Outdoors

Another beautiful winter day for a hike. We often pass Darlington Provincial Park on our way to Ottawa and heard there are good trails and photo opportunities. Like many parks in Southern Ontario, Darlington has a strong history during the pioneer settlements. It is situated along Lake Ontario and offers some nice views along the shorelines.

We did not mind hiking here, we found the trails a little limited. We wandered through the campsites and definitely would not camp here. The sites were so close together and open that it was difficult to figure out where exactly one site ended and another began. I've heard that many people enjoy camping here with their families and where we were looking was only one part of the campgrounds but there wasn't as much privacy and tree covering as you would find in parks further away from the Toronto area.

There wasn't too much activitiy aside from hiking at this time but we saw signs posted for canoeing, hunting, and fishing so during the spring, summer and fall months, I imagine this park to be rather busy, especially since it is so close to Toronto and acts as an easy camping trip for families.

We did capture some nice shots; Darlington does have some little surprises that are quite pretty.

What better way to enjoy the long weekend than to go on a hike. We discovered this area in our local paper and couldn't believe how close it was to us! Not only that, but this wonderful little spot is smack-dab in the middle of a busy city. Once you begin hiking, it's hard to imagine, you aren't further away from the hustle and bustle. It is located in Mississauga, Ontario.

Riverwood has nice trails and great opportunities for pictures of birds. The trails are easy and we completed one of them in about an hour, and that was including stopping for photos. I will let the pictures show the wonderful scenery.

What an incredible and fun trip this one was! We were in Site #299 in Hawk Ridge in the Huron Campground. This was a wonderful campsite, perfect for 2 tents and 2 cars and very private and quiet.

We left Mississauga after work and finally arrived at MacGregor around 9:15pm. Our buddy Matt arrived shortly afterwards which was helpful to have the extra hands in setting up out giant tent in the dark! After we were all settled, we sat around the campfire and enjoyed some drinks and catching up. No raccoons but there were tons of glow-worms everywhere! Very cool to see.

Saturday morning, we woke up and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of bacon and eggs (a staple in our camp trips). We packed up our hiking bag and ventured off for a day of hiking. We hiked Tower Trail and did some viewing at the Ducks Unlimited Wetland Project...looking for otters and King Fishers but only saw a family of ducks. Along the trail after the lookout, there were frogs everywhere! And I mean, you had to watch the ground because they were jumping out from under you with each step.

We hiked Kempf's Trail to the Old Shore Road trail and spent a lot of time exploring the rocky shorelines of Lake Huron. We treked to Mergenser Cove where we spent over an hour looking for frogs and snakes, hopping rocks and generally just being kids again...which was fun. Sometimes you have to do that.

There were so many frogs and Keir found a Northern Ribbon Snake along the pond which actually was fairly aggressive so we figuered that Keir may have stepped close to a den.

We continued to check out Water Snake Pond which was closed as the boardwalk was tilted and lifting. I was really disappointed as this is one of my favourite locations to look for frogs.

Sunday was a chilly day and we definitely needed some jackets. We decided to spend our last full day exploring the other half of the Old Shore Road Trail. We went to the beach where we found more frogs along the stream that trickles into the reeds at the beach. We explored all the small collections of water and rocks in search of more frogs and snakes. We continued hiking to the Huron Fringe Trail to Turtle Pond in hopes of seeing an Egret but definitely was not disappointed when we came across a Blue Heron instead.

Upon meeting back up with the Old Shore Road Trail, we hiked to Sunset Point for a gorgeous view of Lake Huron. Eventually, we ended up at Pitcher Plant Marl which is fascininating. The Pitcher Plant is a large, carniviorous plant and the entire area is just interesting.

By the time we returned to the beach, it was dusk. We once again looked for frogs and also captured some beautiful images of the sunset.

Before we went back to our site, we hiked Huron Fringe hoping to see the Heron but it seemed to have left for the evening. As we left the trail, Keir spotted a small raccoon climbing down the tree right beside us. Very cute!

No raccoons that night but we got some lightning and a bit of thunder rolling through.

Monday was our last day and we woke up early in the morning. It was very cold and wet, definitely needed some layers. Matt and I went back to Turtle Pond looking for the Heron and he was there. I was so excited. We went back and hung out at the site, waiting for the tent to dry which didn't take long as the sun peeked out for a little bit. Thankfully, we didn't need to dry the tent on the balcony!

Another wonderful trip to MacGregor!

Another trip to Murphys Point Provincial Park and returned to our home at site #135 on Old Stone Road in Fallows Campground.

We left Mississauga bright and early on Thursday morning and reached Murphys about 11:30am. The weather was grey and there was a very light drizzle on the way there. However, if you have taken Highway 7, no matter the weather, the view is gorgeous.

Once we had the site set up, we went to the store to purchase some firewood. Beside the store is the visitors centre where they had an information session about the endangered Rat Snake. What a beautiful creature!

