Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Fall Camping

Good Morning!!  It's been a while since I last made an appearance, but it was partly due to technical difficulties (locked out of my blog), and partly due to just enjoying a blogging break.  As I mentioned in my last post, we were planning a trip into Algonquin Park for our annual fall camping. We did get our last camping trip in for this year, and the weather couldn't have been better, or the colours more beautiful.  How nice is this for the roadway into our campsite?


We only stay for two nights, but one full day.  Our full day is our hiking day, and we decided to tackle Centennial Ridges, a rough, difficult trail of 10 km, but one with the best views in Algonquin Park.  It was so warm, we wore shorts and t-shirts.  I think it was up to about 30'C on the trail because when we finished the trail in the late afternoon it was still 27'C.  You have to be sure to start the trail in plenty of time to finish before it gets dark.  The sun is starting to set around 5:30 now, so you can't leave it too late.  It took us 5 hours to complete the trail at a comfortable pace and stopping for lunch and to admire the stunning views from the ridges all along the trail.


There was an otter or something swimming and playing the small pond below, but he was just a bit too far away to get into the photo.  We did enjoy watching him swimming up and down his pretty little pond.  In the heat of the day, we were quite jealous of him!


We all heard it before we saw it, but as we stood along the ridge with lots of other hikers, we could see the fast approaching military plane roaring towards us.  It came flying straight towards the cliff before banking sharply beside us.


My son thought it was extremely cool.


This trail has never-ending spectacular views, first along one ridge, and then hiking up a little higher, we saw even more incredible views.  


Below is the view from the second ridge.


And Whitefish Lake ...


As we travelled in between the ridges, there were lots of little ponds and creeks to enjoy as well.  These little hide-away spots were as amazing to gaze upon as the extensive views.


Don't you think so?  Below was the little spot where we happily ate our lunch.  We had the colours close beside us and a grand view ahead of us.  Sitting on this rock was better than any restaurant I've been to :)


There wasn't too much breeze the day we hiked, so the water was clear as glass.


Perfect.


If it wasn't getting so late in the day, I could have lingered alongside these waterways for a lot longer.


So much beauty all along the trail ... 


Unfortunately, we ran out of water before the end of the trail.  We stopped below about three-quarters of the way around and shared our last dribbles out of our water bottles.  My son suggested "from now on, anything over 5 km, take two water bottles each".  He wasn't too happy for the rest of the trail :( Lesson learned.

Cody enjoyed the hike immensely, but he's getting older now and he was pretty much flaked out by the time we reached the truck to take us back to our campsite.


We were so exhausted at the end of our hike, and were happy to get back to the trailer where we fixed up a delicious dinner ... complete with a birthday cake and presents!!

The pooped pampered pooch

I have some more photos to share of an early morning drive we took along the highway before the roads were packed with throngs of people.  But I'll leave that for another day so as not to test your patience with photo overload ;)  But here's a little sample for you ...



Thanks for stopping by!

Wendy





23 comments:

  1. What a beautiful park, the fall leaves and tree are just stunning.. I love the views of the lakes and all the gorgeous colors.. Your post and photos are fabulous... Have a happy day!

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  2. Absolutely breathtaking!
    No more words..just WOW!
    Jane x

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  3. No words to describe the feeling while watching jour pictures ... just awesome, wonderful, gorgeous, fantastic ! I like the views.. thanks for showing them ! Have a lovely day !

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  4. The fall color there is just amazing! The lakes are spectacular - I'd love to have lunch by the same lake. Your photos are so crisp and clear too. You could frame a couple of these. Oh how I wish we had the same fall color. Our trees are just barely turning colors. I am sure you won't forget the water next time you hike ~ that poor kid!

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  5. Birthday cake and presents is the perfect ending to this amazing day! Your views were spectacular and you took amazing photos. We always love to start hiking again in the Fall here in Florida. Our views are very different but we love it. Enjoy your week and if you have more photos to share, we would love to see them! Hugs, Diane

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  6. Oh, these photos take my breath away, Wendy! So very beautiful! What a wonderful hike! Glad you shared with us today - love your sweet doggie xo Karen

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  7. Those are some of the most beautiful fall pictures I have ever seen! Some day I hope to visit Algonquin Park, and if I do I would love to hike this trail. I love your description of how sitting on the rock and having your lunch was better than any restaurant. I have experienced that on hikes, and it is one of the things that makes all the hard work worthwhile.

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  8. Hi Wendy, wow how beautiful your hike was. Such beautiful photos and so glad you all had a good time! Your dog is so cute and how nice your could bring him too. Take care.
    Julie

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  9. Very neat looking plane! I love the fall colors, and you captured them exquisitely!

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  10. Hello. I found your blog via Alison Machin's. Your fall photos are just beautiful-- we do not have colours like that here and I loved reading your blog. Thank you for sharing the scenery.

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  11. Absolutely gorgeous photography Wendy. What a beautiful hike you had, and such spectacular scenery.

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  12. I think Blogger has been acting up quite a bit lately. When we were in North Bay for 4 days over Thanksgiving, I couldn't even get my blog to load half the time. I saw you had done a post but couldn't get to it. :-(
    Algonquin really is spectacular and I've seen some fabulous shots taken there this fall, including yours. It looks like a hiker's dream place.
    I found many of the trees had already dropped their leaves but there was still enough colours to enjoy.

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  13. Gorgeous views! I love the colours and the reflections.

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  14. So beautiful!!!!!! The scenery, the colours and the composition of your photos too! So glad that you had such a great time, it was wonderful to go along with you and I didn't run out of water thankfully! xx

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  15. My goodness, what beautiful views! :) xxx

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  16. Good to see you back here Wendy. Your photographs are stunning... What glorious colours!

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  17. Those photos are so beautiful! We really have got to do this next year! We keep saying we're going camping, and then we don't. And we have never done a long (and gorgeous) hike like that. So pretty. Your tired doggie is so sweet. Jo

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  18. Wow, these photos are AMAZING! What a beautiful place!

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  19. Beautiful photo's Wendy the colors are amazing. :)

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  20. Mother Nature is a beautiful and I don't think anyone photographs her better than you! Absolutely lovely. Cody is a pooper trooper! Poor little dear. Happy Birthday to someone!

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  21. Wow Wow Wow! What a gorgeous place and the colors are magnificent! Looks like it was the perfect time to go! How fun!!!

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  22. Welcome back, Wendy! These photos are gorgeous, what a beautiful place to camp. I love fall so much. Neat to see that plane so close up. I live a couple of miles from an Air Force base and we see them in the sky all the time, but I've never really had a good close look at one.

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Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it's nice to know when you've stopped by! :)

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