the scoop...going to take a couple trips up here next year, bring a LOT LESS gear for sure. We over prepared for this trip, not knowing what to expect or whether we would even make it into either location. We made it to both and it was AMAZING!!
