Minnie’s Musings

To finish the Algonquin section of our holiday.

Having just driven home through the late evening sunshine down winding country lanes with my back turned firmly away from the travesty that is HS2… I mused on our adventure on a random trail just off Highway 60 which goes through this particular provincial park which is dotted by lakes and happy campers who tie up their food bags in order not to tempt the bears.

Best Beloved and I were in need of stretching our legs and the temperature had dropped from a heat wave to moderately sticky. We all piled in the car and pottered north where we found a visitor centre and a selection of trails clearly signposted for difficulty.

The dog was excited by all the smells and people. I was excited by the prospect of consuming a large burger and fries which I could work off with a stroll through the woods.

We found a walk that said it took 2.5 hours but wasn’t massively far at 5km. Best Beloved and I decided it was easily doable in 1.5 hours, which we loudly announced to the present company.

The terrain was moderate but not difficult and the park provided a very useful and interesting guide to the flora and fauna we might see. Off we set.

Well we got behind within the first hundred yards as we were reading the leaflet so thoroughly and we were not being dragged along by an over excited mutt who wanted to EXPLORE….

We caught up only because my sister got a nasty bout of vertigo on a wobbly wooden bridge and had to turn back. Assuring them that we would return within an hour so, we set off over the same bridge and scaled the rocks on t’other side. Which rather reminded me of a similar expedition when Best Beloved hauled me up Kinder Scout (by the back of my trousers at various points).

We had a lovely time reading the leaflet and discussing the flora. We found tiny frogs camouflaged as fallen leaves on the path and listened out for the sound of rustling leaves. Best Beloved because he wanted to see black squirrels; me because I did not want to see a black bear…. make a lot of noise and thrown stones and branches at it. Failing that, run.

We climbed up a short but steep slope, learning that the most important critters to the eco-system are the smallest and that the trees changed the further they got away from acidic, sandy or silty soil. I stopped to take pictures with my app which identifies plants. Best Beloved likes to point at leaves and say “Can you see what that is…?” as I think his memory is consumed by his tweeting app.

Down another very steep slope – aided by Best Beloved who learned some time ago that it is easier to pause and proffer a helping hand than wait for me to fall on my bottom (or flat on my face) which requires infinitely greater effort to get me back on my feet – we came across a ‘dead’ pond which is so acidic there are no fish at all. This is to the benefit of critters that are eaten by said fish, who bathe in their acid baths to their hearts content.

Our only criticism of the leaflet was it was rather rude about the alder. It considered them to be unattractive. The alder is interesting because it has golden nodules on their roots specifically designed to do extract nutrients. At least that is what I think it said (must look it up before pressing ‘Publish’).

Anyway we mozied (sp?!) back to the car to the sound of my sister shrieking “They’re here!” (that’s uncharitable, she was calling out, loudly). Somewhat disconcerted by the panic in her voice I checked my watch. Okay, so 1.5 hours was a tad optimistic…. We drove back to the cottage in the late afternoon sun…