That evening we took our fishing gear out to the end of the beach at Hogg Bay but cut it short as the wind was too strong and the fish weren't biting. On the way back through the parking lot, I spotted a large porcupine sleeping on a branch in a tree on the edge of the forest. That night as we sat around the fire, we had at least two small raccoons pass through...and there were definitely more visitors after we went to sleep. When we woke up, there were little prints all over the car!

We woke up on Friday to a cool, damp morning but after a hot breakfast of bacon, eggs and coffee, we were ready for a canoe trip. We packed our fishing gear, some lunch, rented the canoe from the store and launched from the beach at Hogg Bay. We paddled to the edge of Big Rideau Lake before turning back around. On our way back, we spotted what looked like a turtle swimming towards the canoe. As it got closer, it appeared to be a young beaver! He swam beside us, appearing to be unaware that we were there before he quickly dove under and changed direction.

We continued along Hogg Bay, past the beach until we reached the portage to Loon Lake. It was a very calm and beautiful location so we decided to sit down for a snack and some fishing. There were a few nibbles but didn't catch anything. We did however, get the opportunity to see a beautiful Great Blue Heron fly past us so close that you could hear and feel his wings as he flew past us.

We continued out trek on the portage to Loon Lake where we saw lots of little frogs in the mud and a few turtles along the way. Loon Lake has really pretty scenery and just a calm, relaxing feeling. It's not very busy as there is not a beach, however there is a portage to Loon Lake behind the campstore.

We then portaged back to Hogg Bay where we paddled along the shore looking for more frogs and turtles.

Keir dropped me back off as I needed to return to the campsite quickly but it wasn't until my way back to the beach that I spotted the same porcupine still sitting in the tree as the day before...except this time, there was a baby with it! You have not seen cute until you've seen a baby porcupine learning to climb a tree. After about 10 minutes, it made it's way to the top!

As I was helping Keir pull the canoe out of the water, a red and white water snake slithered out of the reeds and into the water. We definitely had a successful canoe trip with lots of wildlife to see.

We returned the canoe and were determined to catch a fish. We went to the boat launch along the shore near Big Rideau Lake and Keir caught a Rock Bass! I was also very excited as I caught my very first fish, also a Rock Bass...I was very excited. Keir ended up catching a small sunfish but when we ran out of worms, the fish lost interest...which was fine as it started to rain.

We had another raccoon go through the site but as we were sleeping, they were definitely not as quiet as the night before! They got adventureous and the corner of the tent was rattling...silly raccoons.

Saturday brought us to day 3. After breakfast, we immediately packed our gear up as there was a chance of rain ...it ended up not raining but better to be safe than have to dry a tent on your balcony!

On the drive out, we stopped at Noble Bay and got some pictures. Great scenery and there were lots of fish...good to know for next time!

We had an amazing trip and I can't wait to go back. See you soon Murphys!

Ferris Provincial Park is located in the Southeast Parks and is along the Trent River and south of Campbellford, Ontario. Our site was #123 in the Bedrock Campground. This was another quick weekend camping trip and definitely worth it. Like Sibbald Point, Ferris Provinical Park once belonged to a family (The Ferris Family) and became a provincial Park in 1975.

It was an insanely hot and humid weekend. It had not rained in awhile and everything was so dry. The grass was burned and the slightest movement cause a whirlwind of dust. Our site was small but with some good thinking, we placed the tent and car in spots that allowed us to maximize the space.

We hiked to the town of Campbellford and back...if you ran out of anything during a longer stay and the camp store didn't have it, the convenience of hiking into town is definitely a bonus.

Three campsites down from us there was a man-made nesting post where a family of Osprey were. No one had booked that site for the weekend so we had many opportunities to watch the family...which was incredible as we were able to watch them hunt and successfully catch a smaller bird...and then be attacked by its mate! We were also able to catch some glimpses of the baby osprey in the nest. It was really amazing to be that close.

There was a great spot for photos on the Ranney Trail standing on the suspension bridge. There was also 3 loops on the Drumlin Trail which were very hilly...probably more enjoyable on not such a humid weekend.

No raccoons but we did have a family of red squirrels nesting in a tree on our site as well as tons of dragonflies and fireflies. A very clean and well maintained park, quiet and a nice relaxing place!

Presqu'ile Provincial Park is located in the Southeast Parks, south of Brighton. We were in the Hidden Valley campground and originally booked site#259 but found it way too small for our tent and re-booked at site#259. This park is amazing for bird watching and actually has a huge bird sighting board near the gatehouse.

We arrived after two days of rain and the mosquitos were everywhere. All the campsites were fairly small but the new one we had worked out okay. Privacy wasn't fantastic but with proper placement of the car and tent, it ended up fine.

On our first day there, we checked out the Lighthouse Footpath (0.3KM). It is a historic trail important to the history of the park. There is a great gift store and information centre as well as lots of frogs poking up from the mud. We also went to Calf Pasture Lookout which was very pretty but had no luck in seeing a heron.

