Royal Ontario Museum

I took my niece, H, on a "Field trip" to the Royal Ontario Museum today, taking the GO train and subway to make it more interesting (and to avoid the traffic chaos of downtown Toronto). We saw a few of the Terracotta Warriors brought over for a special exhibit, spent a long time digging for "dinosaur bones" in the discovery centre (twice), walked through a bat cave (twice), saw some mummies and a bunch of other old stuff. The trip went well and she seemed to enjoy it, but it was still a bit advanced for a 5 year old - not quite enough hands-on stuff.

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!

Canada Day!

Happy 143rd Birthday, Canada!

I had to work this afternoon, so unfortunately didn't get to see any fireworks (except the ones from the highway driving home), but did get to spend a few hours with the family. I met them at the grocery store parking lot, then we headed out to Crawford Lake. We walked around the Iroquois village where the kids loved feeling all the animal skins and antlers. (M commented that it was like a petting zoo, but better - no animals jumping on you or poop to step in!) After a short attempt at playing lacrosse, we walked around the native garden, snacking on raspberries and blackberries that we found, then down to the lake. We didn't walk around the lake, that would have taken too long - I had to get home on time and the kids needed to have enough energy to walk back up the hill.

Port Burwell

I spent the weekend camping with a large group from the church at Port Burwell Provincial Park. Except for a few minutes of rain on Saturday morning, the weather was perfect.

I had a site with my friend L, who picked me up Friday afternoon. We were one of the first to get there - a lot of people stopped for supper along the way and had to set up in the dark. Friday evening we just walked around after supper, saying hi to people as they showed up.

Saturday morning I helped L mark a few exams, then went off on my bike to explore Port Burwell. There isn't much to the town - a few stores and a lighthouse - but it was nice to get out on the bike for a while. After lunch, everyone went down to the beach. The water was pretty rough (3 ft waves), but it was great for fooling around in and it wasn't too cold. Supper was hosted by a few of the families - steak, potatoes, chili, salad, and veggie sticks - then it was off to the next campsite for birthday cake! We ended at a third campsite for a fire which went until well past midnight ... with the park wardens telling us off a few times.

Sunday was pretty relaxed. We got together for coffee in the morning, then back to the beach in the afternoon. The water was a lot calmer, but it wasn't as hot out, so not as many people went swimming. But we did find a giant moth on the back of one of our chairs and he didn't seem to mind L picking him up and showing him to everyone.

It was a fun weekend and neat to spend time with people I don't normally see or talk to, and the weather cooperated really well. I think next year I might have to go again ... but maybe drag along M's family!