Hemlock Bluff

After eating breakfast and packing up the tent, we decided to do one last, short hike before driving home. We did the Hemlock Bluff loop - 3.5 km without too much climbing. It had a couple nice views, but nothing as spectacular as the ones from the Tower or Centennial Ridges. The drive home was uneventful (which is a good thing) and after cleaning up at my parents' place, we all went out for supper.

Track and Tower

We got an earlier start this morning - must be getting better organized or something. Today's hike was the Track and Tower hike. From the trail description, it looked like the last few kilometers of the 8 km hike would be flat and boring, so we decided to do the loop in the opposite direction. It was another hot day ... so again, we spent a lot of time relaxing, looking at the view, and trying to cool down a bit!

We returned to camp, had a swim, and then went to the Algonquin Logging Museum. There is a small exhibit inside the building, but most of the exhibits are placed outside along a 1 km walk. We started to get bored near the end and picked up the pace back to the museum, which was lucky, because we didn't notice a small storm coming our way - he downpour started just after we entered the museum!

After supper we headed to the amphitheatre because I though there was a wolf howl - I didn't read the notice saying that it had been cancelled (no wolves). We listened to an interesting lecture on the history of wolves in Algonquin and learned a bit more about the animals, but left during the question and answer period. (Random interesting fact that we learned - deer eat birds!)

Back at the campground, we took our chairs down to the beach and looked at the stars for a while, got bitten by a bunch of mosquitoes, then headed off to bed.

Centennial Ridges

We didn't start too early this morning (it was after 9 by the time we left the campsite) and it was already hot! Today's goal was to hike Centennial Ridges - a 10 km trail with great views of Algonquin. It was a great hike with awesome views over the granite cliffs, but HOT (30+ degrees and very humid)! We had dad's GPS with us to record our hikes and according to it, we spent just as much time standing (or sitting) still as we did hiking ... probably all those times we rested and tried to cool down a bit! Driving back to the campground, we saw a small family of moose - a cow and two calves. A bit unusual for that time of the day, but they were cooperating nicely and letting all the tourists take pictures! Back at the campsite, we jumped in the lake for a swim - nice and refreshing! Then it was off to the showers. Supper was sausages heated over the fire (mmmmm), baked beans (which my dad refuses to eat but my mom loves), and cut up raw veggies. We spend the rest of the evening relaxing by the fire until we ran out of wood.

Off to Algonquin!

I had 4 days off work and wanted to go camping and hiking this summer, so booked a campsite in Algonquin Provincial Park, packed up my car, picked up my mom (she likes camping, but my dad doesn't), and drove up north!

We got to the campsite just after 2, set up the tent, made some tea, then raced into the car as it started to rain ... hard! After finishing our tea, it was still raining, so we drove to the visitor information centre. We took our time looking at the exhibits and by the time we finished watching the movie on the history of the park, the rain had basically stopped. It was very misty and the clouds were low, but there was still a great view from the back of the visitor centre.

It was too early for supper, so we hiked around the Spruce Bog Boardwalk - a flat gravel trail and boardwalk through and around a marsh. We got a few drips of rain near the end of the loop, but nothing worth putting on a jacket for.

After supper, we hiked the Lookout Trail. The view was great, but since it was so hazy and we were looking into the sun, the pictures didn't turn out too well. Back at the campsite, we sat by the fire, made some popcorn, and then climbed into our sleeping bags, hoping the bear who had been breaking into cars wouldn't bother us!