Jobes' Woods Trail (1KM) was an easy trail with SO MANY mosquitos. It was hard to stop and take pictures because the little things attacked you with any chance they got. We did however see a Green Frog and a Banded Garden Spider.

The Marsh Boardwalk (1.2KM) was by far, my favourite trail in the park. At the very first lookout we saw an egret and saw a great view of the surrounding land. As you walked along the boardwalk, it was a really amazing experience. The reeds and grass were tall and you couldn't see much on either side but you could hear the birds singing and the flapping of the wings. They were close but you couldn't see them. Once in awhile one would flitter out and land infront of you but by the time you pulled the camera up, it was gone.

We were very surprised as we walked around a bend and came face to face with a Mute Swan. Now if you have ever been to Stratford, Ontario and seen the swans there, they seem small after the ones at Presqu'ile. There were 4 adults and aproximately 3-4 babies...it was hard to tell as the babies were all bundled together.

This trail also took us through a really interesting part of the forest where we discovered "Horse Trees."

Owen Point Trail (1.6KM) was probably the most interesting trail. It had many lookout points onto protected parts of the beach where various birds breed/live. We saw a cute family of geese, hundreds of seagulls, and killdeer.

Needless to say, our first day there was packed full of hiking and exploring.

Our second and last day we returned to the Marsh Boardwalk in the early morning and once again saw the egret. We also saw 2 small beavers splashing in the water just before the second lookout.

Before we left, we decided to hike the Pioneer Trail (3.8KM). The grass was extremely long in the field portion and actually made it very difficult to get through and not enjoyable at all...but it is what it is and it's part of the trail...I definitely liked Jobes Woods Trail better.

We had 2 raccoons travel through our campsite Saturday night but they didn't stop and stayed close to the edge of the forest.

It took us approximately 2.5 hours to get back home to the GTA which makes this place great for a short weekend trip when you're looking to get out of the city.

We went to Bronte Creek Provincial Park which is located between Oakville and Burlington. The park was very busy and was mainly aimed for young families with a farm, animals and a pool. It was too busy and close to the city for our liking and we found the trails poorly marked and the trail lookouts were in rough shape.

Because the park is located close to the city, it was hard to get away from the sound of traffic. There are lots of hiking trails but unfortunately because it is so busy, there is not much opportunity for wildlife viewing on the trails.

I have heard many people in other blogs and reviews say they love camping at Bronte and it definitely has some lovely locations but for us, we prefer to get further away from the city and population.

On the last day of our honeymoon, we decided to check out of the resort early and spend the day hiking in Algonquin Provincial Park before heading back to the city. We purchased a day-pass the previous day so we were set!

Our first stop was a small lookout on the side of Highway 60 with a pretty view of Brewer Lake. As we drove along, we kept our eyes open for moose! Our first hike was through Beaver Pond Trail which was a 2KM trek and definitely one of my favourites.

We checked out the visitors centre which has wonderful exhibits and an amazing view of the surrounding land. This is definitely a place you need to stop at if you are visiting the park or even just travelling through.

Our next hike took us to the Spruce Bog Boardwalk which is a 1.5KM loop with nice boardwalks, great scenery...just a beautiful hike in general. As we were leaving and continuing our drive, we saw a....moose! We would later see a second moose on the side of the road before quickly returning to the forest.

Hardwood Lookout Trail was a short but hilly trail that had a view of Smoke Lake. On our continued drive down Highway 60, we were fortunate enough to capture this beautiful fox proudly carrying his lunch back home. It is so amazing because it is not often we see an animal like this in its natural environment doing what it does. I was excited about this for days.

Our final stop before our drive home was to Ragged Falls. I had been here before and was excited to show Keir. What a wonderful end to our honeymoon...and we definitely need to return as there is so much more in Algonquin to explore.

So here we are, celebrating our honeymoon! What better place to be than the outdoors! Couples Resort is a 5 Star resort located east of Algonquin Park on Highway 60 in Whitney, Ontario. Words cannot descibe the amazing experience we had here, but I will try.

We stayed in a private chalet within steps of Galeairy Lake where we fished, paddled, and looked over when we enjoyed the fabulous meals in the restaurant.

We spent one afternoon exploring along the Madawasaka River on a 2-Up ATV which was SO much fun.

It was nice because we got the luxury and pampering of spa treatments, relaxing and being together that a getaway honeymoon would offer but it was all in the outdoors in the scenery and setting we love being in.

The staff were incredible, the food was amazing and I cannot wait to go back.

This trip was a short weekend trip with friends who introduced us to this park. The weather was good but chilly in the evening and it poured rain on our last day.

This park used to be property belonging to the Sibbald Family. There is an interesting museum located in the family manor which we visited. There is also the family church but we did not get a chance to check it out.

There is a nice large beach which was great for relaxing with friends. Sibbald Point does not have many trails and the few that it does have, are not very long and appear to take you around a short hike aproximately 2KM.

Sibbald Point was very clean and well maintained although very busy with a family and young people crowd...what we call a "party park". Beautiful scenery and a nice place to go with friends.