Algonquin Fall Color Chase?

Fall is such a lovely time around here to chase colors and camp in cooler and more comfortable conditions, at least in my opinion.  We are definitely fonder of the cooler fall temperatures around Ontario than those hot and humid summer days. Even though those are lovely, but in short spurts.  We knew that there was no way we would venture north to Algonquin on Thanksgiving weekend as the crowds tend to be…. a little crazy, so we waited for the weekend after.

We actually spent time down in Lake Placid over Thanksgiving and there will be a blog post soon on that trip.

This was a trip that almost didn’t happen either.  A few days prior to the weekend, a couple of sites opened up on Mew Lake on the Ontario Parks booking website.  With some quick decisions and quick finger we managed to snag a site.  However, on Friday evening we received a phone call that there was a glitch in the system and we didn’t actually have the site. Luckily the parks people blocked off a non-reservable site across the road from the one we had booked for us. Phew!! Crisis averted.

We were good to go and up north we drove. The plan was to hike a few trails before checking into our site and we wanted to do this early as we knew there would still be tourists galore this weekend.  After driving by a big bus at the East Gate, then not being able to park at the Lookout Trail, we made the decision to head west to Ragged Falls.  Hopefully this would not be as busy as inside Algonquin Park.

We have now seen these falls in three different seasons.  This December we will return to see them during the winter.  The falls were flowing high, luckily since it is the fall and water levels are known to drop over the summer.  Hayden was enjoying his time crawling, jumping, parkouring, whatever you want to call it over all the rocks around the top of the falls.

Dan was doing his thing, taking photos of the falls with the colors in the background.  While he did that, I sat and enjoyed the views and listened to the rumblings of the water.  It was also great that we were also able to meet up with Christina (Camper Christina) today.  We had both planned to be in the park, not knowing if we would actually cross paths.  As we texted throughout the morning, we both realized we would be at the same place around the same time. 

She helped to take a family photo, yes there was a nice one, but the one below really does capture what we are like.

Little did we know that this trail does meander up the river some distance. Thank you Christina for this little piece of info. So up the trail we went looking for more picture opportunities.  Hayden found a spot that was just perfect for him, a nice tree to laze around on. 

Soon our time was up as it was getting time to head to our site, but headed just down the road to the Algonquin Outfitters store.  I had a little bit of money left on my gift cards from the Paddle in the Park contest that was burning a hole in my purse. I had a list of items to buy, and ended up getting a new Osprey day pack,  which I can’t wait to get out and try on the trails!

Once we checked into our site and set up we headed out for a short walk to Mew Falls, a popular set of falls known to many campers who frequent Mew Lake.  We were lucky to have the falls area all to our selves, except for a few grey jays hoping we had brought some seeds to share. Unfortunately we were empty handed. 

As the evening drew in, we got a visit from Ben Stacey from Two Men and a Canoe.  We were busy chatting about our day and visit to the park that we never even thought about getting a picture together! Oh well. I’m sure there will be other times.

The morning came fast for us, but we got a great morning welcome.  Around 5 in the morning we all seemed to be awake and suddenly we heard something in the distance.  There was a wolf pack howling and yipping to each other!  It was over before either of us could get our phones out to capture a video of them, but wow! So amazing!

Shortly after we started our day knowing that we wanted to get to the Lookout Trail really early.  The trail was so busy yesterday that people were parked down the hill at a different trail and walking to this trail.  We decided to leave our gear on the site so we would have a place to change if needed after our morning hike.

Again we were greeted with great colors!  Most of the red and orange maples had lost their leaves during the week, but an array of bright yellow, with some darker orange was still prominent.  

At the top we tried once again to take a family photo…. hmm… silliness prevails again. I swear we have a nice picture somewhere on this hike 😀

The lookout was still in shadow, but the valley below was lit up by the morning sun.  We also had the place all to ourselves!  Anyone that was in the parking lot must have already been to the top, or had not arrived yet. We took advantage of the peacefulness and just stared out and the view.

After our lovely morning hike, we headed to the campground to pack up our things and made our way to the visitor center.  Inside we posted the information about hearing the wolves howling and I bought a ticket for the Friends of Algonquin Park draw. With so many great prizes we are hoping that one falls in our direction.  Outside on the back deck Ontario Parks had a cute display for celebrating their 125th year. As my hubby would say, “The frame was a nice thing too”. *Blush*

Time to head home from our quick overnight, but we will be back to see Mew Lake again in a couple months when we will be staying in a yurt. 

Thank you for reading and following along on our adventures!